So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my Helper, etc. The writer in our text adopts the language of Psalm 118:6. Three distinct, yet closely related topics for meditation are suggested.

I. MAN'S NEED OF HELP. What a dependent creature is man! Mark this in the different stages of his life.

1. How utterly helpless in infancy!

2. How needy in youth! Instruction, direction, counsel, support, are indispensable to youthful life, if it is to grow into usefulness unto men and acceptability unto God.

3. How dependent in manhood! No one is independent. Even the wealthiest, the wisest, the mightiest, cannot stand alone. We need help

(1) from each other. "We are members one of another." "The members should have the same care one for another" (cf. 1 Corinthians 13.) We need help

(2) from God. "He giveth to all life, and breath, and all things... for in him we live, and move, and have our being." It was truly said by Fenelon, "God has but to withdraw his hand which bears us, to plunge us back into the abyss of our nothingness, as a stone suspended in the air fails by its own weight the moment it ceases to be held."

4. How imbecile in old age! This is often a "second childhood," a season of almost complete dependence upon others both physically and mentally.

5. There are times, when man specially feels his need of help. In affliction we feel our need of patience; in sorrow, of consolation; in perplexity, of guidance, etc.

II. GOD'S PROVISION OF HELP. God has put it into our hearts to help each other. Many are the ways in which this is done; e.g. by sympathy, by counsel, by gifts, etc. But God himself is the great Helper. A helper does not do everything for us. He supplements our weakness with his strength; our ignorance and inexperience with his wisdom. We must do our part, and he will not fail in his. Consider what a glorious Helper God is.

1. He is all-sufficient. His wisdom is infinite. The treasures of his grace are inexhaustible. It is conceivable that the sun, after the lapse of many and vast ages, may become dark and cold, or that the waters of old ocean may be drank up; but it is impossible and inconceivable that the infinite resources of our Divine Helper should ever fail.

2. He is ever-available. We cannot seek him and discover that he is inaccessible to us. We cannot approach him inopportunely. He is "a very present Help in trouble." "Call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me."

3. He is ever-gracious. His willingness to help is as great and as constant as his ability. Man varies in his moods: today he is genial and kind, to-morrow he is cold and harsh. But God is ever merciful, ever disposed to help and bless his creatures.

III. THE BELIEVER'S ASSURANCE OF THE HELP OF GOD. "So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my Helper; I will not fear: what shall man do unto me?"

1. This confidence rests upon the promise of God. "He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee" (ver. 5). His promises are perfectly reliable. "God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man," etc. (Numbers 23:19). "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away" "The Scripture cannot be broken." "He abideth faithful; for he cannot deny himself." His promise, then, is an immovable basis for our confidence.

2. This confidence inspires the courage of the believer. "The Lord is my Helper; I will not fear: what shall man do unto me?" The man over whom God casts his shield is invulnerable. "If God be for us, who can be against us?" "Who is he that will harm you, if ye be followers of that which is good?" No crafty foe can elude the vigilance of his eye; no subtle scheme can surprise his infinite mind; no strong antagonist can cope with his almighty arm. If he is our Helper, man cannot injure us. If he is our Helper, our resources cannot fail. If he is our Helper, we may pursue our life-path chanting cheerfully, "God is our Refuge and Strength, a very present Help in trouble," etc. (Psalm 46.). - W.J.

I. THE CHEERFUL PROFESSION OF CONFIDENCE IN GOD AGAINST ALL OPPOSITION, AND IN THE MIDST OF ALL DISTRESSES, IS THAT WHICH BELIEVERS HAVE A WARRANT FOR IN THE PROMISES THAT ARE MADE UNTO THEM.

II. AS THE USE OF THIS CONFIDENCE IS OUR DUTY, SO IT IS A DUTY HIGHLY HONOURABLE UNTO THE PROFESSION OF THE GOSPEL.

III. BELIEVERS MAY USE THE SAME CONFIDENCE THAT DAVID USED, SEEING THEY HAVE THE SAME GROUNDS OF IT THAT DAVID HAD. For outward circumstances alter not the state of things as unto faith or duty.

IV. THAT ALL BELIEVERS, IN THEIR SUFFERINGS, AND UNDER THEIR PERSECUTIONS, HAVE A REFRESHING SUPPORTING INTEREST IN DIVINE AID AND ASSISTANCE. For the promises hereof are made unto them all equally in their suffering state, even as they were unto the prophets and apostles of old.

V. IT IS THEIR DUTY TO EXPRESS WITH CONFIDENCE AND BOLDNESS, AT ALL TIMES, THEIR ASSURANCE OF THE DIVINE ASSISTANCE DECLARED IN THE PROMISES, TO THEIR OWN ENCOURAGEMENT, THE EDIFICATION OF THE CHURCH, AND THE TERROR OF THEIR ADVERSARIES (Philippians 1:28).

VI. FAITH DULY FIXED ON THE POWER OF GOD, AS ENGAGED FOR THE ASSISTANCE OF BELIEVERS IN THEIR SUFFERINGS, WILL GIVE THEM A CONTEMPT OF ALL THAT MEN CAN DO UNTO THEM.

VII. THE MOST EFFECTUAL MEANS TO ENCOURAGE OUR SOULS IN ALL OUR SUFFERINGS, IS TO COMPARE THE POWER OF GOD WHO WILL ASSIST US, AND THAT OF MAN WHO DOTH OPPRESS US (Matthew 10:28).

VIII. THAT WHICH IN OUR SUFFERINGS DELIVERETH US FROM THE FEAR OF MEN, TAKES OUT ALL THAT IS EVIL IN THEM, AND SECURES OUR SUCCESS.

(John Owen, D. D.)

1. These have their enemies, signified by the word Man, "what man may do against me."

2. These men being enemies do much against them, or at least attempt to do much; for wicked men together with the devil are great enemies to Christ's kingdom and His subjects. The devil designs their spiritual, the wicked their temporal ruin; and the design of the one is subservient to the other. The devil makes use of temporal persecutions to shake their faith; both hate the Church and thrust sore at it.

3. Yet God is with them, stands for them, helps them, strengthens and protects them, and gives them safety in the midst of danger, joy in the midst of sorrow, bread in the midst of famine.

4. If God be with them, for them, and their help, they need not fear anything, no, not the worst that man can do unto them, but may be confident of safety and deliverance; they need not much desire the best things of the world, nor fear the worst.

5. They may think, believe, say, and be assured, that God is their help. And so much the rather, because God hath promised that He will not leave or forsake them at any time, and why should they be covetous or fearful, there is no cause of either.

(G. Lawson.)

When Dr. Rowland Taylor was brought before Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester, the bishop asked him how he durst look him in the face, and if he knew who he was. "Yes," replied the doctor, "I know who you are — Dr. Stephen Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester, and Lord Chancellor, and yet but a mortal man, I trow. But if I should be afraid of your lordly looks, why fear you not God, the Lord of us all? How dare you look any Christian man in the face, since you have forsaken the truth, denied Christ, and done contrary to your oath and writing? With what face will you appear before Christ's judgment-seat and answer to your oath against popery in King Henry VIII.'s time and in the reign of King Edward VI., when you both spoke and wrote against it?"

(W. Whitecross.)

Let it be thy chief concern to have thy interest in and right to the promises cleared up. This is the hinge on which the great dispute between thee and Satan will move in the day of trouble. Oh, it is sad for a poor Christian to stand at the door of the promise, in the dark night of affliction, afraid to lift the latch, whereas he should then come as boldly for shelter as a child into his father's house.

(W. Gurnall.)

Christians, Hebrews, Italians, Timotheus, TimothyItaly, JerusalemAble, Afraid, Boldly, Confidently, Courage, Fear, Fearlessly, Heart, Helper, Hence, Taking1. Various admonitions as to love;
4. to honest life;
5. to avoid covetousness;
7. to regard God's preachers;
9. to take heed of strange doctrines;
10. to confess Christ;
16. to give alms;
17. to obey governors;
18. to pray for the apostles.
20. The conclusion.

Hebrews 13:6

     4019   life, believers' experience
     5511   safety
     5876   helpfulness
     5914   optimism
     5957   strength, spiritual
     6738   rescue
     8107   assurance, and life of faith
     8213   confidence
     8224   dependence
     8737   evil, responses to
     8754   fear

Hebrews 13:5-6

     5901   loneliness
     5942   security
     7125   elect, the
     8797   persecution, attitudes

The Unchangeable Christ
Eversley. 1845. Hebrews xiii. 8. "Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever." Let me first briefly remind you, as the truth upon which my whole explanation of this text is built, that man is not meant either for solitude or independence. He is meant to live WITH his fellow-men, to live BY them, and to live FOR them. He is healthy and godly, only when he knows all men for his brothers; and himself, in some way or other, as the servant of all, and bound in ties of love and …
Charles Kingsley—All Saints' Day and Other Sermons

February 26. "Make You Perfect in Every Good Work" (Heb. xiii. 21).
"Make you perfect in every good work" (Heb. xiii. 21). In that beautiful prayer at the close of the Epistle to the Hebrews, "Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead, our Lord Jesus Christ, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every good work to do His will," the phrase, "make you perfect in every good work," literally means, it is said, "adjust you in every good work." It is a great thing to be adjusted, adjusted to our …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

September 16. "I Will Never Leave Thee nor Forsake Thee" (Heb. xiii. 5).
"I will never leave Thee nor forsake Thee" (Heb. xiii. 5). It is most cheering thus to know that although we err and bring upon ourselves many troubles that might have been easily averted, yet God does not forsake even His mistaken child, but on his humble repentance and supplication is ever really both to pardon and deliver. Let us not give up our faith because we have perhaps stepped out of the path in which He would have led us. The Israelites did not follow when He called them into the Land of …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

The Doctrine of Arbitrary Scriptural Accommodation Considered.
"But the Righteousness which is of Faith speaketh on this wise,--Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into Heaven?' (that is, to bring Christ down from above:) or, Who shall descend into the deep?' (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.) But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth; and in thine heart:' that is, the word of Faith, which we preach; that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from …
John William Burgon—Inspiration and Interpretation

The Character and Supports of Widows Indeed.
"Now she that is a Widow indeed, and desolate, trusteth in God and continueth in supplications and prayers night and day." * * Preached at the house of one made a widow by her husband's desertion; who left her in straitened circumstances to provide for a young family. Timothy was ordained a bishop of the church at Ephesus; and this epistle was written to him by St. Paul, his spiritual father, to teach him "how to behave himself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God." The former …
Andrew Lee et al—Sermons on Various Important Subjects

The Blood of the Covenant
The subject of the Epistle to the Hebrews is deep, for it passes on from the superficial rudiments to those underlying truths which are more mysterious and profound. It is a book for the higher classes in Christ's school; and hence this prayer is not for babes, but for men of understanding. We could not say to all the saints, "after this manner pray ye," for they would not know what they were asking; they have need to begin with something simpler, such as that sweet "Our Father, which art in heaven," …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 20: 1874

The Immutability of Christ
But greater things have changed than we; for kingdoms have trembled in the balances. We have seen a peninsula deluged with blood, and mutiny raising its bloody war whoop. Nay, the whole world hath changed; earth hath doffed its green, and put on its somber garment of Autumn, and soon expects to wear its ermine robe of snow. All things have changed. We believe that not only in appearance but in reality, the world is growing old. The sun itself must soon grow dim with age; the folding up of the worn-out …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 4: 1858

The Unchangeable Christ
"Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever."--Hebrews 13:8. LET me read to you the verse that comes before our text. It is a good habit always to look at texts in their connection. It is wrong, I think, to lay hold of small portions of God's Word, and take them out of their connection as you might pluck feathers from a bird; it is an injury to the Word; and, sometimes, a passage of Scripture loses much of its beauty, its true teaching, and its real meaning, by being taken from the …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 40: 1894

The Blood of the Everlasting Covenant
I. First of all, then, I have to speak this morning of THE COVENANT mentioned in the text; and I observe that we can readily discover at first sight what the covenant is not. We see at once that this is not the covenant of works, for the simple reason that this is an everlasting covenant. Now the covenant of works was not everlasting in any sense whatever. It was not eternal; it was first made in the garden of Eden. It had a beginning, it has been broken; it will be violated continually and will …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 5: 1859

A New Year's Benediction
"Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee."--Hebrews 13:5. OBSERVE the way in which the apostles were accustomed to incite believers in Christ to the performance of their duties. They did not tell them, "You must do this or that, or you will be punished; you must do this, and then you shall obtain a reward for it." They never cracked the whip of the law in the ears of the child of God. They …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 60: 1914

Never! Never! Never! Never! Never!
Hence, let us learn, my brethren, the extreme value of searching the Scriptures. There may be a promise in the Word which would exactly fit your case, but you may not know of it, and therefore miss its comfort. You are like prisoners in a dungeon, and there may be one key in the bunch which would unlock the door, and you might be free; but if you will not look for it you may remain a prisoner still, though liberty is near at hand. There may be a potent medicine in the great pharmacopia of Scripture, …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 8: 1863

Twenty-Second Day for all who are in Suffering
WHAT TO PRAY.--For all who are in Suffering "Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them; them that are evil entreated, as being yourselves in the body."--HEB. xiii. 3. What a world of suffering we live in! How Jesus sacrificed all and identified Himself with it! Let us in our measure do so too. The persecuted Stundists and Armenians and Jews, the famine-stricken millions of India, the hidden slavery of Africa, the poverty and wretchedness of our great cities--and so much more: what suffering …
Andrew Murray—The Ministry of Intercession

Calvin -- Enduring Persecution for Christ
John Calvin was born in 1509, at Noyon, France. He has been called the greatest of Protestant commentators and theologians, and the inspirer of the Puritan exodus. He often preached every day for weeks in succession. He possest two of the greatest elements in successful pulpit oratory, self-reliance and authority. It was said of him, as it was afterward said of Webster, that "every word weighed a pound." His style was simple, direct, and convincing. He made men think. His splendid contributions to …
Various—The World's Great Sermons, Volume I

The Action of Jesus Christ in the Souls of Men.
The divine action continues to write in the hearts of men the work begun by the holy Scriptures, but the characters made use of in this writing will not be visible till the day of judgment. "Jesus Christ yesterday, to-day, and for ever" (Heb. xiii, 8), says the Apostle. From the beginning of the world He was, as God, the first cause of the existence of souls. He has participated as man from the first instant of His incarnation, in this prerogative of His divinity. During the whole course of our life …
Jean-Pierre de Caussade—Abandonment to Divine Providence

Paul and his Requests for Prayer (Continued)
We announce the law of prayer as follows: A Christian's prayer is a joint agreement of the will and his cabinet, the emotions, the conscience, the intellect, working in harmony at white heat, while the body co-operates under certain hygienic conditions to make the prayer long enough sustained at high voltage to insure tremendous results, supernatural and unearthly.--Rev. Homer W. Hodge We come to the request of Paul made to the Church at Ephesus, found in the latter part of Ephes. 6 of the Epistle …
Edward M. Bounds—Prayer and Praying Men

Carey's College
1761-1785 The Heart of England--The Weaver Carey who became a Peer, and the weaver who was father of William Carey--Early training in Paulerspury--Impressions made by him on his sister--On his companions and the villagers--His experience as son of the parish clerk--Apprenticed to a shoemaker of Hackleton--Poverty--Famous shoemakers from Annianus and Crispin to Hans Sachs and Whittier--From Pharisaism to Christ--The last shall be first--The dissenting preacher in the parish clerk's home--He studies …
George Smith—The Life of William Carey

The Never Changing One.
"JESUS Christ the same yesterday, and to-day and forever" (Heb. xiii:8). Blessed truth and precious assurance for us poor, weak creatures, yea, among all His creatures the most changing; He changeth not. "For I am the Lord, I change not" (Mal. iii:6). "Of old hast Thou laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of Thy hands. They shall all perish, but Thou shalt endure: yea all of them shall wax old like a garment, as a vesture shalt Thou change them, and they shall be changed; …
Arno Gaebelein—The Lord of Glory

Covenanting Provided for in the Everlasting Covenant.
The duty of Covenanting is founded on the law of nature; but it also stands among the arrangements of Divine mercy made from everlasting. The promulgation of the law, enjoining it on man in innocence as a duty, was due to God's necessary dominion over the creatures of his power. The revelation of it as a service obligatory on men in a state of sin, arose from his unmerited grace. In the one display, we contemplate the authority of the righteous moral Governor of the universe; in the other, we see …
John Cunningham—The Ordinance of Covenanting

Meditations to Stir us up to Morning Prayer.
1. If, when thou art about to pray, Satan shall suggest that thy prayers are too long, and that therefore it were better either to omit prayers, or else to cut them shorter, meditate that prayer is thy spiritual sacrifice, wherewith God is well pleased (Heb. xiii. 15, 16;) and therefore it is so displeasing to the devil, and so irksome to the flesh. Bend therefore thy affections (will they, nill they) to so holy an exercise; assuring thyself, that it doth by so much the more please God, by how much …
Lewis Bayly—The Practice of Piety

The Two Covenants: the Transition
"Now the God of peace, who brought again from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep, in the blood of the everlasting covenant, even our Lord Jesus, make you perfect in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is well-pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ."--HEB. xiii. 20, 21. THE transition from the Old Covenant to the New was not slow or gradual, but by a tremendous crisis. Nothing less than the death of Christ was the close of the Old. Nothing less than His resurrection …
Andrew Murray—The Two Covenants

Discourse viii. The Help of Religion.
THE HELP OF RELIGION. For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come.--HEBREWS xiii, 14. There are a good many people who, apparently, are never troubled by any speculations arising out of a comprehensive view of things. They are keenly alive to all objects within their sphere; but their eyes are close to the surface, and their experience comes in shocks of sensation, and shreds of perception. They know the superficial features of the world and its conventional expressions; are conversant …
E. H. Chapin—Humanity in the City

Kallihirua the Esquimaux.
Kallihirua, notwithstanding the disadvantages of person (for he was plain, and short of stature, and looked what he was,--an Esquimaux), excited a feeling of interest and regard in those who were acquainted with his history, and who knew his docile mind, and the sweetness of his disposition. Compliance with the precept in the Old Testament, "Love ye the stranger[1]," becomes a delight as well as a duty in such an instance as that about to be recorded, especially when we consider the affecting injunction …
Thomas Boyles Murray—Kalli, the Esquimaux Christian,

"Honorable," Therefore, "Is Marriage in All, and the Bed Undefiled. ...
8. "Honorable," therefore, "is marriage in all, and the bed undefiled." [1954] And this we do not so call a good, as that it is a good in comparison of fornication: otherwise there will be two evils, of which the second is worse: or fornication will also be a good, because adultery is worse: for it is worse to violate the marriage of another, than to cleave unto an harlot: and adultery will be a good, because incest is worse; for it is worse to lie with a mother than with the wife of another: and, …
St. Augustine—On the Good of Marriage

Memorandum. --On Other Letters Ascribed to Athanasius.
The above Collection of Letters is complete upon the principle stated in the Introduction (supr., p. 495). But one or two fragments have been excluded which may be specified here. (1.) Fragment of a letter to Eupsychius;' probably the Nicene Father referred to Ep. Æg. 8, (cf. D.C.B. ii. 299 (4)). The Greek is given by Montf. in Ath. Opp. 1. p. 1293 (Latin, ib. p. 1287). It was cited in Conc. Nic. II. Act vi., but although it has affinities with Orat. ii. 8 (high-priestly dress'), it has the …
Athanasius—Select Works and Letters or Athanasius

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