I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth. - Psalm 121: 1-2 (KJV)
Where do you look to when you are in need of help? When you are confused, sad, angry? Where do you look when the world is coming against you and your problems seem bigger than you can handle? Where do you look when even the small things in life come against you? The world will tell you to seek help through its means. A psychologist believes they can help you with therapy and counseling. A psychiatrist believes they can help you by prescribing medication. Your family can help you by being supportive. Your friends can help you by sympathizing. All of these worldly solutions however lack the power God provides to overcome.
"The dead tremble-- those who live beneath the waters. The underworld is naked in God's presence. The place of destruction is uncovered. God stretches the northern sky over empty space and hangs the earth on nothing. He wraps the rain in his thick clouds, and the clouds don't burst with the weight. He covers the face of the moon, shrouding it with his clouds. He created the horizon when he separated the waters; he set the boundary between day and night. The foundations of heaven tremble; they shudder at his rebuke. By his power the sea grew calm. By his skill he crushed the great sea monster. His Spirit made the heavens beautiful, and his power pierced the gliding serpent. These are just the beginning of all that he does, merely a whisper of his power. Who, then, can comprehend the thunder of his power?" -- Job 26: 5-14 (NLT)
Merely a whisper of His power! I think sometimes we underestimate the God we serve! Perhaps the world will convince you that your problems are so big that you need to forget them. Drugs and alcohol are often used as a method of "self-medication" for people who cannot handle the reality of their problems. Often times the problems become larger than life and the solutions offered by the world turn to the extreme or the illegal. The biggest lie however is that ending it all will solve these problems and makes them all go away. Don't believe the lies of the devil; as he whispers into your ear. What he does not tell you is that you are simply looking in the wrong direction!
"To whom will you compare me? Who is my equal?" asks the Holy One. Look up into the heavens. Who created all the stars? He brings them out like an army, one after another, calling each by its name. Because of his great power and incomparable strength, not a single one is missing. -- Isaiah 40: 25-26 (NLT)
We also must resist the urge to look inward.
The world sells us the notion of self reliance. The world system rewards those
who do not ask for help. Who pull themselves up from their bootstraps. This however
creates the opportunity for pride to arise with any sliver of success. It is
the "self-made" man that comes to Christ the slowest. If we think that we are responsible
for everything positive in our lives -- why would we need God? But the self-made
man myth is as much of a lie as the self-help myth. Have you ever noticed there
is a new self-help book every month? Someone always has to new angle -- the new
idea about how we can within our own power, solve everything that comes our
way. Good luck with that. Even some of the more popular preachers in this
country are nothing more than Tony Robbins with a Bible. The problem is when
you teach self-reliance you also teach God ignorance. You may be able to
overcome one situation or another but eventually we all will look up. Either in
this lifetime when we humble ourselves or when the trumpet sounds and every knee
will bow before Him.
In our key verse today the Psalmist reminds us that we need to look up in our times of trouble. Lift up your eyes to see where your help truly comes from. Your help comes from the Lord. Fix your eyes upon God in whatever you are going through and you will find that your problems do not control you but your humility before God allows Him to control your problems. 1Peter 5:7 states, " Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you." God does not only want the really big problems; He wants you to cast ALL of your cares upon Him. Too often we go through life and rely upon our own strength when the smaller problems confront us. Too often right after that our small problems become bigger ones and we scramble around to not only solve the original problem, but to undo the damage we have already caused in trying to solve it ourselves! In the end, our once small problem eclipses being a big problem, and now it takes on a life of its own. Then we bring it to God and cry out. If only we would not wait so long to lift up our eyes and fix them on the author and finisher of our faith. If only we would not wait so long to remember from whence cometh our help. God wants to be the God of our decisions, not just the problems which arise from our decisions.
The Psalmist continues however to qualify why we should trust the Lord with all of our problems. Because He is the Maker of heaven and earth! Who better to understand the nature of your problem then the Maker of all things on this planet? His promises cover everything we can possibly face in this life. First of all, we have the assurance that He hears us as is told in 1John 5:14, " This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us." Secondly, He will embolden us as promised in Hebrews 13:6, "So we say with confidence, "The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?" Lastly, we know that He is faithful to answer our prayers as is promised in Matthew 21:22, "If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer." This is the totality of the resolution God provides for all of our problems. He will hear our prayers, He will embolden us, and He will answer. We may not always like the answer but God will answer us. Romans 8: 28 reminds us that we do not have to like His answer just trust that it is working for our good -- even when we cannot see it in the here and now. THAT is faith.
First however we must look up. We must look to Him. We must lift up our eyes to whence cometh our help. It comes not from looking around us for worldly answers. It comes not from looking down in our sorrow. It comes not from looking inward to rely upon ourselves. No, our help comes from the Lord and we must lift up our eyes and fix them upon the maker of heaven and earth. Amen.
Rev. Anthony
