Post 5 in Lifting up the Soul
O my God, in thee have I trusted, Psalm 25:2 ASV
David’s psalm teaches us that knowing God is the beginning of learning to trust. “In thee have I trusted” is a parallel thought to “do I lift up my soul,” which explains just a little more about what lifting up the soul to God means. David had every reason to distrust his fellowman, yet he exhibited a great sense of trust—both in his friendships and in God. Jonathan is one example of someone David trusted (1 Samuel 18:3). Jonathan was King Saul’s son, yet he never broke his covenant with David. And David kept that covenant with Jonathan’s descendent, Mephibosheth (2 Samuel 9). David’s faith in God also granted him the ability to make agreements and truces with people who couldn’t be trusted to do the right thing. How did his relationship with God influence David to trust like that?
Trust is the cornerstone of a healthy relationship. It’s one person’s dependence on another. Trusting in God is found throughout the Bible, right along with the folly of trusting in man. The psalmist warns,
“It is better to take refuge in Jehovah
Than to put confidence in man.”
Psalm 118:8
The phrase “put confidence in” is the same word in the Hebrew that is translated “trust” in Psalm 25:2. Batach presents the picture of putting all your eggs in one basket with the confidence that they will be completely safe. With that image in mind, consider what David says he is lifting up to God: his soul. He is giving the golden egg, so to speak, to God to keep safe.
When one commits to lifting up her soul to God, she is giving Him her complete confidence that He is going to keep her soul—that eternal, living self—safe. For Christian women who have been in harmful relationships, this is a trying statement to believe in. Babies enter the world completely and instinctively needing someone to care for them, feed them, and keep them safe. This trust continues as we grow, but that care and protection isn’t always provided. When one is hurt by another whom she depends on to help her grow, it leaves a tremendous sense of distrust. It’s difficult to learn to trust again.
There are families who profess to love God, but Mom and Dad are not intent on lifting up their souls to God. Instead, they use God’s church for their own ends, hiding behind acts of service while using the commands of God to control and harm others. This is a place where there is no trust, and the children experience terrible betrayal. The rules of the house change based on what is advantageous to the parent. This leads to a shaken and broken sense of faith. A child’s confidence becomes misplaced, and they may be unable to love fully or believe in promises or commitments. They may not know what a real promise or a true commitment looks like. This state of being is often made worse by a sense of unworthiness. Satan finds a foothold in these situations so that when these children grow up, they have a twist sense of their value in God’s eyes or the value of relationship at all. They learn to develop trust in their own cleverness and abilities. It is a tremendously scarring upbringing which God alone can heal.
Psalm 25 reminds us that all of us set our confidence in someone other than God. That is part of this life journey. Both faithful and unfaithful parents and friends will let us down, but this helps us turn to the One we can trust. God never breaks His covenant. There is no joy or peace in withholding the soul from God because one has been hurt before. Our souls are meant to be placed in God’s care. Trusting in any other person in the place of our Creator results in losing the soul, and that includes trusting in oneself to be faithful in all things. We will fall short. It is through trust in God that we can learn to trust in our earthly relationships. No matter what happens here on earth, we can find strength in committing to God first.
My dear sister, you are worthy of someone’s commitment to you. If you have been hurt by someone you trusted, know that that person was not God. His or her actions toward you do not resemble the faithfulness of the God you serve. If he or she taught you to believe you were not worth sticking by, then you were taught a lie. You are worth having a relationship with. Regardless of the circumstances of your relationships today, there is one relationship that matters more than any other. It is the relationship you have with your Creator. He will never leave you or stop reaching out to you in love. His fierce and devoted love is what you need to learn to trust again.
Listen to His words of commitment:
“for himself hath said, I will in no wise fail thee, neither will I in any wise forsake thee.” Hebrews 13:5b
“and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.” Matthew 28:30b
“For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:38-39
This is the fifth post in the Lifting Up the Soul study from Psalm 25. Subscribe to WomEnCourage to be notified as this study continues.