The Lord is my strength and my shield;
My heart trusts in Him, and I am helped;
Therefore my heart greatly rejoices,
And with my song I will praise Him.
I came across this verse the other day and was turning it into a prayer.
So I prayed: "God you are my strength. You are my shield. I trust in You."
And as I prayed I committed a particular situation to God and chose to put my trust in Him about it.
I felt a real release and sense of a burden lifted.
Then I came across the next part: "and I am helped"
At first it felt like the deal was: I trust in God and then He helps me i.e. He will then do something that will change the situation and be helpful.
But then I realised that I had already been helped. Actually putting my trust in God was the thing that helped me!
The situation hadn't changed, just my perspective on it.
I basically recognised that God is in charge and that I couldn't sort it. I reminded myself that He is good and He loves me. He knows everything about the situation and He is able to do whatever is for the best in this situation.
And then the final part of the verse is also the natural consequence of trusting God - 'Therefore my heart greatly rejoices, and with my song I will praise Him.'
When you truly trust God, you can rejoice, even when the circumstances haven't changed.
I realised the importance of rejoicing and praising God, and singing even when I'm still in the middle of the challenge.
God is good. Put your trust in Him and see what He will do in your heart!!
