That's a statement by the Psalmist David, described by God as being "a man after His own heart." (1Sam. 13:14 & Acts 13:22) In fact, if you run a reference on the word trust, you'll find that David referred to trusting in God many times in the Psalms. I'd like to take that word and that thought for our lesson today.
When you think about it, God is the absolute only one you can trust in. The Apostle Paul said that we shouldn't even trust in ourselves (1Cor. 1:9) and if we can't trust ourselves, it stands to reason that we can't really trust anyone else in this world. Without getting in to a lot of elaboration, let's just make the point this way: Have you ever trusted in someone or something and been disappointed? I rest my case!
Back in 1950 a man by the name of F. Barn Morrison came to the little town of Wetumka, Oklahoma. He persuaded the towns people to put up a sum of money to be used to bring a circus to town. They didn't know him, but he must have appeared to be trustworthy because they donated the money to him and went about preparing for the coming of the circus.
They bought lots of food and beverages and souvenirs to be sold to all of the people who were bound to come to the circus. Everyone was tremendously excited over the thought of a circus actually coming to their little town. Children just couldn't wait.
Well, you can easily guess what happened. All their joy turned to misery when they learned that Mr. Morrison had skipped out of town with the money and no circus was coming. They had been had. They were victims of having placed their trust in another human being. I guess we could say that they had "misplaced their trust."
But that is not an isolated incident, is it? We are victims of this all the time. Everyone of us has misplaced our trust many times over and as long as we inhabit this body and this world, we'll no doubt be guilty of doing so again. There is always someone out there who will deceive us, or delude us into doing something (or not doing something) because we "trust them."
But, just like everything else about "earthly life" this doesn't apply to God. He is the only entity that mankind can trust. That's because everything about this world changes, but God is not of this world. He changes not (Mal. 3:6). We trust Him and we trust His Word.
Here's something I don't know if you've ever thought about. Trust with God is a two-way street. What I mean by that is this; Paul says in 1 Tim. 4:10 that "we trust in the living God..." And, as David said, we're "blessed" by doing so. That's one side of the street.
The other side of the street is, that God trusts us. Maybe you never thought of it this way, but He has entrusted Christians with the most valuable treasure ever - the Gospel. And "treasure" is exactly the right word. Paul tells us in 2Cor. 4:7 that the "glorious Gospel" (the treasure) has been placed in "earthen vessels" (us). This treasure is the power by which mankind can receive salvation, therefore eternal life. I ask you, what could possibly be more valuable?
We believe in God and His Word, and because of that belief we trust Him to fulfil that which He has promised. And because we trust Him, we obey Him. And, if we can trust him to reward those who are obedient, we can also trust Him to punish those who are not because He also promises that.
Think about this little lesson as we close today. In 1Thess. 2:4 we read that we are "allowed of God to be put in trust with the Gospel..." It's entrusted unto us for one reason. Not to be hidden away or hoarded, but to teach it to the world. Perhaps you've never considered just how much trust God has in you. So much so that He's trusted you with the most valuable thing He ever gave to the world.
In light of that thought, you have to ask yourself this question. Can God count on you to handle it right? Or, has He misplaced His trust?
"As for God, His way is perfect: the word of the Lord is tried:
He is a shield to all those that trust in Him." (Psa. 18:30)
Ron Covey
Epilogue: Just in case you might be wondering what happened back in Wetumka, Oklahoma, allow me to tell you, ala Paul Harvey, the rest of the story. Since they had lots of food, beverages and stuff gathered for the circus that wasn't coming, they decided to hold a town party anyway. Since everyone was already prepared to have a good time, and it wouldn't interfere with anything else, they had a four-day celebration and named it "The Sucker Festival." The town has continued the festival almost every year since.
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