Trusting God With Your Worries: What Psalm 11 Teaches

Editor’s note – There’s something disarming about a writer who keeps landing on the same Bible passage without trying to. What follows is less a Bible study than a real-time testimony of learning to release what was never meant to be carried alone. We’re running it because managing every outcome ourselves is a temptation common to every believer, and Psalm 11’s opening line – “In the LORD I put my trust” – is worth returning to as often as it keeps finding us.

Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve been making an intentional effort to get back into a consistent nighttime devotional routine. I’ve always been consistent with my morning devotions, and right now I’m working through The Bible Recap with Tara-Leigh Cobble. I’ve always prayed before bed, but my nighttime Bible reading hadn’t been as consistent as I wanted.

I’ve been changing that.

At night, I’ve been reading through Galatians, spending time in prayer, and trying to make that time with God a regular part of ending my day. But something kind of funny has been happening along the way.

I keep opening my Bible to Psalm 11.

Why Do I Keep Opening to Psalm 11?

I’m not talking about intentionally turning there.

Several times over the last two weeks, I’ve randomly opened my Bible intending to eventually get to Galatians, and there it is again: Psalm 11. There isn’t a bookmark there directing me to that page. It has happened at least five or six times now.

A couple of nights ago, it happened again. Then it happened the next night too. It’s actually become a running conversation between my husband and me.

He gets up very early for work, usually around 4:30 or 5:00 in the morning depending on where his first customer is located. I’m normally still sleeping when he’s getting ready and leaving, so we usually don’t have our first real conversation of the day until his lunch break.

That’s when we catch up.

I’ll tell him how my morning went, share something that happened after he went to bed the night before, or update him on my writing or online sales.

And lately he’s been asking me, Did it happen again? He knows exactly what he means. Did you open to Psalm 11 again?

Today I had to tell him I had forgotten to mention it yesterday, but yes – it happened again. Twice. Two nights in a row.

Now, I want to be clear about something. I don’t believe the proper way to study Scripture is to randomly open the Bible, point to a verse, and assume that’s God’s specific message for you that day.

That’s not how I study the Bible.

I believe in reading Scripture in context, so I read through books of the Bible and use study resources to help me understand what I’m reading. But I still smile that I keep landing on the same Psalm. Especially because of how Psalm 11 begins.

In the LORD I put my trust. [Psalm 11:1]

Of all the pages I could keep opening to, those are the words I keep seeing. And right now, they describe exactly where I want to be.

Editor’s note – The author isn’t treating a repeated page like a divine text message, and that caution matters. Scripture is trustworthy read in context, not as a fortune cookie. What’s happening instead is simpler – a verse landing at the exact moment a heart needed it.

I Know Less Than I Think I Do

Lately, I’ve found myself thinking something that sounds strange at first:

I know nothing. God knows everything.

Obviously, I don’t literally know nothing. But compared to God? I know what I can see today.

I know what’s happening in front of me. I know what I’m worried about. I know my responsibilities, the decisions I’m trying to make, and the situations I’m praying about.

God sees all of it. He sees what I can’t. He knows what’s coming tomorrow, next week, next month, and years from now. So I’m trying to process more of what happens in my life through that truth.

If something is stressing me out, I want to run it through God’s filter.

➡️ God, You already know about this.
➡️ You know what I need.
➡️ You know what I don’t know.
➡️ You see what I can’t see.

That doesn’t mean responsibilities disappear. It doesn’t mean I stop making decisions or taking action. It means I don’t have to carry the illusion that everything depends on me.

Psalm 11 ends with another beautiful reminder:

For the LORD is righteous, He loves righteousness; His countenance beholds the upright. [Psalm 11:7]

My circumstances don’t determine who God is.

◾ He is righteous.
◾ He is trustworthy.

And I can keep my eyes on Him instead of allowing every new problem to become the center of my attention.

Editor’s note – This echoes Proverbs 3:5-6: leaning not on our own understanding but trusting the Lord with all our heart. Recognizing the limits of what we can see isn’t a weakness – it’s the starting point for real trust.

I’m Learning to Make the Exchange

I’ve noticed something else as I’ve been intentionally practicing this. The more I give my worries to God, the easier it becomes to leave them there. I say practicing because that’s really what it feels like.

There have been plenty of times in my life when I’ve prayed about something, told God I was giving it to Him, and then picked the worry right back up again.

Maybe you’ve done that too. God, I’m giving this to You. Then an hour later we’re thinking about it again, analyzing every possibility and trying to figure out how we’re going to fix it.

But I’m learning to interrupt that cycle.

Instead of staying stuck in worry, I pray. Instead of letting fear run through my mind, I tell God exactly what I’m feeling. Instead of letting anger, frustration, sadness, or anxiety determine where my thoughts stay, I bring those feelings into His presence.

Philippians 4:6-7 tells us:

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

I love the exchange in those verses. Bring everything to God. And His peace guards your heart and mind.

I’m finding that the more I practice transferring my worries to Him, the more natural it becomes to recognize when I’m trying to carry something I was never meant to carry alone.

◾ I can give Him my stress.
◾ I can give Him my anxiety.
◾ I can give Him the questions I don’t have answers to.

And instead of holding tightly to all of that, I can receive more of His peace.

Editor’s note – Anyone who has prayed about a burden and picked it back up an hour later knows this pattern well. The goal isn’t never feeling the pull to worry again – it’s returning to prayer sooner each time.

In the Lord I Put My Trust

Maybe that’s why Psalm 11:1 keeps standing out to me.

In the LORD I put my trust. [Psalm 11:1]

Those words are simple, but actually living them changes everything. Trust isn’t only something I declare when life is going well. It’s what I choose when I don’t understand what’s happening.

It’s choosing prayer when my mind wants to worry. It’s remembering God’s character when circumstances feel uncertain. It’s acknowledging that I don’t need to know everything because I know the One who does. And the more I practice surrendering those things to Him, the more I realize how exhausting it was trying to carry them myself.

I’m sure there will still be moments when I give something to God and try to pick it back up. I’m still growing. But I want my life to keep moving toward greater trust.

◾ Less of I have to figure this out.
◾ More of God already knows.
◾ Less holding onto worry.
◾ More releasing it through prayer.

And more resting in the peace that comes from knowing my life is in His hands.

Maybe tonight I’ll open my Bible and land on Psalm 11 again. By then, my husband will probably ask me tomorrow. But whether I randomly open to that page again or don’t see it for months, I want those first words to stay with me:

In the LORD I put my trust.

Is there a Bible verse God has been placing on your heart lately that’s helping you stay focused on Him?

A Word from the Editor
Trust in God isn’t a single decision but a daily exchange – laying down what we cannot control and picking up His peace. Philippians 4:6-7 promises a peace that guards the heart precisely when circumstances make no sense, and that promise doesn’t depend on how many times we open the right page. It rests on the God we’re trusting.

Editor Comment: Knowing that God already sees what you carry turns His omniscience into daily comfort, and that shift should change how the weight actually feels.

This article appeared on Medium and is reprinted with modifications and by permission.