My Help Comes from the Lord

Where does my help come from?

Psalms 121:1-2 ESV

 

“I lift up my eyes to the hills.

    From where does my help come?

My help comes from the Lord,

    who made heaven and earth.”

 

The Scriptures teach us that we are to put our trust in God, not in humans: “Do not put your trust in princes, in human beings who cannot save.” “It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in princes.” The Lord’s “pleasure is not in the strength of the horse, nor his delight in the legs of the warrior; the LORD delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love.” (Ps 146:3; Ps 118:9; Ps 147:10-11)

 

“…and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.” “You were bought with a price; do not become slaves of men.” “See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ.” (1 Co 2:4-5; 1 Co 7:23; Col 2:8)

 

So many professers of faith in Jesus Christ are putting their trust in humans to save them, and they are not putting their hope and trust in God. They are looking to politicians and to their nation’s military force, or to doctors, lawyers, preachers, and psychiatrists, etc. to save them from their enemies and to solve their problems and to bring them peace, hope, and change.

 

But God is to be our only hope. Jesus Christ is to be our only Savior, not our government leaders, and not our military. He is to be the only one to give us the answers to our problems and to deliver us from our fears and to give us peace, security, and hope for our future. He is the only one who can heal our nations and to put us on the right track.

 

This is not saying that we should not ever go to doctors or to hospitals or that we shouldn’t seek help from other humans, but it is to say that Jesus should be the first one we run to when we are in trouble, or when we are sick, or when we need help, and we should pray to God for guidance, counsel, and direction to make the right kinds of decisions. But in all things, we should always see that it is God working in our circumstances, and we should put our faith in his sovereignty over our lives.

 

The Lord is your keeper

Psalms 121:3-6 ESV

 

“He will not let your foot be moved;

    he who keeps you will not slumber.

Behold, he who keeps Israel

    will neither slumber nor sleep.

 

“The Lord is your keeper;

    the Lord is your shade on your right hand.

The sun shall not strike you by day,

    nor the moon by night.”

 

This is not teaching that nothing bad will ever happen to us. The people in the Old Testament certainly suffered, and as followers of Jesus Christ we are called to share in the fellowship of Christ’s suffering, becoming like him in his death. We are told that suffering is part of the Christian life, so we are to expect suffering. We are not promised no suffering.

 

Jesus suffered greatly for who He is and for what he did and for what he taught. And the apostles suffered much in the way of persecution and in physical suffering, too. So, we are not to take passages such as this and build a doctrine around them which teaches that Christians will never have to suffer or that we will never have to go through difficulties.

 

So, what is this teaching, then? It is teaching that the Lord is our strength and our support. He will carry us through it all if we will but put our hope and trust in him and if we will not cave to fear. He will keep us from falling. He will keep us from retreating in fear. When we put our hope and faith in him we can endure suffering and grow stronger through it.

 

He will keep you from all evil

Psalms 121:7-8 ESV

 

“The Lord will keep you from all evil;

    he will keep your life.

The Lord will keep

    your going out and your coming in

    from this time forth and forevermore.”

 

Satan is going to tempt us to fear, to retreat, to compromise out of fear, to not trust God, to run to humans for help, to try to solve our own problems, and to try to “help God out” when he doesn’t come through for us in the way that we think he ought, and in the timing in which we think he ought. Satan is also going to tempt us to sin against God and to disobey our Lord.

 

But we must not give way to fear. We must not yield to temptation to sin against our Lord or to doubt him. We must not let other humans intimidate us into caving to fear, either. For, God has not failed. He has not fallen asleep on the job. He is still fully capable of taking care of us and of solving our problems.

 

We must not be pressured into doing things we might not normally do under normal circumstances out of fear of what might happen to us if we don’t. We must pray to God and seek his counsel and ask for wisdom to make the right kinds of decisions, for he may not want us to go the direction we are thinking of going, because he sees the danger lying ahead.

 

So, the way in which the Lord keeps us from all evil is in his power and strength but as we yield control of our lives over to him, and as we seek his counsel, and as we listen to him, and we obey him and do what he says to do. If we step outside of his protection, and we do what we want, out of fear, or out of sinful desire, then we have thrown off his protection.

 

Again, this is not saying that Satan won’t come against us to harm us, or that we won’t be persecuted or mistreated unfairly, or that we won’t suffer or that we won’t go through trials and tribulations. We will. Just look at the life of Job, the life of Jesus, and the lives of the other apostles and of other saints who have gone before us.

 

But it is saying that if our trust and our hope are in the Lord, and that we are looking to him for our help and our support, instead of looking to other humans to rescue us, that our Lord will help us, he will guide us in what is right, and he will show us the way that we should go so that we can walk in it. So, put your trust in the Lord in all things and let him lead you in the right way, and don’t cave to fear of man and what he might do to you.

 

For Our Nation  

 

An Original Work / September 11, 2012

 

Bombs are bursting. Night is falling.

Jesus Christ is gently calling

You to follow Him in all ways.

Trust Him with your life today.

Make Him your Lord and your Savior.

Turn from your sin. Follow Jesus.

He will forgive you of your sin;

Cleanse your heart, made new within.

 

Men betraying: Our trust fraying.

On our knees to God we’re praying,

Seeking God to give us answers

That are only found in Him.

God is sovereign over all things.

Nothing from His mind escaping.

He has all things under His command,

And will work all for good.

 

Jesus Christ is gently calling

You to follow Him in all ways.

 

Men deceiving: we’re believing

In our Lord, and interceding

For our nation and its people

To obey their God today.

He is our hope for our future.

For our wounds He offers suture.

He is all we need for this life.

Trust Him with your life today.

 

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