Thoughts on Psalm 20:2a

2 ​​May He send you help from the sanctuary,

What kind of help is God going to send from the sanctuary?

Put another way: what is in the sanctuary for Him to send? Money? Weapons? Wisdom?

The sanctuary is the place of God’s Presence. In the Old Testament, it was a tent and surrounding courtyard that could be disassembled and relocated. It was there that God literally came and dwelt among His people (see Exodus 40:34-38)

And God’s Presence is His provision for the Day of Trouble. His solution is simply, “I will be with you”

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;

And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you.

When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned,

Nor shall the flame scorch you. Isaiah 43:2

Fear not, for I am with you; Isaiah 43:5

There is probably nothing worse in the Day of Trouble than feeling like you have to go through it alone.

Several years before I met the Lord, I moved out on my own for the first time. I moved to San Antonio - away from all of my family and friends, except a girl I was dating at the time (which…yes, that’s why.)

Within a couple months, I lost my job, my apartment got flooded, I got ripped off for several hundred dollars, my car was vandalized, and the girl broke up with me. WHAT?!

Days of Trouble.

I thought, “Is this my life? Is this what I have to look forward to?”

The worst part of it all, though, was that I had to go through all of that alone. I felt like a failure. Alone in a new city with no friends. At least Job had a few buddies come and sit with him.

The truth is, Someone was there, I was just unaware of it. And so I suffered unnecessarily.

God is so marvelous: when you are in the Day of Trouble, He doesn’t send a messenger: He shows up Himself.

God is our refuge and strength,

A very present help in trouble Psalm 46:1

So it’s not a matter of God being there, but whether or not we are willing to say, “I am in trouble. I feel alone, but I know that’s not true. God is with me, and He will see me through.”

About a year after I first Encountered the Lord, I drove to Houston to see some family. Off of I-10 I saw the sign for my exit, and it was ¾ of a mile.

I was about 27 at the time - in the neighborhood of a quarter century. And I thought, “If I lived to 100, I am about 1/4 of the way there - with 3/4 left.

Suddenly I began singing a melody with these words:

Three quarters of a mile until I exit

Lord, will you be there when I can go no further?

My heart was so moved, my eyes began to water, thinking that the Lord would be with me all of my life, and I would never again have to be alone.

To my surprise, I heard myself sing these words:

Yes, son, I’ll be there. I’ll hold you close to Me.

I’ll guide you gently, though you won’t see Me.

I’ll always be there when you can go no further.

No matter how bad things seem to get - we can always trust that God is with us. Even if we can’t see Him. Sometimes we find ourselves at our wit’s end - and the only thing we have strength left for is to bow our head and whisper, “Lord, I know You are with me.”

Resist the temptation to feel alone in your Day of Trouble. It’s a lie.

Jesus is with you. As you rest and trust in Him, You will see His power and His love work in you and through you.


Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.