Hello Beloved,
We have been studying the “epithets” for God. As a reminder, the Oxford English Dictionary defines an epithet as “an adjective or phrase expressing a characteristic quality or attribute of the person or thing mentioned.” Last month, we considered the epithet of God as “my Strength.” This month, we will consider the epithet of God as a “Help.”
The epithet for God as a “Help” flows from His attributes of love, mercy, grace, and kindness. As “a Help,” God is the source of our safety, defense, and He is a deliverance for His people. The Bible Sense Lexicon states a helper is a person who contributes to the fulfillment of a need or furtherance of an effort or purpose.
Consider how the concept of God as a “Help” is used in the Scriptures. Moses named his son Eliezer for “The God of my father was my help, and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh” Exodus 18:4 (ESV). Before his death, Moses blessed Israel, reminding them, “Happy are you, O Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by the LORD, the shield of your help, and the sword of your triumph! Your enemies shall come fawning to you, and you shall tread upon their backs” Deuteronomy 33:29 (ESV). The psalmist proclaims that God is “the helper of the fatherless” Psalm 10:14 (ESV). For David, God is “my help” Psalm 27:9 (ESV). At other times, he calls on the Lord to “be my helper!” Psalm 30:10 (ESV). Sometimes he remembers “Our soul waits for the LORD; he is our help and our shield” Psalm 33:20 (ESV). Yet, at other instances, David increases in confidence by proclaiming “God is my helper; the Lord is the upholder of my life” Psalm 54:4 (ESV). But God is not just the “Helper” of David. In Psalm 115, the psalmist reminds a variety of groups, “O Israel, trust in the LORD! He is their help and their shield. O house of Aaron, trust in the LORD! He is their help and their shield. You who fear the LORD, trust in the LORD! He is their help and their shield” Psalm 115:9-11 (ESV). The psalmist calls us to let the truth of God’s help be ever before us. He writes, “I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth” Psalm 121:1-2 (ESV). The help of the godly is not found in other sources, but “Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his God” Psalm 146:5 (ESV). God is a Helper to the helpless. I leave you with this thought.
The prayers are beautiful that reach the ear of God. The fervent prayer of the righteous man availeth much, and is beautiful. The prayer of the widow and fatherless, who have no helper save he who heareth the orphan's cry, is beautiful. The prayer of the infant, who takes God's promise in his "most implicit grasp," as he does his mother's hand, is beautiful. The prayer of the lowly saint, unlettered and ungrammatical, is beautiful. The prayer of the poor man, when "God heard him and delivered him out of his troubles," was beautiful. The prayer of the publican, who smote upon his breast, and said, "God be merciful to me a sinner," was beautiful. The prayer of Stephen, when amid the storm of stones he cried, just before he "fell asleep," "Lay not this sin to their charge," was beautiful.
There is a grammar and rhetoric of heaven, but it is foreign to the culture of this world. The courtiers there wear "wedding garments," and they speak the celestial language; but sometimes they seem ragged and ignorant to the eyes that are blinded with the clay and dust of our earthly roadsides.
We cannot always discern the fashions of heaven. There is a flippery that sometimes claims to be the garb divine, but it is mere tinsel. There is an "excellency of speech" which is jargon and mockery in the ear of God. There is "sounding brass and tinkling cymbal"—mere clatter, and not celestial music at all. There are "beautiful prayers" that are unlovely and abominable before the Searcher of hearts. (New Testament Illustrations)
As God is the One who saved us by sending His son to die for our sins, let us also rely on Him as a “Help” in every circumstance.
Until next time, this is Pastor Daniel writing, “May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.”