The journey of a sojourner is not easy. The sojourner needs help often, but sometimes not all the help is truly helpful. Some help may be merely a distraction, while other times, the “help” could pose danger to the life of the sojourner.
When Abram and his wife Sarai set foot on their journey to God’s promised greatness and blessings (Gen 12:1-4a; Rom 4:1-5, 13-17), they needed much help. Not all the help was truly helpful. They sought help from foreign kings for security, and the kings almost broke their family (Gen 12:10-20; 20). Their own efforts (self-help) to bring about an offspring for Abram actually brought unceasing headaches and heartbreaks to Abram and his descendents (Gen 16, 21).
During later Old Testament times, faithful pilgrims to Jerusalem needed help on their journey. Along the way, there were threats of bandits and robbers, of the extreme desert conditions, and of the dangerous rocky paths. Where could they find help as they traveled on their journey?
Psalm 121
A song of ascents.
1 I lift up my eyes to the mountains — where does my help come from?
2 My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.
3 He will not let your foot slip — He who watches over you will not slumber;
4 indeed, He who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The LORD watches over you — the LORD is your shade at your right hand;
6 the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night.
7 The LORD will keep you from all harm— He will watch over your life;
8 the LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.
On the hills along the pilgrimage, there were probably many sites of idol worship set up by other mountain dwellers and travelers. Yet the faithful pilgrims chose to acknowledge only the LORD (v1), because He is “the Maker of heaven and earth” whose protection could provide them true safety day and night and, in fact, throughout all of life (v2-8). The LORD is the only One who gives and sustains life. Only help from Him, not from any idols in the hills, could ensure that they would reach their destination.
Where does your help come from? Does your help and sense of security come from things other than God, things such as your position in life, your possessions, or your profession, all of which could be considered idols when they take the place of God? Or do you perhaps overly trust in your own abilities or personality? Those are not your true help. They can only lead you astray and cannot ensure that you reach the destination that God has planned for you in your life.
So let’s keep our eyes upon the LORD, not upon any idols, so we can complete the journey of life successfully.
How do we keep our eyes only upon the LORD? In this 40-day journey, let’s start with the simple spiritual exercise of ABC:
Admit our sin of idol worship after asking the Holy Spirit to identify all the idols we depend on in our lives;
Believe in God’s power and goodness;
Commit to do one thing that pleases God. It could be to reconcile with someone, to get ride of a bad habit, to participate in worship regularly, to pray regularly, to start a Bible reading plan, to encourage one person each week through a phone call, to join a Bible study group, to initiate a new ministry, …
May the Lord make your 40-day journey a fresh beginning of a blessed life-long spiritual journey with the Lord!
Let’s pray,
Dear Lord, even though there are many idols from which I am tempted to seek protection and help, please keep me at Your side so that I may always and only be devoted to You throughout my life’s journey, and especially during this 40-day journey with You. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
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