you would please turn your Bibles over to Psalm 121 verse 2.
We all have needs.
We have a need for housing.
We have a need for funds.
We have need for clothes on our back, and we have a need for anything else you can think of under the sun.
But what is the best thing that you could ever ask someone for?
Some might say riches.
Some have said wisdom.
Others still might say strength.
But the most powerful,
I believe the most honest thing that we could ever ask someone for is help.
And that's what we're going to be concentrating on this evening.
We're going to be talking about help in times of great danger, the help we receive in personal distress and spiritual distress, and the help that God provides to us today.
We like to think that we can pull ourselves up so many times by our own bootstraps.
know that many times in my personal life, you know, uh if the dishes don't get done, sometimes I'll go, well, I'll just, do it myself.
I don't need help.
I can do it.
I can fix the car myself.
Don't need help.
I'll do it.
Yet over and over, the word of God shows us that the greatest victories come when men and women oftentimes have cried out for God's help.
We can't do everything on our own.
We're going to walk through scripture and examine examples of people who cried out for help.
We're gonna see how God answered them.
And ultimately, we're gonna see how God helps us today.
Psalm 121, starting in verse two says, my help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth.
If our help comes from the one who created all things, there's nothing he would be unable to help us with, right?
After all, he created the very things we're going to need help with.
He made those himself.
If you would, let's start off by looking at things, uh help we get in times of great danger.
Let's turn back to the book of Exodus, chapter 14.
And we're going to look at the scene of Israel when they had just left Egypt at the Red Sea crossing.
Behind them, Pharaoh's army comes over the shoulder.
In the previous chapter, we see
them on chariots, chasing after them, uh thundering down almost with their chariots before uh all of Israel stands the Red Sea.
They have a problem that they can't cross.
They didn't have boats ready for the journey.
On the other side, the wilderness traps them in.
I can't help but think of the children's film, The Prince of Egypt did such a good job of showing this off.
You see the image of them coming up and Pharaoh's army behind with the chariots and they get blocked.
They get a few moments to talk with Moses.
If we turn forward to Exodus chapter 14, starting in verse 10, and when Pharaoh drew near, the children of Israel lifted their eyes and beheld.
the Egyptians marched after them.
So they were very afraid.
And the children of Israel cried out to the Lord.
Then they said unto Moses, you can almost hear them right now, cried out to the Lord.
The Hebrew word here.
means to literally cry out, to shriek, to gather together is another meaning of the word.
So here you have the children of Israel gathered together before the Dead Sea, stuck between a literal rock in a hard place, right?
The hard place being Pharaoh, the rock being the insurpassable ocean that stood before them, and they shriek out, they cry out unto God, continuing down.
They say to Moses, because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness?
Why have you so dealt with us to bring us out of Egypt?
Is this not the word that you told in Egypt saying, let us alone that we may serve the Egyptians?
For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than we should die in the wilderness.
They were screaming at Moses, why have you brought me here?
We have death at our doorstep.
We're going to be run down.
We have nowhere to go.
You've let us astray.
Verse 13.
Moses said to the people, not be afraid.
Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will accomplish for you today.
For the Egyptians who you see today, you shall see again no more forever.
The Lord will fight for you and you shall hold your peace.
He's telling them not to be afraid, not to be fearful.
He knows without a shadow of a doubt what God has told him, that he's going to deliver them from the Egyptians.
So much so, he says, you think that's a big problem now with their swords, the marching army over the hill?
You're never gonna see them again.
It's nothing to be afraid of whatsoever.
Moving on down to verse 14, I'm sorry, verse 15.
And the Lord said to Moses, why do you cry unto me?
tell the children of Israel to go forward.
You can almost hear it in his voice, and I'm paraphrasing, of course, but he's like, why are you yelling out to me?
I already told you what's gonna happen.
Go, march forward.
Get it done.
Do what I said.
Listen to me.
Trust in me.
I am your help.
Right?
Lift up your rods, stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, and the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea.
And I indeed will harden the heart of the Egyptians, they shall follow them.
And I will gain honor over Pharaoh and over all his army, his chariots, his horsemen.
Then the Egyptians shall know I am the Lord, when I have gained honor for myself over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen."
Can you imagine standing in front of this ocean?
You had just escaped Egypt.
You'd been spending your entire life as a slave.
You finally get the chance to leave after all the plagues of Egypt has plagued Pharaoh, plagued the house of the Egyptians, the death of the firstborn.
So many terrible things happened to them because they would not listen to God's call.
You finally get out and now you're being pursued.
after all the miracles they had witnessed, after all the power of God shown to them, they still pursue you.
They still are relentless.
Then you come up upon the water, you're following the leader.
You don't have boats prepared.
You've got what you could carry in your sandals.
You've got your family in tow, right?
Sometimes little ones.
It'd be very distressful.
And yet, we see that God gives him the power to strike his rod.
and the sea parts, so much so that the ground beneath the sea was dry and they moved forward through it.
It's the, in my opinion, I think it's the first aquarium we ever see of in the Bible, right?
They get to walk through, I can just imagine seeing the fish out there.
Now, I'm not sure of the waters, how clear they were at the time, right?
But I have this image in my head, very similar to again, the Prince of Egypt movie, where they see the whale going through, right?
You know, there wasn't a whale there, but I'm sure they would have seen something.
What a sight to behold, let alone, you know, the fish are just like the icing on the cake, right?
You have a God that split the sea, turned them into water,
walls, glass walls as you walk through on dry ground to escape your oppressors.
And you know when you get to the other side that when your oppressors are still down in there, the walls are going to come crashing down on them because they did not serve a God
with power.
This is the God we serve today.
He still has that same power today.
He doesn't diminish in power from the Old Testament to the New and to the times that we live in now.
He has just as much strength.
While we don't need to see the miracles in person, we can know by the testimony of the witnesses here written about that it's happened.
So we need to remember as we go throughout our lives that God can also part our seas and our problems too.
But let's move over to uh Second Chronicles, chapter 20.
Let's just look at Jehoshaphat.
Giving a little context here, Judah was surrounded by enemies.
Jehoshaphat, the king, turned not to the military.
He didn't turn to his wealth.
But we see Jehoshaphat turned to God in prayer.
He asks God for help.
In verse 12,
Actually, here we'll back up to the very first verse of 2 Chronicles chapter 20.
It happened after this that the people of Moab with the people of Ammon and the others besides the Amorites come to battle against Jehoshaphat.
Then some came and told Jehoshaphat, saying, a great multitude is coming against you from beyond the sea, from Syria.
And they are in Hezmanteimah, which is En Gedi.
And Jehoshaphat feared and said himself to seek the Lord and proclaimed a fast throughout all of Judah.
So Judah gathered together to ask help from the Lord.
They didn't ask weapons from the Lord.
They didn't ask power from the Lord.
They asked help.
Prayer is a very powerful thing.
If we jump down to verse 12, it says, God, wilt thou not judge them?
For we have no might against this great company that comes against us.
Neither know we what to do, but our eyes are upon thee.
See, Jehoshaphat knew something.
He knew that as scary as the army was, just like we had read with Moses as they're leaving out of Egypt, he needs to put the enemies behind him.
He's not looking towards the enemies.
He needs to be looking towards his help, his safety, his foundation, his rock, his God for help.
This is the language of humility that we read in verse 12.
He admitted, look, Lord, we don't know what to do.
We can't fight these people of our own power and win.
There's too many of them.
He says in verse six, O Lord God of our fathers, are you not God in heaven?
Do you not rule over all the kingdoms of the nations?
And in your hand, is there not power and might so that no one is able to withstand you?
Rightly said, Josephine.
And you, not our God who drove out the inhabitants of this land, your people, Israel.
and gave it to the descendants of Abraham, your friend forever.
And they dwell in it and have built you a sanctuary in it for your name, saying, if disaster comes upon us, sword, judgment, pestilence, famine, we'll stand before this
temple and in your presence, for your name is in this temple, and cry out to you in our affliction.
We'll ask you for help and you will hear and save.
They knew who they should turn to for help.
They didn't look into their own powers of their armies and wealth or help from neighboring nations.
They knew to turn to God.
And God answered, not with swords.
But we read later on that He helped with just His presence, didn't He?
He defeated the enemies that they were up against.
It was uh jumping down to verse 14.
Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jehaziel, the son of Zechariah, the son of Benanai, the son of Jeel, the son of Matania, a Levite of the sons of Ashba, in the midst of the
assembly.
And He said, listen, all of you Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem, and you,
King Jehoshaphat, thus says the Lord to you, do not be afraid nor dismay because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God's.
How true are those words for us today?
Should we not remember that our battles today are God's and not our own?
Let's continue.
He gives them an order, because they still have to obey God.
Tomorrow go down against them.
They will surely come up from the ascent of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the brook before the wilderness of Jeruel.
You will not need to fight in this battle.
Wow, we won't need to fight?
Oh, I wonder if they left their swords at home.
Position yourselves.
Stand still.
See the salvation of the Lord who is with you, O Judah, in Jerusalem.
Do not fear or be dismayed.
Tomorrow go out against them, for the Lord is with you." And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem bowed before
the Lord, worshipping the Lord.
Then the Levites, or the children of the Kohathites, and the children of the Korolites stood up to praise the Lord God with a loud voice.
So they rose early in the morning and went out into the wilderness of Tekoa.
And as they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me, O Judah, and you inhabitants of Jerusalem, believe in the Lord your God, and ye shall be established.
Believe his prophets, and you shall prosper.
And when they consulted with the people, he appointed those who should sing to the Lord.
Wonder how this went.
We can go on and further read that he destroyed him without ever having to lift a finger.
The armies fought amongst themselves and got destroyed.
They got to sit there and essentially watch a film take place.
Something that they were so afraid of.
So much so that the entire nation prayed for help.
They thankfully went to the right place for that help.
But it turned into nothing more than a spectacle.
When danger looms, the best thing that we can do is what Jehoshaphat did.
Turn our eyes to the Lord and ask Him for help.
But what about help in times of personal need?
Let's turn over and look at what happened to blind Bartimaeus in Mark chapter 10.
starting in verse 46.
Now they came to Jericho.
As he went out of Jericho with his disciples and a great multitude, a blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the road begging.
And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me.
Then many warned him to be quiet, but he cried out all the more, son of David, have mercy on me.
Blind Bartimaeus knew who he was to ask help from.
He knew who had power to save him.
Right?
The people around him tried to shut him up, didn't they?
Verse 48 says, many charged him that he should hold his peace, but he cried all the more and a great deal, right?
Thou son of David, have mercy on me.
Can you imagine being in a position as his, being blinded and hearing about the one that could cure your blindness?
He's in the room.
He's just in the back.
Would you not call out and try to get His attention?
And then you have your friends, your buddies.
Maybe they were just onlookers.
We're not told.
But the crowd sold Him.
Shh, shh, be quiet, be quiet.
Don't yell to Him.
He did the right thing.
He yelled even the more loud because He knew what He was asking for.
He knew what He needed.
So Jesus stood and commanded Him to be called.
In verse 49, they called the blind man saying, of good cheer, rise.
He is calling you.
Funny how the moment Jesus takes notice, their entire demeanor swaps from shh, be quiet, to oh yeah, go, go, go, go, go.
He wants you, right?
Throwing his side of his garment, he rose and came to Jesus.
So Jesus answered and said to him, what do want me to do for you?
The blind man said to him, rabbi, that I may receive my sight.
Then Jesus said to him, go your way, your faith has made.
the well.
Jesus stops.
He stood still for a blind beggar.
The King of the universe, the creator of all that we know, stood still, took time out for one blind beggar who cried help.
Verse 52 again says, go thy way, thy faith has made thee whole.
When we cry out for help in today's, you don't think God stops.
uh
listens.
He absolutely listens.
Our God is everywhere and He listens to everyone who's going to ask Him help.
The crowd may not care.
By today's standards, many times the world doesn't care.
Many times we see people crying out for help and they don't receive the help they need from the world around them.
But we always know that the Lord cares and He has the power to make all the difference.
Peter sinking on the water in Matthew 14 if we back up.
He had asked Christ to step out with him.
stepped out of the boat and walked towards Jesus.
starting in verse 25.
Now on the fourth watch of the night, Jesus went to them, walking on the sea.
And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, it's a ghost.
They had never seen anybody walk on water before.
They were still a little superstitious at this point in time.
And they cried out for fear.
But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, be of good cheer.
It is I.
Don't be afraid.
And Peter answered him and said, Lord,
if it's you command me to come to you on the water." And so he said, come.
And when Peter had come down to the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus.
But when he saw that wind was boisterous, he was afraid and began to sink and he cried out saying, Lord, save me.
Wonder what would have happened to Peter if he wouldn't have called out for help that day.
Would he have sank?
I don't think Christ would have let him, but he teaches us something very important.
One of the most important things we can ask the Lord for is help.
Verse 31 shows just how quickly God can help us, and in this instance, he does.
Immediately, Jesus stretched out his hand and caught him and said to him, Oh, ye of little faith, why did you doubt?
And when they had got into the boat, the wind
had sank.
Notice the word immediately.
Jesus didn't let him drown.
He didn't let him flail around in the water a little bit to teach him a lesson, you better trust me better next time.
The moment he asked and cried out for help, was there.
He didn't hesitate.
He helped all at once.
Sometimes the only prayer we're able to get out of our mouth is a simple, Lord, help.
We see that back in Esther as she approached the king.
It just has a small little phrase and she prayed to the Lord, right?
She's walking up to him.
can envision her on the way.
She had broken into the king's quarters, come before him without being asked, which was a death sentence for her.
She didn't have a whole lot of time to stop in the middle of the room and have a 20 minute prayer.
It could have been something along the lines of, Lord, help me.
Because she knew what she was moving forward towards.
It's funny how those words can move both heaven and earth when God decides to help, right?
But what about help in times of spiritual distress?
Let's go over to Psalm, chapter 46.
Starting in verse 1, says, is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
When we make God our foundation, it's kind of hard to not always be walking with Him right there underneath you, right?
He's always there.
He's our strength, He's our refuge, and a very present help.
in trouble.
Therefore, we will not fear, even though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea, though its waters roar and be troubled, though the
mountains shake with its swelling.
There is nothing we need to fear if God is our Helper.
Back over in Psalms 121, we read, My health cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth.
When the psalmist here in chapter 46 cries out, he wasn't just asking for an escape from enemies, but he was asking for peace for his soul.
He knew that God is both our shield and our comforter.
We also see this in Paul's thorn of the flesh, right?
In 2 Corinthians chapter 12.
You'll turn with me there.
Paul speaks of a thorn in the flesh that tormented him.
We're not told what that is.
Many have speculated that it could have been uh something like Crohn's disease.
There have been lots of things.
We don't know.
But we do know that he had a thorn in the flesh.
Starting verse eight, concerning this thing, pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me.
And he said to me, my grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is made perfect in weakness.
Therefore, most gladly, I would rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
Therefore, I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses.
Why?
Why, Paul?
Well, for Christ's sake.
For when I am weak, then He is strong.
My grace is sufficient for thee.
It's important to note that sometimes God's help does not come in the form that we expect it to.
It doesn't always come in the form of removing the problem.
Sometimes the help can be giving us strength to continue despite the problem.
When we pray and the problem remains, we need to make sure that we don't think that God has failed us.
Because we serve a God that wins, not a God that loses.
Our God will never fail, and He'll never fail us.
But sometimes His answer very easily could be, you know, I'll hold you up in the storm, but I won't take the storm away.
Why that purpose is, we don't know.
But He will give us the help that we need, not necessarily always the help that we think we need.
So how does God help us today?
We've seen so far how God has helped Israel, how they helped Jerusalem, how He helped Jehoshaphat, Bartimaeus, Peter, the Psalmist, Paul.
How does He help us today?
Well, helps us through His Word, doesn't He?
2 Timothy 3, 16 through 17 tells us that all Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof.
for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be thoroughly furnished unto all good works.
If we're thoroughly furnished unto all good works, are there any good works that we cannot be furnished by this Book for?
No.
Because all includes all of them.
The Bible, in a sense, is God's manual for how we can help, how He can help us.
Romans 15 and verse 4 says, for whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.
The Israelites, when they came out of Egypt, they didn't know the ending to the story like we do now.
In similar fashion, we don't know the ending to our story today, but God knows it.
He knows how to help us.
so that we can have hope.
We can read about their successes, how God helped them, how God healed the blind, how He parted the waters, how He defeated armies, how He created the very heavens and the earth.
The greatest help of all, obviously, is not physical.
It's not emotional.
The greatest help we can ask God for is spiritual help, right?
For our soul's final destination.
uh
Turn over in your Bibles to Romans 5 and verse 6.
Romans chapter 5 and verse 6.
For when we were still without strength in due time, Christ died for the ungodly.
Hebrews 2 and verse 18 says, in that He Himself hath suffered being tempted, He is able to succor them that are tempted.
He went through the same tribulations that we do as human beings.
Some He went through were far worse than what we're going to go through, namely the one on the cross, right?
God's plan of salvation can be described in a way of His reaching down and saying, here's my hand, take it.
I've got you.
I got a plan for you.
If you'll follow the steps, I'll help you walk up them.
Right?
Just as you teach a little child or maybe even a dog, I know our little dog had the longest time of being able to just go up the steps because we had the kind outside of the
complex where you could see all the way through.
We had to take her and hold her right by the neck and kind of help guide her up to teach her how to step up each step moving forward.
Little children in the same way, sometimes they get afraid of heights.
They don't know how to take the first steps.
You have to hold their hand as they walk up the steps.
Right?
He tells us to hear Romans 10,
would be the step one.
He tells us to believe in what we've read, Mark 16, 16.
The third step is to repent.
We have to turn away from the sin that has destroyed our lives, Acts 17 and verse 30.
We're told to confess the name of Christ, Romans 10, 9 through 10.
And then we're to be baptized, Acts 22 and verse 16, or Acts 2, 38.
Beyond that, once we put on Christ in baptism, we're to remain faithful.
Revelation 2 10.
We have to fight the good fight all the way into death, but we don't have to do so alone, and we can do so with help, with the everlasting help, the greatest helper.
In fact, the greatest thing you could ever ask for is help.
Is it not?
Israel cried out for help at the Red Sea, God parted it.
Jehoshaphat cried for help, and God fought his battle.
Bartimaeus cried for help.
Christ opened his eyes.
Peter cried for help.
God stopped him from drowning.
The Psalmist cried for help and found refuge in God.
Paul cried for help, and God gave him the strength to endure.
Today, God still offers that help through His Word and through His Son.
So the question is, are you willing to ask God for help?
Are you willing to cry out when the world around you, like poor, blind Bartimaeus, told him, shh, hush, be quiet, stay in your seat, don't go forward to Christ?
Are you willing to cry out even more?
His hand is stretched out.
His lifeline is ready.
He's giving you the manual for the steps.
All that remains is for you to reach out.
And if we can help you do so, we would be glad to as we stand and as we sing.