A Very Present Help in Trouble

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Ps. 46:1-11 (to 1st .)
1God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
2Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;
3Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Selah.
4There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High.
5God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God shall help her, and that right early.
6The heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved: he uttered his voice, the earth melted.
7The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.
8Come, behold the works of the Lord, what desolations he hath made in the earth.
9He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; he breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; he burneth the chariot in the fire.
10Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.
11The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.

Dan. 6:1-27
1It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom an hundred and twenty princes, which should be over the whole kingdom;
2And over these three presidents; of whom Daniel was first: that the princes might give accounts unto them, and the king should have no damage.
3Then this Daniel was preferred above the presidents and princes, because an excellent spirit was in him; and the king thought to set him over the whole realm.
4¶ Then the presidents and princes sought to find occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdom; but they could find none occasion nor fault; forasmuch as he was faithful, neither was there any error or fault found in him.
5Then said these men, We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the law of his God.
6Then these presidents and princes assembled together to the king, and said thus unto him, King Darius, live for ever.
7All the presidents of the kingdom, the governors, and the princes, the counsellors, and the captains, have consulted together to establish a royal statute, and to make a firm decree, that whosoever shall ask a petition of any God or man for thirty days, save of thee, O king, he shall be cast into the den of lions.
8Now, O king, establish the decree, and sign the writing, that it be not changed, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not.
9Wherefore king Darius signed the writing and the decree.
10¶ Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime.
11Then these men assembled, and found Daniel praying and making supplication before his God.
12Then they came near, and spake before the king concerning the king’s decree; Hast thou not signed a decree, that every man that shall ask a petition of any God or man within thirty days, save of thee, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions? The king answered and said, The thing istrue, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not.
13Then answered they and said before the king, That Daniel, which is of the children of the captivity of Judah, regardeth not thee, O king, nor the decree that thou hast signed, but maketh his petition three times a day.
14Then the king, when he heard these words, was sore displeased with himself, and set his heart on Daniel to deliver him: and he laboured till the going down of the sun to deliver him.
15Then these men assembled unto the king, and said unto the king, Know, O king, that the law of the Medes and Persians is, That no decree nor statute which the king establisheth may be changed.
16Then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel, and cast him into the den of lions. Now the king spake and said unto Daniel, Thy God whom thou servest continually, he will deliver thee.
17And a stone was brought, and laid upon the mouth of the den; and the king sealed it with his own signet, and with the signet of his lords; that the purpose might not be changed concerning Daniel.
18¶ Then the king went to his palace, and passed the night fasting: neither were instruments of music brought before him: and his sleep went from him.
19Then the king arose very early in the morning, and went in haste unto the den of lions.
20And when he came to the den, he cried with a lamentable voice unto Daniel: and the king spake and said to Daniel, O Daniel, servant of the living God, is thy God, whom thou servest continually, able to deliver thee from the lions?
21Then said Daniel unto the king, O king, live for ever.
22My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions’ mouths, that they have not hurt me: forasmuch as before him innocency was found in me; and also before thee, O king, have I done no hurt.
23Then was the king exceeding glad for him, and commanded that they should take Daniel up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no manner of hurt was found upon him, because he believed in his God.
24¶ And the king commanded, and they brought those men which had accused Daniel, and they cast them into the den of lions, them, their children, and their wives; and the lions had the mastery of them, and brake all their bones in pieces or ever they came at the bottom of the den.
25¶ Then king Darius wrote unto all people, nations, and languages, that dwell in all the earth; Peace be multiplied unto you.
26I make a decree, That in every dominion of my kingdom men tremble and fear before the God of Daniel: for he is the living God, and stedfast for ever, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed, and his dominion shall be even unto the end.
27He delivereth and rescueth, and he worketh signs and wonders in heaven and in earth, who hath delivered Daniel from the power of the lions.

Ps. 12:1-8
1Help, Lord; for the godly man ceaseth; for the faithful fail from among the children of men.
2They speak vanity every one with his neighbour: with flattering lips andwith a double heart do they speak.
3The Lord shall cut off all flattering lips, and the tongue that speaketh proud things:
4Who have said, With our tongue will we prevail; our lips are our own: who is lord over us?
5For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, now will I arise, saith the Lord; I will set him in safety from him that puffeth at him.
6The words of the Lord are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.
7Thou shalt keep them, O Lord, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.
8The wicked walk on every side, when the vilest men are exalted.

Matt. 15:1-28
1Then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem, saying,
2Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread.
3But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?
4For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death.
5But ye say, Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, It is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me;
6And honour not his father or his mother, he shall be free. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition.
7Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying,
8This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.
9But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
10¶ And he called the multitude, and said unto them, Hear, and understand:
11Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man.
12Then came his disciples, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended, after they heard this saying?
13But he answered and said, Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up.
14Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.
15Then answered Peter and said unto him, Declare unto us this parable.
16And Jesus said, Are ye also yet without understanding?
17Do not ye yet understand, that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught?
18But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man.
19For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:
20These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man.
21¶ Then Jesus went thence, and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon.
22And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil.
23But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us.
24But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
25Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me.
26But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it to dogs.
27And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.
28Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.

Job 8:20
20Behold, God will not cast away a perfect man, neither will he help the evildoers:

Ps. 54:4 God
4God is mine helper: the Lord is with them that uphold my soul.

Ps. 146:1-10 (to 1st ,)
1Praise ye the Lord. Praise the Lord, O my soul.
2While I live will I praise the Lord: I will sing praises unto my God while I have any being.
3Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help.
4His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.
5Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God:
6Which made heaven, and earth, the sea, and all that therein is: which keepeth truth for ever:
7Which executeth judgment for the oppressed: which giveth food to the hungry. The Lord looseth the prisoners:
8The Lord openeth the eyes of the blind: the Lord raiseth them that are bowed down: the Lord loveth the righteous:
9The Lord preserveth the strangers; he relieveth the fatherless and widow: but the way of the wicked he turneth upside down.
10The Lord shall reign for ever,

Isa. 50:9, 10
9Behold, the Lord God will help me; who is he that shall condemn me? lo, they all shall wax old as a garment; the moth shall eat them up.
10¶ Who is among you that feareth the Lord, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness, and hath no light? let him trust in the name of the Lord, and stay upon his God.

Rom. 15:1-3
1We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves.
2Let every one of us please his neighbour for his good to edification.
3For even Christ pleased not himself; but, as it is written, The reproaches of them that reproached thee fell on me.

Isa. 57:15-21 thus
15thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name isHoly; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.
16For I will not contend for ever, neither will I be always wroth: for the spirit should fail before me, and the souls which I have made.
17For the iniquity of his covetousness was I wroth, and smote him: I hid me, and was wroth, and he went on frowardly in the way of his heart.
18I have seen his ways, and will heal him: I will lead him also, and restore comforts unto him and to his mourners.
19I create the fruit of the lips; Peace, peace to him that is far off, and to him that is near, saith the Lord; and I will heal him.
20But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt.
21There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.


Isa. 58:9-11 1st shalt
9shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity;
10And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noon day:
11And the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.

Luke 6:38
38Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.

Matt. 25:31-40
31¶ When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
32And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:
33And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
34Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
35For I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
36Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
37Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungered, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
38When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
39Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
40And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

Prov. 11:8, 17
8The righteous is delivered out of trouble, and the wicked cometh in his stead.
17The merciful man doeth good to his own soul: but he that is cruel troubleth his own flesh.



SH 351:8-26
    The author became a member of the orthodox Con-
gregational Church in early years. Later she learned
that her own prayers failed to heal her as did the prayers
of her devout parents and the church; but when the
spiritual sense of the creed was discerned in the Science
of Christianity, this spiritual sense was a present help. It
was the living, palpitating presence of Christ, Truth, which
healed the sick.
Fatal premises
    We cannot bring out the practical proof of Christianity,
which Jesus required, while error seems as potent and
real to us as Truth, and while we make a per-
sonal devil and an anthropomorphic God our
starting-points, — especially if we consider Satan as a
being coequal in power with Deity, if not superior to Him.
Because such starting-points are neither spiritual nor
scientific, they cannot work out the Spirit-rule of Christian
healing, which proves the nothingness of error, discord,
by demonstrating the all-inclusiveness of harmonious
Truth.

SH 12:31-3
In divine
Science, where prayers are mental, all may avail them-
selves of God as “a very present help in trouble.”
Love is impartial and universal in its adaptation and
bestowals.

SH 202:24-6
Belief and practice    Our beliefs about a Supreme Being contradict the
practice growing out of them. Error abounds where
Truth should “much more abound.” We
admit that God has almighty power, is “a
very present help in trouble;” and yet we rely on a drug
or hypnotism to heal disease, as if senseless matter or err-
ing mortal mind had more power than omnipotent Spirit.
Sure reward of righteousness
    Common opinion admits that a man may take cold in
the act of doing good, and that this cold may produce
fatal pulmonary disease; as though evil could overbear
the law of Love, and check the reward for do-
ing good. In the Science of Christianity, Mind
 — omnipotence — has all-power, assigns sure
rewards to righteousness, and shows that matter can
neither heal nor make sick, create nor destroy.

SH 97:5-28
Dangerous resemblances    In reality, the more closely error simulates truth and
so-called matter resembles its essence, mortal mind, the
more impotent error becomes as a belief. Ac-
cording to human belief, the lightning is fierce
and the electric current swift, yet in Christian Science
the flight of one and the blow of the other will become
harmless. The more destructive matter becomes, the
more its nothingness will appear, until matter reaches
its mortal zenith in illusion and forever disappears. The
nearer a false belief approaches truth without passing
the boundary where, having been destroyed by divine
Love, it ceases to be even an illusion, the riper it becomes
for destruction. The more material the belief, the more
obvious its error, until divine Spirit, supreme in its do-
main, dominates all matter, and man is found in the like-
ness of Spirit, his original being.

    The broadest facts array the most falsities against
themselves, for they bring error from under cover. It
requires courage to utter truth; for the higher Truth
lifts her voice, the louder will error scream, until its in-
articulate sound is forever silenced in oblivion.

    “He uttered His voice, the earth melted.” This Scrip-
ture indicates that all matter will disappear before the
supremacy of Spirit.

SH 223:7-19
Soul greater than body    Matter does not express Spirit. God is infinite omni-
present Spirit. If Spirit is all and is everywhere, what
and where is matter? Remember that truth
is greater than error, and we cannot put the
greater into the less. Soul is Spirit, and Spirit is greater
than body. If Spirit were once within the body, Spirit
would be finite, and therefore could not be Spirit.
The question of the ages
    The question, “What is Truth,” convulses the world.
Many are ready to meet this inquiry with the assurance
which comes of understanding; but more are
blinded by their old illusions, and try to “give
it pause.” “If the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into
the ditch.”

SH 414:15-19
    To fix truth steadfastly in your patients’ thoughts, ex-
plain Christian Science to them, but not too soon, — not
until your patients are prepared for the explanation, --
lest you array the sick against their own interests by troub-
ling and perplexing their thought.


SH 57:22-30
Help and discipline    Human affection is not poured forth vainly, even
though it meet no return. Love enriches the nature, en-
larging, purifying, and elevating it. The wintry
blasts of earth may uproot the flowers of affec-
tion, and scatter them to the winds; but this severance
of fleshly ties serves to unite thought more closely to
God, for Love supports the struggling heart until it ceases
to sigh over the world and begins to unfold its wings for
heaven.

SH 234:12-16
We should love our enemies
and help them on the basis of the Golden
Rule; but avoid casting pearls before those who trample
them under foot, thereby robbing both themselves and
others.

SH 481:7-9
The fruit forbidden    Material sense never helps mortals to understand
Spirit, God. Through spiritual sense only, man com-
prehends and loves Deity.

SH 453:17 human
human weakness, which forfeits divine help.
You uncover sin, not in order to injure, but in order
to bless the corporeal man; and a right motive has
its reward. Hidden sin is spiritual wickedness in high
places. The masquerader in this Science thanks God
that there is no evil, yet serves evil in the name of
good.

SH 444:7-30
Refuge and strength    If Christian Scientists ever fail to receive aid from
other Scientists, — their brethren upon whom they may
call, — God will still guide them into the right
use of temporary and eternal means. Step by
step will those who trust Him find that “God is our refuge
and strength, a very present help in trouble.”
Charity to those opposed
    Students are advised by the author to be charitable
and kind, not only towards differing forms of religion
and medicine, but to those who hold these dif-
fering opinions. Let us be faithful in pointing
the way through Christ, as we understand it,
but let us also be careful always to “judge righteous judg-
ment,” and never to condemn rashly. “Whosoever shall
smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.”
That is, Fear not that he will smite thee again for thy for-
bearance. If ecclesiastical sects or medical schools turn
a deaf ear to the teachings of Christian Science, then part
from these opponents as did Abraham when he parted
from Lot, and say in thy heart: “Let there be no strife, I
pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herd-
men and thy herdmen; for we be brethren.” Immortals,
or God’s children in divine Science, are one harmonious
family; but mortals, or the “children of men” in material
sense, are discordant and ofttimes false brethren.

SH 518:13
Assistance in brotherhood    God gives the lesser idea of Himself for a link to the
greater, and in return, the higher always protects the
lower. The rich in spirit help the poor in
one grand brotherhood, all having the same
Principle, or Father; and blessed is that man who seeth
his brother’s need and supplieth it, seeking his own in
another’s good. Love giveth to the least spiritual idea
might, immortality, and goodness, which shine through
all as the blossom shines through the bud. All the varied
expressions of God reflect health, holiness, immortality --
infinite Life, Truth, and Love.

SH 404:26
Sin or fear the root of sickness    Healing the sick and reforming the sinner are one and
the same thing in Christian Science. Both cures require
the same method and are inseparable in Truth.
Hatred, envy, dishonesty, fear, and so forth,
make a man sick, and neither material medi-
cine nor Mind can help him permanently, even in body,
unless it makes him better mentally, and so delivers him
from his destroyers. The basic error is mortal mind.
Hatred inflames the brutal propensities. The indulgence
of evil motives and aims makes any man, who is above the
lowest type of manhood, a hopeless sufferer.

SH 536:20-29
    Passions and appetites must end in pain. They are
“of few days, and full of trouble.” Their supposed joys
are cheats. Their narrow limits belittle their gratifica-
tions, and hedge about their achievements with thorns.
True attainment
    Mortal mind accepts the erroneous, material concep-
tion of life and joy, but the true idea is gained from the
immortal side. Through toil, struggle, and sor-
row, what do mortals attain? They give up
their belief in perishable life and happiness; the mortal
and material return to dust, and the immortal is reached.

SH 134:14
Absence of Christ-power    Man-made doctrines are waning. They have not waxed
strong in times of trouble. Devoid of the Christ-power,
how can they illustrate the doctrines of Christ
or the miracles of grace? Denial of the possi-
bility of Christian healing robs Christianity of the very
element, which gave it divine force and its astonishing and
unequalled success in the first century.

SH 673:23-675:15
AN EVER-PRESENT HELP FOUND
    On the 23rd of March, 1900, I received from one of my
daughters a copy of Science and Health on my seventy-first
birthday. Although a constant reader of all kinds of papers
and books, I had never heard anything of Christian Sci-
ence, except a short notice that spring in a San Francisco
newspaper, from an orthodox clergyman, referring to the
Christian Science people in not very complimentary style.

    In Mrs. Eddy’s book I came across a great deal of
thought that was not readily understood at the first read-
ing, but by continued and careful study, and a good deal
of help from my knowledge of chemistry and natu-
ral philosophy, I soon shook off the belief of sensation
in matter, — the so-called elementary substance. One
afternoon I put the belt on my circular saw to cut blocks
of firewood and also to split a small stick of frame tim-
ber. In doing this the stick closed and pinched the saw.
I picked up a small wooden wedge and tried to drive
it into the saw kerf, but a bit of ice let the stick on to the
back of the saw and instantly it flew, with heavy force,
into my face, and bouncing off my left cheek fell about
twenty feet off on the snow. The blood spattered on the
snow next the saw table, and on feeling with my hand
there were two wounds, one on the lock of the jaw and
another forward, as big as a dollar, on the cheek bone.
“Now,” I thought to myself, “there is a case of surgery
for you,” and without further ceremony, I began to
treat the case to the best of my knowledge, with the
result that the bleeding stopped almost instantly, and
so did a thumping pain, which had commenced. I
paid no more attention to the matter, but finished my
work, and then went to supper. When I washed my
face, I felt a big lump on the jawbone where the block
of wood struck, but after my usual reading I went to
bed and slept all night until near daylight, when a pain
on the right side awoke me. On feeling with my hand
there was another big lump on the right side, but I
treated it and went to sleep again. I never lost an
hour from the hurt, although I found out that my jaw
was broken. There is no scar, only a little red spot on
the cheek, and the lumps on the bone have long since
disappeared.

    In summing up the benefits I have received from
the reading of Science and Health, I can but refer to
a condition of sickness dating back to the war (1862),
when chronic and malignant diarrhœa came near
making an end of my material existence. My hearing,
also, was seriously impaired from the effect of cannon
firing at Shiloh, but it has come back to me, and where
I formerly dared not eat an orange, or grapes, I can now
eat anything without being hurt. My peace of mind
is giving me a rest which I never experienced before
during my life, and I have ceased to look away off for
the divine presence that was always near, though I did
not know it.  — L. B., Baldy, N. M.

SH 340:23-29
One infinite God, good, unifies men and nations; con-
stitutes the brotherhood of man; ends wars; fulfils the
Scripture, “Love thy neighbor as thyself;” annihilates
pagan and Christian idolatry, — whatever is wrong in
social, civil, criminal, political, and religious codes;
equalizes the sexes; annuls the curse on man, and leaves
nothing that can sin, suffer, be punished or destroyed.



Hymns 189, 123, 492