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Towne Church · Tuesday, January 17, 2017WE NEED HELP A LOT MORE THAN WE REALIZE
We all know what it means to need someone’s help. When we are changing a tire on the roadside or trying to fix a leak at the house, it helps to have a friend to assist us. Some of us, though, have a hard time asking for help. We are self-reliant and independent. Now, a certain level of independence is healthy but not an independence that causes us not to ask for help when we need it; and we need help a lot more than we realize. When it comes to God, we need his help all the time. Not a day or hour goes by without our need of his help. Psalm 121 makes this very clear. It affirms our great need of God’s help and his ability to help us.
We need God’s help.
This entire psalm acknowledges that we stand continually in need of God’s help. It presents a picture of us as needy, as people who are weak and prone to stumble. That is why the Lord must guard our steps and watch over us night and day. Scripture is rather candid about our weakness and vulnerability. Matthew 26.41 tells us to watch and pray because, “The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” First Corinthians 10.12 warns us, “Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.” Verse seven of this psalm speaks of the evil that surrounds us and attempts to destroy us. Thankfully, God is able to deliver us from “all” evil. God’s deliverance is complete (Ps 130.7-8). Behind the evil around us is the evil one. Thus, we pray each day for the Lord to deliver us from the evil one (Matt 6.13). Satan is no match for God’s power and protection.
God is able to help us.
The first two verses of this psalm read,
“I look up to the mountains—does my help come from there? My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth” (NLT).
Mountains surrounded Jerusalem and provided natural protection, but the psalmist affirms that it is not the mountains that protected them but the one who made the mountains. The Lord is the one who made heaven and earth. As Creator, he is all-powerful and all-wise. If he could create this world out of nothing, I think he can help us with whatever difficulties we are facing today. It’s interesting that in this short psalm, the holy name for God, Yahweh, is used five times. This name speaks of who God is, what he has done, and what he promises to do. His name is our protection. Proverbs 18.10 says, “The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous run in to it and are safe.” If we put our trust in the name of the Lord, we will be preserved from all evil.
God is present to help us.
The Lord neither sleeps nor slumbers. As human beings, we must sleep on a regular basis. If we don’t, it will affect our health and our ability to function. We can become cranky or confused without sleep. But God never sleeps. He is always awake and watching over us. He watches over us when we can’t watch over ourselves. When we sleep at night, God is there to protect us and keep us safe. The old children’s prayer goes like this: “Now I lay me down to sleep. I pray the Lord my soul to keep. If I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take.” At nighttime, temptations can hit us fiercely—the temptation to worry or fear, the temptation to despair, the temptation to do things unseemly. Yet, God is there even in the night to protect us. He is an ever-present, never-sleeping, all-powerful protector. He is there to help us night and day. There is no need for fear if our trust is in Him.
There is no need for fear if our trust is in Him.
~Dr. Mark Jackson
