O God, Be My Helper!

[Psalm 30]

Recently, I saw an elder in our church suffering from a back injury. Having experienced a severe back injury myself, I could somewhat empathize with the elder’s pain. Seeing him struggle so much that he couldn’t even put on his socks without someone’s help made me think: “In life, we are nurtured and raised with the help of our parents from birth, and later in old age, when we can no longer move our bodies freely, we again must rely on the help of others. That’s what it means to be human.”
In the end, we are people who need someone’s help. But what should we do when there is no one to help us?

In Psalm 22:11, the psalmist David says, “Do not be far from me, for trouble is near and there is no one to help.”
David, in the midst of trouble, confesses that no one can help him and trusts in the Lord.
We too, like David, must rely on the Lord when there is no one else to help.
We must cry out to the Lord. Even when it feels like God is not answering our prayers, we must not give up but continue crying out to God (verses 1-2).
And we should look back on the past and recall God’s saving grace (verses 4-5).
Finally, we must entrust everything to the Lord (verses 9-10).

Today, in Psalm 30:10, it says, “… O Lord, be my helper …”
The psalmist David acknowledges that there is no helper besides the Lord, so he asks Him for help.
Focusing on today’s passage, I want to meditate on five ways in which the Lord, who is our helper, helps us, and receive the grace He gives.

First, the Lord, who is our helper, draws us out.

Look at Psalm 30:1: “O Lord, I will exalt You, for You have lifted me up and have not let my enemies rejoice over me.” David resolves to exalt the Lord. How does David say he will exalt God? By praising the Lord, serving Him, and loving Him with all his being (Pak Yoon-seon). So why did David decide to exalt the Lord like this? Because the Lord had delivered David from the hands of his enemies (verse 3). Here, the word “lifted me up” comes from the Arabic word “ṭalla,” which refers to the action of raising a bucket by its rope. This phrase describes God’s act of salvation, lifting a person out of a desperate situation as if drawing water with a bucket (Pak Yoon-seon).

This brings to mind the following: The Lord saves us like when someone is falling deeper and deeper into a well, completely powerless to do anything on their own. When such a person reaches out to the Savior and cries out, “Lord, help me!” the Lord comes and rescues us as if lifting us up with a bucket. So from where did God lift David? God lifted David out of Sheol, out of the grave (verse 3). God prevented David from descending to the tomb. In a near-death situation, as if he were about to be buried, God rescued David (Pak Yoon-seon). Therefore, God prevented David’s enemies from rejoicing. Satan and his followers want to make the children of God sin so that they may rejoice in their sinful downfall (verse 1). But David had experience and confidence: that the Lord would deliver him from the hands of his enemies so that they would have no reason to rejoice. This fact brings us great comfort. Our God, who prevents our enemies from rejoicing, is our Savior who rescues us. When we are in a desperate situation, God lifts us out just as if with a bucket from a well. Those of us who experience this grace of salvation should, like David, rightly exalt God. We should praise the Lord, serve Him, and love Him with all our heart. Saint Catherine said that she exalted the Lord by living a life of obedience that made her own will as if nonexistent before Him (Pak Yoon-seon). We too, through the grace of the Lord’s salvation, must live a life that exalts Him.

Secondly, the Lord who is our Helper heals us.

Look at Psalm 30:2: “O Lord my God, I cried out to you, and you healed me.” David was being persecuted by his enemies, and he cried out to God for help. When he did so, the Lord answered David’s prayer and healed him. Here, the word “healed” means that although there was a temporary failure, through God’s help there was restoration (Pak Yoon-seon). So then, what was this “temporary failure” that David committed? It was his pride—when he prospered, he said to himself, “I will never be shaken” (verses 6–7). As a result of this sin, the Lord hid His face from David, causing him to grieve (verse 7). What a precious grief this is! This grief is not worldly sorrow but a godly sorrow that leads to repentance. In the midst of this grief, David cried out to the Lord (verses 2, 8). His prayer was: “Lord, hear me and have mercy on me; Lord, be my helper” (verse 10). Here, “have mercy on me” is a prayer that we, as sinners, ought rightly to ask from God. As a result of this prayer, David received God’s mercy, was helped, and was restored. We are like David—actually, we fail even more than David did. So what should we do? When we consider this, like David in today’s passage, we should above all seek God’s mercy first. We should take our failures as opportunities to pray to God and as occasions to experience His mercy. And through His mercy, our relationship with God must be restored. But we must remember that without true repentance, there is no true restoration. We must truly repent before God and thereby experience God’s restorative love. We must receive the loving discipline of His holy love and repent, so that we may experience God’s restorative love.

Thirdly, the Lord, who is our helper, gives us joy.

Look at Psalm 30:5: “For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.” After David received God’s help, salvation, and healing, he realized the truth that there are actually more joyful things than sorrowful ones. In other words, the amount of joy he experienced after being rescued from a difficult situation was far greater than the trouble he went through (Pak Yoon-seon). What do you think? Do you really believe that there are more joyful things than sorrowful ones? However, human nature remembers sorrows better than joys. It is like we forget the scent of a rose, but remember for a long time the thorn that pricked us (Pak Yoon-seon). But God’s anger lasts only a moment, the suffering caused by His wrath is temporary, but His grace lasts “a lifetime” (verse 5). Therefore, even if there is weeping in the evening during the suffering caused by God’s anger, we rejoice in the morning because of His grace.

Last Monday, while reading J.I. Packer’s “God’s Plan,” the impression God gave me was: “… I will rejoice, and I will rejoice” (Philippians 1:18). No matter what situation I find myself in, the Holy Spirit has made me say to my own soul and resolve: ‘Let us rejoice and be glad!’ We cannot avoid experiencing brief tears and sorrow because of suffering. However, these tears and sorrows actually allow us to taste a greater joy. Dr. Park Yoon-seon said, “… when we willingly accept the suffering that comes from God’s wrath, even that suffering changes in its flavor and becomes a blessing to us.” The taste of suffering from God’s wrath may be bitter on the lips, like a bitter herbal medicine, but it greatly benefits our soul. In the end, like David, we also want to make this confession: “You have turned my mourning into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy” (Psalm 30:11).

Fourth, the Lord, who is our helper, keeps us from being shaken.

Look at Psalm 30:6-7: “When I prospered, I said, ‘I shall never be moved.’ By your favor, O Lord, you made my mountain stand strong; but when you hid your face, I was dismayed.” God answered David’s prayer, helped him, and made his kingdom firm. This is the meaning of “you made my mountain stand strong” (Park Yoon-seon). Just as God strengthened David’s kingdom, our Lord also strengthens and firmly establishes each of us, our families, and the church He bought with His blood, so that we will not be shaken. However, what we must be cautious of is pride and arrogance. Even though God had strengthened David’s kingdom, David became proud and said, “I shall never be moved” (verse 6, Park Yoon-seon). As a result, God’s anger was kindled against the proud David, and David repented and became distressed. It is not easy to repent under God’s discipline (Park Yoon-seon). But David repented sincerely during those times (see Psalm 51:4). What we must keep in mind is the phrase “by your favor” (30:7). In other words, the reason the Lord establishes us firmly so that we are not shaken is not because we are humble or do good deeds, but solely by the grace of the Lord. We must never forget this truth.

Lastly, fifth, the Lord, who is our helper, causes us to praise Him.

Look at Psalm 30:12:
“Therefore I will not keep silent; I will give You thanks forever, O Lord, my God.”
In the end, the God who helps us causes us to praise the Lord. The God of salvation who delivers us from trouble heals (restores) us, gives us joy, and also strengthens us so that we do not waver in any situation.
And those of us who receive the Lord’s grace cannot help but praise Him. Therefore, David proclaims in verse 4 of today’s passage:
“Sing praise to the Lord, you saints of His; give thanks to His holy name.”
David could not be silent as he thought about God’s grace. He cried out to God in the midst of distress, and upon receiving an answer to his prayer, his joy overflowed and he vowed to praise God forever.

How can the dead praise, or proclaim the gospel (truth)? David said this before God (verse 9), yet ultimately, by God’s mercy, he was saved from his enemies, from sorrow, and from God’s anger, and experienced God’s eternal grace (verse 5).
Therefore, he vowed to praise God forever. We must not forget the grace God has bestowed on us.
Therefore, we must praise God. Those of us who receive His help enjoy His grace, and we must give thanks and glory to the Lord with praise.

When we look to the cross, the amazing truth is that God, who is my helper, heard the prayer of His only begotten Son Jesus when He was nailed to the cross under God’s wrath and cried out, “My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?” — yet God did not answer that prayer and did not help Jesus.
God the Father did not help Jesus even when He went down to the realm of the dead. Why did God the Father do this? It was to save you and me, who were heading toward eternal death.
To restore (heal) our relationship with us, God the Father left Jesus to die on the cross.
To give us divine joy and also strengthen us, God the Father did not help His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ.
Ultimately, God causes us to praise Him. Therefore, we must live a life that exalts the Lord who is our helper.

Praising the Lord who is my helper,

Pastor James Kim
(After receiving the Lord’s help)