Trust in the Lord

Zephaniah 3:2 - "She heeded no voice, She accepted no instruction. She did not trust in the Lord, She did not draw near to her God."

The third indictment that the Lord has against Jerusalem is that she did not trust in Him. At first this may not seem like such a huge deal, but this is actually a very significant problem and it's one that Israel has struggled with all throughout her history. Trust is an issue that God takes personally. And that shouldn't surprise us because trust is an issue that most people take personally. We're bound to get offended if we find out that someone doesn't trust us, and yet we're not completely trustworthy. We're not perfect. We have hidden motives and agendas, limited knowledge and resources. God, on the other hand, is the only one who is completely trustworthy and absolutely perfect, but how often to we fail to trust Him?

Throughout the Scriptures we see God's people constantly turning and placing their trust in someone or something other than God Himself. In Psalm chapter 78 the psalmist is recounting the history of Israel, and in speaking of their wilderness wanderings he says in verses 21-22 - "Therefore the Lord heard and was full of wrath; And a fire was kindled against Jacob and anger also mounted against Israel, because they did not believe in God and did not trust in His salvation." In Isaiah chapter 30 the Lord pronounces woe on His people because instead of trusting Him they flee to Egypt and trust in Pharaoh. And He concludes in chapter 31 - "Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help and rely on horses, and trust in chariots because they are many and in horsemen because they are very strong, but they do not look to the Holy One of Israel, nor seek the Lord!" In Jeremiah chapter 7 we find out that the people had placed their trust in the temple itself rather than in God Himself. In verse 4 the prophet says - "Do not trust in deceptive words, saying, ‘This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord.’" The people thought that just because Gods house was in their midst no one would be able to come against them. They had a confidence in an outward show of religion but their hearts did not trust in the Lord. And so the Lord declares that this temple in which the people trust would be destroyed, and the people would be taken away captive. They fell into the same error that their fathers had back in First Samuel when they trusted in the ark of the covenant to deliver them rather than in the God who dwelt above it. Time and again Jerusalem turned away from Lord and trusted in their own devices. She  trusted in her own resources, she trusted in foreign aid, calling other nations to fight on her behalf, she trusted in false gods and idols, she even trusted in the temple itself. It seems that the people of Judah were willing to put their trust in almost anything except the Almighty God, and He condemns them for it. "She did not trust in the Lord."

But this isn't a problem that we can isolate to the nation of Israel B.C. It's a problem that many believers struggle with today. Why is that? Throughout God's Word we're given one exhortation after another to trust in the Lord, and many of these are very familiar to us. Proverbs 3:5-6 - "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths." This is one of the most well known and memorized passages in the Bible, and I think the reason that we cling to these verses and need them so much is because this is an issue that many of us struggle with more than we would care to admit. We need the constant reminder to trust God because we struggle with worry and anxiety and we're tempted to trust in our own resources and abilities. Another well known passage is Psalm 56:3-4 where the psalmist writes - "When I am afraid, I will put my trust in Thee. In God, whose word I praise, in God I have put my trust; I shall not be afraid. What can man do to me?" It seems like the psalmist is going back and forth between talking to God and talking to himself, and he is pretty redundant, especially since he says again in verse 11 - "In God I have put my trust, I shall not be afraid. What can man do to me?" It sounds as though the writer is trying to convince himself that what he is saying is actually true. That he can really trust God. But that isn't all that strange, is it? We often find ourselves doing the same thing. We quote these Scriptures to ourselves, we remind ourselves of Gods faithfulness, we look back in our lives at how God has led us in the past, and what we're actually doing is we're trying to get our mind to convince our heart that God is trustworthy. We're restless or anxious deep inside of us and so we bring to mind what we know to be true of God in order that we might convince our hearts of what our minds already know, namely that we can really trust God.
I heard a good message recently on belief, faith and trust, and the preacher pointed out that though these three are similar in meaning, belief is most often connected with the mind, faith is most often connected with the will, and trust is most often connected with the heart. Belief, by and large as spoken about in the Bible, takes the usage of the mind to understand a certain truth, whether it be the creation account, the claims of Christ, the gospel message, an so on. To believe something is to be convinced of it in your own mind. Faith is the action word of belief. Faith is a voluntary act of the will that takes what you believe and gives it feet. This is a big part of the book of James, genuine saving faith produces works. Hebrews chapter 11 gives us example after example of people who lived lives of faith. Time and again we read "By faith..." and then we're told of an action that someone took because they believed God. "By faith Abel offered a better sacrifice than Cain. By faith Noah prepared an ark. By faith Abraham offered up Isaac his son on the alter. By faith Moses chose to endure ill treatment with the people of God..." And so on it goes. So God says something and you're fully convinced in your own mind that what He says is true, that's belief. God says something and you're fully convinced in your own mind that what He says is true, so you go out and begin to take action based on what God said, that's faith.

But trust is a deeper and more intimate word than either belief or faith. To trust in the Lord is to unquestionably and wholeheartedly rely and depend on Him. Trust is the complete assurance of the heart in God knowing that He will be true to who He is, and as a result, true trust will cause a person to throw the full weight of their life on Him. Trust is not angry or resentful or anxious or fearful, it's the hearts surrender to God. Casting on Him all the affections and emotions of the inner being. Even when there is no evidence of God being for us, when we don't see anything good in our circumstances, trust throws us on Him anyway. Trust is based on more than intellectual ascent, it's based on an intimate knowledge of and relationship with God.

So why did the people of Jerusalem struggle with the issue of trust? Why do many believers struggle in this area today? I think that one of the answers must be that we don't know Him very well. Think about it, you don't trust someone that you don't know. The more you learn about someone and the more you get to know them you begin to discover whether or not they're a trustworthy person. Whether or not you can confide in them, whether or not they're really looking out for the interests of others, whether or not they're dependable and reliable. So the more that we come to know God the more we will trust Him because in His nature and character He is absolutely perfect. Psalm 9:10 says - "Those who know Thy name will put their trust in Thee." Trusting Him is simply a byproduct of knowing Him. The more we know Him the more we will trust Him.
Another reason I think that many fail to trust God is because we've become so independent and self-sufficient. We've made Proverbs 3:5-6 sort of just a pious platitude, and it's not really practical, it's just sort of a nice idea to think about. And this is a big issue in our country especially. The American dream is one of independence and self-sufficiency, and to rely on someone else is seen as a sign of weakness. This is something that the Lord warned His people about as they were preparing to go up and take possession of the land which He has promised them. He warns through Moses in Deuteronomy 8:11-18 - "Beware that you do not forget the Lord your God by not keeping His commandments and His ordinances and His statutes which I am commanding you today; otherwise, when you have eaten and are satisfied, and have built good houses and lived in them, and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and gold multiply, and all that you have multiplies, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. He led you through the great and terrible wilderness, with its fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty ground where there was no water; He brought water for you out of the rock of flint. In the wilderness He fed you manna which your fathers did not know, that He might humble you and that He might test you, to do good for you in the end. Otherwise, you may say in your heart, ‘My power and the strength of my hand made me this wealth.’ But you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who is giving you power to make wealth." There is a definite connection between prosperity and failure to trust in the Lord. That does not mean that we automatically fall into this snare, but we're much more likely to trust in ourselves and our stuff than believers in parts of the world where Christianity is a crime. The underground church in North Korea doesn't struggle with this problem because they really have nothing to trust in other than the Lord Himself. We must be intentional about putting our trust in God alone.

Whether or not we recognize it, God is in complete control of our lives. Everything that He does is done out of His perfect wisdom and His perfect love. Does this mean that nothing bad or tragic will ever happen in our lives? Does this mean that we aren't going to face any uncertain or confusing circumstances? No, but it means that when we find ourselves in a situation that we never would have chosen for ourselves we can be sure that it's not an accident. It may in fact be the working of a loving God to draw us closer to Himself. God knows our tendency to trust in our own resources or abilities so He often brings us to the end of ourselves in order that we might cast ourselves fully upon Him. We may still have anxiety in our hearts, we may still be trying to figure things out in our own minds, but He lovingly brings us to the place where we can truly say, "I trust You." And often it's because we have no where else to turn. And that's where He wants us to live our lives, in a state of continual trust.

How was Joseph able to keep from bitterness and resentment when he was sold by his brothers into Egypt? How was he able to look out for the interests of others as he sat in prison due to a false accusation? Because he trusted God. How were Joshua and Caleb able to wander in the wilderness for forty years without giving up hope? Because they trusted God. How was Daniel able to stand firm against the flow of an entire pagan culture? Because he trusted God. What caused the apostles and prophets to endure torture and death? It was their trust in God. In First Peter chapter 2 we read about the sufferings of Christ, that although He was perfect and sinless He was reviled by sinners, He was subjected to torture and He was ultimately crucifed. But in all this suffering we read - "While being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously." Christ entrusted Himself fully and continually to His Heavenly Father. And we're called to do the same thing. At the end of chapter 4 Peter writes - "Therefore, let those also who suffer according to the will of God entrust their souls to a faithful Creator in doing what is right."

Andrew Murray was a nineteenth century preacher and author of several books. It is told that at one point in Murray's life as he was faced with a painful and trying circumstance that he sat quietly with his Lord for a while and then he wrote these words for himself:

'First, He brought me here, it is by His will that I am in this strait place: In that fact I will rest.

Next, He will keep me here in His love, and give me grace to behave as His child.

Then, He will make the trial a blessing, teaching me the lessons He intends me to learn, and working in me the grace He means to bestow.

Last, in His good time He can bring me out again - how and when He knows.

Let me say I am here,

By Gods appointment,

In His keeping,

Under His training,

For His time.'

That's a great perspective and a great example of a man who trusted God. He chose to trust, and so must we. We need to learn to say with the psalmist, "When I am afraid I will trust in You." And with Job, "Though He slay me yet will I trust Him." Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we will remember the name of the Lord our God.