“GOD IS MY HELPER; the Lord is the sustainer of my life.” Psalms 54:4 HCSB
Other translations use the words “help of my life” but I like the word “sustainer”. Help includes to sustain, but to sustain goes a little deeper than the American definition of help. To help can be applied to a child, “Mommy’s little helper”. They can help cook a meal, but often in a way that requires more work from the parent. Side note- be patient and let your kids help. They need to learn certain things from you. But to sustain means something different.
To sustain means to support, hold, or bear up from below; bear the weight of, as a structure. to bear (a burden, charge, etc.). Sustain means to support something or keep it going. To sustain means to support or maintain, especially over a long period of time; to endure or undergo. Sustain is more than help, it’s taking the weight off you. It would be for another man to pick you up when you physically are so exhausted your legs have given out and to carry you on his shoulders. He is completely sustaining or bearing your weight.
This kind of exhaustion would come from a marathon runner at about mile 20 and he’s taken in no nourishment or water to sustain his run and his legs are depleted of their energy so that he collapses. He physically cannot move. Ever feel like this?
The Lord is my helper and the sustainer of my life. God is not a child helping you bake cookies. He is all powerful, all mighty, all knowing, and nothing is impossible for Him or with Him. He sustains me. Yeah though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, He sustains me. He sustains me when I’m afflicted. He sustains me when I’m hated and everyone departs from me. He sustains me when I physically exhausted and cannot look up let alone rise up. And His sustaining power is readily available to all who call upon Him. But here’s where the trouble is.
We don’t call upon Him. We would rather try to figure it out ourselves. We would rather go everywhere else and to everyone else before we go to the Sustainer of our souls. We would rather take a pill or call a friend instead of fall to our knees and cry out, “Lord I need your sustaining power!” Why is it He becomes your last resort? Oh, I’ve heard people say “I tried the Jesus thing and He didn’t help me.” Did you really? Did you humble yourself before the Creator of the universe?
Have you gotten to the end of your self-reliance? I seriously doubt you called upon Him in humility. King David said, “I have been young and now I am old and I have never seen the righteous forsaken nor his seed begging for bread.” The trouble my friend is never with the Lord, not with His Word or His ability; the trouble is always with us. If we would be honest we haven’t called upon Him out of a heart of repentance, a heart that is truly seeking His face and His help. At least be honest with yourself. “Trying Jesus” is just testing Him. And that my friend is a sin. “Thou shalt not test the LORD thy God”. But seek Him for help.
“Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, And rely on horses, Who trust in chariots because they are many, And in horsemen because they are very strong, But who do not look to the Holy One of Israel, Nor seek the Lord!” Isaiah 31:1
He will do what He said He would do. Now, His sustaining power may not come in the way that you want it to. It may not come in the time you want it to come. It may not come in the manner that you expect Him to do something. God does things according to His wisdom. He knows what’s best for us, and it’s rarely what I think is best for me. Such it is walking with the Lord. His ways are not my ways and His thoughts are not my thoughts.
I have learned to say, “Lord let this cup pass from me, but nevertheless; Thy will be done.” Friend, there are two indisputable things about Him that I have encountered my almost 30 yr walk with Him: He is good and He is faithful. All things I must endure will work out for my good. He is not an abuser neither does He play around with my emotions. He is concerned with my well being and with my character. He knows what is best and He knows the path that He is having me take. I trust Him with my life. And yes, when I am down and I cannot look up, I can cry out to him and He will sustain my soul so I can run those last six miles.
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