If I ask you which the longest chapter in the Bible is, many of you will answer: Psalm 119. But today, I must share with you from the Psalms categorized as the Song of Ascents, starting from Psalm 120 right through Psalm 134.
The men of Israel travelled three times each year to Jerusalem for the appointed feasts at the appointed time. For many, the journey must have been long and fraught with danger, as they pass by some of the toughest of terrains-through hills, valleys, and desert. And all the while, they encourage one another and encourage themselves on their journey with songs of priase. And all the Songs of Ascents put together captures this journey- graphically and poetically, starting from distant lands and progressively coming up to the gates of Jerusalem and into the Lord’s temple in Psalm 134.
My message today is simple and focused upon just one aspect in
these Songs of Ascents – LORD our HELPER: “My help comes from the LORD, who made
heaven and earth” (Ps. 121:2)
I can imagine the journey through the valleys-and the traveler’s
focus is upon the hills: I will lift up my eyes to the hills-from whence comes
my help? (Ps. 121:1). In your life-valleys, remember the LORD who made heaven
and the earth-He is your Helper! It is not some human and feeble help I’m
talking about… it is the help from the LORD-He is somebody who created the
heaven and earth. In Psalm 124:8, there is a slight variation in the emphasis:
Our help is in the NAME of the LORD, who made heaven and earth. Yes, we have a
name that is above all names! Our trust is based on knowing who He is; He is the
maker of heaven and earth, and our help is from Him.
He Has Helped Us: A
Stone of Help to Remember
1 Sam. 7:12 reads: Then Samuel took a stone and set it up
between Mizpah and Shen, and called its name Ebenezer, saying: “Thus far the
LORD has helped us.”
Can you imagine, the children of Israel journeying and
singing their song of Ascents and coming across this huge memorial? I am sure
their memories would have been re-kindled as they knew how God had HELPED and delivered
the Israelites from a hopeless situation, when they battled against the Philistines, and gave them a huge
victory-a victory so great the Philistines could not recover all the days
of Samuel (1 Sam. 7:13). Yes, A STONE OF HELP is our God, and THUS FAR the LORD
has HELPED US.
He is with us: A
Present Help to Request
Psalm 46: 1, 2 reads: God is our refuge and strength, a very
PRESENT HELP in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, even though the earth be
removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea.
Life sure has some tight spots and tough corners, but
remember there’s always a way from above. King Asa was in a tight spot in 2
Chr. 14: Here was Asa with an army of 580,000 soldiers, up against Zerah with an
army of 1,000,000 soldiers and 300 chariots from Ethiopia, an army nearly twice
as big! In 2 Chr. 14:11, it says about Asa: And Asa cried out to the LORD his
God, and said, “LORD, it is nothing for You to help, whether with many or with
those who have no power; help us, O LORD our God, for we rest on You, and in
Your name we go against this multitude. O LORD, You are our God; do not let man
prevail against You!”
Read further and know of God’s help and deliverance rendered
to King Asa.
Same was the case with Hezekiah, when he was up against the
world power of that time-Assyria. Hezekiah exhorting the
people in 2 Chr. 32: 7, 8 reads : “Be strong and courageous; do not be afraid nor dismayed before the
king of Assyria, nor before all the multitude that is with him; for there are
more with us than with him. With him is an arm of flesh; but with us is the
LORD our God, to help us and to fight our battles.”
We can easily correlate with this in the New Covenant:
Greater is He that is in us, than He that is in the world. We are not on the
losing side-whether we are in minority or in majority. In natural eyes, it may
seem improbable, but victory is sure with His HELP. For at that time in
Hezekiah’s life, the LORD sent just one angel, and he cut down every mighty man
of valor, leader and captain in the camp of the king of Assyria, and the
Assyrian king returned shamefaced to his own land, where his own sons killed
him!
Remember Jonah-he prayed a prayer from the stomach of a
fish, the last place anyone would like to be in. (Surely our predicament is
nowhere near to what Jonah experienced.) And He said: “I cried out to the LORD
because of my affliction, and He answered me. Out of the belly of Sheol I
cried, and You heard my voice.” (Jonah 2: 2). So the LORD spoke to the fish
(remember, He is the maker of heaven and earth and all things in-between), and
it vomited Jonah onto dry land. (Jonah 2:10)
The LORD will help us: A Confident Confession to Repeat
Heb. 13:6 reads: So we may boldly say: “The LORD is my
Helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?”
For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake
you.” – This is the reason for our bold confession. He has promised, He will
deliver! You know, God too is repeating the same things to us: “Do not fear, I
will help you.” Turn with me to Isaiah and look up quickly Isaiah 41:13, Isaiah
41:14 and Isaiah 44: 2. Now why should we not respond and say: “The LORD is my
Helper; I will not fear”
“Happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his help, whose
hope is in the LORD his God, who made heaven and earth…” – Psalm 146: 5. Amen.
