Whence Cometh Your Help?

Activity: Sunday Sermon
Anchor Scripture: Psalm 121: 1-2
Scripture References: Isaiah 40: 28-29, Isaiah 41:13, Psalm 146: 5-6, Jeremiah 3:23

Introduction
Humans are configured in a way that puts us in one need or the other, every time; and most times, one's social status does not count; thus, "the rich also cry." The only difference however could be in the kind of needs sought by individuals, the frequency of occurrences and how easily or otherwise such needs are met.

Just like the needs, how individuals resolve or meet their needs differ; where individuals go or turn in times of needs greatly differ also.

Common to all of us is the fact that we are equally born, but not equally privileged. This discrepancy accounts for the reason we go different places in times of need. Even among us, Christians, how we seek solutions greatly differ.

However, many of us complain of unanswered prayers. The question is, how do you expect God you didn't TRUST or Whom you didn't consider when the devil came knocking, to now rush to deliver you?

My prayer is that God, in His infinite mercies shall open our hearts of understanding today to let us see His thoughts in this message, in Jesus Name. Amen.

Message
The devil, through his agents will always come knocking, brethren, we don't need to deceive ourselves. If he didn't spare our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ (Mat. 4:1-11), how and why do we expect him not to touch us, if truly we are of God and His Christ (Rev. 12: 17)?

However, the question as to whether God will rise on our behalves or not often depends on our first reaction whenever a crisis occurs. Many of us who call ourselves Christians always have a preset mind of how to tackle our problems whenever they arose. We often forget that our God works in ways we can't understand. Like I said sometimes ago in one of my Sunday School classes, when we pray, we should not pray our own prayers, but God's; likewise, the answer we should expect should not be our own answers, but God's (Isaiah 55:8-11). Whenever we act contrary to this admonition, brethren, we behave like the elders of Israel in Ezekiel 14: 1-5. To God, brethren, whenever we cogitate another helper apart from him, we have built am idol contrary to His injunction.

The Psalmist was aware of this grave offence against God, thus he forewarned in Psalm 16:4 saying, "Their sorrows shall be multiplied that hasten after another god; their drink offering will I not offer, nor take up their names into my lips." As far as God is concerned, whoever you turned in times of trouble is a god unto you as long as He is not the One. This is the reason many of us do meet with lots and lots of disappointments from the people to whom we turned (Jeremiah 17:5-6)

Most times, many of us pray and get answers, but the answers are often time, reversed, and within a short period of time, we are back at the status quo. Then, we begin to wonder what happened. Yeah, the answer is not farfetched, the wise man has told us in Ecclesiastes 3:14 that, "I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever; nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it, . . . ."

In Psalm 46:1, the Bible calls God, ". . . a very present help in trouble." Yes, that is Who God had been from time immemorial. He knew we are sure going to have challenges. So, He didn't promise us a smooth sail, rather, He promised a safe landing (Psalm 34:17 & 19, John 16:33, Luke 10:19). So, whence cometh thy help?

The Psalm 41 partly quoted above says that "God is our refuge . . . ." Sometimes, our attitudes are what suggest other alternatives to us. But the truth, brethren, is that God has no alternatives, and until we begin to see Him as the Only Option, we may not be in tandem with Him because He has forewarned in 1 Samuel 2:30 saying, ". . . for them that honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed."

From our anchor Scripture, we understand that there are many mountains or hills (helpers). Ordinarily, in times pasts, mountains or hills are places of help or refuge in times of trouble (war). So, the Psalmist found himself in dire strait and says, "OK, I will lift up my eyes unto the hills." That is, "I will go and seek assistance from people who matter." In his giddy moment, however, he remembered the most "present help in trouble" , thus, he declared, "My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth" ( Psalms 121:2). Our present help in trouble, is always ready to help if we called on Him (Jeremiah 33:3). The book of Proverbs 22:10 says "The blessing of the LORD, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it" ( Proverbs 10:22).

In 1 Samuel 17:38, King Saul trusted in his armour, thus, he gave them to David to fight Goliath with. The Scripture says "And Saul armed David with his armour, and he put an helmet of brass upon his head; also he armed him with a coat of mail." However, Davids trust was not in these. Hence, he couldn't go and fight with them; therefore, he rejected them. Whence cometh your help?

Conclusion
We as humans will always have one need or the other in our daily lives. The onus therefore is on us, not to run helter skelter in times of trouble. We are told to be patient in trouble. The grace to so do shall be released on us in Jesus Name. Amen.