Our help is in the name of the Lord - Psalm 123 (Gradual Psalm No 5)

Zermatt Church, Zermatt, Switzerland
Photo credit: Andrew Bossi

The last of the first five psalms, the set usually said devotionally for the suffering souls, and second psalm of weekday Sext in the Benedictine office, Psalm 123, makes clear our total dependence on God.

In it the psalmist rejoices because God has heard his plea and intervened to strengthen the souls of the people with faith and patience, and bring them safely through the raging waters and the hunter’s trap.  The psalm contrasts the helplessness of man in the face of his enemies; with God, the Creator of all and saviour of the people under attack.

Psalm 123: Nisi quia Dóminus erat in nobis 

Vulgate	Douay-Rheims
Canticum graduum
1  Nisi quia Dóminus erat in nobis, dicat nunc Israël: * nisi quia Dóminus erat in nobis,	If it had not been that the Lord was with us, let Israel now say: 2 If it had not been that the Lord was with us,
2  Cum exsúrgerent hómines in nos, * forte vivos deglutíssent nos:	When men rose up against us, 3 perhaps they had swallowed us up alive.
3  Cum irascerétur furor eórum in nos, * fórsitan aqua absorbuísset nos.	When their fury was enkindled against us, perhaps the waters had swallowed us up.
4  Torréntem pertransívit ánima nostra: * fórsitan pertransísset ánima nostra aquam intolerábilem.	5 Our soul has passed through a torrent: perhaps our soul had passed through a water insupportable.
5  Benedíctus Dóminus * qui non dedit nos, in captiónem déntibus eórum.	6 Blessed be the Lord, who has not given us to be a prey to their teeth.
6  Anima nostra sicut passer erépta est * de láqueo venántium.	7 Our soul has been delivered as a sparrow out of the snare of the fowlers.
7  Láqueus contrítus est, * et nos liberáti sumus.	The snare is broken, and we are delivered.
8  Adjutórium nostrum in nómine Dómini, * qui fecit cælum et terram.	8 Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth

In the Hebrew Masoretic Text version (but not the Septuagint) this psalm, the fourth of the gradual psalms, is attributed to David.

There are also a number of minor differences in this psalm between the Masoretic Text and the Septuagint.

How to face trials

The psalm opens with a a formula that is an exhortation to prayer: ‘dicat nunc Israël’,  or 'let Israel say'.   It then provides two images of the dire straits the pilgrims finds themselves in: first a sea monster intent on swallowing them alive as they struggle, caught up in a raging flood (verses 2-5); and secondly of birds caught in a trap set by hunters (verses 6-7).

In the face of these dangers, the psalms exhorts us, what counts is not our own virtues, planning or resources, but God’s mercy and aid.  As in the previous psalm, the emphasis here is on cultivating patience and self-abandonment to God.

Some of the medieval manuscripts of this psalm include illuminations making a link to the image of a drowning person here, and Noah's saving ark.  And the Fathers also make a link between the wood of the Ark, and the wood of the Cross, making the psalm an appropriate one as we contemplate Christ on the Cross at Sext each day.

That is not to say that we have no role in co-operating with grace though; St John Chrysostom adds another key dimension to this message, stressing the importance of trials in building our character and virtue, and thus helping us progress towards perfection: great troubles bring forth great good for us and from us.

Progress in humility

It is also worth noting that St Benedict's contemporary Cassiodorus links this psalm back to the ladder of humility:

How splendidly the blessed devotion of confessors has mounted the fifth step, enabling them to rejoice in their advance to this fifth stage after their success in overcoming their bodily feelings with the Lord's help! The humility which is the remedy for the human race ensured that they did not fall or stagger through physical frailty. That humility enabled them to put all their hope in the Lord, and they attributed nothing good to themselves with the presumption that causes downfall.

Song of the martyrs

Above all, the psalm reminds us that, in facing our noonday demons, it is the fate of the soul, not the body that counts: St Augustine portrays this psalm as the song of the martyrs, rejoicing that they have passed through the torrents and traps that afflict the body only, their souls resting safe with the Lord in heaven.  Pope Benedict XVI summarises his view thus:

‘St Augustine comments clearly on this Psalm. He first observes that it is fittingly sung by the "members of Christ who have reached blessedness". In particular, "it has been sung by the holy martyrs who, upon leaving this world are with Christ in joy, ready to take up incorrupt again those same bodies that were previously corruptible. In life they suffered torments in the body, but in eternity these torments will be transformed into ornaments of justice". However, in a second instance the Bishop of Hippo tells us that we too, not only the blessed in Heaven, can sing this Psalm with hope. He declares: "We too are enlivened by unfailing hope and will sing in exaltation. Indeed, the singers of this Psalm are not strangers to us.... Therefore, let us all sing with one heart: both the saints who already possess the crown as well as ourselves, who with affection and hope unite ourselves to their crown. Together we desire the life that we do not have here below, but that we will never obtain if we have not first desired it".’

The psalm contains a threefold profession of faith: faith that the Lord is with us in our trials (verse 1); that he will not abandon us to temptations (verse 6); and above all in that final triumphant statement, that the God who is creator of all things will save us (verse 8).

Liturgical and Scriptural uses of the psalm

NT references	-
RB cursus	Sext during the week v8 - Compline
Monastic feasts etc	Gradual Psalms; LOOL Sext AN 1279(8)
Roman pre 1911	Tuesday Vespers
Responsories	6039 (8)
Roman post 1911	1911-62: Tuesday Vespers . 1970: Evening Prayer - Monday of Week Three
Mass propers (EF)	Holy Innocents GR, (7, 8); OF(7, v 1, 5, 6) Common of several martyrs GR (7,8) final blessing Pontifical mass (8)

Verse by verse notes

You can find more detailed notes on this psalm by following the following links:

• verses 1-2;
• verses 3-4;
• verses 5-8.

Or you can go on to Psalm 124.

Psalm 123 verses 5-8

Psalm 123 continues in verses 5-7 with a third image, explanied by Pope Benedict XVI:

"The second part of our thanksgiving hymn shifts from the marine image to a hunting scene, typical of many Psalms of supplication (cf. Ps 124[123]: 6-8). Here, in fact, the Psalm evokes a wild beast clenching its prey between its teeth or the snare of fowlers that captures a bird. But the blessing this Psalm expresses enables us to understand that the destiny of the faithful, that was a destiny of death, has been radically changed by a saving intervention: "Blessed be the Lord who did not give us a prey to their teeth!"

5	V	Benedíctus Dóminus * qui non dedit nos, in captiónem déntibus eórum.
	NV	Benedictus Dominus, qui non dedit nos in direptionem dentibus eorum.
	JH	Benedictus Dominus, qui non dedit nos in praedam dentibus eorum.
		εὐλογητὸς κύριος ὃς οὐκ ἔδωκεν ἡμᾶς εἰς θήραν τοῖς ὀδοῦσιν αὐτῶν

benedico, dixi, dictum, ere 3, to bless

do, dedi, datum, are, to give,

captio, onis, /. prey, booty; a net, trap, snare.

DR	Blessed be the Lord, who has not given us to be a prey to their teeth.
Cover	But praised be the Lord, who hath not given us over for a prey unto their teeth.

St Athanasius comments: 

What then is our duty, my brothers, for the sake of these things, but to praise and give thanks to God, the king of all? And let us first exclaim in the words of the psalms, "Blessed be the Lord, who has not given us over as a prey to their teeth." Let us keep the feast in that way that he has dedicated for us unto salvation—the holy day Easter—so that we may celebrate the feast which is in heaven with the angels. Thus anciently, the people of the Jews, when they came out of affliction into a state of ease, kept the feast, singing a song of praise for their victory. So also the people in the time of Esther, because they were delivered from the edict of death, kept a feast to the Lord, considering it a feast, returning thanks to the Lord and praising him for having changed their condition. Therefore let us, per­forming our vows to the Lord and confessing our sins, keep the feast to the Lord, in conversation, moral conduct and manner of life; praising our Lord, who has chastened us a little but has not utterly failed or forsaken us or altogether kept silence from us. For if, having brought us out of the deceitful and famous Egypt of the opponents of Christ, he has caused us to pass through many trials and afflictions, as it were in the wilderness, to his holy church, so that from hence, according to custom, we can send to you, as well as receive letters from you; on this account especially I both give thanks to God myself and exhort you to thank him with me and on my behalf, this being the apostolic custom, which these opponents of Christ, and the schismatics, wished to put an end to and to break off. The Lord did not permit it but both renewed and preserved that which was ordained by him through the apostle, so that we may keep the feast together, and together keep holy day, according to the tradition and com­mandment of the fathers. Festal Letter 10.11

6	V/NV	Anima nostra sicut passer erépta est * de láqueo venántium.
	JH	Anima nostra quasi auis erepta est de laqueo uenantium :
		ἡ ψυχὴ ἡμῶν ὡς στρουθίον ἐρρύσθη ἐκ τῆς παγίδος τῶν θηρευόντων

Text notes: ‘Passer’ means sparrow, which is often used with connotations of a bird that lives alone; the Diurnal however follows the Masoretic text, which just uses the generic ‘bird’.

sicut, adv., as, just as, like.

passer, eris, m., a sparrow; the Hebrew term means any kind of small bird, not necessarily a sparrow

eripio, ripui, reptum, ere 3 (ex and rapio, to snatch away, to rescue, deliver

laqueus, ei, m., a noose for capturing animals; a snare, trap

dens, dentis, a tooth; to escape the malice of enemies is to escape from their teeth. 123,6.

venor, atus sum, ari, to hunt.

DR	Our soul has been delivered as a sparrow out of the snare of the fowlers.
MD	Our soul hath escaped like a bird, out of the snare of the fowler.
RSV	We have escaped as a bird from the snare of the fowlers;
Cover	Our soul is escaped even as a bird out of the snare of the fowler;

Bellarmine comments:

"and he tells us how that was effected when he says, "Our soul hath been delivered as a sparrow out of the snare of the fowlers." No doubt, our soul fell into persecution and temp­tation, as would a sparrow or any other bird, when they are seduced into the snare set by the fowlers; but still it was loosed and delivered from the temptation before the tempter got hold of it to kill it; like a bird caught in a snare but enlarged before the fowler arrived to take it, kill it, and eat it."

7	V/JH	Láqueus contrítus est, * et nos liberáti sumus.
	NV	laqueus contritus est, et nos erepti sumus.
		ἡ παγὶς συνετρίβη καὶ ἡμεῖς ἐρρύσθημεν

contero, trivi, Itum, ere 3, to break, crush, destroy.

libero, avi, atum, are  to free, set free, deliver

DR	The snare is broken, and we are delivered.

Bellarmine continues:

That was effected by "the snare being broken and thus we are delivered." God having by his grace, repressed the temptation before the soul either denied the faith or consented to sin in any other respect, just as the snare that held the bird would be broken, on which the bird flies off, and thus disappoints the fowler of his prey.

8	V/NV	Adjutórium nostrum in nómine Dómini, * qui fecit cælum et terram.
	JH	Auxilium nostrum in nomine Domini, qui fecit caelum et terram.
		ἡ βοήθεια ἡμῶν ἐν ὀνόματι κυρίου τοῦ ποιήσαντος τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὴν γῆν

adjutorium, ii, n.  help, aid, assistance, strength,  shelter, protection,  support

facio, feci, factum, ere 3,  to make, do, cause, bring to pass

nomen, mis, n. name.

caelum, i, n., or caeli, orum, m.  heaven, the abode of God; the heavens as opposed to the earth; the air;

terra, ae, /. the earth

DR	Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth
Cover	Our help standeth in the Name of the Lord, who hath made heaven and earth.

St Augustine notes that: 

So this heaven and earth is called the world. In saying "Do not love the world," he is not disparaging that world; whoever disparages that world, after all, is disparaging the maker of the world. Listen to the world mentioned twice in one place in different senses: it was said of the Lord Christ, "He was in this world, and the world was made through him, and the world did not know him."9 The world was made through him: "Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth." The world was made through him: "I lifted up my eyes to the moun­tains; from where will help come to me? My help is from the Lord, who made heaven and earth."10 This world was made by God, and the world did not know him. Which world did not know him? The lover of the world, the lover of the work, the scorner of the workman. Sermon 3I3A.2.

Psalm 123: Nisi quia Dóminus erat in nobis 

Vulgate	Douay-Rheims
Canticum graduum
1  Nisi quia Dóminus erat in nobis, dicat nunc Israël: * nisi quia Dóminus erat in nobis,	If it had not been that the Lord was with us, let Israel now say: 2 If it had not been that the Lord was with us,
2  Cum exsúrgerent hómines in nos, * forte vivos deglutíssent nos:	When men rose up against us, 3 perhaps they had swallowed us up alive.
3  Cum irascerétur furor eórum in nos, * fórsitan aqua absorbuísset nos.	When their fury was enkindled against us, perhaps the waters had swallowed us up.
4  Torréntem pertransívit ánima nostra: * fórsitan pertransísset ánima nostra aquam intolerábilem.	5 Our soul has passed through a torrent: perhaps our soul had passed through a water insupportable.
5  Benedíctus Dóminus * qui non dedit nos, in captiónem déntibus eórum.	6 Blessed be the Lord, who has not given us to be a prey to their teeth.
6  Anima nostra sicut passer erépta est * de láqueo venántium.	7 Our soul has been delivered as a sparrow out of the snare of the fowlers.
7  Láqueus contrítus est, * et nos liberáti sumus.	The snare is broken, and we are delivered.
8  Adjutórium nostrum in nómine Dómini, * qui fecit cælum et terram.	8 Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth

Psalm 123: verses 3-4

 Verses 3-4 present the second major image of Psalm 123, of a torrent of waters seeking to drown us.

3	V/NV	Cum irascerétur furor eórum in nos, * fórsitan aqua absorbuísset nos.
	JH	cum irasceretur furor eorum super nos : forsitan aquae circumdedissent nos,
		ἐν τῷ ὀργισθῆναι τὸν θυμὸν αὐτῶν ἐφ' ἡμᾶς ἄρα τὸ ὕδωρ κατεπόντισεν ἡμᾶς

Text notes:  The Monastic Diurnal omits to translate the ‘forte’ here, but Ladouceur suggests that is appropriate, as the word is added to translate an untranslatable Greek particle of contingency (in a contrary to the fact condition).  Boylan suggests that the overall image conjured up here is that of a sea monster, which fits with the flooding waters that follow, and is picked up again in verse 5.

irascor, iratus sum, irasci  to be angry or wrathful. (1) Of God. (2) Of men

furor, oris, m.  rage, wrath, fury, indignation

aqua, ae, water

forsitan, adv.  perhaps, perchance, peradventure; surely.

absorbeo, ui, ere 2, to swallow up, gulp down

DR	When their fury was enkindled against us, perhaps the waters had swallowed us up.
Brenton	when their wrath was kindled against us: verily the water would have drowned us,
MD	When their fury was inflamed against us, the waters might have rushed over us.
RSV	when their anger was kindled against us; then the flood would have swept us away,
Cover	Yea, the waters had drowned us, and the stream had gone over our soul.

Cassiodorus parses out the text as follows:

"The first half of the verse goes with what precedes. This is how the sense is to be combined: If it had not been that the Lord was with us when men rose up against us, perhaps they would have swallowed us alive. We must place a fullstop here, so that we may take the remainder of the verse with the connection between the words sundered. 

With regard to his phrase, they would have swal­lowed us alive, it is not a human practice for opponents to swallow people alive; but we are swallowed alive when plunged into the evils of heresy or into the steep depths of sins with sacrilegious wicked­ness. This could have befallen the holy men if heavenly power had not rescued them. 

Next follows the other half of this verse, which must clearly be joined to the statement coming next. He says: When their anger was roused against us. The sense of their roused anger is that they did not have most righteous motives, for anger and envy are lacking in judgment, pursuing as they do their desires with headlong purpose. As Solomon puts it: Anger killeth the foolish, and envy slayeth the little one.What just motive could they have against God's servants when they had the audacity to despise the Creator of all when He was with them? Animus (anger) is a Greek word formed from anemos (wind), because its movement is comparable to the swiftest breezes, or from anaima (bloodlessness) because it is bloodless, since it is not physical, as was stated in the book which with the Lord's help we wrote on the soul.

4	V	Torréntem pertransívit ánima nostra: * fórsitan pertransísset ánima nostra aquam intolerábilem.
	NV	torrens pertransisset animam nostram; forsitan pertransissent animam nostrum aquae intumescentes.
	JH	torrens transisset super animam nostram : forsitan transissent super animam nostram aquae superbae.
		χείμαρρον διῆλθεν ἡ ψυχὴ ἡμῶν ἄρα διῆλθεν ἡ ψυχὴ ἡμῶν τὸ ὕδωρ τὸ ἀνυπόστατον

Text notes: The Vulgate (and Septuagint) reverse the subject and object (soul and torrent) in each of the phrases here compared to the Masoretic Text, and the Diurnal follows the MT.  The Septuagint/Vulgate version however makes just as much if not more sense however, making the movement of the soul more active (ie ‘Our soul has passed through the torrent’, rather than ‘the torrent passed over our soul’).  Either way, floods and overwhelming waters often symbolize misfortune.

torrens, entis, m.  a brook, stream, torrent

pertranseo, ii or ivi, ire  to pass through,traverse; to go about, wander, roam; to pass, flow

anima, ae, (1) Equivalent to a personal pronoun:   (2) Untranslated:. (3) Life, soul, and heart

intolerabilis, e, overwhelming, unbearable

DR	Our soul has passed through a torrent: perhaps our soul had passed through a water insupportable.
Brenton	our soul would have gone under the torrent. Yea, our soul would have gone under the overwhelming water.
MD	The torrent might have overwhelmed us, the raging flood might have swept us along.
RSV	the torrent would have gone over us; then over us would have gone the raging waters.
Cover	The deep waters of the proud had gone even over our soul.

Pope Benedict XVI commented on these verses as follows:

In the first, the raging waters, a biblical symbol of devastating chaos, evil and death, predominate: "Then would the waters have engulfed us, the torrent gone over us; over our head would have swept the raging waters" (vv. 4-5). The person of prayer now has the feeling that he lies on a beach, miraculously saved from the pounding fury of the waves. Human life is surrounded by the snares of evil lying in wait that not only attack the person's life but also aim at destroying all human values. We see how these dangers exist even now. However, the Lord rises - and we can be sure of this also today - to preserve the just and save him, as the Psalmist sings in Psalm 18[17]: "From on high he reached down and seized me; he drew me forth from the mighty waters. He snatched me from my powerful foe, from my enemies... the Lord was my support. He brought me forth into freedom, he saved me because he loved me" (vv. 17-20)

Psalm 123: Nisi quia Dóminus erat in nobis 

Vulgate	Douay-Rheims
Canticum graduum
1  Nisi quia Dóminus erat in nobis, dicat nunc Israël: * nisi quia Dóminus erat in nobis,	If it had not been that the Lord was with us, let Israel now say: 2 If it had not been that the Lord was with us,
2  Cum exsúrgerent hómines in nos, * forte vivos deglutíssent nos:	When men rose up against us, 3 perhaps they had swallowed us up alive.
3  Cum irascerétur furor eórum in nos, * fórsitan aqua absorbuísset nos.	When their fury was enkindled against us, perhaps the waters had swallowed us up.
4  Torréntem pertransívit ánima nostra: * fórsitan pertransísset ánima nostra aquam intolerábilem.	5 Our soul has passed through a torrent: perhaps our soul had passed through a water insupportable.
5  Benedíctus Dóminus * qui non dedit nos, in captiónem déntibus eórum.	6 Blessed be the Lord, who has not given us to be a prey to their teeth.
6  Anima nostra sicut passer erépta est * de láqueo venántium.	7 Our soul has been delivered as a sparrow out of the snare of the fowlers.
7  Láqueus contrítus est, * et nos liberáti sumus.	The snare is broken, and we are delivered.
8  Adjutórium nostrum in nómine Dómini, * qui fecit cælum et terram.	8 Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth