Behold, God is my helper; the Lord sustains my life. (Ps 54:6)
הִנֵּ֣ה אֱ֭לֹהִים עֹזֵ֣ר לִ֑י אֲ֝דֹנָ֗י בְּֽסֹמְכֵ֥י נַפְשִֽׁי׃
ἰδοὺ γὰρ ὁ θεὸς βοηθεῖ μοι, καὶ ὁ κύριος ἀντιλήμπτωρ τῆς ψυχῆς μου.
Ecce enim Deus adiuvat me, et Dominus susceptor est animae meae.
To uphold (סָמַךְ sāmak), this verb occurs 48 times in the Hebrew Bible, and in all cases the action indicated is “to help” and “to support, to uphold”. The meaning of this verb varies between “to lean on” and “to uphold”, both physically and in the abstract sense. In man’s relationship with God, it is God who “upholds” those who falter and raises those who stumble (Ps 145).
This verb also appears in today’s responsorial Psalm (Ps 54). The psalmist, experiencing the violence of the proud, confidently confesses that it is the Lord who helps him and who upholds (סָמַךְ sāmak) his life (v. 6), so he will gladly praise the Name of God because it is good.
Lord Jesus demands such childlike trust in the power and might of God from His Apostles, who, arrogant in themselves, argue about the first place and which of them is more important. In our life, it is not about demonstrating how strong we are and what power we have, but about the power of God being able to manifest through us. Which, as Jesus says, is revealed in what is small and powerless like a child.
