If your podcast app is set to skip the silent sections, disable that in your podcast app for this podcast.
David writes…
Psalm 31:14-15 NIV
“You are my God” doesn’t JUST mean that David is putting God first above all other desires and potential idols in his heart. It is that. But in the Bible that phrase is used by God over and over to also mean that God is committing himself to be our God forever. OUR GOD — our protector and provider and our joy and meaning and happiness. Our caretaker and the one who controls all things. That’s his eternal commitment to us when he promises to be our God. And that’s the way David means it in this passage.
“I trust in you, LORD.”
Right now you’re trusting in something for your best life. Maybe it’s in your plans. Your abilities. Maybe it’s a particular thing you want right now. A success. A relationship. A plan you have that you really want to work out. And perhaps it’s a good thing. But whatever it is, if you make it “your God” in some way it will let you down. Your imagination has created a future false reality that is a perfect exaggeration. All your life, whenever you trusted in your own plans and desires and in a way made them “your God,” every time in some way your expectations were always let down. A disappointment. That’s because finite things cannot meet our God need. And because we’re not God, we’re never in control of even our own plans. Trusting in your own plans and desires of what you need to be happy will always ultimately bring anxiety and insecurity and sometimes anger. Because you know deep down you’re NOT in control.
Anxiety comes when we are afraid we’re not going to get something that we think we need, but we really don’t need. We just think we need it because of the plan we have for our lives. It’s what we’re “trusting” in. But the creator of this universe sees everything in all of time.
So David found the better way in Psalm 31…
LORD — in Hebrew it’s God’s name, Yahweh — HE IS…the I AM…Creator of everything. Source of Life itself. 100% present with his people he’s promised to be their God.
It’s amazing — while God is present and in control of an exploding star in some galaxy light years away, at the same exact time God is also present in the details of your life.
We take it for granted that we get to talk to YHWH as “you” like David does here. And like with David, Jesus promises that God is with you and listens to you. You get to talk to him.
When you use your imagination to envision God as his name, it becomes easier to trust in him. Who else would you trust instead? Ultimately YHWH is the only one you CAN trust with your life forever. Your best life forever.
There’s a sense in which “trust” is to surrender your plan, your will, to the LORD. It’s a resolve to let go of having to have things OUR way. This is cheesy, but it helps us remember — Do I trust MY WAY or YAHWEH? Yes, you might be rolling your eyes inside your head. But it does clarify what David is saying…
Right now, put ALL your times into his hands. ALL your plans. ALL your anxieties. ALL your insecurities. ALL your anger. ALL your hopes.
Put it ALL into the hands of the LORD of the universe who is also your God — committed to you forever. And trusting them into his hands will replace anxiety and stress and anger and insecurity.
Who can you share this podcast with? If you found this episode helpful, consider sharing it on social media or texting it to a friend you think might benefit from it.
Follow Dave Cover on Twitter @davecover
Follow A Bigger Life on Twitter @ABiggerLifePod
Our audio engineer is Diego Huaman.
This podcast is a ministry of The Crossing, a church in Columbia, Missouri, a college town where the flagship campus of the University of Missouri is located.