Lately, there seems to be a lot of reasons to get off balanced in life. Finances, reckless living, opinions, losses, relationships, and more.
It appears that everyone is trying to make ends meet, and that there is always another event suddenly changing the landscape of our living. Sometimes they are good things, marriages, family, new jobs. Some not so good, with sickness, losses, and the like.
David was a young boy who became the King of Israel. Yet before he was king, he was a shepherd who worshiped the Lord, even as the youngest and most overlooked in his family.
As he grew up, despite being anointed, he found himself at odds with King Saul. Saul continually tried hunting David with murderous intentions. Even after David became King, there were wars and internal family battles that plagued him.
However, David always looked towards the Lord even among threats, battles, and internal anguish.
“I have set the Lord always before me; because He is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.” Psalm 16:8 ESV, NIV
“I know the Lord is always with me. I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me.” Psalm 16:8, NLT
In the Bible, David said this of the Lord with full confidence that the Lord was with him, for him, and actively working on his behalf despite any circumstances swirling around him. David chose to place the Lord before him in all he did as he acknowledged God as sovereign over his life.
“I shall not be moved,” relates to not being divided in his heart or mind about whatever may happen around him. Even more so, in the NLT version it says, “I will not be shaken,” giving an even deeper image describing how David would not let threats of harm or severe losses damage his own confidence, resolve, and peace of mind.
Are we that confident and trusting when things go wrong or disaster looms?
Can we choose to place our gaze on Jesus and our life in Jesus’ hands?
It’s easy to give lip service with ideal words; can we actively place the Lord above our current story?
David was sure and steadfast; he goes on to say, “…because he is right beside me – or at my right hand.” He saw the Lord right there with him through it all, no matter what.
Recently, within days of each other my mother was in the hospital, my husband went in the hospital, and so did my mother-in-law. Things are better in someways, but finding out my mother has slipped into dementia was not a road anyone in our family expected. While the emergencies got handled, our landscape has changed again. Uncertainty of what lies ahead in her care, along with the acute impact on my father and the rest of us, has had us in a tailspin of sorts.
Lately, I’ve had the chorus of an old song by Helen H. Lemmel that has been rattling in my head trying to make it’s way to my heart:
Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus
Turn your eyes upon Jesus
Look full in his wonderful face
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of his glory and grace
by Helen H. Lemmel
When I was a young dancer, I was taught that to successfully do pirouettes (turns), a dancer must turn and spot. Meaning, that everytime the dancer turns in place, they must pick out a target with their eyes and return their gaze to that same spot over and over again as long as they’re turning. This keeps the dancer from getting dizzy and losing their balance, but also keeps them spinning as long as they have momentum.
I like that picture. As long as I keep my gaze on Jesus, then no matter what’s else is going on in my life I can have full confidence that he is with me and holding me through it all. I can keep going knowing that Jesus will never take his eyes off me, especially when I’m looking at him. My life is kept in balance even as I turn, because I can see when I’m focused, he is there meeting my gaze with his.
