“My help comes from the Lord.” Psalm 121:2 NIV
“Whatever you manage to achieve in life, you know you had some help.”
My thoughts today are about “God’s help.”
You will need help from someone sometimes, probably more and more often than you would prefer to admit. You can’t do all that you need to do; you won’t be all that you need to be without the help of others. Pulitzer Prize winning author, Alex Haley, is quoted as saying, “Anytime you see a turtle up on top of a fence post, you know he had some help.” That quote has been often used and amended by others who correctly observe, “. . he doesn’t belong there; he can’t get anything done while he’s up there; and you just want to help the poor, dumb thing down!”
That’s not really about turtles; it is about people. That’s equally true of every one of us. Whatever you manage to achieve in life, you know you had some help. It may have been a parent, or teacher, or friend, or a helpful stranger who was your benefactor but someone along the way helped you. Every person stands on the shoulders of someone who helped. To believe otherwise would be either the height of ignorance or arrogance.
Everyone needs someone’s help on occasion. I think we all realize that to be realistic. I, for one, have needed and received an incalculable amount of helping hands from friends and mentors. My failures have been my own responsibility; any successes have been more to the credit of others’ kindness and assistance. Maybe you have not gotten the help from others that you felt you needed, or at the time and in the measure that you required.
There is one sure Source of help that will never fail you. “Even if my father and mother forsake me, the Lord will hold me close . . I am confident that I will see the Lord’s goodness while I am here in the land of the living. Wait patiently for the Lord; be brave and courageous.” Psalm 27:1-14 NLT.
All of us need God’s help all the time! Why is it so hard for a person to admit that? We are undeniably needy, yet avoid admitting our need to God or anyone else. The truest thing you can say to God or a friend is, “Please, I need your help.” Pride is always self-destructive, and never more so than when pride will not allow you to ask for another’s help.
David, the beloved King of Israel, felt his need and found his reliable Source, “I will lift up my eyes to the hills – where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth.” Psalm 121:1-2 NIV. What an incomparable credential – the “maker of Heaven and earth!” What more need be said? The One who made all things can certainly help your life work well.
This Psalm healed my broken heart and saved my future ministry when I was just twenty-one, newly married, and stunned by a highway accident taking the life of my Dad and sister. I fell across my bed that night, opened my Bible for comfort, and read Psalm 121. That moment was no less powerful or personal than had the Lord Himself stood before me, “The Lord will keep you from all harm – He will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.” Psalm 121:7-8 NIV. I knew my life was in God’s hands; in the good times and bad I would always have the help I needed. When I most needed help, He was there and has remained so throughout my lifetime. See Hebrews 4:12-16 NIV.
The Psalmist looked at Israel’s national history and wrote, “Let Israel now say, ‘If it had not been the Lord who was on our side . . the waters would have overwhelmed us . . the swollen waters would have gone over our soul.’ Blessed be the Lord . . our help is in the name of the Lord, who made Heaven and earth.” Psalm 124:1-8 NKJV. That would be said as truly of Israel yet today! It could be said of your life and well-being as well.
My prayer for you today is that you never fail to recognize and receive the help you need.