“We depend on the Lord alone to save us. Only he can help us, protecting us like a shield. In him our hearts rejoice, for we are trusting in his holy name. Let your unfailing love surround us, Lord, for our hope is in you alone.”
I know many of us struggle with worry. These verses are a wonderful worry-antidote. The best way to stop worry in its tracks is to meditate on God’s attributes, and these verses are full of them. Here’s the list: Savior, Helper, Protector, Holy, Unfailing Love.
The Lord is our Savior—can you thank him for your own eternal salvation and also the other ways he saves you from danger, and maybe also from yourself?
The Lord is our Helper—think right now of the many things, big and small, that he’s helped you with this week.
The Lord is our Protector—think of the times you may have narrowly avoided an auto accident or just missed falling down a flight of stairs. Who was your protector in those moments?
The Lord is Holy—Aren’t you thankful that you can trust in a holy God to call you his own, even when you are so unholy yourself? I am!
The Lord’s love is Unfailing—No matter how many times I fail, God’s love will never fail me. Since I’m a bit of a perfectionist, I’m still trying to grasp that concept and let it live in my heart.
Does your heart feel uplifted now, as mine does, now that you’ve thought about who God is?
Because God is perfect in these ways, the verses say we can depend on him, put our hope in him, trust in his holy name, and let our hearts rejoice in him. Let’s put that in everyday terms, based on examples I’ve recently seen in my circles of friends.
We can depend on him to provide for us during long seasons of unemployment or reduced income. We can put our hope in him to bring change our hopelessly dysfunctional relationships. We can trust in his holiness when we are confused about our suffering. We can choose to rejoice instead of worry—because when worry strikes, we can immediately shift our thoughts from problems to God, and He is our source of joy.
I challenge you to meditate on these verses and use them to ward off worry if it strikes today, and please comment if they have helped you.
Copyright 2009
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