abundant Helper

a few weeks ago, i read psalm 146...& i am here still.  clinging to all this truth that 10 little verses hold.  it's like God really doesn't want me to forget it & He definitely doesn't want me to move past it yet, so i just keep going back.  reading it over & over.

the title of the psalm is
The Lord an Abundant Helper
i love that...not just a little help, but an abundant Helper.  and here's the thing...i. need. a little. help.  shocking, i know, but i do.
in the wake of all that we saw in ukraine,
in the waiting on our sweet Lena,
in all that is going on in day-to-day life of raising toddlers,
in the heartache of sin,
in the ins & outs of God's vision for 99balloons,
in the constant ache of missing eliot,
in the despair of a homeless friend,
in relationships that are strained,
in loved ones whose physical bodies just aren't cooperating lately,
in all things.

He is the Abundant Helper.

Praise the Lord! 
Praise the Lord, O my soul!
I will praise the Lord while I live; 
I will sing praises to my God while I have my being. 
Do not trust in princes, 
In mortal man, in whom there is no salvation. 
His spirit departs, he returns to the earth; 
In that very day his thoughts persish.
How blessed in he whose help is the God of Jacob,
Whose hope is in the Lord his God
Who made heaven and earth,
The sea and all that is in them;
Who keeps faith forever;
Who executes justice for the oppressed;
Who gives food to the hungry.
The Lord sets the prisoners free.
The Lord opens eyes of the blind;
The Lord raises up those who are bowed down;
The Lord loves the righteous;
The Lord protects strangers;
He supports the fatherless and the widow,
But He thwarts the way of the wicked.
The Lord will reign forever. 
Your God, O Zion, to all generations, 
Praise the LORD!

each time i've read it lately, He opens my eyes to more of Himself, more of all that He is & all that He is doing behind the scenes of a broken world that just needs some help.  and it seems like He doesn't just do these things sometimes, He is always doing these things because He IS these things...

Redeemer. Healer. Helper. Hope. Just. Maker. Protector. Good. Love.  

the hard part for me is that it sometimes looks different, doesn't it?  i'm ready for Him to come in grandeur with robes & crowns & obvious worldly victor & what does He do?  He comes as a babe in a dirty barn, born to a teenager.  

so, when it looks different than i thought, all those things that He is & that He is doing are sometimes hard to see.  so i cling to psalm 146 & pray that i can see.