Our Real Source Of Help

Psalm 146

As we go through life, there are a few things we find to be major concerns for many people, and those are our financial state, the state of our health, and the peace or lack thereof in our country and world. With those usually being big concerns, who are we looking to for our help and support in life? Who is the source for our finances, for our health, and peace? In our Scripture reading for today from the Book of Psalms, we read the answer of who we should be looking to.  Let’s spend a moment to take a brief look into this psalm.

To whom or to what are we looking to for our financial well-being? Some may think that it is their job, their boss. They may be trusting in bank accounts, investments, or retirement accounts.  Others may be depending on government assistance. As many have seen, these can come crashing down. Our job can be lost in a day, often with no warning.  Financial markets and banks can collapse and fail, and our investments with it. Government assistance is never dependable, and can be withdrawn in a moment.  None of these can be confidently relied on.

What about our health?  Who are we looking to for that?  Some may be fortunate, and have a very good doctor and excellent medical insurance.  As we know, though, even the best of doctors do not know, and cannot cure everything.  Just as our job can disappear, so can that medical insurance. We cannot even rely on always having good health.  That can change overnight. As for trusting in our country and government to keep us safe from harm and danger, history shows that is never reliable.

So who can we look to as our source for our financial stability and health?  Our psalmist today tells us very clearly that man cannot be relied upon for help (vs 3-4).  Putting our hope in any man to really help us is futile. Even the best of men are limited. God is the only true hope and help of the needy.  God is the Creator of the world and all therein, and as thus, He is both omnipotent and omniscient (vs 6). Since that cannot be said of any man, God is infinitely a better choice to look to for help.  Man’s trust is best placed in the Creator of heaven and earth.

In verses 6 - 9 the psalmist lists just some of the ways in which we can rely on God to be our source, our help, in every area of our life. First, in verse 6, He is truthful. We all know that is frequently not the case with man. Our bosses often cheat us, and how often is any government truthful to its people?  We can count on God for justice, as well (vs 7). That, too, is something we frequently cannot get from neither man nor government, but we can from God. He gives us both literal and spiritual food and freedom.

We can also look to the Lord for our healing (vs 8).  That is not to say that we should never see or trust our physicians or the medical field, but our ultimate faith and reliance should be in God.  Verse 8 speaks of God opening the eyes of the blind. Restoring the sight of the blind was one miracle never performed in the Old Testament. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, performed that many times, both physically and spiritually.

What about the “little people”, the downtrodden, helpless, and those who have nothing or nobody to help them?  Who can they turn to? Verses 8 and 9 assure us that the Lord God watches over them. He is their source for help.  He lifts up those who are bowed down from any type of oppression, and brings relief to those who have no means of support.  Man often cannot or chooses not to help these helpless ones, but God reaches out and helps those in need.

Our psalmist both began and ended his psalm with praise to the Lord God. When we spend time praising God, it takes our focus off of our problems and on to Him.  We meditate on and appreciate God’s character. Our eyes need to turn from here on earth to God in heaven, who is our real source of help.