Hitherto hath the Lord helped me

I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills. From whence cometh my help? My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth. He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber. Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. The LORD is thy keeper: the LORD is thy shade upon thy right hand. The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night. The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul. The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore. (Psalm 121:1-8)

It's been some time since I last posted anything here. In fact, it's been even longer since I actually wrote anything of more than minimal substance. I've been well occupied, however, and in recent weeks have been seeing more clearly than ever before that- 'Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.' (Psalm 127:1)

You see, I've grown up well familiar with the concept of manual labor. I've learned to work (hard sometimes), and I've learned to enjoy it (most of the time). But I'll be honest, nobody enjoys working just for the sake of working. Anyone, even of the most scrupulous work ethic, will soon grow weary of work without results. You see, we like to work because we like to get things done. If all our labors were exercises in futility, we would soon cease to enjoy those labors.

I enjoy getting things done. And the more effectively and efficiently my labors become accomplishments, the more 'effective' my enjoyment of the labor is. Don't get me wrong, I can even enjoy those tasks which require dogged determination and patient, persistent perseverance. But it has occurred to me, that quite honestly, if all my labors were in vain, and all my efforts were exercises in futility, then really, I'd be one weary young man.

So that's why today when I look at all the multiplied blessings, when I consider the 'accomplishments', every time I have the privilege of savoring a job well done, I am reminded that 'hitherto hath the Lord helped me'.

I am reminded that there is no strength that is my own. That there is no blessing that is of my own earning. There is in fact no accomplishment that is of my own labors. In total, without the Lord's blessing, and without the Lord's help, and without the Lord's keeping, my labors are in vain.

Hitherto hath the Lord helped me.