Good News about God: The Lord is a Very Present Help

“The Lord is a Very Present Help”

Psalm 46:1,2 “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear…”

The Holy Spirit quickened this psalm to me this week, and I have been looking at God as our “very present help.” I investigated into the meaning of these words in Strong’s exhaustive concordance and Hebrew dictionary and found the following:
• Very: “vehemently; by implication wholly, speedily, etc. —diligently, especially, exceeding, far, fast, good, great, louder and louder, might, (so) much, quickly, (so) sore, utterly, very, well.”
• Present: “…properly to come forth to, that is, appear or exist; attain, that is, find or acquire; to occur, meet or be present:—be able, befall, being, catch…deliver, be enough (cause to) find…get (hold upon)… meet (with)…(be) present, ready, speed, suffice, take hold on.”
• Help: “A primitive root; to surround, that is, protect or aid:—help, succour.”

This speaks volumes to me about God…

He is my Help; Jesus calls the Holy Spirit the “Helper”. The help I need in trouble is a Person, the very Spirit of Jesus. It is His life in me and around me that comes to my aid; His nature is to help; He doesn’t begrudge helping and releases to me all that is needed in times of trouble, whether that’s spiritual, financial, emotional, practical aid. Out of His being comes forth the help that I need, and He has many resources at His command to meet the need.

His help being a “present” help tells me that He’s fully present and involved right at the moment of need; He’s not too busy or distracted with other issues and problems to be fully present. This suggests keen and continual attentiveness to me; because He is constantly attentive to me, He is never blindsided by trouble that hits me suddenly and unexpectedly, and He has already made provision for the need.

And His very (or vehement) present help speaks to me of His emotional involvement in times of trouble. Vehemence means “very ardent; very eager or urgent; very fervent; passionate; as, a vehement affection or passion; acting with great force; furious; violent; impetuous; forcible; mighty; as, vehement wind; a vehement torrent; a vehement fire or heat.” Thank God He is not stoic about what we face; while it’s true that He is not nervous about anything and sits securely on His throne, He is very emotionally involved in our lives and the suffering of His children, and He showed that most clearly in the life and death of Jesus which was anything but cold and stoic!

The living understanding of this reality is the remedy for fear according to Psalm 46:2: “Therefore we will not fear, even though…(you can fill in the blank)…”

Father, thank You that You are a very present help in our trouble; thank You, Lord Jesus, that You fought for us to the death and ascended to Your Father, therein providing help through the sending of the Helper; thank You, dear Holy Helper, that You are vehemently jealous over us, fully present in our need and rushing to make full provision for our life in God to be full of faith and fruitfulness no matter what the circumstances of life may be. Thank You for Who You are – very present Help; would You remind us of this good news about You throughout the day? We love You and thank You for Your help in time of need!

The following are Scriptures for meditation on this truth about God: Psalm 46:1,2; John 14:16,26,27; John 15:26; Psalm 54:4,5; Heb. 13:6; Heb.4:14-16; Isaiah 41:10,13.