The Psalmist asks himself, 'From whence cometh my help?' and then the
better self answers the questioning, timid self: 'My help cometh from
the Lord, which made heaven and earth.' There will be no reception of
the divine help unless there is a sense of the need of the divine help.
God cannot help me before I am brought to despair of any other help. It
is only when a man says, 'There is none other that fighteth for us, but
only Thou, O God!' that God comes to help.
There is a story in the Book of Chronicles, about one battle in which
Judah engaged, of a very singular kind. The first step in the campaign
was that the king of Judah gathered all his people together, and prayed
to God, and said, 'We know not what we shall do. We have no strength
against this great multitude that cometh against us, but our eyes are
unto Thee.' Then a prophet came and assured him of victory, and next day
they arrayed the battle. It was set in this strange fashion: in the
forefront were put the priests and Levites, with their instruments of
music, and not soldiers with spears and bows, and they marched out to
battle with this song, 'The Lord is gracious and merciful. His mercy
endureth for ever.' Then, without the stroke of sword or thrust of
spear, God fought for them and scattered their foes.
'Which things are an allegory.' If we recognise our helplessness, God is
our help. If we conceit ourselves to be strong, we are weak; if we know
ourselves to be impotent, Omnipotence pours itself into us. We read once
that Jesus Christ healed 'them that had need of healing.' Why does the
Evangelist not say, without that periphrasis, 'healed the sick'? Because
he would emphasise, I suppose, amongst other things, the thought that
only the sense of need fits for the reception of healing and help.
If, then, we desire that God should be 'the Strength of our hearts, and
our Portion for ever,' the coming of His help must be wooed and won by
our sense of our own impotence, and only they who say, 'We have no might
against this great multitude that cometh against us,' will ever hear
from Him the blessed assurance, 'The Lord will fight for you.' 'Stand
still, and see the salvation of the Lord!' So, brethren! the assurance
of faith follows the consciousness of weakness, and both together will
lead, and nothing else will lead, to the realisation of the vision of
faith, and bring us at last, weak as we are, to the hills where the
weary and foot-sore flock 'shall lie down in a good fold, and on fat
pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of Israel.'