How to Keep a Steady Heart in Times of Crisis
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Without a doubt, the entire world has been in a crisis.
Even those who were not worried about the coronavirus were deeply concerned about their loss of freedom during quarantine and the economic fallout that is already being felt.
And in these times of crisis, we are tempted to allow fear and anger to overtake us.
How does a child of God maintain a steady heart in times of crisis?
I think we can all agree that it is not easy to do. Keeping a steady heart of faith and trust in God requires discipline.
This discipline is built intentionally and over time.
Daily, sometimes minute-by-minute, renewing our mind with God’s Word and instructing our heart to dwell in the peace of Christ.
As we continue on in our Good Morning Girls study through the book of Psalms, we see something that is a very important lesson for us right now.
Beginning in chapter 104, we read a Psalm of praise to God for His amazing creation.
As we move on to the next two Psalms, we read about the history of Israelite: God’s promise to Abraham, His faithfulness to Joseph, and His deliverance of the children of Israel.
But we also read a recounting of Israel’s unfaithfulness to God, but before Psalm 106 draws to a close, we come to this stanza:
“Nevertheless He regarded their affliction, when He heard their cry; And for their sake He remembered His covenant, and relented according to the multitude of His mercies.” Psalm 106:44-45
The Psalm ends in praise and while Psalm 106 concludes Book 4 of the Book of Psalms, Psalm 107 further retells how, after the unfaithfulness of the children of Israel and God’s judgement in giving them over to their enemies, they cried out to Him and He delivered them.
Then we get to this verse in Psalm 108:1
“O God, my heart is steadfast…”
The first five verses of this Psalm are a word-for-word repeat of Psalm 57:7-11, a prayer from David to God as he was fleeing King Saul.
After killing Goliath, the people began singing “Saul has slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands.”
Saul was jealous and angry and began trying to chase David down to kill him.
In 1 Samuel 22, David is in the cave of Adullam, hiding from Saul; and he pens those words:
“O God, my heart is steadfast…”
The word steadfast in this Psalm means stable, prepared, fixed, ready, directed, or focused.
His heart was established in God.
He was not shaken by circumstances going on around him, because He had instructed his heart to be focused on God’s powerful hand.
And this is exactly what we see in Psalms 104-107: a careful, directed, focused rehearsal of God’s powerful hand.
When we come to a crisis, we have a choice: we can allow the drama to seep in wrap around our heart, or we can fix and prepare our heart.
Ready our heart and focus it on the goodness, faithfulness and power of God – like in Psalms 104-107 – rehearsing His goodness and faithfulness – and then say to the drama, “Peace, be still!”
O God, my heart is steadfast. It is established in You. It is prepared to calm every storm. It’s focus is directed on you, O God.
Though I walk through the flood and fire, my faith will not be shaken, because my heart is stable and firm on the Rock of Ages!
This post is part of the Blogging Through the Bible series with Good Morning Girls
