(1) If Adonai hadn’t been for us —
let Isra’el repeat it —
2 If Adonai hadn’t been for us
when people rose to attack us,
3 then, when their anger blazed against us,
they would have swallowed us alive!
4 Then the water would have engulfed us,
the torrent would have swept over us.
5 Yes, the raging water
would have swept right over us.
6 Blessed be Adonai, who did not leave us
to be a prey for their teeth!
7 We escaped like a bird from the hunter’s trap;
the trap is broken, and we have escaped.
8 Our help is in the name of Adonai,
the maker of heaven and earth.
Saint Henry (Optional Memorial)
Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth. (Psalm 124:8)My help is in the name of the Lord. Yes, God, I need you today! I know that if you aren’t with me, I will be swallowed alive by jealousy or anxiety or something else that will weaken, or weary, or immobilize me. Pessimism or resentment or anxiety or arrogance will rush over me. But blessed are you, Lord, for you will not abandon me to these predators.
Father, it’s not only wolfish sin that threatens me. Without your help, the slow, steady drip-drip-drip of minor mishaps, petty annoyances, and nagging doubts will surely wear away the faith I started out with. Slow traffic. Red lights. Questions asked for the hundredth—or millionth—time. Tantrums. Dirty dishes left in the sink, again! Self-condemnation. White lies and subtle compromises. Boredom. Little things that so capture my attention and irritate my soul that by nighttime, I am tied up in them, heart and mind.
You are my help, Lord, all day long, as you break those snares and free me! Your name is a strong tower in which I find shelter from the sin and wavering doubt that seem to be all around me. In your name, I can call a halt to the slow erosion of my faith. You fill my heart with your life—with joy, comfort, and a sense of security. You heal me. You shower my sin and failures with mercy, and you strengthen my frailty and vulnerability with grace. You inspire me to turn from sin, and draw me to yourself.
Father, who or what could possibly be stronger than you? Nothing in all of creation! Not the rulers of this world nor the powers of hell, not even death itself. When I turn to you for help, when I call on your name, I place myself in the refuge you have carved out for all those who are humble and lowly. You who made heaven and earth are wiser and stronger than any created thing. You give me the strength to live for you, and help me to tell people all about your goodness and your salvation.
“Yes, indeed, my help is in the name of the Lord, ‘who made heaven and earth’ (Psalm 124:8)!” Amen!Exodus 1:8 Now there arose a new king over Egypt. He knew nothing about Yosef 9 but said to his people, “Look, the descendants of Isra’el have become a people too numerous and powerful for us. 10 Come, let’s use wisdom in dealing with them. Otherwise, they’ll continue to multiply; and in the event of war they might ally themselves with our enemies, fight against us and leave the land altogether.”
11 So they put slavemasters over them to oppress them with forced labor, and they built for Pharaoh the storage cities of Pitom and Ra‘amses. 12 But the more the Egyptians oppressed them, the more they multiplied and expanded, until the Egyptians came to dread the people of Isra’el 13 and worked them relentlessly, 14 making their lives bitter with hard labor — digging clay, making bricks, all kinds of field work; and in all this toil they were shown no mercy.
22 Then Pharaoh gave this order to all his people: “Every boy that is born, throw in the river; but let all the girls live.”
Matthew 10:34 “Don’t suppose that I have come to bring peace to the Land. It is not peace I have come to bring, but a sword! 35 For I have come to set
36 a man against his father,
a daughter against her mother,
a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law,
so that a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.[Matthew 10:36 Micah 7:6]
37 Whoever loves his father or mother more than he loves me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than he loves me is not worthy of me. 38 And anyone who does not take up his execution-stake and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Whoever finds his own life will lose it, but the person who loses his life for my sake will find it.
40 “Whoever receives you is receiving me, and whoever receives me is receiving the One who sent me. 41 Anyone who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive the reward a prophet gets, and anyone who receives a tzaddik because he is a tzaddik will receive the reward a tzaddik gets. 42 Indeed, if someone gives just a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my talmid — yes! — I tell you, he will certainly not lose his reward!”
11:1 After Yeshua had finished instructing the twelve talmidim, he went on from there to teach and preach in the towns nearby.
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