Tag: worry

Where Does My Help Come From?

Where Does My Help Come From?

Marissa

As a new parent, I find myself worrying a lot. What if my baby stops breathing in the middle of the night? What if something falls on her and hurts her? How am I supposed to live with knowing that something bad could happen to her?

I had terrible nightmares when I first came home from the hospital, so bad I woke my husband up a couple times as I frantically looked around to find my baby and make sure she was alright. Someone suggested I could follow James’s instruction to call an elder of the church for prayer and anointing as if I was sick (Jam. 5:14-15). I did, and the nightmares stopped that very night, praise God. I didn’t have another one for over two months, and even then it was more of a normal bad dream than the terror-inducing ones from before.

I wasn’t specifically directing these worry-filled questions at God in my mind, but perhaps I should have. He has answers for our fears, worries, anxieties, and what ifs. It’s been over three years since I put together a 30-day scripture writing plan titled “Big Questions,” but I recently dug it back out of my archives to share with my scripture writing group at church for this month and I’ve started considering the topic of questions again.

Thankfully, God lets us ask Him questions. We’re not supposed to rebel against Him and do things our own way (1 Sam. 15:22-23), tempt or put Him to the test (Deut. 6:16; Matt. 4:5-7), or complain, murmur, and argue (1 Cor. 10:10; Phil. 2:14), but He lets us question. He isn’t threatened or put off when we ask something. He might decide not to answer the exact questions we asked (like He did with Job), or He might correct a wrong assumption at the root of our questions (like He did for some of Habakkuk’s questions), or He might indicate that we need to stop asking after we ask for the same thing several times (like He did for Paul), but He doesn’t tell us not to question Him at all.

Image of a man pushing open glass doors to step outside overlaid with text from Deut. 7:9, WEB version: "Know therefore that Yahweh your God himself is God, the faithful God, who keeps covenant and loving kindness to a thousand generations with those who love him and keep his commandments"
Image by Pearl from Lightstock

Where is my help?

One of God’s answers to our fearful questions is found in a psalm that kept coming to mind as I worried about my newborn baby. As is often the case for me, I specifically thought of a song, this one with words from Psalm 121: “He that keepeth Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps” (the version playing in my head is one I heard in-person at a Messianic church, but here’s a link to a version of the same song). Repeating this psalm/singing this song was often the only way I could fall asleep, trusting that God would stay awake to watch my baby while I couldn’t.

I will lift up my eyes to the hills.
    Where does my help come from?
My help comes from Yahweh,
    who made heaven and earth.
He will not allow your foot to be moved.
    He who keeps you will not slumber.
Behold, he who keeps Israel
    will neither slumber nor sleep.
Yahweh is your keeper.
    Yahweh is your shade on your right hand.
The sun will not harm you by day,
    nor the moon by night.
Yahweh will keep you from all evil.
    He will keep your soul.
Yahweh will keep your going out and your coming in,
    from this time forward, and forever more.

Psalm 121, WEB

This psalm starts with a question: “Where does my help come from?” Immediately, the writer answers, “My help comes from Yahweh.” It’s a rhetorical question in this psalm, but for many people it’s a very real question that we wonder about. For those of us asking this question or one of it’s many variations, the psalmist goes on to share reasons that we can count on Yahweh to come through as our helper and keeper.

Image of a woman looking up at the sky overlaid with text from Psalm 86:1-3, WEB version: Hear, Yahweh, and answer me, for I am poor and needy. Preserve my soul, for I am godly. You, my God, save your servant who trusts in you. Be merciful to me, Lord, for I call to you all day long.
Image by Brightside Creative from Lightstock

The Keeper

Did you notice how many times the word “keep” or “keeper” is used in Psalm 121? This word is translated from the Hebrew word shamar (H8104), which appears 468 times in the Old Testament. The primary meaning is “to keep, guard, observe, give heed” (Brown, Driver, Briggs [BDB]). Digging deeper, the Complete Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament states, “The basic idea of the root is ‘to exercise great care over'” (TWOT entry 2414). The TWOT breaks it into a few broad categories of meaning within that basic idea:

The number of times that we’re told to keep covenant with God or to keep ourselves in the right way would make a fascinating study on their own. For this post, though, I want to spend some more time looking at the ways that God keeps us. First, He keeps His covenant obligations. We’re supposed to “exercise great care” to keep ourselves faithful to Him and do things His way, and He is also careful to keep all of His covenant obligations as well. Unlike us, God keeps covenant perfectly. He’s the perfect “keeper,” which leads us to another facet of this word as it applies to God.

May Yahweh Keep You

Image of a small Bible held in two hands, overlaid with blog's title text and the words, "God really can—and does!—answer when we need Him to show up as our Helper and Keeper who exercises great care over us."
Image by Anggie from Lightstock

God keeps covenant with us and He also “keeps” us, exercising great care over His people. For example, when God spoke to Jacob, He introduced Himself by saying, ““I am Yahweh, the God of Abraham your father, and the God of Isaac” and making a promise: “ Behold, I am with you, and will keep you, wherever you go” (Gen. 28:15, WEB). Later, God instructed the Levitical priesthood to use shamar in the blessing for all the children of Jacob (later renamed Israel).

 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to Aaron and to his sons, saying, ‘This is how you shall bless the children of Israel.’ You shall tell them,

‘Yahweh bless you, and keep you.
    Yahweh make his face to shine on you,
    and be gracious to you.
Yahweh lift up his face toward you,
    and give you peace.’

“So they shall put my name on the children of Israel; and I will bless them.”

Numbers 6:22-27, WEB

A number of Psalms claim this blessing, with writers calling Yahweh their keeper or asking Him to keep/guard/preserve them (Ps. 16:1; 17:8; 41:2; 86:2; 91:11; 97:10; 116:6; 140:4; 141:9). And these promises aren’t just for people in the Old Testament. As God’s New Covenant people, we can claim these promises of God to His Old Covenant people, as the writer of Hebrews demonstrates here:

Be free from the love of money, content with such things as you have, for he has said, “I will in no way leave you, neither will I in any way forsake you.” (Deut. 31:6) So that with good courage we say,

“The Lord is my helper. I will not fear.
    What can man do to me?” (Ps. 118:6-7).

Hebrews 13:5-6, WEB

Remember the question from Psalm 112, “Where does my help come from?” That word translated “help” is ezer, which is the same Hebrew word family as azar, the word used for “helper” in Psalm 118. When we’re looking for help, we can confidently trust that God is our Helper and that we can count on Him as our Keeper who neither slumbers nor sleeps. We can even count on Him to change our minds so we’re less worried.

For God did not give us a spirit of timidity or cowardice or fear, but [He has given us a spirit] of power and of love and of sound judgment and personal discipline [abilities that result in a calm, well-balanced mind and self-control].

2 Timothy 1:7, AMP

I like the Amplified Bible’s version of this verse because “sound mind” (e.g. KJV) or “self control” (e.g. NET) by themselves don’t quite get at what’s going on with the Greek word sophronismos, which includes the sense of discipline leading to self control and/or sound mindedness. God’s spirit inside us can settle the worries and fears swirling in our minds, helping us accept that God really can answer when we need Him to show up as our Helper, the Keeper who exercises great care over us.

Featured image by Temi Coker from Lightstock

Song Recommendation: “Hineh Lo Yanum (Behold He Who Keeps Israel)”

Click here to learn more about these books or to order a copy.
Replacing Worry (Lessons from Zephaniah)

Replacing Worry (Lessons from Zephaniah)

Marissa

We live in the midst of a dangerous, confusing world, and it’s getting worse as we move ever closer to the time of Christ’s return.

And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows. (Matt. 24:6-8)

Our first instinct when things get bad is to worry and panic. This is precisely what we’re told not to do. Easier said than done, though, isn’t it? Worry’s not something you can just turn off — you have to replace it with something else.

No Reason for Fear

Zephaniah prophesied during the reign of King Josiah, so things were going pretty well at the time for the nation of Judah. Even so, he warned about a time much like our own when things would start looking pretty bleak for God’s people. In the midst of these dark prophecies, though, Zephaniah’s book gives great reason for not giving in to fear.

In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem: “Do not fear; Zion, let not your hands be weak. The Lord your God in your midst, the Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.”(Zeph. 3:16-17)

Replacing Worry | marissabaker.wordpress.comGod doesn’t just tell us not to have fear. He gives us assurances designed to make fear impossible. “Fear not” because God Himself is with you to save you. “Fear not” because of His steadfast love, which Paul says nothing can separate us from (Rom. 8:35-39). “Fear not” because the Lord delights in you (Deut. 10:15; Is. 62:4).

He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” So we may boldly say: “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?” (Heb. 13:5-6)

I still struggle with removing fear on a practical level, but abstractly I know fear simply doesn’t make sense for a Christian. The God who created the universe personally guarantees that He won’t abandon you. I always find things I’m scared of less frightening if there’s a good friend beside me, and what better friend could we have to cling to for assurance and stability in times of fear than God Himself?

Live By Faith

We replace worry with faith by consistently turning to God.

Seek the Lord, all you meek of the earth, who have upheld His justice. Seek righteousness, seek humility. It may be that you will be hidden in the day of the Lord’s anger. (Zeph. 2:3)

Seeking after God and consistently following His commands is the best way to get close to Him, which is the best place to be in times of trouble. No matter what happens, our focus must stay on God as we live by faith.

Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. (Matt. 24:44)

Living without fear doesn’t involve burying our heads in the sand and ignoring things that might make us afraid. Rather, it involves a watchful readiness while living in the faith and confidence of our Messiah.

Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season? Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing. (Matt. 24:45-46)

Replacing Worry | marissabaker.wordpress.comWhen we stand before Christ at the end of this earth or the end of our lives — whichever comes first — we want to be found “so doing.” Consistent growth and faithfulness will be rewarded.

But what if you’re lacking in faith, and still suffering from worry? Ask God for help. He won’t turn down a sincere plea for help, even if it’s help with our unbelief.

 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. (James 1:6-8)

Brethren, let us pray for stability in our walk with God — to be grounded so firmly on the Rock of Jesus Christ that we won’t be tossed about with fear. Wavering and worry go hand-in-hand, and we need God’s help to overcome that and “continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast” (Col. 1:23).

Anxious For Nothing

Marissa

There is something that I find comforting about realizing how well God knows us.

O LORD, Thou hast searched me, and known me. Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, Thou understandest my thought afar off. Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, Thou knowest it altogether. (Ps. 139:1-4)

If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. Psa 139:9-10This is my favorite Psalm. Not only does it have one of the most fantastically poetic phrases in the Bible — “If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea” — it is also the prayer of a man who is in awe of his God and takes comfort in the close relationship they share. David put his complete trust in God, and shared all his worries, troubles, and fears with full confidence that God would hear and respond.

I cried unto the LORD with my voice; with my voice unto the LORD did I make my supplication. I poured out my complaint before Him; I shewed before Him my trouble. When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, then Thou knewest my path. (Ps. 142:1-3)

Throughout the Psalms, we can see examples of David bringing his anxiety before God, much as Peter admonishes us to do when he writes, “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time: casting all your care upon Him; for He careth for you” (1 Pet. 5:6-7). It is certainly not easy to let go of our worries, but that is what we are expected to do.

In the sermon on the mount, Jesus spends a large portion of chapter 6 admonishing His followers against earthly anxiety. He says to “lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven” instead of on earth and “take no thought for your life” (6:20, 25). Paul says much the same thing in Philippians:

Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. (Php. 4:6-7)

The word translated “careful” is G3309 merimnao (μεριμνάω). Zodhiates says it means, “To care, be anxious, troubled, to take thought.” When we pray to God and draw near to Him, we do not have to be anxious about anything. Now, I can write this just fine, but I’ll be the first person to admit I’m not very good at letting go of my anxiety. I worry about my family and friends, being in groups of people,  my 15-year-old cat, how people will respond to my writings, and my future (which encompasses a whole sub-group of worries we won’t get into right now). I spend an inordinate amount time worrying, and usually things aren’t nearly as bad as I feared. In short, I am anxious about things that turn out to be nothing to worry about.

Just think how much time and energy we could save if we really believed that God will make “all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose” (Rom. 8:28). This doesn’t mean we’ll never worry at all. But it should mean that we can let go of our anxieties more quickly and “let the peace of God rule in your hearts” (Col. 3:15).