The Lord, My Help

Unless the Lord had been my help, my soul had almost dwelt in silence.

Psalm 94:17

Christ and the help He gives to His people under the oppression of the wicked preserves us from perishing under the weight of that oppression.  The psalmist declares that it is the help of the Lord which has delivered his soul from becoming silent in death.  The oppression of the wicked against us may press us down very heavily.  Christ helps us when there is no help for us from any other quarter.  This help lifts us up from the weight upon our soul which would press us down until our very existence in the earth hangs in doubt before us.  Because this is a very real experience for many of us, and the burden of the oppression is very real, we trust in Christ to preserve us from succumbing to the crushing effects of it.   He has preserved His people from settling in silence in every age.  He preserved David from Saul, the three Hebrew children from Nebuchadnezzer; and Daniel from those who would have arranged his destruction.  God is Sovereign and Christ is God.  He upholds His people under the worst that evildoers can do to them.  Our consolation is that He Who has been faithful to live, die, rise again, and intercede for us will also help us in the midst of oppression to assure that by the upholding of His Almighty Hand we do not ‘settle in silence.’

Our All-powerful and All-wise God,
we rejoice that You rule and reign over all of our affairs.
We praise You that You will uphold us
in the midst of life’s most crushing moments.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning