Is God Holding Your Hands?

             As grandparents, it is always a joy to spend time with the grandchildren when we are free to do so and more so when they want to hold our hands when we go for a walk to the park or somewhere else.  Have you ever said to your children or grand children, “Hold my hand while we cross the road?”  Or perhaps when they are walking a little ahead, and suddenly a big dog appears coming down the road, what do they do?  Usually, they will run back to you and hold your hand, keeping you between them and the dog.

            The psalmist in Psalm 73 says, “Nevertheless, I am continually with you; you hold my right hand” (v.23).  He pictures God as holding his hand.  God is holding our hand!  That picture caught my imagination.  Let’s look at it further.

            The context is that the psalmist says that he almost stumbled and his feet nearly slipped (v.2) because he had become envious of the wicked and their prosperity (v.3).  However, that all changed when he went into the presence of God (v.17).  He saw their end for what it was, but also that he had been unsettling his heart, making it “bitter” and “torn up inside” (v.21, NLT).  He describes himself as being “so foolish, like a senseless animal to” God (v.22, NLT).  Yet, God in his grace and mercy still accepts him.  The psalmist could say, “Nevertheless, I am continually with you; you hold my right hand” (v.23, ESV).  What a comfort that must have been to the psalmist, to see that God was still holding his hand.

            If God is holding our hand as he was holding the psalmist’s hand, what are the implications for us?  The first thing that the psalmist noted was that God had been with him throughout (v.23).    God had never left him, even though he had, in a manner of speaking, taken his hands out of his.  He thought he was on his own, but God was holding him the whole time.  That should encourage us to realize that no matter what our situation may feel like, or how hard it might be at the moment, God is still with us, holding our hands.  God has promised never to leave us nor forsake us (Hebrews 13:5).  Jesus reinforces that thought when he tells his disciples that “no one will snatch them out of my hand” (John 10:28), nor, for that matter, out of His Father’s hand (v.29).  I pictured both parents holding the hands of their child, and lifting the child over puddles or obstacles.  God’s hold on us is secure, and a double protection, holding each hand.  We will feel safe and secure as we trust God’s protection in all our circumstances.  Of course, that doesn’t mean that we won’t suffer, experience loss, or struggle with life at times.  God is still there, holding our hands.  This isn’t the place to answer the question why Christians suffer.  Our confidence is in the goodness of God, and although we may not see a good outcome, we can continue to believe that there will be one eventually, for God is holding our hand.  Therefore I can trust God for His protection and safe keeping.  I can look back on occasions when God has definitely protected me.  When I have seen that protection, it has resulted in praise and thanksgiving. 

            A second thing we can note is that if He is holding our hands we won’t get lost, because He will be guiding us in the right direction.  Psalm 139:10 says, “even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me.”  When parents are holding a child’s hands, the child might want to go in a particular direction, but the parent will hold the child’s hand tightly so that he will not run away, or go down paths that might be dangerous.  They can see the bigger picture.  That is what God is doing as well.  We need to submit to His leading if we are going to experience blessing and security.  The road might not be easy, but God knows the way, and as long as we trust Him we will have the confidence to believe that He is leading us in a way that will ultimately lead to a good outcome (Romans 8:28).

            The encouragement of the psalmist’s words are that no matter what happens, God is there holding us and will never leave or forsake us.  We can therefore trust Him to be doing what is best and good for us.