Where Does My Help Come From?
09/06/2026
I don’t know about you, but asking for help is not always my first instinct. My first instinct is usually to figure it out. Make the phone call. Work the problem. Come up with a plan. Fix what I can fix and, if none of that works, then start looking around for somebody who might know what to do. And somewhere along the way, I finally pray. I wish I could tell you I always go to God first, but I don’t. Sometimes I exhaust myself trying to be my own help before remembering where my help actually comes from. Maybe you’ve done that too. Psalm 121 reminds us that before we start searching everywhere else for an answer, there is a better place to look.
“I lift up my eyes to the hills.
From where does my help come?
My help comes from the LORD,
who made heaven and earth.”
— Psalm 121:1–2 (ESV)
Psalm 121:2 gets even stronger when you read verse 1 with it.
The psalmist looks toward the hills and asks a question:
Where does my help come from?
I think most of us have asked our own version of that question.
What am I going to do about this? How am I going to get through this? Who can help me fix this? How am I going to pay for this? And my personal favor, what happens if this doesn’t work out?
We may not be standing at the bottom of a mountain looking up, but we know what it feels like to look at something in front of us and wonder how we’re going to make it through.
And here’s what I love about his answer.
He doesn’t say, “Hopefully something will work out.”
He doesn’t say, “I’m sure I’ll figure it out.”
He says: “My help comes from the LORD.”
That’s confidence.
But then he adds something that almost feels unnecessary:
“who made heaven and earth.”
Why add that? Because sometimes we need to remind ourselves who we are asking for help.
The God you’re praying to this morning isn’t trying to figure out what to do with your situation.
He isn’t overwhelmed by what overwhelms you.
He isn’t looking at the mountain in front of you thinking, That’s a big one.
He made the mountain.
He made heaven and earth.
And if He is powerful enough to create what you can see, He is certainly powerful enough to handle what you cannot see.
That doesn’t mean God will always help us the way we expect Him to.
Sometimes His help changes the circumstances.
Sometimes His help changes us while we’re walking through the circumstances.
Sometimes He opens a door.
Sometimes He closes one we were convinced needed to stay open.
Sometimes He removes the problem.
Sometimes He gives us enough strength to take another step while the problem is still sitting there.
That last one can be difficult.
Because when we ask God for help, we usually already have an idea of what His help should look like.
“Lord, help me.”
And somewhere underneath that prayer is often:
Here’s how.
But trusting God means I don’t just trust His ability to help me. I trust Him to decide what help I actually need.
There’s another beautiful part of Psalm 121. The psalmist doesn’t stop with God’s power. As the psalm continues, he talks about God watching over His people.
He says God will not slumber.
Think about that.
There has never been a moment when God stopped paying attention to you.
You have fallen asleep worrying about something while God remained completely awake.
You have wondered what tomorrow holds while God was already there.
You have been caught off guard by things that never surprised Him.
So maybe today you’re staring at your own mountain.
A decision. A relationship. A financial concern. Something happening with your family. Something at work.
Something you’ve prayed about for months and still don’t understand.
Maybe the mountain isn’t even something happening around you. Maybe it’s something happening inside you.
Whatever it is, Psalm 121 gives us a simple response:
Look higher.
Not because the problem isn’t real.
Not because you should pretend everything is fine.
But because your problem is not the highest thing in your life.
God is.
The mountain may be big.
Your Helper is bigger.
And sometimes faith is simply refusing to stare at the mountain so long that you forget the One who made it.
Action Steps
* Name the mountain. Be specific about what is weighing on you instead of carrying a vague sense of worry. Tell God exactly where you need His help.
* Stop prescribing the answer. Ask God for help today without telling Him exactly how He has to provide it.
* Look higher when worry returns. Every time your mind starts running through the worst-case scenario, answer it with Psalm 121:2: “My help comes from the LORD.”
Challenge for the Day
Identify the one thing you’re most tempted to handle in your own strength today. Pray about it before you do anything else and tell God, “My help comes from You. Show me my next step.”
Prayer
Father, I know where my help comes from. It comes from You. Forgive me for the times I look everywhere else first and come to You last. There are things in front of me today that I cannot control and things I simply do not understand. Help me trust not only that You can help, but that You know what kind of help I need. Keep my eyes above the mountain and fixed on You. Amen.
Pastor Jeff
#LoveGod #LovePeople #FindFreedom #FindYourDesign
I don’t know about you, but asking for help is not always my first instinct. My first instinct is usually to figure it out. Make the phone call. Work the problem. Come up with a plan. Fix what I can fix and, if none of that works, then start looking around for somebody who might know what to do. And somewhere along the way, I finally pray. I wish I could tell you I always go to God first, but I don’t. Sometimes I exhaust myself trying to be my own help before remembering where my help actually comes from. Maybe you’ve done that too. Psalm 121 reminds us that before we start searching everywhere else for an answer, there is a better place to look.
“I lift up my eyes to the hills.
From where does my help come?
My help comes from the LORD,
who made heaven and earth.”
— Psalm 121:1–2 (ESV)
Psalm 121:2 gets even stronger when you read verse 1 with it.
The psalmist looks toward the hills and asks a question:
Where does my help come from?
I think most of us have asked our own version of that question.
What am I going to do about this? How am I going to get through this? Who can help me fix this? How am I going to pay for this? And my personal favor, what happens if this doesn’t work out?
We may not be standing at the bottom of a mountain looking up, but we know what it feels like to look at something in front of us and wonder how we’re going to make it through.
And here’s what I love about his answer.
He doesn’t say, “Hopefully something will work out.”
He doesn’t say, “I’m sure I’ll figure it out.”
He says: “My help comes from the LORD.”
That’s confidence.
But then he adds something that almost feels unnecessary:
“who made heaven and earth.”
Why add that? Because sometimes we need to remind ourselves who we are asking for help.
The God you’re praying to this morning isn’t trying to figure out what to do with your situation.
He isn’t overwhelmed by what overwhelms you.
He isn’t looking at the mountain in front of you thinking, That’s a big one.
He made the mountain.
He made heaven and earth.
And if He is powerful enough to create what you can see, He is certainly powerful enough to handle what you cannot see.
That doesn’t mean God will always help us the way we expect Him to.
Sometimes His help changes the circumstances.
Sometimes His help changes us while we’re walking through the circumstances.
Sometimes He opens a door.
Sometimes He closes one we were convinced needed to stay open.
Sometimes He removes the problem.
Sometimes He gives us enough strength to take another step while the problem is still sitting there.
That last one can be difficult.
Because when we ask God for help, we usually already have an idea of what His help should look like.
“Lord, help me.”
And somewhere underneath that prayer is often:
Here’s how.
But trusting God means I don’t just trust His ability to help me. I trust Him to decide what help I actually need.
There’s another beautiful part of Psalm 121. The psalmist doesn’t stop with God’s power. As the psalm continues, he talks about God watching over His people.
He says God will not slumber.
Think about that.
There has never been a moment when God stopped paying attention to you.
You have fallen asleep worrying about something while God remained completely awake.
You have wondered what tomorrow holds while God was already there.
You have been caught off guard by things that never surprised Him.
So maybe today you’re staring at your own mountain.
A decision. A relationship. A financial concern. Something happening with your family. Something at work.
Something you’ve prayed about for months and still don’t understand.
Maybe the mountain isn’t even something happening around you. Maybe it’s something happening inside you.
Whatever it is, Psalm 121 gives us a simple response:
Look higher.
Not because the problem isn’t real.
Not because you should pretend everything is fine.
But because your problem is not the highest thing in your life.
God is.
The mountain may be big.
Your Helper is bigger.
And sometimes faith is simply refusing to stare at the mountain so long that you forget the One who made it.
Action Steps
* Name the mountain. Be specific about what is weighing on you instead of carrying a vague sense of worry. Tell God exactly where you need His help.
* Stop prescribing the answer. Ask God for help today without telling Him exactly how He has to provide it.
* Look higher when worry returns. Every time your mind starts running through the worst-case scenario, answer it with Psalm 121:2: “My help comes from the LORD.”
Challenge for the Day
Identify the one thing you’re most tempted to handle in your own strength today. Pray about it before you do anything else and tell God, “My help comes from You. Show me my next step.”
Prayer
Father, I know where my help comes from. It comes from You. Forgive me for the times I look everywhere else first and come to You last. There are things in front of me today that I cannot control and things I simply do not understand. Help me trust not only that You can help, but that You know what kind of help I need. Keep my eyes above the mountain and fixed on You. Amen.
Pastor Jeff
#LoveGod #LovePeople #FindFreedom #FindYourDesign
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