God As Succorer

Note: part 1 of 2 installments.

Succor: aid, help, support,
to help or relieve when in difficulty, want or distress
to assist and deliver from suffering

What an unusual and rarely used word! Sure, it is an old word, harking back to the 1200s from the Latin word succurrere meaning: ‘to go beneath, run to help’.
Both of these definitions come with a strong visual picture:

‘To go beneath’
Eagle parents teach their young to fly by coaxing them from the safety of the nest. There are times when the eaglet may fall or not be strong enough for a long flight, in which case a parent will swoop beneath the young one and bear it to safety.

‘Run to help’
I picture a toddler nearing the edge of a precipice, a deep pond or some other dangerous thing, and the parent suddenly realizes the danger his child is in. The parent drops all and races to save his child. An unmistakable picture of ‘run to help’.

Succor: to go beneath. Run to help.

While we don’t hear this word often, it caught my attention last week as I was listening through 1 & 2 Kings and Chronicles.

For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support [to succor] those whose heart is blameless toward Him.

2 Chronicles 16:9

Just sit with that thought for a minute.
The great and awesome God of Heaven is actively and constantly searching for people whose hearts are turned toward Him. Some bible versions state: hearts that are fully committed; a heart perfect toward Him. Why is God searching for this particular kind of heart?
So that He can show himself strong on our behalf.

I imagine God Almighty sits on the edge of his throne, his eyes diligently inspecting the earth for a man or woman whose heart is turned toward Himself. As soon as he spots one of these heart people, I imagine He jumps up pointing to that particular person and shouts “Run to help! Go beneath him! Lend strong support!”

And all heaven leaps into action.

This verse sits in the context of the record of Judah’s kings –
For the space of almost 400 years, the kings of Judah were on this vicious cycle of good kings, bad kings, good kings, bad kings. It’s absolutely fascinating because every single time a good king ruled, he turned the people toward God, implementing change in worship and culture. This good king would follow hard after God – for a while at least. (Humans don’t change much through the ages, do they?) Following are just a few examples of this verse, God as Succorer.

Abijah was a good king. He defeated Israel in an epic battle recorded in 2 Chronicles 13:13-20. His army sandwiched between the enemy, Abijah and his men cried out to the Lord, the priests blew the trumpets and the men raised a shout. When they shouted, God defeated Jeroboam and all his army, giving Abijah a glorious victory.

Asa, whose story is recorded in the following chapter, faced an army of over a million men. Asa cried to the Lord his God, “O Lord, there is none like you to help, between the mighty and the weak. Help us, O Lord our God, for we rely on you, and in your name we have come against this multitude. O Lord, you are our God; let not man prevail against you.” So the Lord defeated the Ethiopians before Asa and before Judah, and the Ethiopians fled. Asa and the people pursued them and the Ethiopians fell until none remained alive, for they were broken before the Lord and his army.

In chapter 20, Jehoshaphat, whose heart was toward God, got into a pinch when a coalition of 3 kings came against him. He prayed to God then set his army in order, putting the musicians in the forefront! Upon their march that day, when the musicians began to sing and praise, those 3 kings turned on each other, destroying themselves. Jehoshaphat and his army didn’t even fight. Just mopped up the spoils.

Hezekiah is another example of good king. The last verse in chapter 31 states: ‘Hezekiah did what was good and right and faithful before the Lord. He sought God with all his heart and prospered.’
Then the king of Assyria invades. He openly mocks Hezekiah for trusting God to save him and exhorts the people to stop believing this God.
32:21 records: ‘And the Lord sent an angel who cut off all the mighty warriors, the commanders and officers in the camp of Assyria. And the King of Assyria returned with shame to his own land.’

Again and again, God as Succorer. To aid, help, support
to help or relieve when in difficulty, want or distress
to assist and deliver from suffering
He comes beneath. He runs to help.

This is only a fraction of the stories in the Bible about God succoring those whose hearts are toward him. Think of the millions of stories that have taken place since then!

For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support [to succor] those whose heart is blameless toward Him.

2 Chronicles 16:9

God does not change.
He is still looking for men and women whose hearts are committed to him.
He is diligently searching for those whom he can succor.
This is our God!
He awaits.