Today’s post is about how we can develop greater trust in our God. Have something to write with ready. I would like for you to focus on what you feel as you read the next verses. Take a moment to ponder what theses verses bring up for you, then, write it out.
Psalms 9: 1-2
1 I will praise thee, O Lord, with my whole heart; I will shew forth all thy marvellous works.
2 I will be glad and rejoice in thee: I will sing praise to thy name, O thou most High.
Here are my thoughts and feelings:
Heavenly Father, as I look all around me, I see your works. I see how you work in my life and how you work in the lives of others. I see the love you pour down on us with every sunrise, with every breath you allow us to take, and with every helping hand that reaches out to lift us up. My heart is full of joy as I see how you have shaped my path and where you have lead me. Even when I took the rough road thinking it was a good detour, you gently guided me back on the right path. I love to praise you. I love to sing to you. I love how there are others that share my passion about music and worship, and I am grateful for their beautiful talents and how they bless the lives of others with their songs. Thank you Heavenly Father for them.
One particular artist I am grateful for is Lauren Daigle. The first song I ever heard from Lauren was “How Can It Be.” I heard her captivating voice on the radio one morning on my way to work, and I was hooked. When her album came out, I bought it. I love every one of her songs. It was really hard for me to pick a song for this series, but I finally decided on “Trust in You.” As always, please take a moment to read about the artist first. Click here to read about Lauren Daigle.
Our scriptural reference today comes from Psalms 37:3-11:
3 Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.
4 Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.
5 Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.
6 And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday.
7 Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.
8 Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil.
9 For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth.
10 For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be.
11 But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.
These verses call us to action in seven different ways. We are asked to 1) trust in the Lord, 2) do good, 3) delight in the Lord, 4) commit our way unto the Lord, 5) rest in the Lord, 6) wait patiently for Him, and 7) cease from anger and forsake wrath. I believe that trusting in the Lord is a combination of the other six proposals. Is it hard to uphold them all? Of course, it is. It takes practice and true commitment. Sometimes even re-commitment. But did you notice that each of them holds a promise?
We will break down Lauren’s song into these six elements to help put trusting in the Lord into perspective. Look for those elements as you listen to her song. Click here for the lyric video. Click here to watch one of her performances.
The first part of the song is about committing our way unto the Lord. We have to first let go of everything we thought we should accomplish by humbling ourselves enough to lay it all down at His feet. Why is this important? Because sometimes we are not aligned with His will, especially before we truly come to know Him. We try relying on our own strength, thinking we know best how to make life work out for us. The problem is that eventually we can become exhausted and discouraged when we see that life is not going how we hoped it would. Which is where Lauren expresses, “I’ve tried to win this war I confess, my hands are weary I need your rest.”
This brings us to another element of trusting in the Lord: resting in the Lord. Resting in the Lord is important because we recognize that as humans we cannot accomplish it all. We need divine help and assistance. As we lay down our dreams, troubles, frustrations, and discouragements at His feet, we are allowing the Lord to pick them up and help lighten our load. We do this through prayer. Prayer is a very powerful tool. If you have not ever poured out your heart to the Lord, or maybe it has been a while, I encourage you to do so. It is okay to let the emotions come out. Don’t be afraid. He is listening.
It is possible that as you think about praying over what is bothering you, that you may experience anger or wrath due to your circumstances. It is a characteristic of the natural man to feel this way. But this is why one of the elements of trusting in the Lord is to cease from anger and forsake wrath. I felt this way one of the times I was listening to the song “Trust in You.” I was on my way to work feeling very frustrated that I had not been chosen for a particular job. I had gone through the entire interview process feeling like I was going to get the job. I felt so sure of it at the final interview. A few weeks later, they let me know they had picked the other candidate, and I was devastated. As I listened to the words “when you don’t move the mountains I needed you to move, when you don’t part the waters I wish I could walk through, when you don’t give the answers as I cry out to you, I will trust in you,” the tears would not stop flowing. My discouragement and frustrations came flooding through when I realized that He had a bigger plan for my life. That job had felt like the right path for months, but I literally did not know what path I needed to take after the news. I had been very selfish for relying on what I thought was best. I finally took matters to the Lord and allowed Him to lead me.
The next element of trusting in the Lord can be the hardest one: wait patiently for Him. I don’t know about you, but patience is not one of my strengths. Waiting patiently helps us become teachable. We know that at some point the answers will come. Throughout that time, we come to accept that He “knows what tomorrow brings,” as Lauren puts it. However, that is also the time where we need to look for the lessons. Our faith will grow when we realize that God knows best. Which brings us to the element of delighting in the Lord. This happens when we recognize that the Lord “hast not forsaken them that seek [Him]” (Psalms 9:10). In turn, we want to do good continually, to show our appreciation for all He has done for us.
My challenge to you is to apply those six elements into your life. To review, the elements that help us learn how to trust in the Lord are:
Commit our way unto the Lord
Rest in the Lord
Cease from anger and forsake wrath
Wait patiently for Him
Delight in the Lord
Do good
Please share with us what you wrote about when we discussed Psalms 9:1-2 at the beginning of the post. Also let us know how applying the six elements that lead us to trust in the Lord have helped you in the past or how you plan on applying them in a current situation in your life.
Need to review the last posts of this series? Follow the links below: