Daily Devotional | Trust in the Lord!

Most people do not like working for an employer who micromanages them. This may be, in part, because we don’t like to be told what to do. But another reason is that micro- management communicates a lack of trust. These managers do not trust their employees, they want to control them.

Today’s reading vividly describes an idol. These images of gods were everywhere in the ancient world. The reason people created idols was that they wanted to have some control over the gods. If they could be assured of the gods presence in idol form, they could make offerings to it, move it where they wanted it to go, and generally exert some control over it.

But there’s a problem! When you make a god that you can control, the god can only do what the human created it to do. It is limited by its maker. These “gods” look like they have eyes, ears, noses, mouths, hands, and feet but they cannot use them (vv. 4–7). The tragic outcome of the worship of these gods is that the worshipers become like the idols that they have made – spiritually dead (v. 8).

The psalm opens with the words “not to us, LORD, not to us but to your name be the glory” (v. 1). This is a reminder that worshiping God begins in humility. Three times this psalm calls Israel to “trust in the LORD” (vv. 9–11). The LORD is the living God who can act. He remembers and will bless His people (vv. 12–13). Israel did not create the Lord, rather He created the heavens and the earth (v. 15).

>> In our own relationship with God, we may be tempted to believe we can control Him. You may have heard prayers like, “God if I do this for you, will you do X for me?” Instead, God calls us to trust Him. He desires to bless His people. With the Psalmist, let’s “extol the Lord both now and forevermore” (v. 18).

Pray with Us

“It is not the dead who praise the LORD, those who go down to the place of silence; it is we who extol the LORD, both now and forevermore” (Ps. 115:17–18). Lord, You brought us from death to life. We extol Your name!

BY Ryan Cook

Dr. Ryan Cook has taught at Moody Bible Institute since 2012. He earned his bachelor of arts in Bible and Theology from Moody and his master of arts in Old Testament from Grand Rapids Theological Seminary. He has worked in Christian education and served as a pastor in Michigan for seven years. During his time as a professor at Moody, he earned his doctorate from Asbury Theological Seminary. He now lives with his wife, Ashley, and their three children in the Chicagoland area.