In my list of the top ten most influential passages for my life I would have to put Psalm 31:14-15, but before we look at what it says, let me tell you the context of it. If you go back about five verses you find David felt about as troubled as a man can feel.
Words like anguish and groaning are there, as are ideas like weakness, sorrow and distress. He pretty much sums it all up by saying he feels like a piece of shattered pottery. We would not be surprised to hear him say he is ready to give up, but instead come these words:
But I trust in you, LORD;
I say, “You are my God.”
My times are in your hands;
I say, “You are my God.”
My times are in your hands;
Like David I have had times in my life when I felt troubled. I have probably had many more times when I just felt uncertain, perhaps anxious about what was going to unfold. Like you, I am sure, I have had some bad experiences and can’t help but wonder if the future will bring more difficulty.
However, so many times I have taken David’s words as an expression of the faith that I choose to live by. “But I trust in you, Lord; I say, ‘You are my God.’ My times are in your hands.”
Again and again those words have summed up my confidence in God’s faithfulness and in his sovereignty and focused my heart on why I do not have to live in anxiety. Our outlook is transformed when we say, “My God; my times are in your hands.”
Tom, I heard Al Baird use this scipture in a marriage workshop I attended about a year ago and it jumped out at me as if I'd never come across it before. I've relied on this numerous times in the last year and it's become one of my Top Ten verses as well.
ReplyDeleteThere's a corollary verse in Ecc 9:1 that's brought me a lot of peace as well: "So I reflected on all this and concluded that the righteous and the wise and what they do are in God's hands, but no man knows whether love or hate awaits him." Perhaps it's not as hopeful sounding as the verse in Psalms 31 but it encourages me to be righteous and reminds me that God will take care of the rest.
Thank you Tom. I love the scriptures. I read this after I wrote a note to my uncle, his wife is in the hospital with intestinal cancer. Please pray for Cindy Cook. I also loved the comment by Erol, thank you.
ReplyDeleteThanks Tom,
ReplyDeleteThis couldn't have come at a better "time". I needed to hear this today. Thanks again!