"My Help Comes From the Lord" | Pastor Steve Gaines

take your Bibles and turn with me please to Psalm 121 Psalm 121 my mother owned a janitorial service and the older she got the more she would say it's hard to get good help how many of you know that it is hard to get good help sometime amen don't you ladies say that too loud your husband might feel a little concerned about that but it is sometimes hard to get good help but I can remember also when I was a pastor in Jackson Tennessee 30 years ago I was performing a wedding in Memphis and as I was coming down and back and forth to Memphis for the rehearsal dinner and then for the wedding itself that weekend I memorized Psalm 121 and Psalm 121 is about health if you need help I know where to tell you to find help the Lord will help you David said my help comes from the Lord say that with me please my help comes from the Lord some of the most beautiful scripture you'll ever read Psalm 121 I hope you are accustomed to reading in the Psalms I hope you'll discipline yourself to read in the Psalms and I want you to look there in Psalm 121 I will lift up my eyes to the mountains from whence are from where shall my help come and then he answers his own question my help comes from the Lord say that with me please my help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth he will not allow your foot to slip he who keeps you will not slumber behold he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep the Lord is your keeper the Lord is your shade on your right hand the Sun will not smite you by day nor the moon by night the Lord will protect you from all evil he will keep your soul the Lord will guard your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forever is that not some of the most beautiful scripture you've ever read in your life Lord I pray that you would burn this in our hearts Lord there are people who need these promises that they might be able to make it another week and Lord we thank you that ultimately our help comes from you and we give you praise in Jesus name Amen you know one of the things that I have told my son who is a pastor and I've told other young pastors this is one of the best things you can do as a pastor is learn to say to people I need your help nobody can Pastor a church by themselves nobody can serve the Lord by themselves if you're serving the Lord in any capacity you need to learn to ask other people in sincerity and just say I need your help when you say that most people who love the Lord are ready to help you but I want to sell you say this to you sometimes you need more help than any person can give you you need help that can only come from the Lord and that's what David was saying he was saying you know I need the Lord's help I need the help from the Lord let's just give you a few things about this first of all you need the help of the Lord why he is your source the Lord is your source look at verses 1 & 2 again I will lift up my eyes to the mountains now what mountains is he talking about David was out on the porch probably looking around at Jerusalem Mount Zion and he was saying ìlook lifts up my eyes to the mountains he asked he said from where shall my help come and then he answers his own question my help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth Jerusalem is built on top of seven we would call them Hills but they would call them mountains Mount Scopus Mountain all of it the Mount of Corruption Mount oh well the original Mount Zion the newer Mount Zion and the hill in which the Antonia fortress was built the psalmist said I lift up my eyes to these mountains from whence shall my help come and even when he asked the question he knew that those seven impressive mountains around Jerusalem were powerless were it not for the protection that only the Lord could give that's why he went on to say in verse two my help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth the psalmist was saying my hope is not in the mountains that God created my hope is in the God who created the mountains I'll say that again I like that my hope is not in the mountains that were created by God my hope is in the God who created the mountains God is bigger and stronger and more helpful than any mountain or any other help you can see the Creator is always greater than the creation one of the signs that will be coming toward the end of time is that people will start worshiping the creation rather than the Creator how many of you know we're already there amen I mean when you can kill an unborn baby but you can't break the egg of an eagle we have lost our minds now I'm not wanting to go to break the egg of an eagle but I'd say what we ought to get a law to where you can't kill an unborn baby it ought to be illegal I will lift up my eyes to the mounts from whence shall my help come where shall my help come from my help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth notice he puts in creation you know when you give up creation you give up the very first miracle that's referred to in all the scripture if the opening sentence of the Bible is not true then maybe the whole Bible is not true the Bible says at the get-go in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth notice he's basically quoting that he said you know my help comes from the Lord Genesis 1:1 who made the heaven and the earth that's my god that's my helper I'm not looking to some resource I'm looking to the source I've told you before where I got that I got that from Bishop Patterson right here in Memphis Tennessee when I first was diagnosed with myasthenia for six or seven weeks I had to be in my bed and I couldn't preach in the fall of 2000 and I was on my bed watching Bishop Patterson from his church here in Memphis Church of God in Christ and he was preaching and he said you know some of you are all excited about the resource when you ought to be excited about the source he said your job is just a resource any other flow of provision is just a resource but God is the source and then he said something I'll never forget he said sometimes when you start looking at your resource instead of the source God will mess with your resource how many of you know that's true right there amen why because he doesn't want your resource to become idolatrous you don't trust the resource you don't trust the thing that he uses to help you you trust him God is your help what happened to Elijah Elijah was in a time of barrenness a time of drought I just read it this last week in first Kings chapter 17 and he goes he says he just all of a sudden the first thing you hear about Elijah says it's going to be a famine in the land drought in the land for three years three and a half years God said now go hide yourself and go to the brook and I'm going to bring bread to you every day and they're going to feed you every day the Ravens will feed you and you're gonna be by a brook of water but guess what after a while the Bible says the brook dried up don't tell me you don't know what a dry brook looks like it's when your resource stops it's when the pay that you were getting from them or the supply you were getting from someplace else stops and all of a sudden what does he do God says okay now look I'm your source I've got a widow up here I want you to go stay with her and she's gonna make you food until the end of the drought and you know what he goes up there and he he sees this widow woman and she's got one son and she's got one little bit of Martha white flour amen that's all she had and he said hey would you give me some water she says yes I'll get you some water he said while you're there I'll just put in Steve Gaines would you make me a biscuit would you give me some bread she said this is all I have and I was about to go make a final meal I'm gathering sticks to make a fire to cook this last little bit of flour and oil for my son and I'm then we're going to die he said you won't die God's gonna supernaturally put more flour and oil in that little bowl every day God is our source you see God had to teach the man of God to trust in the source of God not the resource and every morning they went to that little Bowl and they stuck their head down there and started singing praise God huh from whom all blessings flow because there's all and there's flower every month where did it come from from the source from God God is your source man is not your source God is God is your help God not your money not your retirement investment not Social Security how many of you know that it's neither social nor is it secure Amen God says in Isaiah 45 verse 5 I am the Lord there is no other besides me there is no god I will gird you though you have not known me that men may know from the rising to the setting of the Sun that there is no one besides me I am the Lord and there is no other the Lord is your helper he is your source everybody say right now with me God is my only source say that with me God is my only source we could quit now go to the house and have a good work from God right there secondly you need the help of the Lord because he is also not only a source he's your stability he's your stability look at verse 3 he will not allow your foot to slip how many of you have ever been slipping and you were grabbing for anything to make you stable anybody how many of you know that this time tomorrow night it's supposed to be snowing in Memphis does he may know that some of y'all don't believe me where's Tim Simpson is that right it's gonna get cold it's gonna get wet and when he gets cold he gets wet it gets slippery right thank you very much there's the authority right there you heard it guys but God says I will allow it not allow your foot to slip Bible is filled with imagery of walking with God walking with God over and over God says he will walk with us and he says we can walk with Him and while we're walking with Him we have stability our foot doesn't slip by that I mean there is nothing that can touch us when we're walking with God there's nothing that can happen to us unless he providentially allows it you won't slip if you walk with God Psalm 23 verse 4 even though I walk through the valley literally of Shadid death I fear no evil why you are with me God is my stability your rod and your staff they comfort me psalm 66 verse 9 our lives are in God's hands and he keeps our feet from stumbling proverbs 3:23 then you will walk in your way securely and your foot will not stumble isaiah 43:2 when you pass through the waters I will be with you and through the rivers rivers they will not overflow you when you walk through the fire you shall not be scorched nor will the flame burn you even if you walk through fire God said he won't touch you Daniel 3 verse 25 the three Hebrew boys in the fiery furnace Nebuchadnezzar looked down and said look I see four men loose and they're walking they'd been bound their feet had been bound their hands had been bound they weren't supposed to be walking they were supposed to be burning but they were walking about in the midst of the fire without heart and the appearance of the fourth one looks like the Sun of the gods that is the son of God himself Jesus Christ aren't you glad that when you go through the fire Jesus can get in the fire right there with you amen and he'll walk with you thieves for one therefore I the prisoner of the Lord in for you to walk in a manner live in a manner that's walking with the Lord in a manner worthy of the calling with which you've been called Colossians 2:6 last one therefore as you have received Christ the Lord so walk in him the moment you get saved you begin your walk with the Lord and God gives you spiritual stability let's let's tack on verse 7 with Colossians 2 verse 6 look at verses 6 and 7 therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord so walk in him having been firmly rooted and now being built up in him to be established in your faith just as you are instructed and overflowing with gratitude you're going to be stable when you walk with the Lord you can walk with Jesus throughout this life you can even walk with Jesus through the experience of death and not stumble one bit Jesus will be your stability here on earth and he'll be your stability to take you on to heaven one day even Christians who cannot physically walk on this earth will be able to run when they get to heaven you ever thought about that you ever thought what about what that be like never to walk on this earth but when you die than to run for the very first time run into the arms of Jesus we were singing that song Sonia Walton and the choir and the orchestra were seeing that song last week throne room I have listened to it probably 20 times no embellishment all week long can't get it off my mind that I listen to it I listen to it this afternoon a group out of Louisiana from Alexandria was singing it and it talked about the veil is torn The Doors fling wide I see glory as I run inside the throne room before you I bow and I think about people that can't walk when they get to heaven they're going to see the door open the veil is torn the door swings wide I run to the Lord can you imagine running to Jesus for the first time you're literally running to the Lord what is that you're walking with God the Lord will save you and He will allow you to walk with stability I want to say this to you one of the marks of a Christian is your stable but everybody else seems unhinged when everybody else seems all out of whack there's this piece that's down in your soul that passes all understanding there's a stability when everybody else is panicking you know that God never panics and you're walking with him and he's holding your hand Psalm 1833 says he makes my feet like Hinds feet and sets me up on my high places it's like a mountain goat you've got those hind feet Donn and I were in Canada this summer and we literally saw sheep go straight up mountains I've never seen anything like it they crisscross over here they walk on a little bitty thing it's amazing but God gave them the ability that guess what God will give you stability he is your help he's your stability the Lord is also your helper in that he is your security look at the last part of verse 3 he who keeps you will not slumber behold he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep the Lord is your keeper now go down to verse 8 the Lord will guard I love this you're going out and you're coming in from this time forth and forever that's one of the greatest promises in the Bible God's gonna guard you when you go out I Got News for you you need more guarding nowadays than you ever have you need guarding you need for God to guard you when you go out there are people that are mean that are out there they're demonized many of them and they will do harm and you don't need to be afraid but you do need to be walking with the Lord and I want to say something to you and I don't want to be a legalist but I do want to be obedient if I were you I would not want to go into a day that I had not prayed over I want to encourage you whatever you have to do go to bed on time so you can get up on time and you can pray over your day don't enter a prayerless day it is a dangerous thing to do and pray a hedge of protection over your family pray daddies would you just rise up in the spirit and say I'm going to pray a protective hedge for my children I'm going to pray I'm going to pray that they will make the right choices I'm going to pray that God will intervene I'm going to pray that God will let his angels be stationed around them I'm going to pray for God's protective hedge the Lord will guard your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forever the psalmist says the Lord is our keeper he's our watchman he's our patrolman he's our Sentinel he's our scout the Lord said in Zechariah 2 verse 5 for I declares the Lord will be a wall of fire around her that is my people and I will be the glory in her midst I'll be the wall of fire around you and I'll be the glory right in the middle of you I will protect my people just like an omnipotent wall of fire now that doesn't mean that God's people will never ever be persecuted it doesn't mean if you get saved you'll never be hurt but what it does mean is this if you're walking obediently with the Lord it does mean that nothing can come into your life without going through passing through the sovereign omnipotent protective hand of God sometimes God will let some things come in there just to give you a little test but I got news for you God's a good God and God knows exactly what you need and what you don't need he knows how much you can handle and how much he can give you God will test you at times he tested Abraham he tested Jobe but he did that just to refine him Jesus himself said in John 15 if you bear much fruit my father will prune you so that you can bear more fruit how many of you know that pruning doesn't sound very comfortable they meant pruney Hill Hill Hill wit alone you all right do you know what I'm talking about you said that's my that's my reward for obedience no bearing more fruit is your reward but God has to work on you sometimes job lost his wealth his health and his children but he got it all back many times over Joseph was enslaved for thirteen years but then he ruled for decades as a mighty man of God Shadrach Meshach and Abednego we've already talked about them they were in the fiery furnace but they came out and the only thing that was burned off I love this the only thing was burned off were the ropes that entangled them when they went in they didn't even smell like smoke tell me God doesn't show off amen Daniel went into the lion's den he came out and the people that had him thrown in there they were thrown in and they didn't come out Jesus was buried in the tomb but I heard something by say this morning he came out of the grave and he's alive God may test you but it's only to make you shine more brightly for his glory the psalmist said in Psalm 127 verse 1 unless the Lord builds the house they labor in vain who build it now watch unless the Lord guards the city the watchman keeps awake in vain you can have every protective measure you want but if God is not watching over you you don't have any protection aren't you glad that God never sleeps you can sleep well because God never does he never even blinks his eye he never takes his eye off of his children God is your security number 4 you need the Lord because he is your shade this is a beautiful text I'm just gonna treat it very quickly look at the last part of verse 5 the Lord is your shade on your right hand the Sun will not smite you by day nor the moon by night some people ask me why do you go to Israel in January because it's about 50 and 60 degrees that's why if you go in the summer it's about 110 115 with all due respect you can fry an egg on a rock over there in the summer all right I don't care to go then and they needed shade shade there's not a lot of shade out there it's very much desert area around Israel but God said I'm gonna watch over you I'm going to be your protection from the Sun I'm gonna be protection from the moon I'm going to be your shade it's very much like the scriptures that we read about where there's a mother bird a hen if you will putting her pinions her wings over her little ones listen to this giving them shade protecting them Ruth 2 verse 12 Boaz said to Ruth may the Lord reward your work and your wages be full from the Lord the God of Israel under whose wings you have come to seek refuge Psalm 17 verse 8 keep me as the apple of your eye Lord hide me in the shadow of your wings Psalm 36 verse 7 how precious is your loving kindness O God and the children of God take refuge in the shadow of your wings Psalm 91 one of the greatest chapters in the Bible about God protecting you verse 4 says he will cover you with this pinions under his wings you may seek refuge his faithfulness is a shield and a blur what did Jesus say to the Jews even though they reject him said I don't want you to reject me I want you under my wings this shows you by the way that you can resist the will of God listen to this Matthew 23 37 Jerusalem Jerusalem who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her how often I wanted to gather your children together the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings but you were unwilling don't you tell me you can't resist God don't you tell me you can't say no to the grace of God they were unwilling they chose not to come under his wings I don't know about you but I choose to come under his wings I want to be under his protection I want to be in his shade I want him to be my shelter and then finally you need the help of the Lord not only because he is your shade but he is your Savior he's your Savior look very quickly at verse 7 the Lord will protect you from all evil he will keep your what said out loud your soul your soul I need somebody not only to keep my body I need somebody that I can give my soul to and he can keep my soul God says you're not a body with a soul you're a soul with a body Genesis 2:7 then the Lord God formed man out of the dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living being a living soul a living soul jesus said in mark 8 for what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul what will a man give in exchange for his soul Matthew 10:28 do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul but rather fear him talking about the who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell your physical body will die one day we talked about that this morning it will deteriorate God will give you a spiritual body but your soul and your spirit immediately leave your body at death they go to be with the Lord or they go to be in Hell one way or the other your soul is the core part of you it is the essence of who you are and the Lord is your helper he will save your soul tonight if you'll give your life to Him it's hard to find good help isn't it the man you've got some help with the Lord do you not you think about it he's your source he's not your resource he's your source he's I'll guarantee he's messing with some of your resources right now so you won't trust in them you'll trust in him he's your source he's your stability he's your security he's your shade and praise His Holy Name he's your savior I will lift up my eyes to the mountains from where shall my help come read it with me my help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth keep reading he will not allow your foot to slip he who keeps you will not slumber behold he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep the Lord is your keeper the Lord is your shade on your right hand the Sun will not smite you by day nor the moon by night the Lord will protect you from all evil and he will keep your soul the Lord will guard your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forever and all God's people said amen let's thank God that he is our helper amen thank you lord father thank you for a wonderful day at Bellevue now would you just make it even more wonderful and let somebody give their heart to Christ here tonight or in Jesus name we pray amen the Lord will help you come to Christ let's all stand up we're about to sing our final song of worship if you don't know Jesus we're going to have worship we're gonna have worship right now and we're gonna sing but I want our pastors to come and if you have never given your heart to Christ if you've never repented of your sins believed that Jesus died for you and rose from the dead to give you eternal life and received him as Lord and Savior repent believe and receive if you've never done that come and take them by the hand say I want Christ in my life and they'll take the Bible and show you how to be saved if you need to be baptized you say you know what I've been saved but I need to go public with that I want to be baptized you come set up a time to be baptized it's like we had so many this morning I think we had nine this morning at baptized we can have you be baptized as well don't be ashamed of the Lord come then if you want to join our church start that process come and say I want to be part of a church that believes that the Lord is our source the Lord is our health and we need his help one of the best things by the way you can say when you pray is Lord I need your help the best prayers you'll ever pray and he will help you come if you want to belong to a church like that that's Bellevue Baptist Church and if you need prayer tonight you come if you want to pray for healing if you're sick we do this every Sunday night guys are right over there guys raise your hands I get you today every week that's once you know where they are they will anoint you with all according to Matthew chapter or James chapter 5 verses 16 right in there and if you'll come they will anoint you with all and pray for you and you keep taking your medicine keep going your doctor not telling you get away from that a man add to that praying for healing and ask the Lord to bring healing to you alright and just go over there slip over there while we're at scene we're going to I'm going to pray and then we're going to sing and you come you need to come father thank you Thank You Lord God for Psalm 121 thank you that you're our helper help someone now be saved I pray in Jesus name and if you agree with that prayer same in

Channel: Bellevue Baptist Church

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Id: 7yHNIy0eUl8

Length: 33min 19sec (1999 seconds)

Published: Tue Nov 12 2019