JEHOVAH-EZER = Jehovah is my Help

Transcription

1 JEHOVAH-EZER = Jehovah is my Help On Thursday evening we were considering the subject of the Doctrine of Man. We were looking at how we were made in the image of God and how that relates to us. We were also looking at the perfection of His creation, and then we had to contend with the fact of the Fall. The Fall refers to how our first parents made the decision to choose their own path rather than follow after God. It introduced sin and led them into all kinds of difficulties and hardships which has permeated in its entirety throughout the human race, Rom. 5:12 Wherefore, as by one man [Adam] sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. Sin is the reason why bad things happen. It is at the basis of every war, every crime, every cruelty, every bad thought, and every bad action. It brings confusion and controversy, accompanied by conflict. It breaks families apart. It ruins friendships. It is the enemy of God s creation for it is how to make bad that which God made good. Being a Christian is knowing Christ as Saviour and His Father as our Father. A Saviour saves, and a Father protects and cares for His children Salvation and protection are the two arms in which God holds His people. Are you enjoying God as your Father? It s just a simple question, and yet it is a very real one. As His child, He loves you and wants for you to have the very best. His very best will be granted to you in Glory, but He also desires for you to have a taste of that very best in this life. It doesn t mean your bank account will be oozing with wealth. It doesn t mean your home will be a castle, or your car is a Rolls Royce but it means far more than that for it means you have a satisfaction and a confident joy in your life that wealth, a castle, and a Rolls Royce could never guarantee. Let s read from Ps. 121:1 I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. 2 My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth. 3 He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber. 4 Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. 5 The LORD is thy keeper: the LORD is thy shade upon thy right hand. 6 The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night. 7 The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul. 8 The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore. This is the personal testimony of the psalmist to the saving and keeping-power of God God Who is his constant and faithful Companion, his Help.

2 The word Hebrew word for help is ezer, and we noticed, - on Thursday evening, - how it is found in many places throughout Scripture but the first time it was used is in Gen. 2:18 where God declared, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him and so Eve was formed to complement Adam in his work for the Lord. Another well-known example of how it was used is in I Sam. 7, where the Ark of the Covenant had been recovered and a decisive victory won over the Philistines. To commemorate God s faithfulness, Samuel erected a monument which he called Eben-ezer, stone of help, I Sam. 7:12 Then Samuel took a stone and called the name of it Ebenezer, saying, Hitherto hath the LORD helped us. So, that is the word ezer which is used here in Psalm 121 We shall look at it here and also in a few other passages of Scripture as we try to simply understand the benefits of being a Christian and knowing God as our Helper. OUR VERY PRESENT HELP Ps. 121:1 I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. 2 My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth. As the psalmist looked to the hills, he realised the magnificent glory of the Lord, - those hills were fantastic. You could imagine the shepherd on the Scottish hills looking out over the vast array of God s glory and putting those words into song, I to the hills will lift my eyes; O whence shall come my aid? My help is from the Lord alone, Who Heav n and earth has made. He will not let thy foot be moved, Thy Guardian never sleeps; With watchful and unslumbering care, His own He safely keeps. Despite the seasons those great hills remain constant they never move. We have seen because of the earthquake in the centre of Italy how the constructions of men collapse and fall but the hills which God created continue to stand even with the earthquakes. That is the power He has! 2

3 3 Many were the memories of the goodness of God that flowed through the psalmist s mind. This was his personal testimony to the saving, keeping and protecting power of God. No matter where he was, and no matter in what state of mind he was in, he testified to the glorious presence of God, Ps. 19:1 The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth his handywork. There were times when he was sinking as low as he thought it was possible to go, Ps. 6:3 My soul is also sore vexed: but thou, O LORD, how long? 4 Return, O LORD, deliver my soul: oh save me for thy mercies' sake 6 I am weary with my groaning; all the night make I my bed to swim; I water my couch with my tears. 7 Mine eye is consumed because of grief; it waxeth old because of all mine enemies and then he goes on to realise, 8 the LORD hath heard the voice of my weeping. 9 The LORD hath heard my supplication; the LORD will receive my prayer. That is the confidence of the believer in the Lord Jesus Christ and even though God might not take the problem away immediately, He is there to help you contend with it. Even before the psalms were composed, He gave Jacob a promise that still holds as firm today for every child of God, Gen. 28:15 I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, for I will not leave thee. That is God s promise to you! He is your Helper! But I am going through some of the worst days of my life Yes, maybe you are, and I cannot pretend to understand some of the emotions that are tearing you apart and neither would I dare patronise you and tell you it will get better but I can assure you of this, - on the foundation of the truth of God s Word, - Jesus Christ the Helper says to you, Jn. 14:18 I will not leave you comfortless [powerless helpless!]: I will come to you. You could ask me the very difficult question, Why is the Lord allowing me to suffer in this way? Why do I feel so like the psalmist, Ps. 109:22 I am poor and needy, and my heart is wounded within me. 23 I am gone like the shadow when it declineth: I am tossed up and down as the locust. 24 My knees are weak through fasting; and my flesh faileth of fatness. If He is as powerful and as caring as I believe He is, why doesn t the Lord change my circumstances and save me out of my predicament? I can t give you an answer. What I can tell you, though, is the psalmist never took his attention away from the Lord. He never looked anywhere else The psalm I am just after quoting from, - Psalm 109, - is what is known as a Messianic Psalm and it looks towards Christ on the cross, v.25 I became also a reproach unto them: when

4 4 they looked upon me they shaked their heads. This psalm was first written from the heart of David, - these were the pangs David was suffering in the midst of his enemies but we also know they point forward to and describe the unimaginable agony of our Saviour, v. 26 Help me, O LORD my God: O save me according to thy mercy: 27 That they may know that this is thy hand; that thou, LORD, hast done it. And at the end of His suffering, God the Father took God the Son down from the cross to bring Him to be laid in the tomb out of which He rose victorious. You are special to God because He sent the Holy Spirit to work in your heart that you would believe in Christ to save you eternally. You do not doubt, for a moment, He saved you but, you want to know why He is allowing you to go through so much heartache and despair The psalmist wept, Ps. 24:1 My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring? For a fleeting moment, he feared that God was gone, and he was left alone but God never leaves His children He can t for He promised He wouldn t! He won t leave you whether you are languishing in the comfort of the green pastures, and walking alongside the beauty of the still waters, or whether you are passing through the valley of the shadow of death (Ps. 23:2-4). When Christ becomes your Saviour and your Master, - in all His glorious dimensions, - He always continues to be your very present Help, i.e. your help, at this very moment, even if you are in the straits of deep distress. Let s take it a step further He is also YOUR VERY POWERFUL HELP Once again, in Ps. 61, the Psalmist was in a seemingly hopeless spiritual state, - it shows us being a Christian does not keep you away from such times and neither need it to have been your fault that such circumstances have arisen, Ps. 61:1 To the chief Musician upon Neginah, A Psalm of David. Hear my cry, O God; attend unto my prayer. 2 From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed [besieged, weighed down, plagued]. Lord, I cannot do anything for myself, I feel fenced in, I feel broken and I feel so lost And then David remembered the powerfulness of God, Ps. 61:2 lead me to the rock that is higher than I. 3 For thou hast been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy. Lord, You have shown me Your power in days gone-by, and I continue to believe in You today but Lord, I need You to lead me now When I cannot see what is round the next corner, Lead me. When I m frightened of what I may find, take my hand and lead me!

5 The Lord does not change. It is impossible for Him to lose any of His power. No enemy can defeat Him or turn Him, no obstruction can hinder Him As a Christian, He is your Help, the strong tower from the enemy. He has never lost one of His children, and He never will! He has never left one of His children, and He never will! If you are feeling deflated, if you are feeling as if God has abandoned you, if the devil is casting something up to you that the Lord has already dealt with it is not possible for He has promised never to leave you remember He is your tower Start running, and there is nothing wrong with running as long as you run in the right direction! Don t stop running until you reach the tower and you are safely inside! The tower is a devil-free zone, because the tower is God, - He is our very present help and He is our very powerful help There is a sign outside the tower that says, Devil, keep out! And one word from God and the devil has to stop and he has to turn round and flee! He is afraid of the power of God, and there is no more powerful a Name which can come from your lips when you speak His Name in prayer asking Him for His help. As a child of the King, instead of running away from God run to Him! The only power you have as a believer over the strife that is threatening you today is the power that comes from God Himself. Like the psalmist, you might have to plead with Him, and plead with Him again and you might wonder why but the reason is this that in every trial He is honing you and shaping you to come closer to Him. Maybe sometimes we don t give Him the attention He deserves and He wants, and that is why He may be using those certain circumstances to gain our attention, as Job explains, Job 23:10 he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold. And something else too, you are a big loss to the enemy God shattered the enemy s attempts to hold on to you, when He saved you. He blew into smithereens the devices of the devil to keep you captive and you have experienced new life in Christ Don t let the devil rob you of all God has done for you! Remind him Whose you are. Don t spend time letting him cast you adrift James tells you, 4:7 Resist the devil, and he will flee from you That is hard but notice, - in order to help you, - that he said on either side of that statement, Submit yourselves therefore to God v.8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. 5

6 You cannot beat the devil on your own, - he has had far too much practice and far too much success with others You, - on your own, - are no problem to him and that is why you must run to God your very present Help and your very powerful Help! And don t be afraid, because as Jehovah-Ezer, He is also YOUR VERY PERSONAL HELP Don t ever think He has no time for you, - look to the cross if you need to be reminded of how much time He has for you! Don t heed the devil s lie that says God listens to other people, but He doesn t listen to you. As a believer, born-again of the Holy Spirit, God listens to your prayers as fervently, and eagerly and passionately as He listened to the prayers of the prophets and the apostles. You are as special to Him as everyone else is. Ah, but why does God allow these things to happen to me? Well, the simple answer is that as long as we are in this world we are susceptible to its woes and sorrows. Don t let the devil convince you that God has let you down in some way. Remember, Christ is your Saviour. Christ died for you on Calvary. He has washed away your sins through His atoning blood. He became your Sacrifice and the devil no longer has any hold over you and there s coming a day when that which is weighing heavily upon you at the moment will be removed forever. I think it is only right to make a point here concerning the unsaved. What I have been saying applies only to those who know and love the Lord Jesus as their Saviour. Sadly, it doesn t apply to those who have not accepted Him as such. To those who continue to reject Him, I can offer no good news. If your life is going through hard times, and if you won t accept Christ, it is not going to get any better. Often as I sit at the bedside of someone who is undergoing great pain and they are coming near the end of their life on earth it s not true that death is a relief to them. In fact, if they stubbornly continue to reject Christ right up to their last breath their pain on earth is nothing compared to the agony of a lost eternity in Hell. If they continue to turn away from God s offer of the Gospel of grace, He will one day turn away from them and they will enter out into a lost eternity, from which there is no escape. 6

7 7 I heard the story of a man lying on his deathbed, with his friend at his side. Sympathetically, the friend said to the dying man, Hold on, it won t be long now. And the man lying on his deathbed, with fear in his voice he said, I have nothing to hold on to! You see, that is the difference in having Christ in your life. When you run to the Lord, you run into the open arms of the Saviour Who is the Good Shepherd of His sheep. He will never leave you, - He is always present with you, and His power will never weaken. The believer knows God is there, and the believer knows God is real, for the believer has the testimony of the power of His wonderful saving grace. Another thing don t listen to the devil when He tells you God has finished with you. He will remind you how you have let God down so often, and He has given up on you. No, once again, cast the devil off, run back to the tower, and in running, cry out to God, Ps. 119:116 Uphold me according unto thy word, that I may live: and let me not be ashamed of my hope. 117 Hold thou me up, and I shall be safe. Don t you see how personal Jehovah-ezer constantly remains! You could be suffering with an illness you might have for the remainder of your days on earth but your hope is coming that day when He will take you out of this present corruptible body, with all its pains and imperfections and He will place you into a brand new perfect and incorruptible body that will never fade away a body which will never grow old. You will be in Heaven where there is no illness, and no sorrow. Until that day, what will keep you going? It s hard but your reliable guarantee is Jehovah Who is your Help! A man called William Cushing wrote a hymn in 1876, and he commented about it, It must be said of this hymn that it was the outgrowth of many tears, many heart-conflicts and soul-yearnings, of which the world can know nothing. The history of many battles is behind it. William Cushing wrote the words, O safe to the Rock that is higher than I, My soul in its conflicts and sorrows would fly; So sinful, so weary, Thine, Thine, would I be; Thou blest Rock of Ages, I m hiding in Thee. Hiding in Thee, hiding in Thee, Thou blest Rock of Ages, I m hiding in Thee.

8 In the calm of the noontide, in sorrow s lone hour, In times when temptation casts o er me its power; In the tempests of life, on its wide, heaving sea, Thou blest Rock of Ages, I m hiding in Thee. Refrain How oft in the conflict, when pressed by the foe, I have fled to my refuge and breathed out my woe; How often, when trials like sea billows roll, Have I hidden in Thee, O Thou Rock of my soul. 8 Many people run into the arms of others, many run to the bottle or to the drugs or to some other futile haven But, you and I have our very own personal Help to run to... and His Name is the Everlasting God, Jehovah-Ezer Ps. 121:1 I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. 2 My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth.