Who or what is the source of our physical or financial security? That is a key question, as what we are trusting in to make it through life is important. It is important to know whether that source is dependable. Can we safely depend upon that source, or will it come crashing down? In our psalm for this week we see who, or what the psalmist was trusting in for everything, whether his safety, his daily needs, or anything in his life.
As our Scripture passage from part of Psalm 145 opens, the psalmist declares that the Lord God upholds him when he falls or is bowed down (vs. 14). Now if the psalmist were to trip and fall down, perhaps hurting himself, he knew that the Lord would bring him healing, and he could trust that He would watch over him so that such accidents did not happen often. However, there are more ways to fall. He could suffer from a business failure, a break-up in a relationship, any number of things that fall down around him in his life. When these happen in our life, God doesn’t just leave us there to wallow in our misery. Instead, the Lord upholds us and raises us up.
When the problems start to pile up, the load of them bears down heavily upon us. It is a load that is heavy to carry, and we can seem bowed down under the weight of it. When these problems are heavy, and the stress comes, we can often get depressed, and this can actually, physically affect our posture. We are literally bowed down under the weight of our troubles. That is a burden that we don’t need to bear, and the psalmist knew it. Psalm 55:22 tells us to cast those burdens upon the Lord, and He will sustain us. We can cast our cares upon Jesus, for He cares for us (I Peter 5:7). As we see here, He will raise us up. Jesus is the Great Burden-bearer. He lifts us out of every problem.
The psalmist knew that there were other circumstances where we need to look to God as our source, and that is for our daily sustenance (vs. 15). I don’t know about in your corner of the globe, but here the price of food has gone through the roof! I don’t know too many people with an unlimited bank account, so this hits everyone hard. Jobs are not giving salary raises, senior citizens are often on a fixed income, so when prices go up, what can people do? Too many people are finding their cupboard is bare! They can barely afford the essentials. When people are in need, who do they look to? Little children look to their parents. Who do the parents look to? Do they turn to their boss? He isn’t giving any raises! Sometimes those bosses even cut work hours, so their paychecks are even smaller! Do they look to the government? Politicians are cutting back on aid benefits, so there is no help there! There is only One whom we can rely on, and that is the Lord. We can look to Him, and He will provide for us! He opens His hand and freely provides for His children (vs. 15-16). The Lord is our Source. He is our provider. He gives us everything we need (Acts 17:25). We can put our hope in Him because He loves us.
When we are bowed down with troubles and have fallen upon hard times, when we have daily needs, such as food, that need to be supplied, we need to turn to our Source. Not the bank or our employer. Not a friend, or even the government. Remember, our true Source is the Lord Jesus. We turn to Him in prayer, calling upon Him, for He is near to His children when they pray to Him (vs. 18). When we come to God in prayer, it doesn’t matter what our background is, how small we are in comparison with others, or how low in station we are. No one is given priority treatment. Jesus is near to His children who call upon Him.
Our psalmist knew that He could trust and depend upon the Lord in his time of need, whatever that need might be, and we can too. That is because all throughout Scripture the Lord has promised this. We might think that anyone can make a promise, and we have all had people promise us things, but they did not keep that promise. God has made us promises, and when He makes a promise they will be accomplished (Numbers 23:19). He is trustworthy, dependable, and reliable. We can count upon God to fulfill His promises. He doesn’t just keep them some of the time, or only when He wants to. He is faithful. Look to Jesus, for He is our only true Source. He is near to all those who call upon Him in time of need.
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