Where Does Your Help Come From?
Where Does Your Help Come From?
by Whitney Newby
The writers of the Psalms understood our natural human inclination to fret and worry. In Psalm 121, the psalmist sings,“ I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come?” He immediately answers his own question by singing in the face of his fears:“ My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth”( verses 1-2).
Psalm 121 is part of a collection of 15 psalms called the Songs of Ascent that Jewish pilgrims traditionally sang while traveling the uphill road to Jerusalem to attend three annual festivals in the temple( Exodus 23:14- 19). They sang these songs as a prayer of protection as they crossed a steep, narrow path filled with potential dangers that loomed in the hills. But these pilgrim songs weren’ t only intended for the rocky road to Jerusalem; the songs shaped their spiritual journey as well. These pilgrims were traveling to the very presence of God, who dwelled in the temple on Mount Zion.
So what does this have to do with mothers?
On our parenting journey, we often find ourselves stretched thin and feeling weak. Few things expose our need for a Helper as profoundly as motherhood. Those hard days lead us to ask,“ Will God really provide everything I need? Is he enough?” And what we need— more than a fresh cup of coffee, an hour alone or more sleep— is to know the Source of our help. We need His living Word to shape our perspective, remind us of our identity, and equip us for the holy work before us. We need Him.
Each of the eight verses of Psalm 121 reveals an aspect of God’ s character. Using this psalm as a framework, we can learn how to“ lift our eyes” from the daily realities of motherhood to the steadfast love of the Lord. And when we realize that all of Scripture is ultimately about Christ( Luke 24:27; John 5:39), we will see that Jesus is the fulfillment of this psalm. In light of the redemptive work He has done on our behalf, we know that Christ Himself is our Help, our Provider, the God who Sees, our Protector, our Keeper, our Comfort, our Shepherd, and our Sustainer.
As moms, we spend a lot of time looking down: at our phones, at the toddler at our feet, at our never-ending to-do lists. We also gaze to the side, envious of what others have. We might even look behind us, nostalgic about the past or ahead to the future, hoping life will someday feel more manageable than it does right now. But what if God, through His Word, is gently placing His hand under our chins and lifting our eyes upward toward Him? When we fix our eyes on Him and remember all that He has done, we can move forward with purpose, knowing that He is with us and has promised to help us every step of the way.
I pray that you will be reminded and equipped to raise your eyes to your steady, unchanging God, who promises to keep you because of what Christ has done. He watches, guards and protects you on the difficult days you want to escape, the glorious days you wish would never end and every ordinary day from now to eternity. In Him, we find the life-sustaining rest, provision, strength and wisdom we need for our journey as moms.
Where does our help come from? It comes from the Lord. Let’ s lift our eyes to Him.
Derived from Psalm 121, these 40 devotions will help you lift your eyes from motherhood’ s trials and fix them upon God’ s character and strength. Hardcover $ 24.99
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