Reading: Psalm 124:6-8

Psalm 124:8 – “Our help is in the name of the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth.”

Earlier this week we read the first part of Psalm 124. For a refresher, it began with “If the Lord hadn’t been for us…” On our walks of faith, this is something we too experience. If God was not with me, the grief would’ve overwhelmed me. If God was not with me, the temptation would’ve been too great. If God _____… We can all fill in the rest of that sentence again and again. We can do so because God is faithful and true and steadfast and loving. The natural outflow of this kind of remembering is to praise and worship God, to offer our thanksgiving to the Lord.

Turning to today’s verses, that is what the psalmist does! In verse 6 we read, “Bless the Lord because…” In the Psalm, Israel did escape the enemy. They slipped out of the trap. If God wasn’t there that day, how things would be so very different. The same idea is true for us. Pause for a moment and think of a few hard times when God was there for you. Where would you be if God wasn’t there for you?

The Psalm closes with a great statement of faith: “Our help is in the name of the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth.” Yes! God is our help. Without God, life would be unbearable – filled with sin, sorrow, and suffering. We do not have to live in these places, though. God is faithful and true and steadfast and loving. Thanks be to God!

Prayer: Lord God, we are so grateful for your abiding and constant presence. In life there is good and evil, health and illness, want and plenty… You are present in it all. We are especially thankful for your presence, love, and care in the hard moments, when we are most likely to become less than you intend us to be. O God, walk with us daily. Amen.