Look Up

¹ I lift up my eyes to the hills.  From where does my help come? ² My help comes from the  Lord, who made heaven and earth. ³ He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you  will not slumber. ⁴Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. ⁵The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand.⁶The sun shall not strike you by  day, nor the moon by night. 7 The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life.  ⁸ The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and  forevermore. – Psalm 121

 

Where Can We Get Help?

One of my Psalms of comfort is Psalm 121. It is so jam packed with “super calm”.  If I  need help, and who doesn’t, [whether we want to admit it or not] where can I get it?  Nowhere else than from the Maker of the universe.

Jesus Himself had said,

“Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” – Matthew 11:28

Whoa! Did He say burdened?  Hey, that’s like if I have troubles, right?  So I can take my “whatever is bothering me” to Him, and He’ll help me through it.  Oh, I like that…and it doesn’t say whether it’s a big or a small thing…so I can take anything to Him then, right?  Right!

Standing On A Rock

Okay, now it says He won’t let my foot to be moved. To me that means that my feet are solidly placed. Let’s try changing feet to faith.  My faith is firmly planted in the Lord.  I will trust in the Rock of my salvation, namely Jesus.  Psalm 40:2 says,

He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; He set me on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.

So, He took me from the murky sticky waters of sin, and through the Holy Spirit, placed me on the Rock of my salvation, Jesus [Oh, I said that already…but it is worth repeating].

Besides all this, God never slumbers, gets tired or drowsy, or sleeps.  He is always alert.  Wanting and waiting for us to see that we need Him and His comfort and help. As a parent I get tired, how about “sick and tired,” of the same complaint over and over again.  God is not like that.  He doesn’t grow weary of hearing us and our complaints.  Rather, He invites us to tell it all to Him.  Lay whatever you have on your heart on Him.  He’s THE Big Boy, and can take it.  You know what?  To me, that sounds like what prayer is all about. Hmmmmmm.

Jesus Is A Shade

Well, moving on…now the Lord is my shade and will keep me from evil.  I like that! I play softball, and there just are not any shade trees on the playing field.  So on those hot sweltering days it feels so good to get under some shade.  What relief from the burning heat, the shade provides. So when the burning heat of sin is wanting to dry and parch my heart, the Lord provides for me His words of comfort that shade me from the temptations and sins that are all around. The devil, the world, and my sinful flesh want me to look at all the bad in and around me. But Jesus, Who conquered and utterly defeated them, tells us the real story of how He loves us.  Think of it.  The Maker of heaven and earth, left his throne on high to live with us. More than that, to die in our place, so we can be with Him forever in heaven.  He rose from the dead to prove He had conquered all, and that He is the living One.

Look Down or Look Up?

The story is told of 2 men walking the way of life.  The 1st, with his eyes downcast; the 2nd, with eager face uplifted to the sky.  He who gazed on the ground said, ”Life is dull and gray.”  But, he who looked to the stars, went singing on his way.  After Jesus ascended into heaven, He sent the Comforter, the Holy Spirit to give us a clearer understanding of what was done for us.  The Spirit gives and keeps us in our faith…our going out and our coming in… in all we do, He is with us.  Even when things aren’t like they’re supposed to be, or the way we want or like them to be, we have a loving God Who is softly and tenderly calling us to trust and take comfort and refuge in Him.

So, take comfort, take refuge, take His peace that passes all understanding, take Jesus at His word, and talk to Him in prayer.  My friend, the Lord is with you.  Now, look up and go sing a song or two!