Our Help
Psalm1 24:1–8
Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth. Psalm 124:8
The final verse of Psalm 124 is an echo of Psalm 121:2. Similar verses occur throughout the psalms, and many worship services have begun with these words or others like them. Job Orton (1717–1783) reported in the late eighteenth century that the French Protestants always used this verse to begin their public worship. Rightly so, for these words direct our thoughts to God, who is the only sure help of his people and the only rightful object of our true devotion. There are three important emphases in this verse.
1. “Our help is in the name of the Lord.” Others may offer to help us, but we dare not turn to them since they do not have what we need. Only the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth, is adequate for us in our weakness. He is omniscient; he always knows what we need and knows it perfectly. He is omnipresent; he is always there when we need him. He is omnipotent; he can do what needs to be done. He is loving and gracious; he always has our spiritual best interest at heart. With a God like this why should we ever trust other gods or lean so much on other people?
2. “Our help is in the name of the Lord.” Everything we need or can possibly need is in God, but particularly we rejoice that our help is in God, since we are so helpless. Spurgeon observed that in God we have help “as troubled sinners,” being delivered from the punishment and guilt of our sin. We have help “as dull scholars,” being taught to know and understand God’s Word. We have help “as trembling professors,” being witnesses to his gospel, God giving us words to speak and blessing our testimony in the lives of others. We have help “as inexperienced travellers” on life’s journey, being guided on the right paths and kept from perilous pitfalls and wasteful detours. We have help “as feeble workers,” being unprofitable servants at best, but God is blessing the work of our hands and making it of lasting value.
3. “Our help is in the name of the Lord.” The help that is to be found in God is our help—not someone else’s, but our very own help. We have tested God’s Word and have found God to be everything he has described himself as being. We look to the past and testify, “The Lord has helped me.” We look to the present and assert, “The Lord is my help even this very day.” We look to the future and affirm, “The Lord will be my help forever.”
Taken from Come to the Waters by James Boice ISBN 9798887790954 used with permission from P&R Publishing, Phillipsburg NJ 08865
Scripture quotations are from the ESV (the Holy Bible English Standard Version) copyright 2001 by Crossway a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. All rights reserved.