WISDOM FOR LIVING DAILY DEVOTIONAL
MARCH 12, 2021
TOPIC: WHERE DOES YOUR HELP COME FROM?
BY T. O. BANSO
“I will lift up my eyes to the hills — from whence comes my help? My help comes from the LORD, Who made heaven and earth” (Psalm 121:1-2 New King James Version).
Everybody needs help in one area or the other. Whoever says he doesn’t need help may soon need it. Nobody is sufficient and nobody has the answers to all of life’s questions. Only God does.
The question however is: who do you look to for help? Some people look to friends, relations, etc. Thank God if the issues at stake are what they can intervene in and help. But, sometimes, there are some kinds of help that they can’t render. The woman with the issue of blood could not be helped by the physicians of her day. She bled for 12 years until she met Jesus who healed her (Mark 5:25-34).
Furthermore, some people patronize the occult or people with demonic power for help. When some people need help, they run here and there to different people, including those who are in league with the devil because of the pressure on them. Though they may promise to help, the repercussion is always regrettable and will ultimately take one to hellfire.
People who do not know how to look to God for help will be at the mercy of problems and circumstances or fellow humans. When God helps one, one will do what other human beings can’t even imagine can happen in one’s life for good. But if a human being is helping you, such a person will hardly help you up to his level because the natural man first protects his own interest. Most human beings will not help you to come to the level they are but God can help you above them.
The psalmist said, “I will lift up my eyes to the hills — from whence comes my help?” (Psalm 121:1 New King James Version). From where does your help come from? Where or who are you looking to for help? The psalmist answered the question: “My help comes from the LORD, Who made heaven and earth” (verse 2 New King James Version).
Are you looking to God for help or to man? The New Living Translation renders Psalm 121:1-2 thus: “I look up to the mountains — does my help come from there? My help comes from the LORD, who made the heavens and the earth!” Where does your help come from?
Psalm 46:1 says, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble” (New King James Version). God doesn’t abandon His children in times of trouble. He is always present, not to watch them being subdued by trouble but to help them. He is ever-present in times of trouble to help.
When you are faced with difficult situations or dealing with a problem in life, you should look to God. Some people rather look to human beings. They only make God the last resort after human beings have failed them. What hills are you looking for help? “Truly, in vain is salvation hoped for from the hills, and from the multitude of mountains; truly, in the LORD our God is the salvation of Israel” (Jeremiah 3:23 New King James Version).
Look to God for help, not to man or the hills. Of course, God uses human beings but you don’t know who He wants to use to help you. Look to God and let Him use whoever He chooses to use. Psalm 60:11 says, “Give us help from trouble, for the help of man is useless” (New King James Version).
While some people neglect God and are running after human beings to help them, God is positioning human beings to help those who look to Him for help. God will never leave you or forsake you (Hebrews 13:5). He won’t abandon you in your hour of need. Look to Him for help. “They looked to Him and were radiant, and their faces were not ashamed” (Psalm 34:5 New King James Version). The New Living Translation puts it this way: “Those who look to him for help will be radiant with joy; no shadow of shame will darken their faces.”
David, the writer of Psalm 34, continues: “I cried out to the LORD in my suffering, and he heard me. He set me free from all my fears. For the angel of the LORD guards all who fear him, and he rescues them” (New Living Translation). What the Lord did for David, He will do for you, too, if you put your trust in Him to help you.
Hear David again, “Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who trusts in Him! Oh, fear the LORD, you His saints! There is no want to those who fear Him. The young lions lack and suffer hunger; but those who seek the LORD shall not lack any good thing” (verses 8-10 New King James Version).
Put your trust in the Lord to help you. Cry to Him for help. Don’t give the impression that you don’t need God and you have people already to help you. Even if some people have promised to help you or are already helping you, don’t let them replace God in your life otherwise, you begin to fail miserably.
In some of the psalms written by David, we see him crying to God for help. In Psalm 22:19, he cried, “But You, O LORD, do not be far from Me; O My Strength, hasten to help Me!” (New King James Version). Similarly, he cried in Psalm 38:22, “Make haste to help me, O Lord, my salvation!” (New King James Version). Also in Psalm 40:13, he cried, “Be pleased, O LORD, to deliver me; O LORD, make haste to help me! (New King James Version). David also cried to God for help in Psalms 70:1; 109:26
No matter what you’re going through, call upon the Lord to help you. Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved (Romans 10:13). He knows how He will get help across to you. The prophet Isaiah said, “For the Lord GOD will help Me; therefore I will not be disgraced; therefore I have set My face like a flint,and I know that I will not be ashamed” (Isaiah 50:7 New King James Version). God will not allow you to be stranded; He won’t allow you to be disgraced. He will help
God is not far from you; He is near you. He will help you. “He is near who justifies Me; who will contend with Me? Let us stand together. Who is My adversary? Let him come near Me. Surely the Lord GOD will help Me; who is he who will condemn Me? Indeed they will all grow old like a garment; the moth will eat them up” (Isaiah 50:8-9 New King James Version). Surely, the Lord will help you. Look to Him. God shall help you, just at the break of dawn (Psalm 46:5b).
Every problem of life will respond to the help from God with whom nothing is impossible (Matthew 19:26). Look to God for help and obey His instructions. David said, “I have set the LORD always before me; because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved” (Psalm 16:8 New King James Version).
Don’t lean to your own understanding (Proverbs 3:5). Put your trust in the Lord for help. Jeremiah 17:5-8 compares the man who trusts in a fellow man and the man who trusts in the LORD – the former is cursed and the latter is blessed. Don’t trust in chariots and horses to help you; trust in the LORD your God (Psalm 20:7). By strength, no man shall prevail (1 Samuel 2:9). God does not delight in the strength of the horse; He takes no pleasure in the legs of a man (Psalm 147:10).
“I will lift up my eyes to the hills — from whence comes my help? My help comes from the LORD, Who made heaven and earth” (Psalm 121:1-2 New King James Version). Compare this scripture to Psalms 123:1-2 where the writer says, “Unto You I lift up my eyes, O You who dwell in the heavens. Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their masters, as the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the LORD our God, until He has mercy on us” (New King James Version).
Where does your help come from? Is it from the hills or from the Lord? Do you look to Him or to human beings? Make the Lord your helper. Boldly say, “The LORD is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?” (Hebrews 13:6 New King James Version).
I pray for you: “In times of trouble, may the Lord answer your cry. May the name of the God of Jacob keep you safe from all harm. May he send you help from his sanctuary and strengthen you from Jerusalem” (Psalm 20: 1-2 New Living Translation).
TAKE ACTION!
If you are not born again, you need to give your life to Jesus now. I urge you to take the following steps: *Admit you are a sinner and you cannot save yourself and repent of your sins. *Confess Jesus as your Lord and Saviour. *Renounce your past way of life – your relationship with the devil and his works. *Invite Jesus into your life. *As a mark of seriousness to mature in the faith, start attending a Bible-believing and Bible-teaching church. There they will teach you how to grow in the Kingdom of God.
Kindly say this prayer now: O Lord God, I come unto you today. I know I am a sinner and I cannot save myself. I believe that Jesus is the Son of God who died on the cross to save me and resurrected the third day. I repent of my sins and confess Jesus as my Lord and Saviour. I surrender my life to Jesus now and invite Him into my heart. By this prayer, I know I am saved. Thank you, Jesus, for saving me and making me a child of God.
I believe you have said this prayer from your heart. Congratulations! You will need to join a Bible-believing and Bible-teaching church in your area where they will teach you how to live your new life in Christ Jesus. I pray that you flourish like the palm tree and grow like the cedar of Lebanon. May you grow into Christ in all things and become all God wants you to be. I will be glad to hear from you. The Lord be with you.
PRAYER POINTS: Father, thank You for being my help in ages past. I put my trust in You to be my help now and in the future. Father, my help comes from you, not from any human being. Help me Lord, on every life issue that I need help. Send me help from above and strengthen me. Make haste to help me, Lord.
(For over 400 in-depth and powerful messages by T. O. Banso, visit: www.cedarministry.org).
T. O. Banso is the President, Cedar Ministry International, Abuja, Nigeria.
Phone No: +2348155744752, +2348033113523
WhatsApp No: +2349081295947
Email: cedarministryintl@yahoo.com,
cedarministryng@gmail.com
Website: www.cedarministry.org
