CAN ANYBODY HELP US?

"I lift up my eyes to the hills.
From where does my help come?
My help comes from the LORD,
who made heaven and earth.
He will not let your foot be moved;
he who keeps you will not slumber.
Behold, he who keeps Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.
The LORD is your keeper;
the LORD is your shade on your right hand.
The sun shall not strike you by day,
nor the moon by night.
The LORD will keep you from all evil;
he will keep your life.
The LORD will keep
your going out and your coming in
from this time forth and forevermore."
Psalm 121 ESV

Hills in Palestine were rather majestic looking, beautiful from a distance, and filled with wonderful plant and animal life for those who came close. Hills were also a place where danger lurked. Cold at night. Wild beasts ready to tear at the sick and weak. Robbers waiting to victimize the unsuspecting traveler. The Psalmist looks at the present circumstances in his life and all he sees are hills. Dark, dangerous, foreboding hills. He says, "I lift up mine eyes to the hills." Uncertainty lies ahead. Danger waits for all who dare to approach. That is what those hills are. Hardship. That is what those hills represent. Problems ahead. That is what those hills guarantee. Some of the hills may be small. Some loom large as mountains. But the road to tomorrow goes right through the middle of them all. None can be missed.

I am currently facing many hills in my life. In the present all of my life seems like just a bunch of hills. How about you? The hills in my life are real and they are obstacles that have easily deterred me, discouraged me, caused great stress and fear to me, and have been a real threat to me. Perhaps for you they are circumstantial hills, relational hills and personal hills of our own weaknesses and limitations. Whatever they are, the question is, how will we face the hills in our lives?

I have found in my attempts to deal with my problems many inadequate solutions.
The Psalmist asked the question “…from where does my help come?”(Verse 1b) The person in trouble looks around for help ("I lift up my eyes to the hills") and asks a question: "where does my help come from?" Do you need help? Where do you look for help? As the Psalmist looks around horizontally what does he see? Hills! Dark, foreboding, dangerous, threatening hills! Problems and no solutions! So what do we do? Lately I have looked at the hills of my life and felt, "I lift up my eyes to the hills, Lord, and they fill me with fear."

When I think of those hills, I realize how weak I am, how frail, how powerless I am. In fact, looking to the hills for help ends in disappointment. For all their majesty and beauty, for all their quiet strength and firmness, they are, finally, just hills. How often do we look to this world, to others, and to ourselves for help only to find this nothing in this world cannot help me, people cannot help me, and most of all I cannot help me! The result of this for me has produced fear, anxiety, worry, despair, hopelessness, dread, loneliness, stress, emptiness, and helplessness.

So with all those hills, how are we going to make it? Where does our help come from? The remainder of the Psalm is an answer to that question.

“My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth” (Verse 2). When the Psalmist lifted his eyes up to the hills and asked the question “where can I find help?” he answered to himself, “My help comes from the Lord-not from the hills, but from the God who made the hills."

I have often mentioned that we either let ourselves talk to us, or we talk to ourselves. Here is a classic example. The Psalmist is in trouble, his self cries out in doubt, fear, and worry: “where do I find help?” but then he talks to himself: “my help comes from the Lord.” The dialogue with his own soul produced an answer, one he had known all along but came to only after he had tried other sources of help. In despair, he finally lifted his eyes in prayer to the ultimate source of help: "My help comes from the Lord”.

Faith’s vision stretches beyond our problems to the God who is the mighty creator over the all of the problems of life. So he reminds himself of a great truth: The one who can help me is my creator. There is a great big God for great big problems! The very one who made the hills is the one who can move the hills! The same God who can make heaven and earth is able to help, wants to help, and will help you and me.

Ephesians 3:20,"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.”
Jeremiah 33:2-3, “Thus says the LORD who made the earth, the LORD who formed it to establish it- the LORD is his name: Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known”.

Oh reader, there is help, living help, personal help, powerful help, wise help, true help, and immeasurable help. I am speaking this right now to God and to myself! “My help comes from the Lord!”

The Psalmist writes, “He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The LORD is your keeper; the LORD is your shade on your right hand. The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. The LORD will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. The LORD will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore. ” (Verses 3-8)

Throughout the rest of the psalm, the psalmist reminds himself of two great truths:

1. God is watching over you, He never sleeps- God is always alert. God is always watchful. He is ever looking out for our good. He will never fall asleep at the wheel. His watch is 24 hours each day, 7 days each week, 365 days each year. This truth is reinforced in verse 4, “Behold, He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.” The Psalmist here is being insistent upon this point. This first word, “Behold” calls attention to what he will say. The mere repetition of this basic truth emphasizes it strongly. God doesn’t slumber. He doesn’t sleep. He is the faithful watchman, who will not only warn us of the impending danger (Ezekiel 33), but will play an active, tireless, role in keeping and protecting us.

2. God is the indefatigable worker in your life- Notice two key words. First the word “keep”. This word translated, “Keep” is the very common Hebrew word, shamar. This Hebrew word can be translated with a bunch of different English words, but all of them are getting at the same meaning. It can be translated, “keep, guard, watch, protect, retain, preserve, refrain, or care for.” The idea here is of surrounding and protecting and holding something, and not ever letting go. This word is used six times in this Psalm: Verse 3, “He who keeps you will not slumber.”Verse 4, “He who keeps Israel, will neither slumber nor sleep.” Verse 5, “The LORD is your keeper.” Verse 7, “The LORD will keep (i.e. protect) you from all evil.” Verse 7, “He will keep your soul.” Verse 8, “The LORD will keep (i.e. guard) your going out and your coming in.”
Secondly, underline that key word “will”. There are also six great promises here from God to you concerning God’s willingness to be working in, through, around, during, before, and after all of your problems:

No matter where you are God WILL keep you!(verses 1-2,8).
No matter what obstacle in your life God WILL keep you! (verse 3a)
No matter what the hour God WILL keep you! (verses 3b-4)
No matter what the conditions God WILL keep you! (verses 5-6)
No matter who is your enemy God WILL keep you! (verse 7)
No matter how long it takes God WILL keep you! (verse 8)

Where do we find help? Who will keep you? God is an indefatigable worker on your behalf. "From of old no one has heard or perceived by the ear, no eye has seen a God besides thee, who works for those who wait for him" (Isaiah 64:4). God is working for us around the clock. In fact, he is so eager to work for us that he goes around looking for more work to do for people who will trust him: "The eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show his might in behalf of those whose heart is whole toward him" (2 Chronicles 16:9).

God is not just waiting for us to get his help; he is seeking ways to give us help. He is doing this with overflowing eagerness. "I will not turn away from doing good to them; and I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me. I will rejoice in doing them good ... with all my heart and all my soul" (Jeremiah 32:40-41).

If we believe in this God of Psalm 121, we will always remember that by the time a problem exists, God has already been working on it and help is on the way. I can testify that God does not spare His people trouble, even severe trouble. But oh may we never stop believing that God isn’t a t work. He is always at work. And He is turning all of our losses and all of our pains into something good for those who trust Him. What a truth! What a reality! God is up all night and all day to work for those who wait for him.

Bishop Quayle, a leader of the Methodist church years ago, related an experience of the Lord's persistent providence. One night he worked into the early morning hours trying to finish his work and solve problems. In utter despair he looked down at the Bible on his desk which was open to Psalm 121. At a moment of intense pressure Quayle's eye fell on the assurance of the Lord's twenty-four-hour vigil of watchful care. In his inner being he heard the Lord say, "Quayle, there's no need for both of us to stay up all night. I'm going to stay up anyway. You go to bed and get a good sleep. "

I think I'll take a nap!

Bill