Day 87: May I Help You With Something?
Read: Psalm 121
One of the most common phrases that you will ever hope to hear come
from any one persons mouth is probably "May I help you with something?"
That is a familiar greeting when we walk into any sort of retail store,
any place where we expect to find hospitality as the norm. When have you been at a hotel or motel and not heard someone trying to fall all over themselves trying to provide a service to you and asking that question? Have you ever been in a patient in a hospital and not hear a nurse or
aide ask it? It is everywhere we go and we hope that it will be on the
lips of everyone we ever meet.
We need help most of the places
we go. If we go out to eat someone may help us find a table. They take
our order. Someone else even cooks the food. I remember the days when
gas stations attendants would fill ‘er up. There were times when grocery
stores employed bag boys to carry your groceries out to the car. When
you think about it, we are all dependent on someone for something. We
are all going to find ourselves, at least one time in our lives going to
be in need someone’s help. It is truly unavoidable.
To me this is one of the most comforting passages of scripture. Some scholars have labeled this Psalm the “Travelers Psalm.”
A Song of Ascents.
1 I lift up my eyes to the hills—
from where will my help come?
2 My help comes from the Lord,
who made heaven and earth. (Psalm 121:1-2)
You will notice at the very beginning is a notation that says, “A song
of ascents.” This is a song that the Israelite's would sing as they made
their way to the Temple for worship. When I am traveling somewhere, anywhere, I usually find myself turning on my favorite radio station and trying to sing along with what is playing. I find it
comforting and I believe it keeps my mind focused It must have been a
great source of comfort for weary travelers to be reminded of God’s
protection on them as they traveled and prayed these simple words. As we
look at this, I can hear God saying, “May I help you?”
God is
GREATER than anything. People and things will let us down. There will
always be someone who doesn’t come through for us. God never lets us
down. How reassuring it is to know that we do not need to look NOWHERE
else. Verse 1 says, “I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my
help come?” It always comes from just one place: God.
We may seek to
find help from many different things. So often we can allow our job to
become our source of help. We look to our family for help. We will look
to the Church for help. However, these are only temporary and unable to
truly help us. God is greater than any of that stuff. Our eternal help
doesn’t come from any other source: it is God.
Let us pray:
Ever vigilant God, sharpen our sense of vision that we may not just look
to the hills for our help but that we may also see that help and find
only You there.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4I-j1a6Wzc
Psalm 121
www.youtube.com
A fun easy way to memorize Psalm 121. Each phrase is paired with a photo to help you remember it.
Read: Psalm 121
One of the most common phrases that you will ever hope to hear come from any one persons mouth is probably "May I help you with something?" That is a familiar greeting when we walk into any sort of retail store, any place where we expect to find hospitality as the norm. When have you been at a hotel or motel and not heard someone trying to fall all over themselves trying to provide a service to you and asking that question? Have you ever been in a patient in a hospital and not hear a nurse or aide ask it? It is everywhere we go and we hope that it will be on the lips of everyone we ever meet.
We need help most of the places we go. If we go out to eat someone may help us find a table. They take our order. Someone else even cooks the food. I remember the days when gas stations attendants would fill ‘er up. There were times when grocery stores employed bag boys to carry your groceries out to the car. When you think about it, we are all dependent on someone for something. We are all going to find ourselves, at least one time in our lives going to be in need someone’s help. It is truly unavoidable.
To me this is one of the most comforting passages of scripture. Some scholars have labeled this Psalm the “Travelers Psalm.”
A Song of Ascents.
1 I lift up my eyes to the hills—
from where will my help come?
2 My help comes from the Lord,
who made heaven and earth. (Psalm 121:1-2)
You will notice at the very beginning is a notation that says, “A song of ascents.” This is a song that the Israelite's would sing as they made their way to the Temple for worship. When I am traveling somewhere, anywhere, I usually find myself turning on my favorite radio station and trying to sing along with what is playing. I find it comforting and I believe it keeps my mind focused It must have been a great source of comfort for weary travelers to be reminded of God’s protection on them as they traveled and prayed these simple words. As we look at this, I can hear God saying, “May I help you?”
God is GREATER than anything. People and things will let us down. There will always be someone who doesn’t come through for us. God never lets us down. How reassuring it is to know that we do not need to look NOWHERE else. Verse 1 says, “I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come?” It always comes from just one place: God.
We may seek to find help from many different things. So often we can allow our job to become our source of help. We look to our family for help. We will look to the Church for help. However, these are only temporary and unable to truly help us. God is greater than any of that stuff. Our eternal help doesn’t come from any other source: it is God.
Let us pray: Ever vigilant God, sharpen our sense of vision that we may not just look to the hills for our help but that we may also see that help and find only You there.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4I-j1a6Wzc
Psalm 121
www.youtube.com
A fun easy way to memorize Psalm 121. Each phrase is paired with a photo to help you remember it.
