LORD Our Helper

(Message by Pastor Philip Joseph. Happy reading!)

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.

God Our Help

(Message by Pastor Philip Joseph. Hope I haven’t missed much. Happy reading!)

Isaiah 41:10

Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.

God’s promise to His people is the same today. We have His assurance of strength, help and protection. The people of Israel, in those days, were a privileged people, having this hope and assurance. Yet, at times, they felt weak, inadequate, insecure and insignificant – almost like a worm. God assures them again in Is. 41:13, 14; “For I, the LORD you God, will hold your right hand, saying to you, Fear not, I will help you. Fear not, you worm Jacob, you men of Israel! I will help you,” says the LORD and your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.

Today, you and I are God’s special people; let me ask you, how are you feeling today? If you are feeling weak and helpless, I want to remind you of God’s assurance in these verses above. God is concerned about you-you are always in His visibility radar! He is ready to help you, uphold you and strengthen you. Do not be afraid.

A year is at end. You may have started this year 2010 with hope and expectation of good things from the Lord. Is there a unfulfilled need in your life now? Is there any lack in your life today? I tell you, that time is in His hands, and before this year ends, He is able to give you the help needed. As the author of Hebrews says in Hebrews 13:6 – So we may boldly say: “The LORD is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?” The context of this verse is in the case of material lack… You can boldly, confidently say, ‘The Lord WILL help. I need not fear!’

There are different kinds of people in this world when we rate confidence; there are those who are self-confident-they who trust their own abilities, skill and acumen; then there those who are cowardly-who have no confidence in themselves or in others; but there is a third category of people who are God-confident – they do not trust in their own abilities, but trust in God who gave them those abilities; surely you will understand that we are called to be in this third category of people-people who are God-confident!

Do you know Him enough to trust Him? The author in Hebrews quoted from one of the Psalms. If you look at Psalm 118: 8, 9, it continues: It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man. It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in princes.

Who do you look for in moment of need-people and friends, relatives or neighbors; or maybe some influential people (princes) you may know? They will all fail-sooner than later. There is someone better to put your confidence-the LORD Himself! Trust Him to do the needful in your life, at the right moment. Man may fail, but God never fails! Influential people will let you down, but God will never let you down! Some trust in chariots, and some in horses; But we will remember the name of the LORD our God. (Psalm 20: 7). Remember Him? Remember to trust Him.

Hope in God

The Psalmist had the habit of talking to His own soul. Maybe your distress is unseen and unimaginable to others. Talk to yourself. “Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him for the help of His countenance.” (Psalm 42:5). Hope in God and look forward to the praise… look ahead to the shout of joy in the morning!

Hope in God! Jesus promised ‘Lo, I am with you always’. His presence is with us. Yes, earlier there was a time when we lived as unbelievers-without hope; but now we have come to the fold of believers and under One Shepherd-Jesus the Lord. If He is with us, do we need someone (or something) else?

‘My hope is built on nothing less, than Jesus blood and righteousness;

 I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus’ name!’

If we read Exodus 33, Moses was given the option of being led by a mighty Angel to the Promised Land. God told Moses that He Himself will not go with him. But Moses was not satisfied; he pleads with God “If Your Presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here…” (v15). God’s promise to Moses and to us remains the same: “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” (v14).

Our God is the LORD of Lords; and God among ‘gods’; the One Living God – able to hear us when we speak; and able to answer us. We do not serve deaf and dumb idols-that can neither hear nor speak. When God has promised His Presence, you can be sure it will suffice all your perceived and unperceived needs!

We are not without help-we have God’s help. Jesus in John 14 promised a Helper-the Holy Spirit saying “I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.” (John 14:18). The Helper- the Holy Spirit will teach us all things (John 14:26). Like in the court of law, even if you know the language of the proceedings, you will need someone to help you in choosing, using and understanding legal terms; In a similar manner, we need the Holy Spirit’s help in our need. And God-the Holy Spirit will help us.

Recognize Your Need

We have a small part to play in having God’s help. Firstly, we must recognize we need help! In the best-ever-sermon-ever-preached, Jesus started with “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Matt. 5:3). Now, coming away from routine needs of the body and soul, let us come to the important need-spiritual need. Have you recognized that you are ‘poor’ in spirit? If you know you are poor, you are blessed-because yours is the kingdom of heaven! There is nothing to boast in our spirit-it is really poor / destitute and ‘below-the-poverty-line’-always in need of His Spirit. If you recognize this, you are on your way to blessedness!

Come to Him

Hebrews 4:16 “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

Whatever is your need, go to the right place-to the throne of grace. ‘Don’t run to the phone, run to the throne’! Do not think of who to call, where to run; first think of the heavenly throne. God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in times of trouble. He is there-ever present; available always and just a call away! If you do not know what to pray, He is there again. Our God the Holy Spirit-our Helper in times of prayer need, to help us pray! Rom. 8:26 says, Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

In some difficult situations, what do we pray for? Take away this situation or give me grace to go through this-we really do not know what to pray. But we can learn from Jesus: Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? Father, save Me from this hour? But for this purpose I came to this hour. “Father, glorify Your name.” (John 12: 27, 28). Father glorify Your name!

Wait for strength

When we run to Him, and pray, we must also learn to wait in His presence! This, I feel, is one of the difficult tasks for many of us in this century. We want immediate results! But those who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint. (Isaiah 40:31)

You see, in waiting there is a wonderful exchange-new for old, strength for weakness, cheerfulness for weariness. We must wait for that to happen in us, just as the eagle waits and grows new feathers… One word from God-will heal us, will strengthen us, cleanse us, make us know the truth, and will empower us! As the seed of God’s word grows up with strength, we mount up and fly and are never weary, nor tired.

You are not alone-no, never alone. God cares for you and for me…do you care that God cares? Because if you do, you can come to Him, and wait on Him! He will give grace; He will give strength and will navigate you through the difficult paths till you find rest and you will never be the same again. Amen.