Help!

“Help, Lord”
— Psalm 12:1

“Hello darkness, my old friend.”

The first line of Simon and Garfunkel’s song The Sound of Silence (1964) is haunting and familiar. The song has become a staple of Americana. I believe it holds such sway because we can all relate to the emotional tug of loneliness, abandonment, isolation and darkness.

I know not of a person who hasn’t walked in the depths of darkness at some point in their life. Betrayed. Abused. Abandoned. Scorned. Left reeling in the depths of a cold abyss while surrounded by scores of people who only make the loneliness more profound. Shut out from participating in the warmth of humanity. Pushed aside due to depravity, carelessness, jealousy or neglect to the point of invisibility. Ostracized by pride, accomplishment, success, position and purpose. Darkness overwhelms by a sundry of means.

Yet, it always begins the same. It begins in our own minds, by our own consent.

As the song states, “Hello darkness, my old friend / I’ve come to talk with you again / Because a vision softly creeping / Left its seeds while I was sleeping / And the vision that was planted in my brain / Still remains / Within the sound of silence.”

There is no doubt the Evil One desires to draw us into darkness. He longs to cast a vision, plant a seed and watch it overwhelm us. It is in these moments our first and only response should be to cry out as the psalmist did, “Help, Lord!”

Help me know Your love! Help me see your will! Help me walk in You! Help, Lord!

However, “help” is an interesting word. The word itself doesn’t apply when you do nothing. You can only help those who are active in an effort. You can’t help someone who has no desire to change. There has to be an aspect of desire and effort towards a goal for someone to receive help.

Sure, we use the word “help” often in other ways. I’m going to go help the homeless, my kids, my co-worker, etc. But it is really only accurate when those other parties are active in the effort. If that is not the case, it is simply charity, a gift or wasted effort. Not help.

This is important to understand when we find ourselves in the depths of darkness. It begins with a deceptive thought (vision, seed) in our minds. While dwelling upon it, we nurture its growth to our own demise.

Help comes from the Lord. But help only comes when there is a desire to change. A openness to grow. A willingness to refocus our minds.

As Paul states in Philippians 4:8, “Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.”

Darkness begins in the mind, but so does help!

God does not require you to begin solving the issues for Him to help! But you do have to be active in refocusing on Him. Looking to Him for your hope and resolve. He can only help those who are active in changing…and that change is from staring into the abyss of darkness to lifting our eyes to Lord! Then let your cry be heard. Help, Lord!

© 2025 Warren Martin. All rights Reserved.