Psalm 124 is a thanksgiving for a narrow escape: “If it had not been that the Lord was with us… Perhaps they had swallowed us up alive.” It ends with a verse Catholics hear at the start of countless blessings: “Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.” In the Douay-Rheims it is numbered Psalm 123. Below is the full Catholic text, what the psalm means, how the Church uses it, and a prayer.
Psalm 124 in the Douay-Rheims Bible
If it had not been that the Lord was with us, let Israel now say:
If it had not been that the Lord was with us, When men rose up against us,
Perhaps they had swallowed us up alive. When their fury was enkindled against us,
Perhaps the waters had swallowed us up.
Our soul hath passed through a torrent: perhaps our soul had passed through a water insupportable.
Blessed be the Lord, who hath not given us to be a prey to their teeth.
Our soul hath been delivered as a sparrow out of the snare of the fowlers. The snare is broken, and we are delivered.
Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
Psalm 124 or Psalm 123?
The Douay-Rheims Bible follows the numbering of the Latin Vulgate and the Greek Septuagint, while most modern Bibles follow the Hebrew. So the Douay’s Psalm 123 is Psalm 124 in the New American Bible and other modern translations. In Latin the psalm begins Nisi quia Dominus erat in nobis. See how many psalms are there?
“Our help is in the name of the Lord”
The last verse of this psalm, Adiutorium nostrum in nomine Domini, qui fecit caelum et terram, became one of the most familiar versicles of the Church’s prayer. The priest says “Our help is in the name of the Lord,” and the people answer, “Who made heaven and earth.” It opens many blessings in the Roman Ritual, from the blessing of a home to the blessing of a rosary, and in the traditional Latin Mass it introduced the Confiteor at the foot of the altar. See Catholic blessings and the Order of the Mass.
The image of the bird escaping the trap is one of the most hopeful in the Psalter: “Our soul hath been delivered as a sparrow out of the snare of the fowlers. The snare is broken, and we are delivered.” The fifteen Songs of Ascents, Psalms 120 to 134 (119 to 133 in the Douay-Rheims), were sung by pilgrims “going up” to Jerusalem for the great feasts.
What the psalm means
- “If the Lord had not been with us”: looking back, we see how God saved us.
- Swallowed alive: enemies and floods nearly overwhelmed God’s people.
- Blessed be the Lord: he did not give us as prey to their teeth.
- The broken snare: we escape like a bird from a trap.
- Our help is in God’s name, the Creator of heaven and earth.
How the Church uses Psalm 124
- At the beginning of many blessings in the Roman Ritual.
- In the traditional Latin Mass, before the Confiteor.
- One of the Songs of Ascents, prayed in the Liturgy of the Hours.
A prayer with Psalm 124
Written for this page:
If you had not been with us, Lord, we would have been swallowed up.
Blessed be the Lord, who did not give us as prey to our enemies.
Our soul has escaped like a bird from the fowler’s snare.
Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth. Amen.
Frequently asked questions
Where does “Our help is in the name of the Lord” come from?
Psalm 124:8 (123:8 in the Douay-Rheims). It opens many Catholic blessings.
What is Psalm 124 about?
Thanksgiving for God’s rescue of his people from enemies and danger, like a bird escaping a trap.
More psalms and prayers
Texts and sources
- Scripture: Psalm 123 (124), Douay-Rheims Bible (Challoner), public domain.
- The prayer was written for this page.