I don’t believe I’ve ever realized how deeply I long for stability. I have battled anxiety off and on for most of my life. Anxiety and stability aren’t friends. The anxious heart can be tossed to and fro by imaginary things. Your feet can be firmly placed upon a rock…that you don’t trust because it might have a little bit of that green moss on it, and you know how slippery that stuff is, and your cheap shoes you bought at Wal-Mart don’t have the best traction, and rocks are hard, people have died from falling on rocks, this combination will certainly lead to my demise.
And this is where I’m realizing that my anxiety isn’t just a foible, an emotional malady, a thing I “struggle with”, but very much a treacherous God-hating sin. I don’t trust the rock he said would hold me…regardless of the moss, the shoes, the dangers. I’m not a victim. I’m a block-headed child.
“I have set the LORD always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.” (Psalm 16:8)
Anxiety happens when the LORD isn’t set before me. It’s an illustration which has been used so many times that it’s almost become meaningless. But perhaps it can bear the weight of one more preacher trying to make a point. When Peter was upon the waves he walked on water when the LORD was set before him. But when he turned his gaze his anxiety took over and he fell into the water. He was shaken…and almost drowned as a result.
Stability comes from having the LORD set before me. It sound so incredibly simple but this is the point the Psalmist is making in Psalm 16. Some believe this Psalm is a reflection upon death. Others, certainly rightly, view this as a Psalm to be placed on the mouth of our Lord. This perspective certainly exemplifies Christ and explains how he was able to endure the Cross. He had to endure the most volatile situation in the history of humanity and yet he remained rock-solid and stable. How? Because he always had the Father set before Him.
When we set our eyes upon the immovable, powerful, unchanging, and yet personal God we find that no matter how slippery our steps might appear they are actually upon the immovable rock. And the more we look towards the Lord the more we are suddenly transformed into anxious and fearful worriers to those who are not shaken.
According to Psalm 16:9 glad hearts, rejoicing, and security comes from this heart posture. So in the midst of anxiety don’t neglect the very simple practice and posture of setting the Lord before you.
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