Real Help

 

The family huddled in the dark. Where will they turn? The old nun with the silver hair and beatific smile raises her chin. “I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills from whence cometh my help.” A choir of nuns “ahs” behind her as she breaks into an uplifting rendition of the song “Climb Every Mountain.” The Von Trapp family is saved!

“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

We find David in a very different situation from that of Maria and the Von Trapps in The Sound of Music. He sits in the middle of the Judean wilderness. He is running for His life from his king, Saul, who has dedicated himself to hunting David down and killing him. David has been anointed king over Israel, but it would be years before he actually takes the throne. He lifts his eyes from the desert to the hills surrounding Jerusalem. Where will his help come from? Not the hills, that’s for sure. The only help David can count on is the help that comes from the Lord, who never allows David’s foot to slip nor ever sleeps.

David learned throughout his life, from his time as a shepherd where he was alone for vast amounts of time with his sheep, through his time as Israel’s most beloved king, that he couldn’t substitute anything for God. Only God could save him.

We still try a variety of other saviors. “Where does my help come from?” we ask. “My help cometh from my credit card” or “from my counseling group” or “from my inner self,” or from whatever we have turned to instead of God. God doesn’t need our money, He doesn’t need us to strive and connive and stress over the solutions to our lives. He can take care of us – He has unlimited resources. Money and counseling aren't bad, but without putting God first they are poor substitutes. He wants our faith. He wants us to step out and do His work in obedience and trust Him to take care of the details. Instead, we keep substituting other inferior and impermanent saviors.

Stop. Give Him today. In each moment, apply yourself to whatever He has given you to do, focusing your energy on things of eternal value, and watch Him work out the details. Let Him be your Savior, not only for eternity but for each day, this day, each moment. 

Where does our help come from? It comes from the Lord.