Your Creator God Is Your Help

“I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come?” Psalm 121:1

So often when I’m overwhelmed, looking for encouragement or affirmation, or need advice or comfort, I seek help by phoning a friend, venting about the situation to my husband, or maybe taking yet another look at my planner to try and figure out how to find an extra hour or two in my day. I look for “me time,” I make another pot of coffee, or I buy a new blouse online, all in an effort to find help.

Psalm 121 continues, answering the question, “From where does my help come?”

“My help comes from the LORD…”

All these other sources of comfort and help pale in comparison to where the psalmist found his help. God may give help to me or provide strength and comfort through the people and gifts He has placed into my life, but He is the source of all good gifts and abundant graces. He is the One who is my help, my stronghold, my shield, my strength, my deliverer, my God, my rock in whom I take refuge. (Psalm 18:1-2)

And who is this LORD to whom the psalmist refers? How can He help us or come to our aid?

“My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth.”

Your Creator God is your help.

My help comes from the Creator of the universe, the God of Genesis 1. He is the great and awesome God who spoke, and by His very word called the world and all its creatures into existence. In our weaknesses and pleas for grace, THIS is our strong God.

Do you remember the story in 1 Kings 20 of war between Ben-hadad, king of Syria, and Ahab, king of Israel? Both of these kings were wicked, but God had told Ahab that He was going to give Israel the victory, that “you shall know that I am the Lord.”

Sure enough, Israel defeated the Syrians. But after this great blow to Ben-hadad, his servants came to him and said,

“Their gods are gods of the hills, and so they were stronger than we. But let us fight against them in the plain, and surely we shall be stronger than they.” (1 Kings 20:23)

The Syrians did not know our God! They assumed He was some local deity who only had power over limited realms of jurisdiction, or that He only reigned over part of creation.

And so, that next spring when Ben-hadad acted upon his limited understanding of the LORD and went out to fight Israel in the plains, God again gave Syria into the hand of Israel. He wanted everyone to know that He was the LORD.

My friends, we don’t simply worship a god of the hills only. Or a god of the plains only. Or a god who reigns only over certain aspects of creation and events in our lives.

We worship the God who created everything, from the heavens to the earth. Our God who condescends to make Himself flesh, Who walked the very earth that He created, He is our great help.

This mighty Creator who made us also reminds us that “He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust” (Psalm 103:14). The glorious truths of Gentle Savior and Omnipotent Creator harmonize together, and we are invited, even commanded, to rest and trust in the LORD.

And I ask myself, “To where (or whom) do I lift up your eyes for help? Where does MY help come from when I am overwhelmed or struggling?” Do I first look for strength and help in an article on increased productivity? A babysitter to keep my fussy kids so I can have an afternoon alone? A sweet friend who will listen to all my woes? My husband? Chocolate pie and a cup of coffee?

Or will I lift up my eyes to the eternal Creator, the One who is able to keep me, the One who sees me, the One who preserves me, the One who guards my life and soul in this present moment and for eternity?

“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 121:3-8)