How do you respond when people offer you help?
I am guessing that for most of us it is NOT easy to ask for help. It’s not easy for me. It does not feel very American or manly. Pride and feelings of shame are two reasons why I don’t ask for help more often. Few of us feel good about being dependent on someone else. One of the favorite verses of American evangelicals must be 2 Thes 3:10, “If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat.” Col 3:23 is also popular, “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men.”
How many times has my own refusal to ask for help gotten me into trouble? If I had gone to my brothers when I first started to struggle with sexual sin, I might have avoided a lot of grief and become healthier much sooner. I suspect that James 5:16 is not a favorite verse for many of us, “Confess your sins to one another and pray for one another so that you may be healed.” I don’t mean to imply that we should only ask for help when we are being tempted by sin but certainly that is one time when help is needed. I understand why the church is not considered a safe place by many people. But in a healthy community of believers, there should be abundant sharing of resources (Acts 2:42-47) as well as an unashamed caring for one another (1 Cor 12).
During our career, people would often ask us about how they could help us. “Please tell us what you need,” people would say. Sometimes people were being polite. But often, they were sincere. We did, however, need to figure out what kind of help they were offering. Were they offering to help us out by sending us a candy bar or some other treat or were they wanting to help with a vehicle or with what was needed to advance a ministry objective. Because our organization had a stated policy of non-solicitation, we probably failed to communicate our need for help as much as we should have done. That is on us.
I started thinking about this topic of help after reading Psalm 27:7, “Hear my voice Oh Yahweh. Be gracious to me and answer me.” Help is needed when we face dangerous hungry predators as our enemies (27:2), adversaries who wait to ambush us (27:11), people trying to destroy us by using false testimony and threatening violence (27:12). When running away is not an option and fighting back against overwhelming circumstances does not bring relief, we need the kind of help only God can give.
When we ask God to help, we are asking him to listen to our cries, take action and rescue us. God responds in compassion to the afflicted, to those who suffer and are oppressed. (Ex 22:33, Psalm 107:17). When we are in trouble, we ask God to show mercy and bring relief (Psalm 4:1 30:10) and protection (Psalm 64:10). In 27:9, the Psalmist begs God to not turn away because God has been his help. This help says Goldingay is “a powerful person taking decisive action of behalf of a weak person who is in dire need.” He goes on to say, “In English, without “help” we might manage okay but a little less comfortably; in Hebrew, without ꜥēzer (help) we would often be dead.” And so it is no wonder that often in the crisis times, the Psalms request God to come quickly, to “hurry and help.” (Psalm 22:19; 38:22; 40:13; 70:1; 40:17). We might be able to endure when other people let us down but it is unthinkable that God would ever turn his face away or would send us away (Psalm 27:8-9). Which is why we need God’s gracious assistance.
Help is needed but also grace or mercy. This is the second thing the Psalmists asks for in 27:7. God’s favor and unmerited favor is requested not because we deserve it but because that is God’s nature. This grace is illustrated in verse 10 when the Psalmist says that my father and mother may forsake me but the Lord will take me in. The expression “take me in” is used to describe what happens when an animal or a person is brought into someone’s home for refuge. (Deut 22:2; Josh 20:4; Judges 19:15) God adopts us into his family out of his free will choice, not because we were so lovely.
Please help. Be gracious. And one final request, “Answer me.” This is where it gets tricky. We want an answer to our problems. We want relief from our stress and anxiety. God offers us Himself. Is this enough? We seek His face as did the Psalmist in 27:8 and earlier in 27:4 and we are promised His undivided and undistractable presence with us. He promises us refuge and safety. But that does not mean all the problems and pain goes away.
It seems clear that the resolution has not come at the end of Psalm 27:14. Why else would he write, “Wait for the Lord. Be Strong. Let your heart take courage. Wait for the Lord.” We may not see all the answers we long for but we can continue to have hope.
May I grow in awareness of my own need for help. May I learn to receive the gracious and kind help from others as freely as I give help to others. May I learn to see the Divine Giver at work in all things.