HELP!

Argument for the people - in any circumstance look to God who is our help.

Intro

the beetles said it well when they said -

Help me if you can, I'm feeling down And I do appreciate you being 'round Help me get my feet back on the ground Won't you please, please help me

John Lennon’s “Help!” was more than a catchy song. Looking back, he said it reflected a genuine cry from a man who felt overwhelmed and unable to carry what was happening in his life. A few years later, Bill Withers wrote “Lean on Me,” remembering the small community where he grew up—a place where people survived difficult circumstances by carrying one another’s burdens. One song cries, “I need help”; the other answers, “You do not have to carry this alone.” Both confront the illusion that strength means being entirely self-sufficient.

Yet even the strongest human community cannot rescue us from our deepest problem. We try to solve our problems in our own strength or according to the wisdom of the world.

who do we call when we need someone to bail us out.

who are we looking to, to satisfy the longing in our souls.

are you seeking success and self-esteem from our careers. We turn to drugs and alcohol to fill the emptiness inside. We attempt to find happiness or even just ways to cope by experimenting with everything this world offers. But all these solutions fall short

How often do we call for help in times of need, how often do we find joy in the lord in any and all circumstances. For he is our help, and wether through Joy or pain we must turn to Him.

Psalm 120 - In My distress I called to the Lord.

we have heard maybe a lot from these passages in the past few weeks, but that is alright. I was thinking of the idea behind our theme verses for this bible camp season and was looking through the Psalms around them for context.

They are part of what is called the Psalms of Ascent.

The Israelites where required to go to Jeruselam as much as 3 times a year. for some people it was as much as 160 km one way. Like walking from here to North battleford for some people but with more hills. this was the central act of worship for the whole nation. The Temple was God’s dwelling place among His people. Going there meant offering sacrifices, renewing covenant loyalty, celebrating God’s past deliverance, and experiencing joy in His presence with thousands of others. Great anticipation of going together to worship the Lord in the presence of the Lord.

The Songs of Ascents (Psalms 120–134) were likely sung along the way.

with that in mind we move on to Psalm 120:1

Psalm 120:1 CSB

1 In my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me.

We start out in distress. Why is it though that it is in distress when we call out to the Lord? I guiess maybe it is because that is when we sometimes begin to realize that we are lost and really need God. But we go on to what He needs rescue from.

Psalm 120:2–4 CSB

2 “Lord, rescue me from lying lips and a deceitful tongue.” 3 What will he give you, and what will he do to you, you deceitful tongue? 4 A warrior’s sharp arrows with burning charcoal!

What did he need rescue from?

a culture where mutlual respect and truthfulness have disapeared. From false accusations and treachery.

The “deceitful” tongue is compared to a bow whose arrows are the words (cf. 57:4; 64:3; Prov 25:18; Jer 9:3, 8) and to a fire (Prov 16:27; James 3:6)

Psalm 120:5–7 CSB

5 What misery that I have stayed in Meshech, that I have lived among the tents of Kedar! 6 I have dwelt too long with those who hate peace. 7 I am for peace; but when I speak, they are for war.

evil, peace haters violence.

he has lived among them, dwelt with them, or at least experienced them

Help me oh God and deliver me. He seems lost and is Crying out ot God in distress as he ascends the mt to Jeruselam and the temple seeking God’s guidance. The Godly are to speak words of peace and the love of God and warn of the judgement of God not be people who love wickedness.

It is this that the author is longing for, to be delivered by God. But it is where he goes to for deliverance from evil that we are to take note of.

Seeking anything other then the Lord for help will fail

This is something we need to understand, for deliverance from what we face, from the evils of the world we must turn our lives to God. We must turn our prayers to the Lord. Only in that will we come to a place of peace.

It is not that we are not to go to people for help, professional help in times of need is important. christian friends can help us go through hard times. But if we are only relying on them for help then we will not find true deliverence from evil

The Lord hears and answers our prayers.

though the Lord hears and answers our prayers, some times deliverence has an eternal perspective, even if healing and help happens now it looks to eternity with the Lord.

Psalm 121 - My Help comes from The Lord

In distress we cry out to the Lord and then we look up to God and realize our help comes from the Lord. It can come from other people as well, but only the Lord wioll bring true Peace.

Psalm 121:1–2 CSB

1 I lift my eyes toward the mountains. Where will my help come from? 2 My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.

Remember, this was sang as they pilgramed up to the mountain of the Lord. as a reminder of who they where to look to for help, who they where to worship.

The Psalmist looks to the holy city, the dwelling place of God in anticipation of worshipping him. This can be seen as a rhetorical quetion, for one it is obvoius, who else would we turn to for help first above all?

But also take into account the stray aside and it can be dangerous, there are robbers and vagabonds about. There are holy shrines to other gods to lead you astray.

so then, From which Mountain does my help come from? The answer is obvious, hence the rhetorical question. the mountain of the Lord. We must look with anticipation meeting the Lord.

The Lord has created all, so why would we not look to Him for help.

Psalm 121:3–5 CSB

3 He will not allow your foot to slip; your Protector will not slumber. 4 Indeed, the Protector of Israel does not slumber or sleep. 5 The Lord protects you; the Lord is a shelter right by your side.

Psalm 121:6–8 CSB

6 The sun will not strike you by day or the moon by night. 7 The Lord will protect you from all harm; he will protect your life. 8 The Lord will protect your coming and going both now and forever.

The Lord’s gaurding of the Psalmist is the central message here. But does it mean that we will never get hurt ever or does it mean that we can always trust the Lord to gaurd and protect His children. But the words here also mean that He is currently and activley protecting His children.

But does this mean that we will never get hurt, that nothing bad will ever happen? This is not the case because we are called to have joy in the suffering that we face. It is both an eternal protection and an earthly protection. Both are seen here.

Both now and forevermore the Lord will protect His children. Israel’s God keeps faithful watch over his people. In Psalm 121 the notion of keeper or guardian is cast within the context of a journey: God guards his people, who face uncertain times while on journey.

As God’s Children we will never walk Alone.

We never walk alone because we walk together as the body of Christ. We never walk alone because in all circumstances we can look to the Lord for help and He hears us and answers us now or eternally. We walk through this life and wonder what to do when evil befalls us

the human tendency is to look for help in all the wrong places. . What we need most is to cry out, “Help me, LORD my God; save me according to your unfailing love” (Psalm 109:26). Like the prophet Isaiah, we can stand firm knowing where our help comes from, or better Whom it comes from: “Because the Sovereign LORD helps me, I will not be disgraced. Therefore, I have set my face like a stone, determined to do his will. And I know that I will not be put to shame” (Isaiah 50:7, NLT).

The psalmist assures those who pray this psalm that we do not walk alone—the Maker of heaven and earth journeys with us as our helper. John Ortberg reminds us that “Scripture alternates between hair-raising risks and assurances of impregnable security. And when we look at the lives of great followers of God, we see this combination of breath-taking risks with an almost brazen confidence of being safe in God’s hands

Psalm 122 - Because our help comes from God we rejoice.

We go from the evil and our cry to be delivered from it to looking up to the Lord because He is where our help comes from and He will never fail. So I ask the question again, where are you going to for help? If we are keeping our eyes on the Lord then we can fid joy.

Psalm 122:1–3 CSB

1 I rejoiced with those who said to me, “Let’s go to the house of the Lord.” 2 Our feet were standing within your gates, Jerusalem— 3 Jerusalem, built as a city should be, solidly united,

Psalm 122:4–6 CSB

4 where the tribes, the Lord’s tribes, go up to give thanks to the name of the Lord. (This is an ordinance for Israel.) 5 There, thrones for judgment are placed, thrones of the house of David. 6 Pray for the well-being of Jerusalem: “May those who love you be secure;

Psalm 122:7–8 CSB

7 may there be peace within your walls, security within your fortresses.” 8 Because of my brothers and friends, I will say, “May peace be in you.”

There is great joy in seeking the lord in all that we do. wether in pain or in the good. And since this was written in regards to the regualr pilgramage to the temple of the Lord, it also speaks of the joy in doing this together as the body of Christ.

also pseaks of a sense of unity as the children of God and the joy it brings.

These authors explain that such practices help us weave together a particular way of life that becomes visible as ordinary people search together for specific ways of taking part in the practice of God, as they faithfully perceive it in the complicated places where they really live. It is like a tree whose branches reach out toward the future, even when the earth is shaking, because it is nourished by living water

And it ends in a prayer for peace within our lands klnowing that God’s kingdom is what will inevitably bring that peace.

There is Great joy in looking to the Lord.

There is joy because in the deliverance we seek, we will only find it in looking to the Lord. There is great joy in Knowing God hears us and he answers us either now or in eternity. And when it comes to eternity this life is just a blip really. It is only short.

what this really looks to is

we need to seek Jesus who will deliver us from our sins

He is the answer to all the questions that we may face.

Rejoice in gathering with God’s people now (the church as foretaste of the city). Pray for the peace of God’s kingdom—unity in the church, justice, and the spread of the gospel. Live as citizens of the heavenly Jerusalem while sojourning here: pursue peace, reject hostility, and long for the full arrival where “the dwelling place of God is with man” (Revelation 21:3). If a believer should ask you, “Where does my help come from?” You can offer them this remarkable assurance: At all times, no matter where you go, and for as long as you live, the Bible declares, “Your help comes from the Lord!” 

The Lord descended so we may ascend into heaven. You hang onto your sin and then you get stuck in that place of evil and no peace. We try to fill our lives with other stuff but only Jesus offers peace, cast your eyes up to Him. Even as followers of Jesus we struggle with sin sometimes, we must give that up to the lord.

We look to the Lord who will deliver us to eternal peace. We look to the lord who offers eternal life. And then we can journey with the Lord inspite of the risks because we know He is our help. Moses defied Pharoah. Israel occupied the promised land. David challenged Goliath. A poor band of disciples followed Jesus. Paul sat in a Roman prison. None of these actions make sense unless the actors all understood “from whence” came their help—unless they understood that they were “in the watch-care of a great big God.”22 And the same is true for us. The risk-taking, journey-making paths we walk as Christians are informed by the claims in Psalm 121. While the paths we walk and the lives we live may be fraught with challenges, we are not forced to confront them alone, for we know that there is nothing that can separate us from the love of God (Rom 8:39). We have confidence that the Maker of heaven and earth stands as Guardian “watch[ing] over [our] coming and going both now and forevermore.

so then I ask again, who are youy looking to for help.