Help Is on the Way (Prov 17:17; 18:24; Phil 4:19)

Dr. Paul Manuel—2022

Text:

Prov 17:17 A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.

Prov 18:24 A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

Phil 4:19 God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus.

Outline:

I. A few are attentive to your needs some of the time.

A. A close relative

Prov 17:17 A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.

B. A good friend

Prov 18:24 A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

Application: You should not avoid seeking help from people God may bring your way expressly for that purpose.

II. The Lord is attentive to your needs all of the time.

Phil 4:19 God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus.

A. He will meet them.

B. He will exceed them.

Application: Unlike your savings account or credit card, you will never be overdrawn or reach a credit limit with God.

Introduction: One of my favorite internet commercials—and there are some clever ones—is for Geico Insurance. It relates the conversation among some teenagers running from a menacing-looking individual in a hockey mask. They must decide between several options: Seeking refuge in the attic or basement of an abandoned house, hiding behind a row of hanging chain saws [?], but they reject the best option—simply driving away in an already running vehicle. Finally, they decide to head for the spooky cemetery. An announcer concludes that when you are in a scary movie, as they apparently are, you make bad decisions. Get a quote from Geico. Don’t make bad decisions.

Background: In contrast, it is important that you make good decisions, especially when it concerns choosing your associations. The book of Proverbs contains a host of pithy sayings about making good decisions, including about the value of proper friendships. We will consider two proverbs and one passage from Paul’s letter to the Philippians that address proper relationships. From Proverbs we learn that…

I. Some people are attentive to your needs some of the time.

A. A close relative

Prov 17:17 A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.

The second half of this verse indicates that one responsibility of a brother is to meet another brother’s needs.[1] It is a responsibility that extends beyond having a host of mere acquaintances. While a person may not consider helping a sibling to be his raison d’etre, the reason he is here on earth, God considers rendering such aid to be significant, even necessary.

Nevertheless, not all relationships, even family ones, are responsive to such interaction. Some relatives reject help, though they may need it, while others are glad to accept help but squander whatever they receive. The adage that “You can pick your friends, but you can’t choose your relatives” is true in that some relatives are more welcome than others. Those who are welcome also exhibit a quality absent in many friendships, even familial ones: love. This proverb is about relatives you would welcome, relatives you would want to be around.

Cain and Abel are the most well-known brothers in the Bible, but their interaction is not a model for sibling relationships, given that one brother murders the other. A better example is when Joseph, having risen to high rank in Egypt, protects his brothers and their families during the adverse conditions of a famine. Because of his help, the nation of Israel survives an experience that might have destroyed the people of God and derailed His great plan.

Dave, my younger brother, lives on LI several hours away from us, and he comes to visit once a year. He plans his vacation around it. I am sure he would rather be going somewhere else, but he takes this responsibility from God of being a brother seriously. His visit is not just for companionship; he does a host of chores while here. I do not know if our being bedridden counts as “adversity” as this verse states. Moreover, adversity is not the main feature connecting our family as it often is for other families. God has been very good to Linda and me. Still, our not being able to get around does limit what we can do for ourselves, and much we would like to accomplish remains undone. When Dave comes, though, he often fills that desideratum.

Dave is married and has his own family. I doubt that he views his raison d’etre to care for us. But when he visits, he sets aside the demands of his job and whatever tasks he has planned at home, to focus on our needs. It is immensely helpful to us, and we would be poorer without him. Dave is a close relative attentive to our needs some of the time.

In addition to a close relative, we have…

B. A good friend

Prov 18:24 A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

“It is better to have one good, faithful friend than numerous unreliable ones” (Ross:1029). It is not enough to be popular or to have a host of followers (“many companions”) on Facebook. Such a plethora of friends may actually be a detriment, because they can give you a false sense of comradery, making you think you have more support than is really there. They will not necessarily help you.

The adage, “A friend in [a time of] need is a friend indeed” (Euripides) is true of very few, only those closest to you. They alone stand with you “when the going gets tough” (K. Rockne), when a situation is difficult (Manuel 2014). Relying on other people is often unsatisfying, because they are unwilling or unable to help when you need them. They are not a reliable source of aid, not really so close a good friend.

Joe, a friend in TX astonishes me. MS prevents my offering him much of anything. Yet when he flies to the east coast for business, he often stops to see us (despite his being very allergic to cats). While here, he looks for ways he can help us and does a host of chores around the house, things we can no longer do. Simple tasks like adding salt to the water softener are not possible for us. We cannot even get down the steps to the basement. Yet Joe comes and does jobs like this easily. Moreover, his positive attitude makes whatever he does seem effortless. He is more than willing to do them; he is happy to do them. Joe is a good friend, attentive to our needs some of the time.

Application: While you should not take undue advantage of others, you should not avoid seeking help from people God may bring your way expressly for that purpose.

Even better than a close relative and a good friend, from Paul’s letter to the Philippians we learn that…

II. The Lord is attentive to your needs all of the time.

Phil 4:19 God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.

A. He will meet them.

However helpful a close relative and a good friend are—and they are helpful—they cannot be with you all the time. They can act only on some immediate needs, which limits the help they offer. God is not so limited. As Jesus says to his disciples…

I am with you always, to the very end of the age. (Matt 28:20)

That is the promise of his presence all the time, because God’s help extends beyond the immediate. Moreover, His promise of provision also goes beyond expectations.

B. He will exceed them.,

The phrase “according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus” refers to “the heavenly glories that Christ enjoys” (Kent 1978:157), which are very significant and which he will share with you. As Paul tells the Corinthian church:

God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. (2 Cor 9:8)

God’s resources are limitless (“all” 4x); they are inexhaustible. They never run out or bottom out, and He does more than you can imagine. As Paul tells the Ephesian church:

He is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us. (Eph 3:20)

How much can you imagine? …God’s resources are greater still, and He will share them with you.

Linda cannot get out of bed without difficulty, and even when she does, she cannot stand for long. I cannot get out of bed at all. Consequently, what we can do for ourselves is extremely limited. What a pair we are!

Thankfully, God provides for many of our daily needs through Community Life, a Medicare-funded organization that aids seniors with basic tasks like meal preparation and personal care. We are grateful for such help, but we are under no illusion that it occurs in isolation, independent of all God provides to us. Be it food or anything else, we recognize that whatever help we receive is part of a much larger package, because the Lord is attentive to our needs all of the time. Moreover, if Community Life were not available, we are confident that God would provide for us in some other way.[2]

Application: The Lord has unlimited resources. Unlike your savings account or credit card, you will never be overdrawn or reach a credit limit with God.

Conclusion: It is appropriate to look to others for help, especially when you are in need. Such help may come from personal sources like a close relative or from a good friend. Ultimately though, whatever aid you receive comes from God, because He cares for you at all times and in every situation. Moreover, He is willing and able to help. You only need to ask, and “Help Is on the Way.”

Bibliography

Kent, Homer A., Jr.

1978 “Philippians.” Expositor’s Bible Commentary. Vol. 5. Edited by Frank E. Gaebelein. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House.

Manuel, Paul http://paulwmanuel.blogspot.com

2014 “That was then; this is now.”

Ross, Allen P.

1991 “Proverbs.” Expositor’s Bible Commentary. Vol. 5. Edited by Frank E. Gaebelein. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House.

[1]The author does not have parents in mind, devoting other proverbs just to them:

Prov 6:20 Keep your father’s commands, and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.

Prov 23:2 Listen to your father, who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old.

As Paul says, it is children’s responsibility to care for their parents when they get older:

1 Tim 5:4 Children…should learn…to put their religion into practice by caring for their own family and so repaying their parents…for this is pleasing to God.

If one’s parents are no longer available, the Bible identifies others often in need of special care:

Exod 22:22 Do not take advantage of a widow or an orphan.

Jms 1;27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress

Apart from these individuals, immediate family has the priority claim on giving attention to needs.

[2]Even if you exhaust all other sources, the best is yet to come:

Phil 1:21 For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.