Bible League: Living His Word I will lift up my eyes to the hills--From whence comes my help? My help comes from the LORD, Who made heaven and earth. The Psalmist, generally thought to be David, lifts up his eyes to the hills. What hills does he have in mind? In Psalm 87:1 it says, "His foundation is in the holy mountains. The Lord loves the gates of Zion." "His foundation" refers to the foundation of Jerusalem, God's chosen city. It is "His" foundation because it was the place of His manifest presence; the place where the Ark of the Covenant was located in the tent David pitched for it (II Samuel 6:17; I Chronicles 15:1). The foundation is located in the "holy mountains." These are the hills upon which Jerusalem was built. They are holy precisely because they are the location of God's presence in His chosen city. It is to these hills that David lifts up his eyes. David lifts up his eyes from the situation he finds himself in and looks to the hills of Jerusalem. Instead of looking at the valley he is in, he looks beyond to something higher and more hopeful. Instead of focusing on his problems, he looks up to something that promises to be the solution to his problems. The great temptation of life is to always lower our eyes and fix them on the sorrows and difficulties immediately before us. David, in contrast, looks up and beyond all that. He asks, "From whence comes my help? What David needed was help. He needed the "very present help in trouble" spoken of in Psalm 46:1. He knew that this help could only come from above, from the one whose presence was in the hills of Jerusalem. His help comes from the Lord, "Who made heaven and earth." His help comes, therefore, from the one who has sovereign control over all things and who has the power necessary to help. Rather than looking to the situation and the people immediately surrounding him, he looks up to the one who controls every situation and every person. It is from Him that his help will come. All of us, to one degree or another, need help. From whence will come our help? Like David, our help will come from the Lord, a very present help in trouble. Bible in a Year Old Testament Reading2 Kings 12, 13, 14 2 Kings 12 -- Joash Reigns over Judah, Repairs the Temple NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB 2 Kings 13 -- Jehoahaz, Jehoash, Kings of Israel; Elisha Dies NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB 2 Kings 14 -- Amaziah and Jeroboam II Kings of Judah NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB New Testament Reading John 5:25-47 John 5 -- The Pool of Bethesda; Testimony about Christ NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Reading Plan Courtesy of Christian Classics Etherial Library. Tyndale Life Application Daily Devotion I know, LORD, that our lives are not our own.We are not able to plan our own course. So correct me, LORD, but please be gentle. Do not correct me in anger, for I would die. Insight God's ability to direct our lives well is infinitely beyond our ability. Sometimes we are afraid of God's power and God's plans because we know his power would easily crush us if he used it against us. Challenge Don't be afraid to let God correct your plans. He will give you wisdom if you are willing. Morning and Evening by Spurgeon Hebrews 12:23 Made perfect.Recollect that there are two kinds of perfection which the Christian needs--the perfection of justification in the person of Jesus, and the perfection of sanctification wrought in him by the Holy Spirit. At present, corruption yet remains even in the breasts of the regenerate--experience soon teaches us this. Within us are still lusts and evil imaginations. But I rejoice to know that the day is coming when God shall finish the work which he has begun; and he shall present my soul, not only perfect in Christ, but perfect through the Spirit, without spot or blemish, or any such thing. Can it be true that this poor sinful heart of mine is to become holy even as God is holy? Can it be that this spirit, which often cries, "O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this sin and death?" shall get rid of sin and death--that I shall have no evil things to vex my ears, and no unholy thoughts to disturb my peace? Oh, happy hour! may it be hastened! When I cross the Jordan, the work of sanctification will be finished; but not till that moment shall I even claim perfection in myself. Then my spirit shall have its last baptism in the Holy Spirit's fire. Methinks I long to die to receive that last and final purification which shall usher me into heaven. Not an angel more pure than I shall be, for I shall be able to say, in a double sense, "I am clean," through Jesus' blood, and through the Spirit's work. Oh, how should we extol the power of the Holy Ghost in thus making us fit to stand before our Father in heaven! Yet let not the hope of perfection hereafter make us content with imperfection now. If it does this, our hope cannot be genuine; for a good hope is a purifying thing, even now. The work of grace must be abiding in us now or it cannot be perfected then. Let us pray to "be filled with the Spirit," that we may bring forth increasingly the fruits of righteousness. Daily Light on the Daily Path Ephesians 2:6 and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,Revelation 1:17,18 When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. And He placed His right hand on me, saying, "Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, • and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades. John 17:24 "Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. Ephesians 5:30 because we are members of His body. Colossians 1:18 He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything. Colossians 2:10 and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority; Hebrews 2:14,15 Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, • and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives. 1 Corinthians 15:53,54 For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. • But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, "DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP in victory. New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit http://www.lockman.org. |
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