Where Does My Help Come From?
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Psalm 119:169-176
169. Let my cry come before thee, O Lord; give me understanding according to thy word! 170. Let my supplication come before thee; deliver me according to thy word. 171. My lips will pour forth praise that thou dost teach me thy statutes. 172. My tongue will sing of thy word, for all thy commandments are right. 173. Let thy hand be ready to help me, for I have chosen thy precepts. 174. I long for thy salvation, O Lord, and thy law is my delight. 175. Let me live, that I may praise thee, and let thy ordinances help me. 176. I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek thy servant, for I do not forget thy commandments.
Psalm 121
1. I lift up my eyes to the hills. From whence does my help come? 2. My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. 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. 5. The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand. 6. The sun shall not smite you by day, nor the moon by night. 7. The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. 8. The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and for evermore.
A humble and contrite heart – another psalm talks about that being the “perfect sacrifice.” Even though we try to live blameless lives, we always fall short. Even though we pray and study and consciously try to be a light for the world, sometimes we grow tired of fighting the good fight; we weary of not being heard or understood; we long for rest and comfort from our daily struggles. That’s the tone I feel of these verses of Psalm 119.
First and foremost we must confess our inability to survive on our own. We must admit to ourselves and especially to God that without Him our lives are too hard; without Him it’s just not possible to find our way. Without God we sin. But we are ever comforted by the fact that God already knows this and welcomes us back into loving arms when we acknowledge our weakness.
After confession, then comes a re-commitment to God’s word. After we acknowledge our faults, we try to make amends and seek out a source of strength and wisdom to help us. There is only one source that never fails to sustain us! The “internal” conversation in Psalm 121 reminds me of self-talk I have sometimes! I need God. I remind myself that I can rely on Him to meet my every need. I can trust Him to help me and sustain me and comfort me.
Some days, all we need to know is that “The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and for evermore.” I am ever grateful and thankful that this is true. I need a God that reliable and that all-seeing and that loving—not just today but every day of my life.
I hope you spend your day fortified and comforted that the Lord is your keeper, the same Lord who made the heavens and the earth.
Mary
