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Kaykay Fellowship  Theme: Help From Above, Ps. 121:1-2

Man is certainly in need of help. He is dependent on his environment, whatever

atheists may say. Indeed some of these godless people recant in the face of

death when their total and irreversible helplessness hits them in the face, Ps.

14:1. So for the vast majority of people living in various communities

worldwide some kind of god or another, provides them a support-base- at least

so they believe. In ancient Israel it was the Living God, or one of those gods,

the most prominent of which was Baal, I Kings 18:21-22.

In the contest that followed Baal and his prophets lost out woefully and so did

those who depended on it. The Living God proved Himself not just as the

source and author of life but also as a consuming fire, I Kings 18:25-40, Heb.

12:29. Those who depend on false gods and their prophets are on their own. But

those who earnestly seek the help of the Christian God will not be disappointed.

However it is not just in ancient Israel that there were gods. They have existed

all over the world, and still do, even in our time, though there is no life in them.

Yet Satan regularly expresses himself through their priests, I Sam. 28:7-14.

So why do men seek help from wherever they can get it? One major reason is

human weakness or insufficiency, what Paul the Apostle describes as the

problems that are “common to man…” I Cor. 10:13.

1. Poverty. One such challenge is poverty which ravages individuals and

communities, Deut. 15:11. The most problematic variety is the inherited

type which limits the horizon of the victims. Any offer of help, from

false priests and false prophets, are readily accepted even though it might

ultimately worsen their situation.

However when God is the source of help there is dramatic improvement

in the spiritual and material condition of the people. God raised help for

Elijah using the poor and hungry Widow of Zarepath. For agreeing to

share her last meal with the prophet, in exceptionally difficult

circumstances, God gave her a double miracle, I Kings 17:8-24. Similarly

a widow of one of the sons of the prophets, who was poor and in debt,

received divine help, when it was certain that her two sons would

otherwise be taken into slavery, by the creditors, 2 Kings 4:1-7.

2. Barrenness. It is the desire of most married couples to have children.

Africans, in particular, expect to reproduce themselves and thus delays in

child bearing is considered a curse much like the biblical Jews, I Sam.

1:5. Sarah like the traditional Yoruba women of Nigeria, even proposed


to her husband the adoption of a second wife, to allow for the emergence

of children she could call her own although this led to unforeseen

problems, Gen. 16:1-6, Gen. 30:1-5. For many families, then and now,

barrenness was a source of deep sorrow, especially for the wife and, very

often, a recourse to external help – to the god of fertility or the divine, I

Sam. 1:5-11, 19&20.

3. Incurable Disease. Certain types of disease are still beyond the realm of

scientific knowledge and skills. The Woman with the Issue of Blood

would certainly have bled to death if she had not obtained help from

Jesus, Matt. 9:20-22. Blind Bartimeaus was a well-known beggar and he

would have remained a begger for life if Jesus had not attended to him.

The fact is that blindness, in his day, was not treatable at all.

4. Satanic Oppression. The woman that Jesus released from satanic

slavery most probably never knew the source of her long-term ailment,

which would have left her crippled for life if Jesus, the helper of the

helpless, had not intervened, Luke 13:10-13. On the other hand if the

ruler of the synagogue had not rebuked Jesus, for breaking the law of the

Sabbath, neither the woman nor the rest of us, would have known that

satan was the author of her affliction Luke 13:15&16.

From the foregoing it is clear that help is available to those who need it,

above or below. You can receive help from other people either because

they have a giving-heart or they too expect to get from you when they are

in need. Even then human help is limited, Ps. 60:11.

Satan also offers help to those who patronize him – people who seek

power, position or wealth although, in the end, life for them ends in

misery, Job. 21:7-17.

But divine help is honest and true. When Jesus says “Ask and it shall be

given to you….” He means what He says, Matt. 7:7. Very often, though,

divine help is not unconditional. You cannot serve God and mammon and

yet expect God to come to your aid when you need Him, Lk. 16:13. That

will not happen. But He is more than generous to those who obey and

serve Him. Gen. 22:15-18.