When You Need Help: Psalm 121
The lives that most of us live are quite busy; constantly doing this or that; going here or there
Often, we can be so enthralled with our lives, that we forget to pay attention to something that is about to disrupt our lives
We get blind-sided by something we didn’t expect at all and suddenly our lives are changed
We find ourselves in need of help that we can’t seem to find. Nothing or no one around us seems to be any help
It is always a joy to have caring Christians that love us and will pray for us and assist where they can
But where can we get the help that we really need?
That’s the questions that the Psalmist is asking as we look at chapter 121
I won’t read it all now, but we’ll look at the verses as we go
- Where can we find help?
This question of where can we get help when we really need it, has options or different ways we can attempt to find help
We can learn these options in the Psalm we are studying this morning; the psalmist is traveling a road up to Jerusalem and it involves walking through the hilly countryside
But it wasn’t exactly a walk down a country road as we would think…this trip up the hillside to Jerusalem was often dangerous
This very well could be the same path the man from the Good Samaritan story who was walking and robbers came up on him and beat him
Knowing that danger could lurk ahead, the psalmist asks the question: where does my help come from?
- We can look around for help
I lift up my eyes to the hills.
From where does my help come?
The psalmist said, “I will lift my eyes to the hills”
Lots of things in the Bible happened on a hill or a mountain top
Moses was given the 10 Commandments
Jesus gave the Sermon on the Mount
Jerusalem was on a hill. That is where the temple was and the dwelling place of God…the Israelite would look to the hills where they believed God to be when they needed help
But mountains can also be a source of fear as well as faith
Wild animals and other creatures…
The Israelite would encounter bandits in the hills on the way up to Jerusalem
There was the possibility of being robbed or worse beaten and killed
Hills can be a source of faith as well as fear; insight as well as intimidation
An Israelite would look to the hills…but there was no promise of help from the hills
A second option the Israelite had:
- We can look within for help
As the psalmist again considers that there could be danger on his journey, he may look within himself for help
Figure it out himself…
If I can’t get help from anything or anyone around me, then I’ll just do it myself!
But again, he falls short
With no help around him, and nothing he can come up with from within himself…then who?
V2 said:
My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth.
That’s where our help really comes from
Stands to reason:
- God made heaven and earth
- God made me
- Then my help can come from God!
So, when we come to the realization that we need help from God, we must remember that the One we pray to is the same God that made heaven and earth!
So, there is no doubt, he can help us!
Where can we find help? God
- How do we know that God can help us?
He has promised. Some of those promises are right here in Psalm 121
- God is always there for us
Psalm 121:3–4 (ESV)
3 He will not let your foot be moved;
he who keeps you will not slumber.
4 Behold, he who keeps Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.
One of the least appreciated, but most amazing, facts about God is that never sleeps!
Every human being sleeps because of our physical limitations
We can only stay awake for so long no matter how hard we try
Good thing we are not gods, someone may need us and we’d be asleep!
But God neither slumbers or sleeps
He is aware of you every moment and He knows your every need
Not only is God aware of you and your needs:
- God is there to protect us
Notice:
5 The LORD is your keeper;
the LORD is your shade on your right hand.
6 The sun shall not strike you by day,
nor the moon by night.
The language is reminiscent of a shepherd watching over the flocks and protecting them from all harm
I am glad to know, that as his child, my God is watching me day and night
He is looking out for me, even when I’m not even thinking about it!
He is our “shade” at our right hand; which means he’s always available, like a shadow always following us around
God is our keeper; he is our protector
By day and by night, He watches over us!
- God is also there to preserve us
7 The LORD will keep you from all evil;
he will keep your life.
How does God keep us from evil, when it seems that the world is as evil as it has ever been?
As you well know, we are not shielded from ever being affected by this evil world, but those who belong to God will only be affected by what has first filtered through the hand of God
God sometimes allows evil things to come through his filter into your life to be used for his purposes
But God will not allow evil to come into the life of his children unless it first comes through him
You have a “God-filter” protecting and preserving you
He’s always there for us, he’s there to protect and preserve us, and:
- God is there watching us
8 The LORD will keep your going out and your coming in
from this time forth and forevermore.
Self-explanatory, isn’t it?
One commentator has said that this verse gives us the idea of coming in to church or in to our Bibles and getting the wisdom, we need and the fuel we need to go out and tell the world about Jesus
We must not only live our lives for Jesus, but tell others about Jesus that they may be saved
God is watching us
No matter where you are at any given moment, God will keep you…God will watch over you
If you have truly trusted Jesus as your Savior, then nothing can separate you from God
“For by grace you are saved through faith; not of yourselves, it is a gift from God, not of works lest any should boast” Eph 2:8-9
Romans 8:38-39 states that nothing physical or spiritual that is in all creation will ever separate you from the love of God!
Is there any place you can go and escape God’s presence?
Is there any aspect of your life that God is not able to fully protect?
Where can you go to find help? Real help?
You go to God, the one who is always with you, the one who protects and preserves you, the one who always watches out over you
When you need help…rest in the fact that God is able