“I have set the LORD always before me; Because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved” (Psalm 16:8, NKJV).

I ended the lesson on Martha’s fretting about how we can have joy because of God’s power, sovereign control, goodness, and love (Lesson 165). Those things are unchanging. That’s why we can be unmoved when something tempts us to fret. We don’t have to get frantic. We don’t have to go into overdrive trying to figure out the solution to our problem and try to make it happen.

Though I want, “I shall not be moved” to mean that I can be stoic, unaffected, by what’s going on around me. We see in scripture David saying he won’t be moved but also weeping and despairing and confused and troubled, but he’s unmoved in his godliness—in his choice to be God’s alone, in his choice to seek after God and learn His ways to walk in them, in his choice to not turn to other gods or methods of salvation, in his choice to trust God for salvation, in his choice to thank and praise God.

Paul commands us to rejoice always and give thanks in all circumstances, but he also mentions how God healed his coworker, in His mercy, so that Paul wouldn’t have sorrow upon sorrow. Paul was a man of sorrow and joy. David was a man of sorrow and joy. Jesus was a man of sorrow and joy.

Determine that you will not be moved, but don’t fret over being moved as a human being. You were made with emotions, but seek the stillness at the feet of Jesus. There is a place in times of trouble where we can find rest for our bodies, quietness for our souls, and rejoicing in our spirit. It’s in God’s presence, looking at His beauty, getting to know Him, embracing the love He offers.