Genesis
2:18, 20 KJV - And the LORD God said, [It is] not good that the man
should be alone; I will make him an help meet[H5828] for him. ... And
Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to
every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help
meet[H5828] for him.
Exodus
18:4 KJV - And the name of the other [was] Eliezer; for the God of my
father, [said he, was] mine help,[H5828] and delivered me from the
sword of Pharaoh:
Deuteronomy
33:7, 26, 29 KJV - And this [is the blessing] of Judah: and he said,
Hear, LORD, the voice of Judah, and bring him unto his people: let
his hands be sufficient for him; and be thou an help[H5828] [to him]
from his enemies. ... [There is] none like unto the God of Jeshurun,
[who] rideth upon the heaven in thy help,[H5828] and in his
excellency on the sky. ... Happy [art] thou, O Israel: who [is] like
unto thee, O people saved by the LORD, the shield of thy help,[H5828]
and who [is] the sword of thy excellency! and thine enemies shall be
found liars unto thee; and thou shalt tread upon their high places.
Psalm
20:2 KJV - Send thee help[H5828] from the sanctuary, and strengthen
thee out of Zion;
Psalm
33:20 KJV - Our soul waiteth for the LORD: he [is] our help[H5828]
and our shield.
Psalm
70:5 KJV - But I [am] poor and needy: make haste unto me, O God: thou
[art] my help[H5828] and my deliverer; O LORD, make no tarrying.
Psalm
89:19 KJV - Then thou spakest in vision to thy holy one, and saidst,
I have laid help[H5828] upon [one that is] mighty; I have exalted
[one] chosen out of the people.
Psalm
115:9-11 KJV - O Israel, trust thou in the LORD: he [is] their
help[H5828] and their shield. O house of Aaron, trust in the LORD: he
[is] their help[H5828] and their shield. Ye that fear the LORD, trust
in the LORD: he [is] their help[H5828] and their shield.
Psalm
121:1-2 KJV - [[A Song of degrees.]] I will lift up mine eyes unto
the hills, from whence cometh my help.[H5828] My help[H5828] [cometh]
from the LORD, which made heaven and earth.
Psalm
124:8 KJV - Our help[H5828] [is] in the name of the LORD, who made
heaven and earth.
Psalm
146:5 KJV - Happy [is he] that [hath] the God of Jacob for his
help,[H5828] whose hope [is] in the LORD his God:
Isaiah
30:5 KJV - They were all ashamed of a people [that] could not profit
them, nor be an help[H5828] nor profit, but a shame, and also a
reproach.
Ezekiel
12:14 KJV - And I will scatter toward every wind all that [are] about
him to help[H5828] him, and all his bands; and I will draw out the
sword after them.
Daniel
11:34 KJV - Now when they shall fall, they shall be holpen with a
little help:[H5828] but many shall cleave to them with flatteries.
Hosea
13:9 KJV - O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself; but in me [is]
thine help.[H5828]
What
it means:
B1
She has some wisdom, gift, insight, that the man does NOT have.
B2
If she does not give her wisdom and insight, the man is missing what
he needs.
B3
She has different gifts and abilities that the man does not have. He
lacks these things.
B4
He needs her.
What
it does not mean:
B1
Slave
B2
Assistant
B3
Right hand man, etc.
B4
Servant
B5
Anything that suggests a lesser, an employee, a follower, attendant,
an aide, etc.
B6
It also does not mean that she is only good for sex, having babies,
and cleaning house.
In
other words, people need meaning and purpose in life. Our focus on
materialism from both the political right and left — on income
inequality and intersectional victimhood from the left, and on tribal
affinity and economic deregulation from the right — ignores the key
problem: Americans, particularly young Americans, increasingly don’t
feel that their lives have purpose. This isn’t a problem that can
be cured by redistributing Xboxes. This is a problem of the soul.
(Source).
He
writes about the skyrocketing levels of suicide in the USA:
According
to the Centers for Disease Control, youth suicide is in the midst of
a precipitous and frightening rise. Between 2006 and 2016, suicides
by white children between ages 10 and 17 skyrocketed 70%; while black
children are less likely than white children to kill themselves,
their suicide rate also jumped 77%. And as TheBlaze
points out, CNN reported last year that “the suicide rate among
girls between the ages of 15 and 19 rose to a 40-year high in 2015.”
It’s
not just young people. According to Tom Simon, a CDC report author,
“We know that overall in the US, we’re seeing increases in
suicide rates across all age groups.” As of 2016, suicide levels
were at 30-year highs.
What
Is Our Purpose in Life?
B1
For management
C1
God wanted a beautiful earth.
C2
He wanted to delegate something to maintain it.
C3
God created Adam and Eve to be those maintainers.
C4
God created them with a reasonable soul (ability to reason and learn)
and the communicable attributes of God in order to accomplish this.
D1
Genesis 5:1 CSB - This
is the document containing the family records of Adam. On the day
that God created man, he made him in the likeness of God.
D2
Psalm 8:6-8 CSB - You
made him ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under
his feet: all the sheep and oxen, as well as the animals in the
wild, the birds of the sky, and the fish of the sea that pass
through the currents of the seas.
C5
Genesis 1:26 CSB - Then
God said, "Let us make man in our image, according to our
likeness. They will rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky,
the livestock, the whole earth, and the creatures that crawl on the
earth."
C6
Genesis 2:15 CSB - The
LORD God took the man and placed him in the garden of Eden to work it
and watch over it.
B2
For fellowship
C1
1 John 1:3 CSB - what
we have seen and heard we also declare to you, so that you may also
have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father
and with his Son Jesus Christ.
C2
Fellowship is meeting together to talk and enjoy life together,
having a common cause and purpose.
C3
The Greek word for fellowship here is κοινωνία koinōnia. It
means having beliefs in common, fellowship, participation. (Source)
C4
1 Corinthians 1:9 CSB - God
is faithful; you were called by him into fellowship with his Son,
Jesus Christ our Lord.
C5
Philippians 2:1 CSB - If
then there is any encouragement in Christ, if any consolation of
love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any affection and mercy.
B3
To glorify God
C1
By our thoughts, desires, words, and deeds reflecting the image of
God. He is holy, loving, just, etc., so also He wants us to be this.
C2
Ephesians 4:22-24 CSB - to
take off your former way of life, the old self that is corrupted by
deceitful desires, to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to
put on the new self, the one created according to God's likeness in
righteousness and purity of the truth.
Some examples are found in Ephesians 4:25-32.
C3
Romans 1:21 CSB - For
though they knew God, they did not glorify him as God or show
gratitude. Instead, their thinking became worthless, and their
senseless hearts were darkened.
This passage teaches that there is a common failure.
D1
Do not glorify God.
D2
Are not thankful.
C4
Glorifying by praising in song: Romans 15:9 CSB - and
so that Gentiles may glorify God for his mercy. As it is written,
Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles, and I will sing
praise to your name.
C5
Telling God thank you glorifies Him: Psalm 50:23 CSB - "Whoever
sacrifices a thank offering honors me, and whoever orders his
conduct, I will show him the salvation of God."
C6
Humbling ourselves glorifies God: Psalm 86:9 CSB - All
the nations you have made will come and bow down before you, Lord,
and will honor your name.
C7
Obeying God’s rules glorifies Him, but disobedience is proof of NOT
glorifying Him: 2 Timothy 3:2 CSB -
For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, proud,
demeaning, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy.
C8
Believing God glorifies Him:
D1
Did NOT believe: Deuteronomy 9:23 CSB - "When
the LORD sent you from Kadesh-barnea, he said, 'Go up and possess the
land I have given you'; you rebelled against the command of the LORD
your God. You did not believe or obey him.
D2
Did believe:
E1
John 6:69 CSB - "We
have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God."
E2
John 11:27 CSB - "Yes,
Lord," she told him, "I believe you are the Messiah, the
Son of God, who comes into the world."
E3
Hebrews 11:6 CSB - Now
without faith it is impossible to please God, since the one who draws
near to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who
seek him.
B4
For good works
C1
Matthew 5:16 CSB - "In
the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may
see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.
C2
Ephesians 2:10 CSB - For
we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which
God prepared ahead of time for us to do.
they
spring from the principle of love to God. The moral character of an
act is determined by the moral principle that prompts it. Faith and
love in the heart are the essential elements of all true obedience.
Hence good works only spring from a believing heart, can only be
wrought by one reconciled to God (Ephesians 2:10; James 2:18:22).
Good
works have the glory of God as their object; and
they
have the revealed will of God as their only rule (Deuteronomy
12:32; Revelation 22:18,19).
Good
works are an expression of gratitude in the believer's heart (John
14:15,23; Galatians 5:6). They are the fruits of the Spirit (Titus
2:10-12), and thus spring from grace, which they illustrate and
strengthen in the heart.
Good
works of the most sincere believers are all imperfect, yet like
their persons they are accepted through the mediation of Jesus
Christ (Colossians 3:17), and so are rewarded; they have no merit
intrinsically, but are rewarded wholly of grace.
C1
Writer is King David and author is Holy Spirit.
C2
This is a Psalm of David’s feelings and emotions.
C3
King David did not experience all that is recorded in this Psalm.
C4
Being a prophet, King David foretells the suffering of Messiah—Jesus,
Yeshua.
C5
Bob Utley points out this reference that is important: Matthew
5:17-18 NKJV - "Do
not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not
come to destroy but to fulfill. "For assuredly, I say to you,
till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no
means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.
C6
Jesus did fulfill the words of the Psalm.
C7
Forsaken is עָזַב
`azab
and is pronounced ah-zav. It is the Qal perfect, thus means (Qal) to
leave; to depart from, leave behind, leave, let alone; to leave,
abandon, forsake, neglect, apostatise; to let loose, set free, let
go, free.
(Source).
B2
Psalm 22
C1
The first 2 verses describe Messiah’s feelings of being abandoned.
C2
Verses 3-5 describe Messiah’s appeal to God: “You delivered our
ancestors when they asked you to.”
C3
Verse 6, Messiah describes His opinion of Himself.
C4
Verses 7-8, Messiah tells of the mocking He hears about Him.
C5
Verses 9-10, Messiah testifies that He has trusted God since birth.
C6
Verses 11-18, Messiah speaks of His suffering, His pain, His
rejection, His troubles, the indignity, the humility, the torture of
His body and soul.
C7
Verses 19-21a, in these Messiah pleads with God to save Him from this
torture.
C8
Verse 21b, Messiah is relieved; “My prayer has been answered.”
C9
Verses 22-23, He now speaks loudly and clearly for all to hear. He is
testifying of His deliverance by His deliverer.
C10
Verse 24, Messiah states, “Even though, I was so abhorrent to look
at; you still delivered me.”
C11
Verses 25-29, Messiah states that He will pay His vows.
C12
Verses 30-31, Messiah tells the results of His vows—We will serve
Him and testify of His goodness.
B3
Suffering—Why?
C1
The Lord Jesus suffered for our sins:
D1
Acts 1:3 NKJV - to
whom He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many
infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days and speaking
of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.
D2
Hebrews 2:9 NKJV - But
we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the
suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the
grace of God, might taste death for everyone.
C2
People suffer because of sin: Jude 1:7 NKJV - as
Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them in a similar manner to
these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone
after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the
vengeance of eternal fire.
C3
Christians suffer for preaching the Gospel: Acts 5:41 NKJV - So
they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they
were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name.
C4
Christian suffer for living like Christians: Romans 8:17 NKJV - and
if children, then heirs--heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if
indeed we suffer with [Him], that we may also be glorified together.
C5
Christians suffer because the Gospel is exclusive, for it is only
through Jesus can anyone be forgiven and reconciled: 1 Timothy 4:10
NKJV - For
to this [end] we both labor and suffer reproach, because we trust in
the living God, who is [the] Savior of all men, especially of those
who believe.
C6
Christians suffer because the government has outlawed Christian
worship: 2 Timothy 2:9 NKJV - for
which I [Paul] suffer trouble as an evildoer, [even] to the point of
chains; but the word of God is not chained.
C7
Christians suffer because we reject the temporary pleasures of sin:
Hebrews 11:25 NKJV - [Moses] choosing
rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the
passing pleasures of sin.
C8
Christians suffer because the devil hates God and Christians:
Revelation 2:10 NKJV - "Do
not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer. Indeed,
the devil is about to throw [some] of you into prison, that you may
be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful until
death, and I will give you the crown of life.
B4
Suffering—How do we respond?
C1
Pray to God: James 5:13 NKJV - Is
anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him
sing psalms.
C2
Trust in God’s grace: 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 NKJV - And
He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength
is made perfect in weakness." Therefore most gladly I will
rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest
upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in
needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake. For when I
am weak, then I am strong.
C3
Commit our soul to our God: 1 Peter 4:19 NKJV - Therefore
let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls
[to Him] in doing good, as to a faithful Creator.
C4
Pray for our enemies: Matthew 5:44 NKJV - But
I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good
to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and
persecute you.
C5
Be patient: 1 Peter 2:20 NKJV - For
what credit [is it] if, when you are beaten for your faults, you take
it patiently? But when you do good and suffer, if you take it
patiently, this [is] commendable before God.
C6
Know to burn off our dross: Hebrews 12:10 WEB - For
they verily for a few days chastened [us] after their own pleasure;
but he for [our] profit, that [we] might be partakers of his
holiness.
C7
If all forsake, God will not: 2 Timothy 4:16-17 NASB - At
my first defense no one supported me, but all deserted me; may it not
be counted against them. But the Lord stood with me and strengthened
me, so that through me the proclamation might be fully accomplished,
and that all the Gentiles might hear; and I was rescued out of the
lion's mouth.
B5
Questions:
C1
Jesus was forsaken. He said so. How can God forsake God? Need some
help? See here
and here.
C2
Why does God not always answer our prayers quickly, especially when
we are suffering?
C3
How are we to handle being mocked, bullied, or beat for our faith?
C4
When praying, why are we to be honest with our God?
C5
How does God show Himself as the best counselor?
C6
Does God always deliver us? Why not?
C7
When God delivers us from suffering, what is to be our response?
C8
How does God understand our suffering? (Perhaps, we can refer to the
first question).
C9
If God is a God of love, why do the innocent suffer? (Sometimes it is
a loving chastisement to affect repentance. Sometimes it is a bad
choice. In general, it is because of evil—people, spirits, sin, or
situation. Evil is the absence of good).
