Have you ever worried about something that hasn’t happened yet? I have. My mind can race ahead to tomorrow, imagining the difficult conversation, the uncertain outcome, the diagnosis, the decision, or the problem waiting around the corner.

But Psalm 20 reminds me of something I easily forget. My trouble may be waiting for me tomorrow, but God is already there.

David begins:

“May the LORD answer you in the day of trouble! May the name of the God of Jacob protect you!”
Psalm 20:1

David doesn’t pretend there won’t be a day of trouble. Though hard days will come, trouble never finds a place where God is missing. Your trouble never gets there first. Before you receive the phone call, God is there. Before you walk into the meeting, God is there. Before you face the decision you don’t know how to make, God is there. Before you encounter something you never saw coming, God is there.

Psalm 20 continues with a beautiful prayer:

“May he grant you your heart’s desire and fulfill all your plans!”
Psalm 20:4

And again:

“May the LORD fulfill all your petitions!”
Psalm 20:5

We can bring our desires, plans, fears, and petitions to God because He is already present in what concerns us. Prayer isn’t informing God about a problem that caught Him by surprise. It is placing our concerns into the hands of the One who sees what we cannot see.

But Psalm 20 also asks us where our confidence rests:

“Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.”
Psalm 20:7

Our “chariots and horses” may look different today than in David’s day. We may trust in our plans, resources, connections, abilities, or carefully constructed solutions. Those things have their place, but they were never meant to carry the weight of our confidence.

God was.

So when I find myself mentally running ahead into tomorrow, Psalm 20 calls me back. I don’t have to get there first and figure everything out. God is already there. Whatever tomorrow holds, my trouble will not arrive before He does. Whatever difficult place I eventually reach, I will discover that God was there all along.

Prayer

Lord, when my thoughts race ahead to problems I cannot yet see or solve, remind me that You are already there. Help me bring my desires, plans, fears, and petitions to You. Keep me from placing my confidence in my own resources and remind me to trust in Your name. Whatever tomorrow brings, help me rest in this truth: my trouble never gets there first. You are already there. Amen.