Psalms 118:9-15:
“9. It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in princes.
10. All nations compassed me about: but in the name of the LORD will I destroy them.
11. They compassed me about; yea, they compassed me about: but in the name of the LORD I will destroy them.
12. They compassed me about like bees; they are quenched as the fire of thorns: for in the name of the LORD I will destroy them.
13. Thou hast thrust sore at me that I might fall: but the LORD helped me.
14. The LORD is my strength and song, and is become my salvation.
15. The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tabernacles of the righteous: the right hand of the LORD doeth valiantly.”
The one who trusts in God is truly blessed.
“ Mine enemies would daily swallow me up: for they be many that fight against me, O thou most High.
3. What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee.
4. In God I will praise his word, in God I have put my trust; I will not fear what flesh can do unto me.” (Psalms 56:2-4)
“O LORD of hosts, blessed is the man that trusteth in thee.”(Psalms 84:12)
“Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is.”
(Jeremiah 17:7)
“Trust ye in the LORD for ever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength…”
(Isaiah 26:4)
God is always ready to help a person who trusts in Him.
“For I will surely deliver thee, and thou shalt not fall by the sword, but thy life shall be for a prey unto thee: because thou hast put thy trust in me, saith the LORD.”
(Jeremiah 39:18)
“And they were helped against them, and the Hagarites were delivered into their hand, and all that were with them: for they cried to God in the battle, and he was intreated of them; because they put their trust in him.” (1 Chronicles 5:20)
How can Trust be described?
Trust and confidence are much stronger than faith. Hope is strongly connected with faith, however if faith is based in confidence, then confidence and hope will appear when:
- Everything is bad,
- Everything is going wrong,
- You can’t do anything normally,
- There’s no perspective.
Then you have to rely on God, trust in Him, because He won’t leave you alone and everything will work out for good. It’s not simple at all, because trust is stronger than faith. Trust is defined as a very strong and stable hope.
Psalms 22:6-11
“But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people.
All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying. He trusted on the LORD that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him. But thou art he that took me out of the womb: thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother’s breasts. I was cast upon thee from the womb: thou art my God from my mother’s belly. Be not far from me; for trouble is near; for there is none to help.”
To trust is to believe in the impossible.
Trust is when a person keeps on believing in the situation – when it’s easier not to believe at all; when it’s easier to give up. Trust is when you still believe even though it’s illogical already.
Trust is to rely on the invisible. When a person trusts, it means that they rely on something, which nobody else knows, understands or sees. There are moments when one doesn’t believe in oneself but is able to trust in God and in His faithfulness, because man’s faithfulness is not enough.
Trust is to believe immovably; to rely completely.
What is confidence?
1.To rely on the reputation, strength and power of God. Invisible hope is when one has lost everything already, but still relies on God, on His invisible power, and that He’ll catch you when you fall. You can only rely on someone who is faithful, who in thought and deed goes along straight paths and is responsible for his words. Only God matches these requirements (Deuteronomy7:9, 32:4), He doesn’t change (James 1:17), and He never breaks His word (Psalm 33:4).
What does it mean to rely on God?
To rely on God means to trust in Him completely, because He is God, helping in any need. (Ruth 2:12; Psalms 62:8, 73:28). It comes from realizing that God finishes everything He starts. “Being confident of this very thing: that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ… (Philippians 1:6)
2. Solid expectation of deliverance
It is confidence in the permanency of God, the One in Whom anyone can rely and Who stands behind His word. We shouldn’t rely on ourselves anymore. Trust and hope are mostly related to God or His invisible power. The poor and needy seek Him (Ps.14:6,Isaiah 14:32), refugees and the persecuted find asylum in Him (2 Samuel 22:18, Ps.91:2, 94:22), who cannot rely on man (Isaiah 20:6).
3. Trust is appropriate within human relations as well.
This is especially so in business. For example: If a contract is signed, “I can trust this relationship because we are fixed by a written contract”. There is a foundation to rely upon with the person.
4. The highest degree of confidence
This is when a person does not see any external reasons to trust, but nevertheless trusts. This trust is based on an internal sense; an internal feeling.
You need to appreciate being trusted.
Trust is built up over years but one wrong action can destroy any credibility. It’s a privilege to be trusted. People do not like to trust. Very rarely can you trust someone. When you are chosen as a person who can be trusted, it is very valuable.
“Maturity of mind is known by the slowness of trust … This said, do not show that you do not trust someone, as it is impolite, even insulting. By this you are telling the other person that he is deceiving or he is being deceived … ” ( Gracian Morales).
How to know who you can trust?
Trust is a risk. To trust is to make yourself vulnerable, because by trusting a man exposes himself to the danger of rejection. That is, you can trust a person and then be rejected by him. When we trust, we give another power over us, over some part of our life.
Quote from an unknown author: “Every person that you give your trust, you give a knife. He can protect or destroy you by it”.
Trust will be betrayed.
There is a big possibility that people will not prove our trust. To trust people is to have faith (to some extent), that this person will not let you down.
“If you trust someone, then trust in everything” (Caecilius).
Is it possible to foresee betrayal?
Upon closer inspection ofour relationships with people, we can discover the “bells” which at first can be regarded as their weakness. If you pay attention, in time you will understand that these weaknesses may eventually grow up and become problems.
When there are certain negative signals, it is better to suspend the further development of the relationship or get out of the relationship altogether. These “bells”, which we ignore, in most cases turn into a problems.
Trust is a voluntary action. One cannot be forced to trust. We can win someone’s favor to be trusted, but we cannot force anyone to trust us. People are afraid to trust because of the fear of betrayal.
“Trust extended to the treacherous, gives them the ability to harm.” Seneca .
A measure of trust
Trust must be earned. For example: Some people can be trusted with one, two, five, orwith all ten talents (Matt. 25). It depends on how much people were faithful with at different stages. A wise principle: “Trust, but check.”
For the development of trust, it is necessary to create the right conditions. To create a relationship of trust there must be favorableconditions that make it possible to trust.
“Trust usually creates a sympathetic faithfulness” ( Livy ) .
Trust increases efficiency.
In a team in the church, it is important to create a relationship of trust, as this provokes effectiveness of work. Where there is no trust, everything progresses with extreme difficulty.
For example: The trust between a superior and a subordinate; the leader and follower.
Different types of trust:
1. Trust based on a contract.
“We agreed = we trust”. Sometimes it can be legally formulated (as in a covenant or agreement).
For example: a husband and a wife.It is a contractual relationship, which is now fixed by the marriage contract.
2. Trust, which includes a condition.
“I trust as long as …”, “I’ll see if you can handle it, then I can trust you more in a certain situation”. If a person fulfills his part of the obligations, then it is possible to movethe trust further along.
3. Trust is based on collective responsibility.
If something goes wrong, the responsibility falls not on one person – but on everybody. For something to happen, everyone has to fulfill his part, and if something goes wrong, we come together and help the one who cannot do their part.Joint responsibility creates the success of the enterprise.
4. Unconditional trust.
A man decides to trust another in any situation. This is not easy. It’s a decision to take that person’s word without checking the documents. As in the trust of children towards their parents.
What else do you need to know about trust?
A person should analyze himself. A person should ask himself questions:
How much can I trust myself?
When can’t I trust myself?
Everyone has areas where he can trust himself and where he cannot.
It is necessary to continuously analyze yourself. Imagine yourself looking into the mirror: looking at and test yourself.
Hope and trust must be given only to God.
“Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD.” (Jeremiah 17:5)
Trust in God is an unconditional type of trust. The other three types of trust are related to people.
It’s not worth it to rely on yourself either: “Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the LORD our God.” (Psalms 20:7). The issue of trust is not a simple question.
What should one do if somebody lets him down?
He cannot be trusted again until he proves the opposite. “Ye shall know them by their fruits.” (Matthew 7:16)
We should:
– Forgive the person
– But do not rush to restore him to the place where he was,
– Give him a chance,
– Let him go from scratch to prove that he has changed.
You can trust again when that person shows the fruits of his new changed behavior.
In which case is distrusting a sin?
If it is distrust towards: God, and people without reason. To avoid the extremes you need to have a maturity – “lead yourself to the middle of the road”.
Trust in people is a projection of trust in God.
We cannot see God, we can only see people. We cannot trust in God if we do not trust people – so it is better to trust than to suspect because:
– If you do not trust, you suspect;
– If you suspect, then you judge;
– If you judge, then you do not walk in love, and God is love.
You have to believe and trust everyone until they have proved the opposite.
Trust is a risk. When we reason to trust or not to trust, we take the part of the judge.
In this case our ministry becomes hypocritical: “I do what is comfortable for me”. Such a man still lives for himself because to trust you need to make yourself vulnerable and a lot of people do not want to take this risk.
When a person trusts, he lives for others, but when he cannot trust anyone, he lives for himself and thinks only about himself.
“Trust only those who have the courage to contradict you on occasion and who prefers your good name to your mercy” (Suvorov).
For example: a lady is invited to live in a pastor’s house. She is trusted with the keys of the home. During this time she suffers because she doesn’t trust anyone to share her burdens.
The pastor has entrusted her his life by giving her the keys of his home, but her selfishness does not allow her to appreciate what has been given to her. This has forced her to take all she has received for granted.
Home assignment questions:
1. Ps. 118:9-15. According to this scripture prove what is the power of hope?
2. Why does God deeply appreciate trust (Jeremiah 17:7, Jer. 39:18, 1 Chron. 5:20, Is. 26:4, Ps. 84:13).
3. What is the correlation between the love of truth and trust?
4. Why are trust and hope stronger than faith?
5. What is trust?
6. Is there a place for trust, not only toward God but also to man?
7. Why should you trust if you can be betrayed?
8. What are the different types of trust in people?
9. In which case is the lack of trust a sin?
10. Why do I need to accept people whom I meet for the first time with an open heart, without any suspicion, and give them the right to be wrong?
From the Leadership School #7
October 8, 2013, Kiev
Translated by Olga Stas
Edited by Bridget Hopley
