A Wonderful Promise in Two Parts - Part 2 of 2

Oh, for a thousand tongues to sing, my great Redeemer's praise, The worries of my God and King, the triumphs of his grace.

This is LeSaire Bradley, Jr., welcoming you to another broadcast of the Baptist Bible Hour. Abide with me as falls deep and high, The darkness deepens, warm with me apart. When other helpers fail and comfort me, Help of the helpless, oh, abide with me.

Swift through its close ends, the light's little gain. First joys grow near, each glory's passed away. Change and decay, if all around I see. Oh, thou who changest not, abide with me. I need thy presence, every passing hour. One what thy praise can form a tender spout. Who, like thyself, my guidance they can be. Through cloud and sunshine, oh, abide with me. Oh, thou I cross before my closing eyes.

Shine through the blue and point me to the skies. As morning breaks and earth's main shadows gleam, In light, in death, oh, Lord, abide with me. We continue the message today, entitled A Wonderful Promise in Two Parts. I hope that you will pray that the Lord will bless this radio ministry, use these messages to the glory and honor of his name. If you are blessed with the messages, we'd love to hear from you.

Our address is the Baptist Bible Hour, Box 17-0-37, Cincinnati, Ohio 45217. Let's turn to Psalm 119, Verse 28, My soul melteth for heaviness. Here, then, is a problem. Here's the psalmist saying. That's just like my very being.

My innermost person just melts. Why? Because of heaviness.

Because of the burden I'm carrying. That could be sorrow. That could be pain. That could be sickness. That could be trial. That could be persecution.

That could be a lot of things. My soul melteth because of heaviness. And what's his prayer? Strengthen thou me according unto thy word.

You remember, of course, this is the psalm that makes reference in almost all the verses to the word of God. And so when he's praying for strength, he says, strengthen me according unto thy word. I'm not praying for something that's unrealistic.

I'm not praying for something that's imaginary. I'm praying according to your word, Lord. I'm praying that you'll strengthen me on the basis in which you've already promised you'll do it. In harmony with that which will be your will, to your glory, to your honor. Strengthen me according to thy word. That's God's promise.

I will strengthen thee. Now, the very promise to strengthen us implies that since we are made stronger by the power that he has imparted to us, we are going to be actively involved in facing the challenges, fighting the battles, resolving the difficulties that are before us. We may have been disheartened. We may have thrown up our hands and said, I can't handle it. But now he strengthens us and so we are participating.

We're active. We're out there as soldiers on the front line of battle knowing he's going to give us the strength to keep going. But even with that, there's sometimes even a greater need.

And this wonderful promise in two parts takes care of that. Because the next thing he says is, I will help thee. Not only will God strengthen us so we can be more effective in our efforts to serve him and to patiently endure suffering, but he will help us. I think of Isaiah 35 where he says to confirm the feeble needs, strengthen the weak hands, fear not.

Why? Because he says, I will come to save you. Now that that means a lot, does it not? That in the hour of trouble, the Lord says help is on the way and I'm it. I know your situation.

I know your circumstances. I know the heavy burden that you carry and help is coming and I'm the one that's bringing it. I'm coming to help you.

See, this is something beyond just your active involvement. God is coming to take hold of some things himself. He's going to come and help you, assist you. Let's look at Psalm 60 just as a reminder of the fact that the help we sometimes go far doesn't work out too well. Have you ever sought help only to discover that the help was part of the problem? You maybe turned to the wrong source for counsel or advice. Help kind of got in the way and messed things up in a variety of ways. Well, Psalm 60 verse 11 says, give us help from trouble for vain is the help of man.

How many times have you learned that? Even when somebody wanted to help, they complicated things. If somebody may have said I want to help you but they lack the resources, they couldn't help.

They could not do what needed to be done. Vain is the help of man. Now that's essential that we keep in mind at all times that vain is the help of man.

Reminds us of the passage in Isaiah chapter 2 when he says, see sheaf of man whose breath is in his nostrils. Since the help of man is so often vain, then don't depend on him. Don't put your confidence and trust in man but in the living God. Well, as the help of man is vain, the help of God means everything and that's the reason in Hebrews chapter 13 we are given hope and encouragement from the standpoint of being reminded as to who our helper is. The promise in the latter part of verse 5, Hebrews 13 verse 5 is, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. Now that's that's good news for the God of heaven to say to his people, I will never leave thee. Has there ever been a time in your life that you felt like the Lord had gone?

Certainly Asaph, David, various others of the writers talked about the Lord hiding himself, withdrawing his comforts and that's a part of our experience. But the reality of the situation is the Lord says, though I may withdraw my comfort, though I may be hidden behind the clouds, I will never leave thee. I will never forsake thee.

Now if you really believe that, then you see there's never a time that you're justified to complain and say, I don't have anybody, nobody cares, everybody's gone. Everybody might be just like the apostle said, no man stood with me, but the Lord stood with me. And God's already said in advance, if everybody else leaves, I still going to be there. Psalm 27, David said, when my mother and father forsake me, then the Lord will take me up.

Now because of this promise, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. Verse 6 says, so that we may boldly say, the Lord is my helper and I will not fear what man shall do unto me. I don't have to be afraid of man if the Lord is my helper. So the help of man is vain, but God is our helper.

He's already declared it. Now I'm sure that there are unbelievers out there that would look with pity upon Christians and say, well those poor souls are deluded, there is no living God and the book that they read was compiled by men and it's all empty and meaningless. But if God has blessed you to see even in nature His handiwork and power and to be reassured that He is the true and living God, the sovereign of the universe, and you have become convinced and satisfied that the Bible is His book, and He therefore declares in it, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee, so that we may boldly say, the Lord is my helper. You've got something concrete to stand on. You've got something substantial. You've got something to hold you up. The Lord is my helper. And then when we think about this promise that God has made to help us, His help is timely. How often have you had somebody who may have been sincere and meant well and say, listen, if you ever need me you know you can call on me. I'll help you.

I'll do whatever's necessary. And you didn't really want to impose on anybody else so you didn't call on them until finally an emergency arose and you called on them. And maybe they weren't there or maybe they were and said this is an inconvenient time. I was sincere. I wanted to help you but I can't do it now.

A variety of reasons might be cited but the point is that at the time you wanted help it wasn't available. Now turn to Psalm 46 to see the confirmation of the fact that God as our helper provides timely help. Psalm 46 verse 1. God is our refuge and strength.

That's what we're talking about. God being the strength of His people and their help. Here both things are brought together.

Both sides of this promise are brought together in this one verse of Psalm 46. God is our refuge. That is, He's our hiding place. He's our strength. A very present help in trouble. What kind of help is He? His help is timely. His help is provided when you need it. God is a very present help. He doesn't just tell you He's going to help you and then when the rough sledding comes say well it's not available.

He's a present help. He's there when you need it. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth be removed and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea, though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof, Selah. So when we come to believe that He is our helper, we can have confidence. See a lot of people go around wringing their hands full of anxiety constantly controlled and gripped by fear, but God's people can have confidence. Let's look at Psalm 33. Psalm 33 and verse 20. Our soul waiteth for the Lord for He is our help and our shield. For our heart shall rejoice in Him because we have trusted in His holy name. Our soul waiteth. Waiteth for what? Waiteth for the Lord.

He is our help. Now that's confidence. See in vivid contrast to being gripped by fear, controlled by fear, that I can't even sleep at night fearful about what the future holds, what's going to happen.

I mean you could go on and on with the list of catastrophes that could potentially happen. But for the child of God, the constant reminder that God is our help and that even when the world's on fire, what we have as our greatest treasure is intact. It's secure. It's an inheritance that is incorruptible, undefiled and fadeth not away. Now you can understand why back in 1929 men that had built fortunes and that's what their whole life was about and they lost them.

Some of them in despair jumped out the window and took their own life. But for the child of God, as much as it would be a painful ordeal to lose everything you've worked for for a lifetime, isn't it good to know that the best is yet to come? It's secure.

That inheritance is reserved for you on the other side. So we have confidence. Well that being the case, our prayer can be appropriately prayed in this matter of seeking God as our helper. Psalm 30 verse 10, Hear O Lord and have mercy upon me. Lord be thou my helper.

All right, we've read several places where God's already promised to be our helper. So if you're praying, Lord be my helper, you know what? You realize you're praying the right kind of a prayer. You know in advance I'm praying in harmony with God's will. I'm not praying selfishly and greedily. I'm not praying in a fashion that's going to interrupt the prayer. But I'm praying about something that God has already promised. He said, well why pray about it? Because God wants us to.

Because it is pleasing to Him even when He's promised to do something that you ask Him to do it. That you continue to show confidence in Him by continuing in prayer. Hear O Lord and have mercy upon me.

Be thou my helper. Well, if we have confidence because of His help and we're praying for His help, what has our experience been thus far? Is there anybody here today that would say, well I just I don't believe God has ever helped me?

Surely when you look back over the way that you've traveled, in spite of the fact that you may have had many severe disappointments, many great sufferings and sorrows and losses and heartaches, the very fact that you're here today is a token that God has been your helper. Where would you be apart from His help? Where would you be physically with maybe some of the things you've been through?

With some terrible ordeals from a physical standpoint. God has touched your body and strengthened you and blessed you to be here. Where would you be financially? Where would you be as far as having a roof over your head and a means of transportation even to get here to this meeting? Where would you be spiritually? If God had not helped you, where would you be? I dare say you wouldn't be out here on a cold snowy January morning.

You wouldn't have had any interest to be here, any desire to be here. God has helped you. But let's look at Romans 8 26 and we're talking about what our experience has been. Romans 8 26 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities for we know not what we should pray for as we ought but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. The Spirit helpeth our infirmities. You're trying to pray. You ever get frustrated right in the midst of an effort to pray and just say well it just seems like to me I'm just mouthing some words and going through a formality here and I don't know if the Lord's hearing me at all. I just feel like this is such a weak effort, such a feeble prayer.

I just don't know that God would hear me. He says the Spirit helpeth our infirmities. We don't know how to pray as we ought but the Spirit itself maketh intercession with groanings that cannot be uttered. I believe he's telling us that when we come before God and obviously there's many other scriptures relating to prayer and we've got to deal with such issues as Psalm 66 18 knowing that if I regard iniquity my heart the Lord will not hear and the James passages that tell us that if we are asking selfishly we ask amiss and God's not going to hear us but if we are praying a sincere prayer meeting a scriptural criteria though we ourselves may feel like our effort is weak and God will not hear the Spirit of God is making intercession for us and taking that which seems to us to be a feeble prayer and making it acceptable in the ears of our heavenly Father. Now that's that's good news to know we've got that kind of help isn't it that our Lord by his Holy Spirit will take a weak feeble effort on our part and help us so that we're able to pray aright what then seeing something of our confidence our prayer our experience what of our expectation let's look at Psalm 121. Some people lose hope they make an effort doesn't go far they seem to be encountering one problem one hardship after another they give up in despair look at what we read here Psalm 121 verse 1 I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills from whence cometh my help my help cometh from the Lord which made heaven and earth here's expectation not despair not hopelessness not giving up but expectation I'm going to lift up mine eyes to the hills not that the hills in and of themselves are going to provide the help but those hills are indications of the greatness and power of God they his handiwork shows forth his power and his greatness because next verse clarifies it verse 2 my help cometh from the Lord I look unto the hills I look unto the mighty works of God and I'm reassured that he's a God of power and greatness and as I look to him my help comes from the Lord the very one that made heaven and earth he's the one that made those hills he's the one that put the sun the moon the stars in their places he will not suffer thy foot to be moved he that keepeth thee will not slumber will not slumber good to know then that we can have high expectations not being overcome with the despair that is a part of the society in which we're living today some of the songs that become popular some of the groups that entertain in various formats really present the thought of despair what's the use what's life all about what does it mean meaning has gone out of life and sad to say sometimes God's people get influenced by that thinking but the general attitude that's prevalent in the world around us but for God's people there needs to be bright expectation and that being the case we ultimately will be able to sing as to the help God has given us praising him aloud psalm 86 verse 17 psalm 86 17 show me a token for good that they which hate me may see it and be ashamed because thou Lord has hoping me and comforted me what is the song God has been my helper God has helped me God has comforted me so you see our confidence our prayer our experience our expectation our song of praise it all correlates with the promise of our text in isaiah chapter 41 that God is our helper so the text says fear thou not for i am with thee be not dismayed don't give up in despair don't assume that the challenges are too great for i am by God here's the two parts of this wonderful promise i will strengthen thee yea i will help thee what a wonderful promise for us to claim on this first sunday of the new year we all recognize i trust that we need help we need the grace of God as a church we recognize that we need his strength and his help he's pleased if we seek it and ask for it it's an acknowledgement a recognition of our own weakness our own inability the fact that we need him we know that without him we're empty our efforts are meaningless but he encourages us to call Jeremiah 33 3 call unto me and i will answer thee and show thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not may we have burdened hearts to pray earnestly and diligently that this year might be a year of special blessing even as the world struggles with the fear that grips the hearts of many concerning what the future may hold God and his providence may be working to get the attention of people that have given little thought to him to his truth to his word whatever the inconveniences that may come God may well by his providence be at work to make a difference in the lives of a lot of people when you look at the indifference so many have to God and his word to the ungodliness that prevails in our society would it be a surprise to you if God did send a severe judgment even upon us here in America nobody could complain and say well it just doesn't seem fair but whether we're talking about facing those challenges or just the challenge of our own tendency to be slothful at ease indifferent neglectful of spiritual duties let us remember his promise he will strengthen us they say i don't have the strength that's acknowledged but he'll give it to you he will help you he'll intervene in those places where even with the strength he gives you're unable to reach certain situations in such circumstances he'll reach there himself he will be your helper he will fight your battles for you the battle is the Lord's may we all be encouraged and hopeful in knowing that this promise is real and it's for us to claim that he will strengthen us and help us today we brought you the concluding part of a message entitled a wonderful promise in two parts if you'd like to get the complete message on cd request that when you write it at the baptist bible hour box 17 037 cincinnati ohio 45217 and we greet you next time this is lacerre bradley jr beating you goodbye and may god bless you is