Every man is given the precious gift of life. We are born into a world full of beauty and majesty. Life at times can feel like it is the best thing ever. Every man is also given something else that I dare not call a gift, but it is the sin nature of Adam. The Psalmist wrote that he was born into sin and shaped by iniquity.
Because of sin and our nature to gravitate towards it, life can sometimes feel like a burden or a terrible event to face on a daily basis. There are so many clichés which incorporate the word life such as “life of the party” or “put life on the line” etc. So the question is when life is not a party, when things get downright difficult especially as a Christian: what is your response? How should you deal with the pains or trials of life that make you want to give up?
David was a very noble and righteous man who could take care of himself better than most. Yet, when he faced hardships that no man or earthly organization could help him with, David looked to the hills which simply denotes that he is looking beyond himself.
I have often wondered why he acknowledges his help comes from God. He mentions God is the maker of heaven and earth. I just picture David going through his trials and looking around at creation, maybe toward some animals playing or the sun going up and coming down. Possibly he is just watching the men with him go about their normal lives. Maybe David is saying to himself, “Surely if You made all these things and tend to their needs, You can help me with my problems Lord!”
You see, there is nothing too hard for God. Better yet, nothing is hard for God at all. Just as easily as you can blow the flowers from a dandelion, God can bring entire solar systems into being. All of the heavenly bodies running their courses with the most perfect precision and timing that simply defy all mathematical concepts in an instant. I hope you are grasping to Whom it is that you are looking to the hills for: He is the mighty God who keeps His promises.
I have been through difficult times. I have faced circumstances that if nothing short of a miracle had happened then I would have been finished. My record is far from perfect, but when I am able to get a hold of myself, look to the hills for some help from the Lord, that He comes through.
You may be in a battle or trial in your life and there is no one to help you. It is quite possible that no one could help you even if they wanted to. These are the times where your character will be tested, and you will see how much you trust the God you tell everyone about.
It is just you and God in these times. Although Jesus was surrounded by crowds during his ministry, in the Garden of Gethsemane – the crossroads to Calvary – Jesus had to walk alone. He had to look to the hill from where His help would come. Jesus alone with His Father! There was no human in history that could help the Son of God with the rest of this journey, but we all know how the story ends. Our Lord triumphed over death and was sat down next to the Majesty on high. His Father – our Father – seeing Him through it all. In this same way, the Father will see you through your trials and triumphs as well. God is like the song says, “A Good, Good Father!”
The psalmist sings a question, “I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come?” (Psalm 121:1). He doesn’t miss a beat and answers himself, “My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth” (Psalm 121:2).
This scripture is applicable not only when the end times happen but also when we have a calamity of any kind happening.
No matter if it is financial calamity or hardships, no matter if it is an emotional pain that is wanting to overwhelm us and make us lose heart, Jesus says to look up our redemption draws near.
That is good to know!
Many times we get the idea that God is unaware or uncaring about the situation that we are in. That he is like a deadbeat dad, who is never around when you need him.
He is going to redeem you out of the situation. Just allow Him to move you or the circumstances. It may not be what you expect, but it will surely be what you need.
Psalm 121 would have been sung as Israel approached “the hill of the Lord” to worship him (Psalm 15:1; 24:3). But the mountain on which Israel met with God was not the only possible object of their attention. “The hills” — on which many nations worshiped their false gods — could have appeared as alluring havens of hope, or intimidating causes of concern.
Either way, the psalmist’s appraisal of his situation reflects the place in which we all find ourselves. Our help comes only from the hill of the Lord — the Lord who made all the hills (Psalm 121:2). All other hills we see before us in life can neither rescue us nor destroy us.
During many of those dark nights, I was sure that some hills were meant to ruin us. I would tell myself, “Well, the story’s over. This is the end.” On other occasions, when we would hear about new medical treatments, I would think, “We’re saved!” In those times, I was looking for help more in the hills God had made than in the God who made them.
When the hills in your life look like the solution to your pain or the source of your affliction, the psalmist teaches us to look elsewhere for our help. We look with spiritual eyes to the heavenly hill of Zion, the dwelling place of the Lord. “My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth” (Psalm 121:2).
The source of your help is both personal and impeccably competent. Neither fret over the hills nor try to hide in their fleeting shadows — the Lord made heaven and earth. “The mountains melt like wax before the Lord, before the Lord of all the earth” (Psalm 97:5). Look to the Lord who is eternal, all-powerful, and who loves you.
He may give you the perseverance you need to stay faithful to him at the foot of that hill. He may effortlessly wipe that hill out of the way. He may open your eyes to see that the hill is actually full of horses and chariots of fire sent on your behalf. The source of your help is what matters: Your help comes from the Lord.
Jesus gives us the kind of peace that surpasses understanding even as he strips away the false assurance we take from our earthly circumstances. “This is my comfort in my affliction, that your promise gives me life” (Psalm 119:50). He is kind to teach us that our help comes from him alone.
Our despair over life in this fallen world would truly be the end of all our stories — were it not for a cross that stood on one particular hill two thousand years ago. Jesus climbed that hill and took on the greatest obstacle humanity has ever faced — the just wrath of God because of our sin. Christ suffered for our sins, “the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God” (1 Peter 3:18). “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are” (1 John 3:1)
In this life we may be struck down, but not destroyed (2 Corinthians 4:9). In the shadow of the cross, every affliction that threatens to squeeze your joy right out of you is meant to strengthen your faith. Because the decisive battle in the war against your soul happened at the cross, you don’t have to put false hope in crumbling hills or be afraid of what is hiding in them. Jesus offers us a life that is more full and more enjoyable than the life that revolves around those hills.
Whether they seem to you like trouble or shelter, look away from those hills to Calvary, to Christ crucified on your behalf. He alone is your help.
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