Psalm 124:8

Context

Psalms 124 bears the superscription "A Song of degrees of David." "Song of degrees" (also rendered "Song of Ascents") is the title attached to Psalms 120–134, a collection traditionally understood as songs sung by pilgrims going up to Jerusalem. The psalm is traditionally read as a psalm of David, although some scholars, citing its linguistic features, regard it as a later composition.

The psalm opens by repeating the hypothetical "If it had not been the LORD who was on our side." It goes on to compare the crisis the community faced to engulfing waters and the snare of the fowler, and it gives thanks for deliverance from that crisis. Verse 8 is the conclusion that gathers this thanksgiving into a single sentence: "Our help is in the name of the LORD, who made heaven and earth" (Psalm 124:8). Spoken in the first person plural, it is a communal confession.

Interpretation

• Historical reading: The verse is read as a confession that looks back on Israel's concrete experience of surviving enemy attack and ascribes that deliverance to God.
• Creation-faith reading: This reading focuses on the phrase "who made heaven and earth." The logic is that the One who made heaven and earth is greater than any enemy or crisis. The same expression appears in other psalms of the same collection, such as Psalms 121 and 134. This reading treats the verse as a text linking creation and providence.
• Reading of "the name": In the Old Testament, God's "name" denotes His presence and character. Accordingly, "in the name of the LORD" is understood to mean reliance on God Himself.
• Liturgical reading: The orders of worship compiled by John Calvin for Strasbourg and Geneva are known to have opened worship with this verse. Many Reformed churches have since continued the practice, using it as a "call to worship" or as the votum (a declaration of vow and confession). Reformed writers explain it as a confession that worship begins not with human strength but with God's help. The Catholic Church has also used the verse as a versicle (a short prayer exchanged between priest and congregation) in liturgies such as the Liturgy of the Hours and blessings.

Questions of Application

There is little interpretive dispute among denominations, but several questions have been raised.

• The verse was originally a confession made by the community as a whole. Some ask whether it is appropriate to read it solely as a verse of personal comfort.
• Some caution against using it like an incantation, as though merely invoking "the name of God" guaranteed help.

In the Korean Church

In some Presbyterian churches, the worship leader reads this verse at the beginning of the order of worship as the "call to worship." This usage is reportedly found especially in churches that emphasize the Reformed tradition. The verse is also frequently cited as a verse of comfort together with Psalm 121:1–2, from the same collection.

Related Passages

• Psalm 121:1–2
• Psalm 134:3
• Psalm 146:5–6
• Psalm 46:1
• Jeremiah 3:23