When the cares of my heart are many, Your consolations cheer my soul.” Psalm 94:19
“When the cares of my heart are many.” How many of you would say that this little phrase describes your life? How many would say that the cares and worries of your heart are overwhelming? Another translation puts it this way, “When my anxious thoughts multiply within me.”
Our anxious thoughts can multiply at an incredible rate, and if we dwell on them, we can be weighed down. I was reminded of this as I was able to make some hospital visits this past week. Life is fragile, and if we set our hope on the things of this world, we will be overwhelmed. There is no way to keep our lives free from anxious thoughts or hardships; however, these things do not need to overwhelm us.
The Psalmist says that when his heart is overcome with worry, he finds comfort and consolation in the Lord. The Lord does not remove all our cares, worries, or heart wrenching situations; He provides comfort and consolation the midst of them. God’s love never fails. In the verses previous to this, the psalmist wrote:
If the Lord had not been my help, my soul would soon have lived in the land of silence. When I thought, “My foot slips,” Your steadfast love, O Lord, held me up.
We do not make it through these times unless we depend on the Lord and turn to him. The Lord is our help and comfort, and apart from Him we would be lost. The Lord and His steadfast love towards us do not keep us from difficult times; they sustain us through them.
This process of turning to the Lord and relying on Him is ongoing. We learn to trust Him more and more. Verse 22 of Psalm 94 says this:
But the Lord has become my stronghold, and my God the rock of my refuge.
The psalmist had grown to trust the Lord as his stronghold and rock of his refuge. When we turn to the Lord, we will see that He is faithful and that His love will keep us. The bigger the hardship, the more overwhelming the worry, we will find that the Lord can sustain us. He can give us joy and comfort in the midst of hardship and trial. As Jesus talked with His disciples in the upper room hours before His betrayal, He told them that He was telling them these things so that they would have peace in Him.
I have said these things to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart, I have overcome the world. John 16:33
This world will bring hardship and trials; however, we know the One who has overcome the world. Today, whether the cares of your heart are many or few, entrust them to the Lord and seek the comfort and peace only He can offer (John 14:27).
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