Help for the Helpless

“For he shall deliver the needy when he crieth; the poor also, and [him] that hath no helper.” (Ps 72:12 AV)

That last part of the verse is special!  When you boil it all down, how much help do we really have?  David wrote this near the end of his life.  The next Psalm is Asaph’s biography and eulogy of his good friend, David.  It was known of this great king that was the apple of God’s eye.  He and the LORD had a very special relationship.  Despite the failures of his life, he loved God, and God loved him.  No doubt in the course of his life he felt as though he had no one.  Several instances come to mind.  Goliath was one of his first lone challenges.  Just before Saul died and when David took the throne, all his men left him.  Now, he lies on his deathbed and human help will be of no worth.  When compared to God’s help, there is little people can do for you in comparison to what you might be facing.  Don’t get me wrong.  The help of dear saints is absolutely needed and welcomed.  God uses them to meet our needs.  We cannot survive without one another.  But there are times when man’s help, although somewhat sufficient, lacks all that we need.  This is where David was.  Lying on a bed with a nurse at his side and his wife and encouragement, it was not going to change his outcome.  God was the only one who could truly help David.

On one of my darkest days, this truth was made real to me.  Through the changes of life and other issues I was facing, all I could see were dark skies.  There was no sunshine.  There was no sunshine predicted.  As far as the mind was concerned, all hope was lost.  This poor saint found himself at the end of his rope.  There was no more left, and the knot was slipping through my grasp.  If God did not do something soon, my end was near.  In the wisdom of my wife, she called a close friend.  I had escaped to my room and sat there sobbing and rocking back and forth.  Too much loss had happened in a very brief time.  Spiritual issues were coming to a head.  Fear gripped me on every side.  There was no way to turn.  My good friend came to try to console me.  He tried the best he could.  The verses he used were familiar to me, and before he said anything, I knew what he was going to say.  It wasn’t helping.  I finally rebuked him a bit, and that is when he realized that God alone was my helper.  He sat there.  Simply sat there.  He said nothing.  He promised that he would not go anywhere until I was okay.  Other than that last bit of comfort, he simply sat there.  I imagine as he sat in silence, what he was really doing was praying.  I am certain of it.  He went to the throne of my only Helper and interceded on my behalf.  It worked!  His intervention drew me out of a pit of hopelessness deeper than I have ever been before, or since.  That day I learned the reality of the verse above.

The child of God is never without hope.  Never.  Don’t let the adversary tell you otherwise.  There is no failure nor sin that can separate you from your Father.  Repentance and forsaking are asked for, but the Father will never leave.  Ever!  Nor will He ever allow us to go through a trial without Him.  He promises to be with us in the midst of the deepest water we will ever tread.  He will be there.  And He will deliver.  Living in the hope of that deliverance is difficult.  Go far enough down a pit and the sun is blocked out.  All we see are the dark, constraining walls of our situation.  Whether we can see the light or not, it exists.  God is there. He promises to deliver those who have no helper.  Praise be to God!