Trust is confidence - an essential ingredient in the daily relationships that we knit. It puts one at ease; you can sleep easy because you trust someone and have confidence in her/him.
Trust is not like love at first sight - irrational and unreasonable; much of the time it has to be nurtured and built on from scratch, from zero. Most often a number of incidents must have occurred during which your partner, mate, sister, brother or friend has never betrayed your trust, thus providing a basis for you to trust her/him in return.
In sum, trust is not something one acquires, it is lived. You have to deserve and earn it if you want to be trusted. Trust based on looks, make belief or 'cheap talk' has never thrived; it is a sure recipe for disappointment or 'if I had known.' In our modern society, measures have been taken to curb the consequences of mistrust; paper and signature and seals have replaced trust. It is a stand most people adopt in order not to get bitten - not even once.
Yet, in spite of all these safeguards, the psalmist, king David invites his readers to: "Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy green pasture. Delight in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.
Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him and He will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun." (Psalm 37:3-6)
King David's confidence in God is overwhelming. Is it justified? King David was able to speak in that manner because he had had a personal encounter with God and did not want to keep silent about it or keep it all to himself. He wanted to share it with all who cared to listen.
He urged each and every one of us to take pleasure in the things of God, it is beneficial in all respects.
David?s confidence was grounded on sound evidence. He knew God had not failed him in the past nor would He have failed him in the future. At the tender age of twelve, God manifested what it meant to trust in His goodness. God gave David, a young shepherd boy, courage enough to stand up against a bear and a lion to defend his flock. (1 Samuel 17:34) Since that time onwards David had never looked elsewhere. God became his All in All.
King Solomon confirmed this in these terms: "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight." (Proverbs 3:5-6)
Have you been counting on your own intelligence? It will not take you far enough in life. The world is so complex for you to handle it on your own. Mark you, it is David who is speaking from his personal experience. It is not God marketing Himself. It is coming from the lips of one of the all time greats of the Old Testament. When our Lord Jesus spoke about the Father's mansion and the rooms that are available there, He underlined: "If it were not so, I would have told you." Both were reporting first hand for our benefit.
Yes, we serve a God who has not changed. Prophet Malachi echoed His very words: "I the Lord do not change." (Malachi 3:6) In the New Testament we read: "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever." (Hebrews 13:8) One of God?s intrinsic characters is that He is unchanging; therefore unwavering and faithful.
David remarked however that we must do what is right; we must be obedient to the word of God, to His commandments.
These are some of the conditions necessary for God's intervention. He will recognise us and reward our truthfulness and our loyalty. He will compensate us in broad daylight for all to see. We ought to be faithful before God will make a move. Prophet Isaiah encourages us to: "Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord, is the rock eternal." (Isaiah 26:4) He compares our God to a rock, a solid rock on which one would stand. It would not be shaken, it cannot fail. It is long lasting in nature and it inspires confidence.
Prophet Isaiah further advises; "Who among you fears the Lord and obeys the word of His servants? Let him who walks in the dark, who has no light, trust in the name of the Lord and rely on His God." (Isaiah 50:10) The God of light, the God Jehovah will enlighten our path that we may not go astray or fall into a pit.
We must like David rely on Him for every aspect of our being. He is the Alpha and the Omega; the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End. (Revelation 22:12) Yes, He knows even the ending from the beginning.
When we put our trust in human beings it is clearly not without serious consequences. Human beings will falter. Some put their trust in horses and chariots. Like the arm of flesh they also will definitely fail us and we will end up losing out. "It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in princes." (Psalm 118:8) Human beings have an innate tendency to lie, not God. "God is not a man, that he should lie, nor the son of man, that he should change his mind. Does He speak and then not act? Does He promise and not fulfill?" (Numbers 23:19)
David's unwavering trust in the Lord propelled him to face Goliath and eliminate him for good. "Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?" (1 Samuel 17:26)
David's trust and confidence is exemplary. He wrote in Psalm 23 verse 4, "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will ear no evil for you are with me; your rod and your staff they comfort me." When all seems to crumble, let us walk in the light of His countenance.
Lack of trust breeds fear and fear banishes that confidence we should have in dealing with people.
We are free to place our trust wherever we want but be sure nothing works like our trust in God would. With God, be sure we shall put our enemies under our feet.
"Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be shaken but endures forever." (Psalm 125:1)
