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Just Words
Just Words
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.
: 1-2
Most of us have said something like this; “God will get you through this or God has your back” Or “Trust God”
Most of us have said something like this; “God will get you through this or God has your back” Or “Trust God”
The reality is that usually the speaker nor the hearer, actually believe these words.
In our study this morning, we are going to explore our usage of these words and the the difference between truth and just words.
Now when the people saw that Moses delayed coming down from the mountain, the people gathered together to Aaron, and said to him, “Come, make us gods that shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.”
Exodus 32:1
In this passage of scripture we find the children of Israel still in the desert. Moses was on the mountain conferring with God. he had been there a while. Forty days and nights. The Israelites were getting anxious with no real leadership except Aaron. They decide that since Moses was absent with God that they needed a physical incarnation of God.
This idea of a representation of God was not new. In fact, all of their neighbors had idols that represented different gods. In Egypt, where they just left, was initiated with a multitude of sculptures representing various gods. The Pharoah was considered a god.
The Israelite God is different. He needs no physical representation because he is everywhere at all times. But the Israelite people were never satisfied with this but always wanted more out of a God who gave them everything.
Impatience was the root of their sin. They wanted out of their situation and had put their faith in Moses and more or less equated him to God. Moses was what they could see and when he was gone so was their faith. Never mind the fact that at that very moment, he was interceding for them to the one true God.
Aren't we the same way though. Don’t we all get impatient with God and trying to fix our own problems. Even as we utter the words; “God can handle this.” our minds are already hard at work trying to fix the problem ourselves.
In ancient times, people thought the gods lived on top of the mountains. When they prayed, they looked toward those mountains in hopes that the gods would hear them and answer their prayers. We are the same way, we look everywhere for an answer except to the One who can and will answer our prayer. The issue is that we are impatient and want the answer we want in the time frame we want. In the end we find ourselves just like the Israelites. Lost in the desert.
When the Psalmist says; “I lift my eyes to the hills” he is actually being a little sarcastic. He is suggesting that he has figured out that the hills have no answers. “My help comes from the Lord” he says.
Conclusion:
Are you looking to the hills for your answers or are you, like the Israelites, building a golden calf to pray to? In the form of your own ideas or someone else's. The psalmist tells us that the only help we can find is in the Lord. Put your trust in Him.