“Leave it all quietly to God, my soul.”
Psalm 62:1
There are times in life when it is a great help to have someone say to us, “Leave all that to me.” Like a gentle wind it blows the clouds away. When one has a difficult schedule or has arrangements to make for a marriage or a funeral, to have someone who is competent and expert take over is often an untold relief. Beth and I know this better; when we were planning for our wedding: “I will take care of the catering services”, “leave the decoration to me”. These words were heaven to us.
There is much in life that we must do ourselves, and no one can relieve us of certain duties. There are crosses each of us must carry and burdens nobody can take away. But how much more difficult life would be in times of anxiety or strain were there not someone standing by to say to us, “Leave all that to me.” That is particularly the voice of fatherhood, which in reality is the secret of childhood’s carefree spirit. A child does not worry about clothes or meals. Instinctively it leaves that to its father. And much of the joy of childhood springs from the trustful relationship to somebody who says, “Leave all that to me.”
Think, for instance: when prayers seem to go unanswered, when someone dear and young is taken away, when those who would not harm a living creature are bowed under intolerable pain (like Job), how hard it is to say that God is good, and saying it, believe it with a confidence which is pleasing in His eyes? Everything grows harder till we are brought to the margins of despair. How relieving are the psalmist’s words — “Leave it all quietly to God, my soul.”
The songwriter of “In Christ Alone” also knew the deep peace that comes with leaving it all:
In Christ alone my hope is found
He is my light, my strength, my song
This Cornerstone, this solid ground
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm
What heights of love, what depths of peace
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease
My Comforter, my All in All
Here in the love of Christ I stand
