Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Psalms 124:8

Clarke's Commentary

Verse Psalms 124:8. Our help is in the name of the Lord — בשום מימרא דיי beshum meywra depai, Chaldee, "In the name of the WORD of the LORD." So in the second verse, "Unless the WORD of the LORD had been our Helper:" the substantial WORD; not a word spoken, or a prophecy delivered, but the person who was afterwards termed Ὁ Λογος του Θεου, the WORD OF GOD. This deliverance of the Jews appears to me the most natural interpretation of this Psalm: and probably Mordecai was the author.

ANALYSIS OF THE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-FOURTH PSALM

The people of God, newly escaped from some great danger, acknowledge it, and celebrate God as their Deliverer.

I. The psalmist begins abruptly, as is usual in pathetical expressions.

1. "If it had not been the Lord:" and so deeply was he affected with a sense of God's goodness, and the narrowness of the escape, that he repeats it: "Unless the Lord," c. Nothing else could have saved us.

2. "Now may Israel say" the whole body of the Jewish people may well acknowledge this.

3. "When men rose up:" when they were all leagued against us as one man to destroy us; and, humanly speaking, our escape was impossible.

II. This danger and escape the psalmist illustrates by two metaphors: -

1. The first is taken from beasts of prey: "They had swallowed us up quick." They would have rushed upon us, torn us in pieces, and swallowed us down, while life was quivering in our limbs.

This they would have done in their fury. The plot was laid with great circumspection and caution; but it would have been executed with a resistless fury.

2. The second similitude is taken from waters which had broken through dikes, and at once submerged the whole country: "The stream had gone over our soul;" the proud waters, resistless now the dikes were broken, would have gone over our soul - destroyed our life.

III. He next acknowledges the deliverance.

1. "We are not given a prey to their teeth."

2. It is the blessed God who has preserved us: "Blessed be God," c.

As this deliverance was beyond expectation, he illustrates it by another metaphor, a bird taken in, but escaping from, a snare.

1. We were in "the snare of the fowler."

2. But "our soul is escaped."

3. And the fowler disappointed of his prey. The disappointment of Haman was, in all its circumstances, one of the most mortifying that ever occurred to man.

IV. He concludes with a grateful acclamation. 1. "Our help is in the name of the Lord." In open assaults, and in insidious attacks, we have no helper but God and from him our deliverance must come.

2. This help is sufficient; for he made the heaven and earth; has both under his government; and can employ both in the support, or for the deliverance, of his followers.

Or, take the following as a plainer analysis: -

I. 1. The subtlety of the adversaries of the Church in laying snares to entrap it, as fowlers do birds, Psalms 124:7.

2. Their cruelty in seeking to tear it to pieces, as some ravenous beasts of prey do; or, as mighty inundations that overthrow all in their way, Psalms 124:3-6.

II. The cause of this subtlety and cruelty: wrath and displeasure, Psalms 124:3.

III. The delivery of the Church from both, by the power and goodness of God, Psalms 124:1-2; Psalms 124:6-7.

IV. The duty performed for this deliverance; praises to God, Psalms 124:6.

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

Psalms 120-124 To Jerusalem for worship

Each of the fifteen Psalms 120:0 to 134 is entitled ‘A Song of Ascents’ (RSV; NIV). These psalms were apparently sung by worshippers from the country areas as they made the journey up to Jerusalem for the various annual festivals.

Whether or not the psalms were written for this purpose, they have been arranged in a sequence that reflects the feelings of the travellers. They provide expressions of worship for the travellers as they set out from distant regions, travel through the country, come to Jerusalem, and finally join in the temple ceremonies.
The collection opens with a cry from one who lives in a distant region and is bitterly persecuted by his neighbours (120:1-2). Their insults pierce him like sharp arrows and burn him like red-hot coals. He prays that God’s punishment of them will be just as painful (3-4). He is tired of being victimized. He feels as if he lives in a far-off land where he is surrounded by attackers from hostile tribes. He will set out for Jerusalem and seek some peace and refreshment of spirit in God’s house (5-7).
As he journeys through the hill country, the man knows that God who made the hills cares for him (121:1-2). Even when he sleeps by the roadside at night, God, who never sleeps, watches over him (3-4). God protects him from dangers by day and by night (5-6). Surely, God will take him to Jerusalem and bring him safely home again (7-8).
In the excitement of anticipation, the traveller pictures his dream as fulfilled. He recalls a psalm of David and pictures himself at last standing in Jerusalem as David once did (122:1-2). He sees it as a beautiful, well-built city, where the tribes of Israel are united in their worship of God, and where God rules his people through the throne of David (3-5). He prays that God will always preserve the city and prosper its people (6-8). He himself will do all he can for the city’s good (9).
Ungodly people mock the poor traveller, and others who have now joined him, for putting up with such hardships just to attend a religious festival in Jerusalem. The worshippers ask God to give them some relief by silencing those who mock them (123:1-4).
The persecuted travellers once more recall the experience of David and sing one of his psalms that reflects their own experience. As David was persecuted, so are they. Only through God’s grace and power have they been kept from much worse treatment (124:1-3). Their enemies are as violent and destructive as a raging flood (4-5), as cruel as wild animals (6) and as cunning as bird-trappers (7), but the travellers have the great Creator on their side (8).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

"Blessed be Jehovah, Who hath not given us as a prey to their teeth. Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers: The snare is broken, and we are escaped. Our help is in the name of Jehovah, Who made heaven and earth."

The terrible danger of the situation Israel survived was concentrated in that hostile Philistine army. They had come up "to seek David" (2 Sam. 5:117), for the purpose of killing him, exactly as they had destroyed Saul. Moreover they possessed at that time the `bridle' of the city of Jerusalem. This meant they held the strategic advantage over the city. This is evident in the passage from 2 Samuel 8:1, which declares that "David smote the Philistines, subdued them, and took `the bridle of the mother city' out of the hands of the Philistines."

"Jehovah hath not given us… a prey to their teeth" In the true Hebrew style, the metaphor changes again. This line compares the army of the enemy to a pack of wild beasts tearing their victims apart with their teeth.

"As a bird out of the snare of the fowlers" Again, here is another metaphor. Israel is the helpless bird already captured in the snare (trap) of the fowlers; but, lo, and, behold, the snare breaks and Israel escapes! What a great miracle God wrought upon their behalf!

"Our help is in the name of Jehovah" In both Old Testament and New Testament, much is made of "The Name" of God and of Jesus Christ, of which an apostle said, "Neither is there any other name under heaven, that is given among men, wherein we must be saved" (Acts 4:12).

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

Our help is in the name of the Lord - In the Lord; in the great Yahweh. See Psalms 121:2.

Who made heaven and earth - The great Creator; the true God. Our deliverances have led us up to him. They are such as can be ascribed to him alone. They could not have come from ourselves; from our fellow-men; from angels; from any or all created beings. Often in life, when delivered from danger, we may feel this; we always may feel this, and should feel this, when we think of the redemption of our souls. That is a work which we of ourselves could never have performed; which could not have been done for us by our fellow-men; which no angel could have accomplished; which all creation combined could not have worked out; which could have been effected by no one but by him who “made heaven and earth;” by him who created all things. See Colossians 1:13-17.

Calvin's Commentary on the Bible

8.Our help is in the name of Jehovah. David here extends to the state of the Church in all ages that which the faithful had already experienced. As I interpret the verse, he not only gives thanks to God for one benefit, but affirms that the Church cannot continue safe except in so far as she is protected by the hand of God. His object is to animate the children of God with the assured hope, that their life is in perfect safety under the divine guardianship. The contrast between the help of God, and other resources in which the world vainly confides, as we have seen in Psalms 20:7 ,

“Some trust in chariots, and some in horses, but we will remember the name of the Lord our God, ”

is to be noticed, that the faithful, purged from all false confidence, may betake themselves exclusively to his succor, and depending upon it, may fearlessly despise whatever Satan and the world may plot against them. The name of God is nothing else than God himself; yet it tacitly conveys a significant idea, implying that as he has disclosed to us his grace by his word, we have ready access to him, so that in seeking him we need not go to a distance, or follow long circuitous paths. Nor is it without cause that the Psalmist again honors God with the title of Creator. We know with what disquietude our minds are agitated till they have raised the power of God to its appropriate elevation, that, the whole world being put under, it alone may be pre-eminent; which cannot be the case unless we are persuaded that all things are subject to his will. He did not show once and in a moment his power in the creation of the world and then withdraw it, but he continually demonstrates it in the government of the world. Moreover, although all men freely and loudly confess that God is the Creator of heaven and of earth, so that even the most wicked are ashamed to withhold from him the honor of this title, yet no sooner does any terror present itself to us than we are convicted of unbelief in hardly setting any value whatever upon the help which he has to bestow.

Smith's Bible Commentary

Psalms 124:1-8 :

If it had not been the LORD who was on our side ( Psalms 124:1 ),

And, of course, I think we could all write our own psalm from this point on. If God hadn't been with me, let me tell you, you know. "If it had not been that the LORD was on our side,"

now may Israel say; If it had not been that the LORD who was on our side, when men rose up against us: then they would have swallowed us up quickly, when their wrath was kindled against us: then the waters had overwhelmed us, and the stream had gone over our soul: and the proud waters would have gone over our soul ( Psalms 124:1-5 ).

Oh, if it hadn't been for God's help. If it hadn't been for God's strength. If it hadn't been for God's sustaining power, how many times we would have gone under. We'd have never made it this far if it had not been.

Paul the apostle said, "Who hath delivered us from so great a death, who doth now deliver us, and I am confident He shall yet deliver us" ( 1 Corinthians 1:10 ). You see, the past help of God is a prophecy of the future. The fact that God has helped me, the fact that God is helping me is my assurance that He's going to help me. And if it had not been that God was helping me, I wouldn't be here now.

And so he breaks forth into the blessing.

Blessed be the LORD, who hath not given us as a prey to their teeth. Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers: the snare is broken, we are escaped. Our help is in the name of Yahweh, who made heaven and eaRuth ( Psalms 124:6-8 ).

And again, the idea, God has made the heaven and the earth. The name of Yahweh, the name of our God, Yahweh, the maker of heaven and earth. And our help is in the name of the Lord. There's tremendous power in the name of Jesus.

Peter was walking into the temple, the hour of prayer. And there was a man who was lame and begging. And you go to Israel today and you find out that severely handicapped people: blind, lame, and all, the lepers; they still are around the gates begging. A lot of beggars. And here was a man born lame, begging. And Peter said, "Hey fellow, look over here." And he turned, held out his hand expecting to receive something. Peter said, "I don't have any silver and gold, but I'll be glad to share what I do have. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, stand up and walk" ( Acts 3:6 ). Power in the name of Jesus. And the man stood, he walked, he leaped. He ran through the temple, walking, leaping, praising God, because of the power of the name of Jesus.

There is a proverb that says, "The name of Yahweh is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe" ( Proverbs 18:10 ). How many times I have retreated into the safety of the name of Jesus. When threatened, when in danger, just the breathing out, "Oh Jesus." In the name of Jesus. Jesus said, "Henceforth you've asked nothing in My name. Ask, that you might receive, that your joy might be full" ( John 16:24 ). "You shall ask anything in My name, I will do it, that the Father might be glorified in the Son" ( John 14:13 ). The power of the name of Jesus, maker of heaven and earth.

Jesus, of course, you know, is Yahweh Shua or Yashua. It is that name of God compounded with the Hebrew word salvation. And thus you get, Jehovah or Yahweh is salvation. "

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Psalms 124

David voiced praise to God for not allowing the pagan nations that surrounded Israel to defeat and assimilate God’s people.

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

2. Praise for the Lord’s protection 124:6-8

David next praised Yahweh for not allowing Israel’s enemies to tear her to pieces as a vicious animal tears its prey. Israel had escaped as a bird that flies free when someone releases the trap that snared it. Israel’s helper was Yahweh, not any human deliverer (cf. Psalms 121:8). He is the Maker of heaven and earth (cf. Psalms 115:15; Psalms 121:2), the strongest of all deliverers.

This psalm and Psalms 121 both commemorate God’s preservation of the Israelites. Psalms 121 is more personal and individualistic in its outlook, whereas this one is more national and corporate-perhaps a communal thanksgiving song. The preservation of God’s people is a fit subject for praise in both respects. Israel has suffered from anti-Semitism for centuries, yet God has faithfully preserved His chosen people to the present day.

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

Our help [is] in the name of the Lord,.... This is the conclusion the church draws from the scene of Providence in her favour; this is the instruction she learns from hence, that her help is in the Lord only, and not in any creature; and that it is right to put her trust and confidence in the Lord for it, and only to expect it from him whose name is in himself; and is a strong tower to flee unto for safety, Proverbs 18:10. The Targum is,

"in the name of the Word of the Lord;''

in the Messiah; in whom the name of the Lord is, his nature and perfections; and in whom help is found, being laid upon him, Exodus 23:21;

who made heaven and earth; and therefore must be able to help his people, and to do more for them than they are able to ask or think: for what is it he cannot do that made the heavens and the earth, and all that is in them? see Psalms 121:1.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      6 Blessed be the LORD, who hath not given us as a prey to their teeth.   7 Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers: the snare is broken, and we are escaped.   8 Our help is in the name of the LORD, who made heaven and earth.

      Here the psalmist further magnifies the great deliverance God had lately wrought for them.

      I. That their hearts might be the more enlarged in thankfulness to him (Psalms 124:6; Psalms 124:6): Blessed be the Lord. God is the author of all our deliverances, and therefore he must have the glory of them. We rob him of his due if we do not return thanks to him. And we are the more obliged to praise him because we had such a narrow escape. We were delivered, 1. Like a lamb out of the very jaws of a beast of prey: God has not given us as a prey to their teeth, intimating that they had no power over God's people but what was given them from above. They could not be a prey to their teeth unless God gave them up, and therefore they were rescued, because God would not suffer them to be ruined. 2. Like a bird, a little bird (the word signifies a sparrow), out of the snare of the fowler. The enemies are very subtle and spiteful; they lay snares for God's people, to bring them into sin and trouble, and to hold them there. Sometimes they seem to have prevailed so far as to gain their point. God's people are taken in the snare, and are as unable to help themselves out as any weak and silly bird is; and then is God's time to appear for their relief, when all other friends fail; then God breaks the snare, and turns the counsel of the enemies into foolishness: The snare is broken and so we are delivered. Isaac was saved when he lay ready to be sacrificed. Jehovah-jireh--in the mount of the Lord it shall be seen.

      II. That their hearts, and the hearts of others, might be the more encouraged to trust in God in the like dangers (Psalms 124:8; Psalms 124:8): Our help is in the name of the Lord. David had directed us (Psalms 121:2) to depend upon God for help as to our personal concerns--My help is in the name of the Lord; here as to the concerns of the public--Our help is so. It is a comfort to all that lay the interests of God's Israel near their hearts that Israel's God is the same that made the world, and therefore will have a church in the world, and can secure that church in times of the greatest danger and distress. In him therefore let the church's friends put their confidence, and they shall not be put to confusion.