“David sang this song to the Lord on the day the Lord rescued him from all his enemies and from Saul. He sang: “The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my savior; my God is my rock, in whom I find protection. He is my shield, the power that saves me, and my refuge, my savior, the one who saves me from violence.” (2 Samuel 22: 1-3 NLT)
This “song of David” continues for another 48 verses, but these few verses illustrate in a very clear way what dependence on the Lord looks like. Implicit in nearly every verse is trust. While the words “depend” or “dependence” aren’t used in the King James Version of the Bible, the term “trust” is used more than 100 times. So, the logical step here is to seek dependence through our trust in the Lord, but what might that look like?
David Jeremiah gives us a hint when he writes: “Prayer is the only way to maintain a constant state of dependence on God.” There is no greater arena to exercise trust than in prayer. If I’m asking the Lord to answer my prayer, implicit in the request is the trust to believe He’s not only able, but willing to answer. Otherwise, why ask? Prayer is filled with expectation and anticipation, or it never rises higher than the ceiling. We might as well blow air into a bag. Prayer must be filled with confidence in the One to Whom we pray.
Prayer is the breath of our relationship with the Lord and is the primary avenue for giving expression to our trust in Him. The initial “prayer of confession” when we open our heart and life to the Lord is essentially an expression of dependence on the Lord’s trust to honor our confession and accept us in accordance with the terms of His Holy Word.
We don’t come to the Lord because we have life by the tail, but because too often life has us by the proverbial “tail” on a downhill drag. Mark Simpson showed great insight when he wrote: “God sees your life as a fixer-upper.” We come to the Lord because we need a Savior, not because we have all the answers. We learn dependence by depending, not by seeking to be more independent. Our independence got us on the road to hell in the first place.
Charles Spurgeon shared his wisdom when he wrote: “The Lord’s wisdom is seen in arranging the smallest events so as to produce great results. Everything, the most minute … as well as the most magnificent, is ordered by your Lord.” Trust in the Sovereignty of God begins with small things, then builds as our trust increases. And in all fairness, this doesn’t depend on a particular perspective. We can have the right perspective about the wrong thing or the wrong perspective about the right thing. We don’t need perspective, we need Jesus.
From there we learn His perspective on things and adapt that perspective for ourselves. “Yeh, but shouldn’t we learn to think for ourselves?” Only to the extent we’re thinking God’s thoughts, reflected in our growing trust in His only Son. Elizabeth Elliot had it right when she wrote: “We never know what God has up His sleeve. You never know what might happen; you only know what you have to do now.”
Learning dependence upon the Lord is step by step, not mile by mile. David’s song came only after months of running, fighting, suffering, and praying. Inch by inch he followed the Lord’s instructions until finally the Lord delivered him.
That’s how it works with us. We trust until the answer comes, but, ultimately, the answer won’t be final until we stand before the Lord when this life is over. Dependence is a series of decisions, a step-by-step pathway that leads us to our eternal home in heaven.
Food for thought.
Blessings, Ed 😊
Walking With Jesus 