This message blends a bit of exposition--examining the text verse by verse--and a topical study. The psalm underscores God as our source of help and raises the question: How does God's help come our way?
Psalm 121
Do you remember the Beatles song?
“When I was younger, So much younger than today, I never needed Anybody's help in anyway.”
You've probably felt that way from time to time. After all, to admit the need for help is perceived as an admission of weakness.
Would High Noon have been as memorable if the townsfolk had rallied behind the marshal? But life isn’t like that. Most crises cannot be resolved with a karate chop or a blast from a "44" or even a laser rifle.
Still, even knowing this, we’re hesitant to ask for help. It starts early. When you're in school your teacher has to remind you repeatedly that no question is a dumb question, that it is okay to ask for help. In the workplace, you hesitate to ask for help lest the boss think personnel made a mistake in hiring you. Some couples wait so long to ask for help for their faltering relationships that, when they do ask, it is often too late to save the marriage.
Of course, many people eventually come to see that there is nothing weak or cowardly in asking for help. Even the hero of the Beatles' song acknowledged that the time came when he was "not so self-assured".
Many of the psalms were first sung by the heroes of Israel. They were penned by warriors, priests, and kings. We don't picture them as eager to acknowledge their need for help. We tend to see them as independent and self-reliant. If we do see them that way, aren't we guilty of imposing our faulty thinking upon them?
The psalmist who testified "My help comes from the Lord" was unashamed the admit his need for help.
We should be too.
After all, isn't it the mature person who is willing to admit a need for help? We need help to grow spiritually. In the New Testament, spiritual growth is compared to the growth of plants, but what plants? Not weeds which grow without any help from us and, sometimes, despite our best efforts to eradicate them. Spiritual growth is likened to the growth of fruit trees or grape vines, plants which require nurture and care. In short, help.
There is the crisis of change. The change may be as predictable as one year yielding to the next; or the change may come upon us suddenly.
The change may involve the end of a cherished relationship. Some change brings a minimum of pain--some leaves us crying out for help.
What does the psalmist say about this help'?
àVerse 1 sets the tone for the entire psalm.
--It should be seen as a question. The psalmist is reviewing sources of help. “The hills” may represent earthly sources of help, materialistic resources. The psalmist may have had in mind a rejection of the false gods of the non-Jewish nations. The Living Bible: "Shall I look to the mountain gods for my help? No! My help is from Jehovah who made the mountains...”
The psalmist, then, becomes a model for every believer who needs some kind of help to face life. By God's word preached in Israel and by an intuition born of experience, the psalmist knows that his help comes from God.
àThe psalmist grounds his hope for help in the very nature and character of God.
--No situation need ever overwhelm him for he has a resource in the God who created "the heavens and the earth". (v2) --This confidence is bolstered by the history God's faithfulness to his people. God is "the Guardian of Israel [who) never slumbers, never sleeps." (4) Some of the pagan peoples actually believe their gods needed sleep. In one story a tribal god decided to destroy the earth because the humans were so noisy at night, they kept him awake.
à We can marvel with the psalmist at the breadth of God's help. (5-6)
-- These words were written in a land where the relentless sun can cause the traveler to long for shade, for relief. God provides that shelter. But there’s more.
-- In the desert country, the sun may be life-threatening during the day. At night, when the moon is visible, the temperatures may drop to dangerous levels. The underlying idea is that of God's faithfulness to provide help is apparent day and night. Whenever whatever dangers come our way, God can help.
à With the psalmist, we need to recall that the intent of God's help is the preservation of our souls.(7)
-- That which may imperil the soul is that which is most dangerous.
Why do we become alarmed at false teachings, at despair, or at pornography? They may destroy the soul. With God's help we can escape--the peril.
à In the promise of God's ongoing help, we found an assurance for facing the present and the future. (8)
--What kind of worrier are you? Are you one who worries about today? Are you one who worries about tomorrow? Do you worry today because you aren’t more worried about tomorrow?
--God will be there to help for all your todays and all your tomorrows.
How does God provide his help?
God helps us...
Through Heavenly Agencies
I move with caution into this area because I don't want to fall into the trap of speculation. Still, the Bible does tell us that God sometimes intervenes in our lives in marvelous, almost miraculous, ways, ways which we couldn't predict.
1. The Bible speaks of help coming from angels. (Ps. 91:11 ‘For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.”)
--As we enter Advent we will hear more about angels; we need to remind ourselves of the Biblical perspective.
--Hollywood and even “Christian” novels have sometimes misled us about angels. I once met a man who thought Roman Catholics believe in angels and Protestants don’t. We have to avoid being overly fascinated with the subject and the tendency to believe anyone who mentions angels is delusional.
-- Our goal is to be biblical. When dealing with angels, it's probably best to follow the advice of the old diagnostician who advised doctors, "When you hear hoofbeats, think horses, not zebras." god helps through angels but we shouldn't expe ct them to be everywhere.
--Andrew Bandstra offers a biblical "job description" for angels:
1. Angels are God's messengers.
2. Angels praise God.
3. Angels exercise God's providential care.
--little scriptural warrant for notion of 'guardian angels' (the idea of an angel assigned to us at birth and who follows us through life).
--warrant for the affirmation that God's help is sometimes mediated through the angels.
4. Angels encourage Christian obedience.
5. Angels carry out God's justice.
6. Angels never accept worship or adoration.
--Remember how Elisha's servant could not see the angels waiting to help God's people. The prophet had to pray for God to open the young man's eyes so he could see the angelic army. Perhaps we are sometimes just as much in need for someone to pray, "Open their eyes."
2. The Bible speaks of help coming from the Holy Spirit.
--Believers have the privilege of the Holy Spirit in their lives.
--Romans 8:26: "the Spirit also helps ..." with prayer, witness, decision making, guidance, understanding the Scripture, living for Christ.
-- The NT doctrine of the Holy Spirit reminds us that we have not been left to fend for ourselves. Verse based on Jesus' words in John 14:
We 're not left as orphans,
Alone and afraid:
The Spirit is with us,
To give us His aid.
Sometimes God's help is mediated Through Human Agencies
1. Such agencies include our sympathetic companions.
--Soiomon declares, “two are better than one.... If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up/" (Ecclesiastes 4:9-10)
--Sometimes that close companion comes from our family. The story of the creation of the woman in Genesis 2:18 begins with the recognition that Adam needed a "suitable helper". Some people get nervous when we talk about "helpmeets" or "suitable helpers" but the words imply a mutual companionship of support and encouragement.
Is this kind of helping-relationship limited to husbands and wives? No, it is a characteristic which marks the healthy family. Parents help children, children help parents, brothers and sisters help one another.
Should we be surprised if God chooses to mediate his help through one of our family members? Do we appreciate that help as much as we should?
--Sometimes that help comes through other near companions, our friends. One of the concerns about my generation has been both the friendliness of American men and the growing friendlessness of American women. Fortunately, the so-called generation X has recovered the appreciation for friendships; members of that generation seem more inclined to try to develop healthy relationships.
“As iron sharpens iron," says the Proverbs, "so one friend sharpens another.
Aren't you glad you've had friends who were there to help?
2. Such agencies include our spiritual community.
--Many of you know the help this church give in times of trouble because there have been times been you've been in trouble.
-- The church helps us with its teachings, its prayers, its moral guidance, its encouragement, its steadiness in a world of shakiness.
CONCLUSION
You may need help today. You may need help tomorrow.
Whenever you need help, ask the Helper.
May you have the faith and wisdom of the psalmist who said, “My help comes from the Lord .”
