Where does your help come from?

First, I think it’s important we see that prideful people won’t ask for help. They will make every excuse for this inaction but in reality it’s just simply pride. They may even blame you like, “I didn’t want to bother you, I know you’re so busy”. Reality check— “Pride goeth before destruction, And an haughty spirit before a fall” according to Proverbs 16.18.  So they haven’t fallen yet.  That’s the only conclusion I can gain. It seems reasonable because when a person finally “falls” (hits rock bottom) they cry out. Not to say that is the end because often it’s not. They haven’t found the bottom of the bottom yet. Surely you know someone like this. In other words, They aren’t desperate enough yet. 

Once a person becomes desperate enough they’ll ask for help. Eventually and maybe even painfully, but they ask. Does this not all sound heartbreaking?  Doesn’t it also sound ludicrous?  It is. It is human and human nature is hell bent and proud of it!  

Secondly, it’s important to point out that prideful people are blind and deaf to their circumstances. You can’t see or hear it coming. You don’t see or hear it when it’s here and you don’t admit it once it drops you like a rock. Crazy!  We are more feeble and in need of help than we can even realize!  Warnings do not work for the prideful. Visual aids are futile for the prideful. Meetings, confrontations, discussions, and even interventions won’t do the trick. In fact, that may even drive them further away from reason.  So you won’t ask for help, because you really don’t see you need it in the first place. Plus, if someone were to point that out, you couldn’t hear it. Wow!  We are in a pickle. 

Once the pride is evaporated by the price having to be paid for the pride, and desperation sets in, they may cry out.  But where and to whom?  I’ve seen people hit a bottom or close to it and reach out to the worst person they could possibly reach out to. Why?  In my observations it’s because they truly aren’t broken yet. That pride is still flexing. They reach out to those who will understand their point of view. They reach out to those who will go soft on them. They reach out to those who will at least 50% agree with them. They reach out to those who may owe them emotionally. They reach out only a little but without true confession of the facts. All of this and more is typical to the proud that have hit a bottom but not the bottom.  Once that happens then they will beg for help…there is a sense of desperation…and they could care less who hears it or sees it because they are looking for a for-real-legitimized source!  

Believe it or not David, King of Israel was one of those people. Humble, meek, and desperate. This was a man of incredible means and ability. Today we would say, he was bad to the bone!  He didn’t just lead mighty men of valor, he was one. He was an incredible warrior but also a lover of God. David once wrote this, our text:

Psalm 121.1-3— “I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, From whence cometh my help.  My help cometh from the Lord, Which made heaven and earth.  He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: He that keepeth thee will not slumber.”

Here we see a man who has been washed clean of his pride and can now see clearly and hear accurately. This is a man who knows the source of help and is willing to cry out for it, no matter who hears. He’s willing to admit his problems and weaknesses. He’s willing to point out his failures and admit shame.  He knows the enemy and he understands it’s within. All of that is tucked within this text. He doesn’t trust the false sources like “the hills”. Everyone in that day saw the majesty of mountains and creation as the place God dwelt. True, God spoke to Moses in a mountain. But Satan duplicates a phony of just about everything God does. For instance, Greek mythology has Mount Olympus. Each and every indigenous people had mountain top pyramid-looking locations of worship or prominence. The woman at the well had a discussion about worship location whether at Mount Gerazim or Jerusalem (which is a hill). Even there Jesus set her straight by explaining it’s not a place, but a person.  There was a lot of trusting in hills in the times of David. The prophet Jeremiah said in Jeremiah 3.23– “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.”  Question to ask yourself: Who made the mountain?  As David said here in this text and later said in Psalm 124.8– “Our help is in the name of the Lord, Who made heaven and earth.” 

In a hurry?  Read these:

Psalm 71.12– “O God, be not far from me: O my God, make haste for my help.”

Psalm 40.13– “Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me: O Lord, make haste to help me.”

Psalm 70.1– “Make haste, O God, to deliver me; Make haste to help me, O Lord.”

Feel weak or alone?

Psalm 22.19– “But be not thou far from me, O Lord: O my strength, haste thee to help me.”

Don’t know what to do?

Hebrews 4.16– “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”

Our text also says He will stabilize you (keep your foot). Bonus, He stands ready (not slumber). Thank God for is stability and faithfulness, even when we are not. 

Disciple, stop running to the wrong resources!  Stop making excuses. Stop falling!  Break your pride and go to the One who’s help is ready to aid. You need only humble yourself and ask.