Who Do You Trust?

You know, every Sabbath offers us this wonderful opportunity, doesn't it? This wonderful opportunity to rest from our daily labors and our concerns or troubles and be reminded of God's plan of salvation and the coming Kingdom of God upon this earth. Through his weekly Sabbath, God points us to a future without Satan, to that time of the divine rule of our King Jesus Christ and of his saints who serve under him, those resurrected and immortal firstfruits of God's family.

And if you've kept up with the news this past week, as I said in the announcements, if you're like me, then you must surely feel the utter relief of turning your thoughts and eyes and ears away from... Really, it's gotten... It's pretty much muck of carnality and pride that's been so much reported upon this week. That's pretty much the way I see it. It's been pretty awful stuff we've had to hear about this past week in our world, our society.

But it's the Sabbath. We can put that aside and feel so good about what God has done in calling us and others and he's still working with others and calling more to have something good to think about, something good to look forward to. The spiritual birth of God's firstfruits... Well, that's the moment for which all of us who follow Christ yearn for. That gives us hope. That helps us move through this world. You know, Paul says in Romans 8.23 that yearning we feel is a yearning that's been felt by those who've been following Christ for centuries.

Romans 8.23, I'll just read it to you. Paul says, for we who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan... I love that word. We groan within ourselves. We ache. We yearn eagerly, eagerly waiting for the adoption or rather the sonship, the redemption of our body.

That's what we look forward to. Let's turn to 1st Corinthians 15. In 1st Corinthians 15, you know, this yearning we have, this yearning for the future, God's kingdom, that should be a part of our contemplation on God's Sabbath day. We yearn for that moment, Paul describes here in 1st Corinthians 15 verses 15 52 to 54. Paul writes, we look forward to that moment when in the twinkling of an eye, at that last trumpet, the dead will be raised incorruptible and we shall be changed.

I look forward to that, don't you? And then verse 54, that time when this corruptible is put on incorruption, when this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, death is swallowed up in victory. Victory. And that's our goal, this resurrection. Until then, amidst this spiritually darkened world, we must persevere in the way the Father has called us to follow and to become more like Jesus Christ. Please hold your place here. I'm going to be coming back here in a little bit to 1 Corinthians 15, but turn back with me, if you would, to Revelation 14 verse 4 through 5.

Revelation 14 4 through 5, we find, described the character or, we might say, the mindset of those who follow Jesus Christ. These scriptures, though prophetic, also tell us the way of thinking and being that we ought to be developing now. The way of thinking we ought to be developing now and with the help of God's Holy Spirit, because we can't do it alone. We can't do this without God's Spirit. We want to do this so that we will be among those first fruits of the first resurrection.

Let's read Revelation 14 4. These are the ones who were not defiled with women, for they are virgins. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. These were redeemed from among men, being first fruits to God and to the Lamb. This verse tells us that God's first fruits are those called prior to Christ's return and who remain faithfully devoted to the Lamb.

Not defiled with women tells us that they do not practice spiritual adultery or fornication with the world. In other words, they are not at one with the world in its ways. They are not of it. The first fruits are devoted to God and to Jesus Christ, whom they follow. Verse 4 also tells us that God's first fruits were redeemed from among men. They have been purchased by God. That's us. They have been purchased by God with the precious blood of Jesus Christ.

And because God's love is in them, He's opened their minds, they understand the price that Jesus Christ paid. He paid for their sins with His own death. He paid for their lives. They know that their lives are no longer their own. They don't belong to them. Our lives are not our own, brethren. Continuing on in Revelation 14.5, the next verse, we learn more traits of God's first fruits. And in their mouth was found no deceit, for they are without fault before the throne of God.

Well, that means that they have put aside deceitfulness and hypocrisy. That's what we should be doing. They do not secretly love the world while appearing to love God. They have learned about the genuineness, the sincerity and simplicity of Christ. They have come to grips with the deceit of their own hearts and have fully submitted to the pure and undefiled life of Christ dwelling in them.

Forgiven of sins and having grown in godly character, they are without fault before the throne of God. So Revelation 14, verse 4 through 5 reminds us the mindset that we must be laboring to develop now. And for as long as God gives us breath, we can't stop. No matter what challenges are allowed to come our way, we must persevere in our commitment to follow Christ along with God's first fruits.

We're in this together with all those whom God calls. This is a promise we will be in His kingdom if we endure. And God will prove Himself trustworthy to fulfill that promise. And back to 1st Corinthians 15. Hopefully you held your spot. 1st Corinthians 15, verse 58. That's Paul's exhortation to us here in 1st Corinthians 15. Verse 58, he writes, Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, be immovable, be always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

It's a labor we're involved in. With God's help, we can do all things through Him who strengthens us. We're told that in Philippians 4.13. But it requires that we choose to believe God and obey God. We've heard a lot about those two elements. Those are pretty much the elements of faith, of living faith. When we believe and obey God, we're showing proof of our trust in God. Placing our total trust in God assures us of eternal life in that twinkling eye of a moment we all look forward to.

But placing total trust in anything other than God, well, that will only bring us disappointment and ultimately it will bring us death. It's that simple. No matter the challenge the world gives us, no matter what petty and pretty enticements to sin the world offers, we must remain committed following Jesus Christ. We must trust God totally no matter what. Today, I want to elaborate further upon that core component required of our commitment to God.

That core component required of our commitment to God is total trust. Total trust. So the purpose of this sermon is to lead you and me as potential firstfruits to God to contemplate and to answer this vital question. Who do I trust? You ask that of yourself. Who do I trust? And that's the title of today's sermon, or rather we can put it as, Who do you trust? Who do you trust? Now, trust can mean different things, different things, different people. But we want to know what the Bible says trust is. In the Bible, there are several words translated as trust. According to Mounts' complete expository dictionary, two Hebrew words are translated as trust.

The first word is aman, and it can be spelled A-M-A-N. Aman, A-M-A-N, and it means believe. The second word is batah, B-A-T-A-H. Batah. It means rely on or depend on with the sense of being completely confident, or we might say of meaning feeling utterly safe, totally safe. Then in the New Testament, we have a Greek word that's rather consistently used for trust. It's pistuo, and it is spelled P-I-S-T-E-U-O.

P-I-S-T-E-U-O. And it means to believe, to be convinced of something, or to have faith. This is a special type of trust. It involves belief and faith. Imagine, if you can, imagine having such total trust that we never have doubts about the other person's good intentions, no doubts about their actions.

Can we imagine never ever doubting another person's willingness to do always and only what is good, to only do what is best? Can you imagine never questioning another person's motive, never doubting another person's dependability? They say they're going to do something, they do it. Well, that's the sort of trust I imagine. I try to wrap my mind around. That's the sort of trust that we must have in God. That's the sort of trust we've got to have in God.

To trust God means that we believe that he exists, for example, and that he is as he reveals himself to be. Can't trust other books to tell us what God is. We have to go to Scripture. He reveals himself. Scripture tells us that God is love. It tells us that Scripture is the inspired word of God, which we must obey.

We learn that God only does or only allows for what is best according to his will, not our will, and even when we don't understand why. And so when we look at these definitions for trust in the Hebrew portion of the Bible and the Greek portion of New Testament, we find that the words believe and trust and faith are essentially synonymous.

They're essentially synonymous. In fact, thank you all very well, Hebrews 11.6. Hebrews 11.6 tells us, but without faith it is impossible to please him. For he who comes to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him, believing, trusting, having faith. To be loyal followers of Jesus Christ, then, we must believe and we must trust with conviction that God truly loves each of us in all humanity. It's not just about us. We have to believe that Christ's death paid the death penalty for all human sin. And our commitment to God, then, must be founded upon conviction of total trust in God.

What I'm speaking about connects very well with what Dr. Ward was speaking about last Sabbath. Conviction and commitment. But it requires trust. Trust is a huge part of commitment, isn't it? How do we know when we're trusting God? You ever thought about that? How do we know when we're trusting God? What does trust in God look like? Well, the Bible provides us many examples, and we're going to look at some of that today.

The Bible provides us many examples of the sort of trust we should be building, because I want to know I'm doing the right thing, don't you? What does trust look like? Let's turn first back to, well, first and again and again. We're going to go back to the book of Psalms. I'd like for us to begin by considering King David's example back in Psalms 56. And I'll warn you now, if you've got one of these nice satiny ribbons in your Bible or whatever, just put a marker spot in the book of Psalms.

That'll help you get there faster. We're going to be going back and forth to Psalms today. But I want us to begin by looking at King David's example in Psalm 56 verses 3 through 4. You know, over his lifetime, King David remained committed to God and developed a deep, profound, trusting relationship with God that was so deep, in fact, you probably remember the Apostle Paul called David a man after God's own heart. That's how profoundly trusting David was of God.

And that reference is Acts 13.22. But here in Psalm 56 verses 3 through 4, David expressed his profound trust in God. This way, this is a trust we can have. We can have the same sort of trust. David writes, whenever I am afraid, I will trust in you. In God I will praise his word. In God I have put my trust. I will not fear. What can flesh do to me? And so it's interesting if you think about it, here's David, this man after God's own heart.

If you pay attention here, he had fears too. His heart was like God's, but yet he still had fear. He was not Superman or some type of person that we cannot relate to. He had fear just like you and I do. And yet, David did the sensible thing, a reasonable thing, like Romans 12.1. He chose to trust God.

He chose to trust God. In fact, look down to verse 11, same chapter. Verse 11, David continues, and he says, in God I have put my trust. I will not be afraid. What can man do to me? He keeps repeating this idea. And as I've said before, and I'll keep telling you, when you find repetition, there's a point.

There's a reason we need to focus on that. And don't think that somehow the scribes or God himself just forgot what he was talking about. No, there's a purpose behind this. It's important. And so David relied on God to guide and protect him because he knew who and what God is. And we do too. With trust in God's love, we should not fear what people might do to us. No people we know, even family and friends, they may mock us and belittle us because we're loyal to God. We put God's demands upon us first. We keep his Sabbath. We keep his ways. And although we may have been teased about it and poked fun about it, or worse, we recognize, because we believe what Scripture says, that people may do much worse to us than time to come. But no matter what, no matter what people may do, we must choose to believe God and to obey God. We can trust him to help us in whatever that challenge we face may be. And so, like Paul, I think we ought to be able to say with conviction, Paul said, if God is for us, you know the rest of it, who can be against us? Romans 8.31. That's a statement of Paul's trust like David's in God. If God is for us, who can be against us? Let's also turn over to Psalm 62, Psalm 62, verse 5 through 8. Here, David emphasized the depth of his trust in God. Psalm 62, verse 5 through 8. David wrote, My soul, my very life, wait silently for God alone. For my expectation is from him. He only is my rock and my salvation. He is my defense. I shall not be moved. In God is my salvation and my glory, the rock of my strength, and my refuge is in God. Trust in him at all times, you people. Pour out your heart before him. God is a refuge for us. David is so convicted. You can feel it in these lines. He's so convicted of God's trustworthiness that he exhorts all people, you and me. And for centuries since he wrote this, he's been exhorting people to turn to God to develop the same sort of rock-solid relationship he had with God. But it takes action. We have to do something. God provides us the ultimate help of his Holy Spirit and his word, but we have to take the action. We have to because only God offers salvation, as David says here.

Again, hold your place here in Psalms and let's turn over to the book of Isaiah. In Isaiah 50 verse 10, we see the prophet Isaiah saying something similar to what David says here. Isaiah 50 verse 10. Isaiah, in fact, echoes David's exhortation to trust God totally as our guide in this spiritual darkness of the world. Isaiah 50 verse 10. We read, "'Who among you fears the Lord?'" We read that in special music. Fear does not mean to be terrified.

Not necessarily, unless you really put yourself in a bad spot with God, then maybe that would be an appropriate attitude and feeling. But fear, as we should remember, fear here means to respect God, to revere God in a worshipful way. It means to put everything else aside so that you would do what God says. That's fear of the Lord being spoken of here. "'Who among you fears the Lord? Who obeys the voice of his servant? Who walks in darkness and has no light? Let him trust in the name of the Lord, his authority. Rely upon his God.'" That's what Isaiah encourages us to do.

So if we truly revere and love God, as we say we do, if we truly trust Him, then we will do as he instructs. We understand that to mean we repent of our wrong ways with God, turn away from sin, reject it, reject the wicked ways of our society, and start doing what God says. Let's also go back a few chapters. Isaiah 40, verses 29 through 31. Isaiah 40, verses 29 through 31. Here we find assurance that God strengthens those who hope and trust in Him. Maybe you felt a little shaken this week for something that's gone on in your life, something unexpected. Isaiah assures us, go to God. Find your strength in Him. Isaiah 40, 29. Isaiah writes, he gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might, he increases strength. Even the youths, even you young men and women here, even our children, even you are going to get, believe it or not, you're going to get tired, and you're going to weary, and you're going to feel like giving up on something. Even you will be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall, but those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength, and they shall mount up with wings like eagles. I love that metaphor. And they shall run and not be weary, and they shall walk and not faint. So what we're reminded of here is when we've given all that we've got of our own human strength, when we've given up all we've got of our own human willpower, we can depend upon Jesus Christ, our Heavenly Father, to give us the exact type of help we need, and just at the right time, just when we need it most. God does not forsake those who trust in Him. He will not forsake us. He will not leave us. You want to look that scripture up? That's Deuteronomy 31 verse 6. God does not forsake those who trust Him. So, so far the main point of all these scriptures is this. Here's what it's about. When it comes to facing life's challenges, and no matter what they may be, we must place total trust in God. Total trust. Who but God is worthy of our total and complete conviction of belief, belief which leads to obedience? Who but God can intervene miraculously and make us utterly save? Where else can you and I turn to for salvation?

God alone deserves our most complete and total trust. Only God deserves our trust of that depth and magnitude. But sadly, you know this, sadly our carnal nature often causes us to hesitate. It can cause us to hesitate in times of trusting God all the way. And so at times we do waver.

We delay obeying God even though we know we should. Somehow we postpone doing what we know we should do. Our carnal nature struggles within us. Our carnal nature hates trusting God. And our carnal nature drives us at times to place our trust elsewhere. Now where else might we place our trust?

Or might we place it? If not in God, where? Just showing it. It doesn't make sense to put our trust anywhere else. But yet we do because we struggle against carnal nature. Well, there are many possibilities. Scripture is full of possibilities where we might misplace our trust.

We know that some place their trust in false idols. Some place their trust in human reasoning.

Or in the values of the world, even those silver rules that we learned about. Those not so golden rules of love. I'd like for us, though, to focus on four places in particular where we may misplace our trust. I think it's important for us. Some of us are older, some of us are younger, but we can all misplace our trust at times. We need to understand what these places are, where we might misplace our trust so that we can better judge ourselves, better evaluate whether or not we have rightly placed our trust, especially whether we have placed our trust in God where it belongs. So let's consider four different places where we might misplace our trust.

The first place is in the things of man. Place number one. What do we call this?

Where we might misplace our trust. That's really not a good title, but come up with your own. Where might we misplace our trust? The first place is in the things of man. In the things of man.

Okay, let's go back to Psalm 33. I have my ribbon. Psalm 33, verses 16 through 17.

Psalm 33, verses 16 through 17. Instead of trusting God, God who is the creator of all things, God who is the source of true light and true life, people may trust in the comparatively puny power, the puny power of our own hands and our own strength, of our own ingenuity, such as represented here in Psalm 33 by an army.

Psalm 33, verses 16 through 17. God's word tells us, don't do this.

Psalm 33, verses 16. No king is saved by the multitude of an army. A mighty man is not delivered by great strength. A horse is a vain hope for safety. Neither shall deliver any by its great strength. Also, let's look at Psalm 20, verses 7 through 9. Psalm 27 through 9. David echoes the same idea. Perhaps we're not sure David may have written Psalm 33 as well. But Psalm 20, verses 7 through 9, we get the same point. Psalm 20, verses 7. David writes, some trust in chariots and some in horses. But we will remember the name of the Lord our God.

They have bowed down and fallen. But we have risen and stand upright.

Saved Lord, may the king answer us when we call. David, trust in God.

David had learned, I'm quite sure, even as a young man, when he is protecting his father's sheep from the lions and bears, you can read a little bit about that in 1 Samuel 1737.

Even when he is learning how to trust God fighting off lions and bears, he learned what each of us, whether we're young or old, he learned what we must all come to know. That true deliverance comes through trusting God, not entrusting the things of our own human strength, our own human ingenuity, the things we can do. You know, then as now, we can be tempted to trust entirely in our own technology, for example. We may trust entirely in technology to protect us.

Now, believe it or not, I know some of our young people think the only real technology is a smartphone and computers and what have you. But even according to ancient standards, the ancients had horse-drawn chariots and weaponry. That was the powerful technology of their time.

And today, we have various horseless chariots. I saw quite a few in the parking lot today.

We have our own horseless chariots we trust in. And added to that, we also have airplanes and satellites. Where would you be with GPS if you didn't have a satellite, folks?

I wouldn't be able to get anywhere.

And of course, we have weapons of all sorts to defend us. Our homes also contain many devices for our protection and safety, don't they? We have smoke alarms, security alarm systems, perhaps.

In all of our phones, we have a 911 emergency response system that is very helpful and very much necessary at times. And of course, we have that instantaneous communication with others by our computers, our smartphones, and Apple and others, turning out more new renditions of technology for us. Technology helps to keep us safe. I'm not ridiculing it. I'm glad we have it.

Yeah, okay, I'll see. I'm glad we have it. There's times I wish differently.

But my point is, should we completely trust in that technology? Should we completely trust in human ingenuity? Well, if your experience has been like mine, soon enough you're going to discover, aren't you? You're going to discover just how trustworthy technology is when your batteries go dead. And you're out in East Texas wilderness somewhere, and yeah, the GPS doesn't work because the phone's dead. Right? Or we begin to realize we shouldn't trust technology when we lose electricity or when you run out of gas. And also, just think over this past year, even a little more sobering, think of all the suffering the lives lost this past year because of the hurricanes.

The hurricanes knocked out so much of our delicate technology. People didn't have electricity.

There's a couple we met at the feast in Lake Texoma. Her brother died because they lost electricity and they couldn't get him from his home to a hospital quickly enough to get the medical equipment powered up. And so he died during that event. And so it happens. It happens.

Ultimately, human ingenuity, our technology, is no match to the natural forces God created, and even less so, no match to God himself. When it comes to spiritual matters, technology utterly fails to defend us from humanity's true enemies. Technology cannot defend us from Satan, or sin, or death. It's only through the Lamb of God that we can overcome those mortal enemies.

We can't trust the things of man.

The second thing not to trust, totally. Though closely related to things of man, the second thing is riches. We can't trust in riches. Again, it's closely related to things of man, but the topic of riches receives so much attention in Scripture, it seems to me it deserves its own category. Now, riches can be a very wonderful gift. It's a wonderful gift and it's a wonderful means for helping other people. Hold your place here. Let's look at 1 Timothy 6.

1 Timothy 6, 17 through 19.

In 1 Timothy 6, 17 through 19, Paul says this to Timothy. He tells Timothy, command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty. Don't get a big head.

Don't be cocky. Don't be haughty and command them not to trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God who gives us richly all things to enjoy. Let them do good that they may be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share, storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, that they may hold on eternal life.

Paul warns us not to trust in uncertain riches, as he calls it, whether those riches are our own or riches of others. Riches are a blessing. They can be a blessing. But ultimately, this is why they're uncertain, it seems. Ultimately, riches are limited, and they will prove to be unreliable for every situation in life.

Let's turn back to Psalm 49, because I think Paul may have been thinking of the psalmist's warning back here in Psalm 49 when he wrote that to Timothy. I think there's only one Timothy in that book. Let's go back to Psalm 49, Psalm 49, verses 6-12. In here we have the Psalms of Korah speaking at length about the dangers of trusting and riches.

Psalm 49, we're going to read verses 6-12. Those who trust in their wealth and boast in the multitude of their riches, none of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him.

For the redemption of their souls is costly, and it shall cease forever, that he should continue to live eternally and not see the pit. For he sees wise men die, likewise the fool and the senseless person perish and leave their wealth to others.

Their inner thought is that their houses will last forever, and their dwelling places to all generations. They call their lands after their own names, these wealthy people.

But nevertheless, man, though in honor, does not remain. He is like the beast that perish. And so it is a sober warning. Now, you and I may not think we're rich.

You and I may not think we're rich. But if we walk around this globe long enough, we will find somebody else who says, oh, you are very rich. And, you know, if you read Mr. Cubic's e-news about their visit with the brethren in Brazil, or if you remember Mr. Gonzalez talking about his trip to Nigeria. There you go. I knew it was Africa. I was trying to figure out, okay, I almost said Ghana, but I knew it wasn't Ghana. We remember just how what we would consider poverty, perhaps, from our point of view, they thought they were wealthy. And we think maybe we're poor and we're wealthy in their eyes. So it can be a relative term, I guess is what I'm getting to.

My point is this. Although people with wealth and riches may wow us, we might even be tempted to be a little bit envious. Even though their wealth may wow us, they, like all of us, have nothing of their own that lasts. There's nothing of their own within themselves that's going to last. Paul wrote in 1 Timothy 6.7, you don't need to turn there, but he also wrote in 1 Timothy 6.7, and we say this differently, for we brought nothing into this world and, in a certain, we can carry nothing out of it. Naked I came and naked I will go. There's all little country songs about that, I think. But it's truth nonetheless. Let's look at Matthew 6. Matthew 6.19. You see, we've got to remember that only God has the true riches we ought to desire. Matthew 6.19. Only God has the riches truly worth having. Matthew 6.19-21. Jesus himself taught this, Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. We need to put our hearts' trust in God. When we place total trust in God, we will share in the only riches worth having. And that's all related to eternal life. Nothing can beat God's offer. Nothing can beat God's riches and wealth. 3. In people. Some of us probably have a number of stories we could tell about that. Do not put your trust in people. Well, let me correct that. Total trust. We've got to trust one another, or else we're never going to get anything done.

But we can mistakenly place too much trust in people. Trust is vital to happy, healthy relationships with others. You're going to have good friends. You're going to get along with your coworkers. You're going to get along with your family. You're going to get along with brethren. We've got to extend some trust. Relationships work best when that glue of trust exists to unite us and help us cooperate and do things together. But Scripture warns us not to trust people in the same way and to the same degree that we ought to be trusting God.

We mustn't put trust for man and people ahead of putting our trust in God.

Look what we're told here in Psalm 118. Psalm 118, verses 8-9.

It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man. It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in princes. Of course, princes give us this connotation of leadership, those in power. Placing our total trust in people, in leaders, in the Lord, placing our total trust in people, in leaders, and do I need to say human governments, will inevitably disappoint us.

No doubt we've all been disappointed by friends and families through the years.

And I think we've probably been disappointed by our elected officials as well.

We don't have to think too hard about that. But despite our very own best intentions, let's bring it home to us. Despite our own very best intentions, we ourselves often fail to keep all of our promises, don't we? And don't we fail at times to be absolutely trustworthy?

I doubt if anyone can do everything he or she says, or everything that he or she intends to do.

Humans are not God. We're not God.

Look at Psalm 146 now, a few pages over. Psalm 146, verse 3 through 5.

Here the psalmist gives us a very practical reason for not placing our total trust in people. Psalm 146, verse 3 through 5. Do not put your trust in princes, nor in a son of man, in whom there is no help.

Ultimately no help. Why? Well, verse 4. His spirit departs. He returns to his earth. In other words, he's going to die. In that very day his plans perish.

But happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God.

It's a great reminder. It's not just princes who will fail us, but all people in general.

And again, humans are not God. No one lives forever. And so I think it's rather obvious we need to put our trust in eternity. We need to put our trust in the eternal God.

The fourth place we don't want to put our trust. Notice how we're getting closer and closer to home, the point? We cannot put our trust totally in ourselves. We cannot put our trust totally in ourselves. We should avoid trusting in our own opinions. We should avoid trusting totally in our own judgments. And especially in feelings, our feelings, more than we ought to be trusting God.

And that gets complicated. Sometimes we think we know what God thinks.

Maybe we forgot to go back and study a little more carefully. We may catch ourselves speaking on behalf of God. Maybe we should back up and double check. We need to be making God's perspective. Our perspective is my point. We need to make His commandments our commandments. His ways, our ways.

Look at Proverbs 3, verse 5 through 6 with me, please. Just a few pages over, actually, from where we're at. Proverbs 3, verse 5 through 6, Trust in the Lord with all your heart, all. Lean not on your own understanding.

In all your ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct your paths.

Do we do this, I wonder? Do we do what Proverbs 3, 5 through 6 says?

Do we really pray for God's guidance? Do we study the Bible and listen to God's instruction with a teachable attitude, with a willingness to obey? Do we think deeply on His Word?

Do we seek counsel with those who revere and obey God?

Or, on the other hand, do we trust most in our own ideas, our opinions, our feelings?

Well, if we do, we will likely find ourselves with more troubles and more misery, perhaps than we know what to do with. Why is that? Well, look back to Jeremiah 10, 23.

Jeremiah 10, the prophet, gives us a rather clear answer.

Why would we find more troubles and misery if we just listened to ourselves?

God inspired Jeremiah to declare this vital fact about human beings, about you and me.

Jeremiah 10, 23, O LORD, I know the way of man is not in himself.

It is not in man who walks to direct his own steps. And let's also turn over to Jeremiah 17, verse 9.

If we haven't committed this scripture to our hearts and minds, I think we should.

Jeremiah 17, 9. I think this is the first scripture I memorized when I got to ambassador many years ago. I didn't grow up in the church. I didn't know these things.

Jeremiah 17, 9. The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Who can know it?

Young people, you need to know that one for sure and believe it.

And we old people need to remember it and believe it.

Don't just remember it. This tells us we must be wary of trusting our own opinions and especially our feelings. Let's also turn to the New Testament, Mark 7, the Gospel of Mark.

Mark 7, 21, 23.

And here's what Jesus said regarding the soundness of trusting in our human heart and mind.

Mark 7, 21, 23.

Jesus said, For from within, out of the hearts of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornication, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, and evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within and defile a man.

This, God says, is the state of our carnal human heart. This is what is in our heads.

Of course, if we've been wise, enacting our conviction, and committed ourselves to God, God's Holy Spirit, Father and Son, and our earnestness to combat this.

But God says this is the normal state of our carnal human heart. Well, if that's so, I ask you, why would we trust our own thoughts and conclusions about anything?

I don't think we should do that. And yet we do.

We so proudly think at times that we know better than anybody else. And I mean anybody.

That's something I have to work against, and you probably do too.

You know, growing up, maybe you weren't like me. Growing up, we might have thought we were so much smarter than our mom and dad. Okay, some of you are nodding. I'm comfortable again. I'm not the only one. Growing up, we thought we were so much smarter than our parents, didn't we?

Oh, and definitely smarter than our teachers. Are, frankly, any old people, anybody over 20? Well, probably over 19 at that time. We likely still struggle against that self-centered attitude, don't we? That attitude called human pride. There's something about trust yourself, you see.

There's something about trust yourself that really appeals to our carnal nature. It appeals to our carnal nature. And isn't that what society constantly tells us to do? Think about it.

Our society constantly tells us, trust yourself. I remember hearing it over and over again in high school, in college too. I suspect all of us have been indoctrinated with that idea to some degree.

You know, for years, schools have glorified the idea of taking the road less traveled.

Talk to me someday, and I'll tell you what the poem's really saying. We don't understand what that line is, and I can tell you. It's nothing bad. It's just, you know, it's not the way it sounds. It's not the way it reads on the surface. But yet, schools have told us about taking the road less traveled, and from their point of view, it means doing whatever you want. Don't follow the crowd. Do whatever you want. You know, on song lyrics, young people and old people, we grew up with our favorite music. Listen to the lyrics a little carefully, more carefully. You know, song lyrics, advertisements, those cute inspirational posters we see, maybe some that are texted to us every now and then, those inspirational posters. A lot of them urge us to do what? They urge us to just be yourself. You can google it. You'll find lots of pretty inspirational posters about that. Just be yourself. Also, you'll see, do what makes you happy. Do what makes you happy.

It's your life. Live it your way. You ever heard that one?

Or, just do it. Who says that? Nike. Yeah, they've been saying it for decades. Just do it.

Whatever you want to do or be, go for it. Do it. But I ask you, is that always wise?

Is it always wise to just do it, make yourself happy?

Let's turn back to Ecclesiastes 11. Ecclesiastes 11, verse 9 through 10.

I hate to disappoint some of our young people, but this idea of trusting yourself, just do it, as Nike says, and whatever new song lyric is repeating, that old idea, it's not a new idea by any means. This concept of trust yourself is a very old idea. In fact, it's ancient. The idea is so old, it used to be a joke like that, right? This idea is so old that even Solomon knew of it. Even Solomon knew of it. Look here, Ecclesiastes 11, verse 9. Notice these first four lines of verse 9 in Ecclesiastes 11. Solomon, we believe wrote this, Solomon writes, Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth.

Walk in the ways of your heart and in the sight of your eye.

Now, in his own way, what Solomon is telling us is, be yourself. It's your life. Live it your way. Do what makes you happy. Just do it. But then, and this is my theory, but then and perhaps perhaps because Solomon regretted his own terrible mistakes in life, such as having way too many wives and concubines, and especially for turning away from God to worship idols, I wonder if perhaps a much wiser Solomon added this solemn warning at the end of verse 9.

See, look what it says here towards the end of verse 9. Solomon adds, okay, go do it, but then he says, but know for all these God will bring you into judgment. Solomon warns us that God will indeed hold each of us, young and old, accountable for our thoughts and our actions. In verse 10, he adds this, therefore, what do you do? Remove sorrow from your heart, put away evil from your flesh. For childhood and youth are vanity. Now, vanity is a word we don't hear a lot about nowadays in this sense. Vanity can also be translated as meaningless. Now, as childhood and youth, meaningless? No, that's not quite it. What he means is it doesn't last. And what you do as a young person, you're going to be paying for for the rest of your life if you don't do things God's way.

Solomon is begging you and me not to just do whatever you want to do.

Vanity conveys this idea of something that is very temporary. It relates to this metaphor of being like a wisp of smoke. You blow out a candle. Imagine your life being like that wisp of smoke. Where it's like a handful of dust tossed up into the wind. It's gone. No matter if we're young or old, God holds all people accountable for their choices. And if we truly fear or revere God, then we must strive to deepen our trust in God and do what he says. God's way of life we've already seen is not vanity. God's way of life is not like smoke. It's not dust in the wind.

It's likened to a rock. Remember? God's way is a rock steadfast enduring in eternal.

Learning to trust God more than we trust ourselves is a lifelong process. It's something all of us are still working on. And it does require good labor on our part.

And we know we've heard about it. We know that prayer and Bible study and meditation and fasting and fellowshiping are tools we must be using in learning to trust God.

But I'd like to offer us a little exercise we might try. And I'm thinking of some of us that are feeling a little shaky in the trust department when it comes to trusting God. Maybe some of our young people are getting older and we're being forced to look at life differently. A lot of us, all of us actually, we are all getting older. Well, to help us in a good labor of trusting God, I'd like to suggest you a little exercise to help us learn more personally about trusting God.

And I'm going to be taking us, if you turn with me, to Psalm 116.

When we study the Psalms, we can see over and over again, we just looked at a few places, we could see over and over again how David trusted God. In fact, David often tells us why he trusted God. And it's usually because, as he explains to us, how God answered his prayers.

God answered his prayers and delivered them. We could see that over and over again in Psalms.

But let's look at Psalm 116, verses 1-9. This is a Psalm of thanksgiving for doing just that, for answering his prayers. We're going to look at this and then we're going to, I want to give you, I've got to quit saying, gonna. Then I'm wanting to give you a little exercise based on this.

Notice here, Psalm 116, verses 1-2. David begins his Psalm with thankful praise because God heard and answered his prayer. And so it's cause and effect. God has done something for him. And David's responding with this. David says, I love the Lord because he has heard my voice and my supplications. Because he has inclined his ear to me, therefore I will call upon him as long as I live. Cause and effect. God keeps answering my prayers. I'm going to keep calling on him. That's trust. In verses 3-4, David explains a little bit, he explains what had been worrying him.

He even quotes exactly what he said to God in his prayer. Verse 3, David says, the pains of death surrounded me, and the pangs of sheol, that's the grave, laid hold of me.

I found trouble in sorrow. That's good reasons to go to God in prayer. Verse 4, then I called upon the name of the Lord. And look, David quotes what he said.

O Lord, I implore you, deliver my soul. It wasn't very fancy, was it? But straight from the heart.

Then, in verses 5-8, David praises God more because he answered. God delivered him from death.

Verse 5, David writes, gracious is the Lord and righteous. Yes, our God is merciful.

The Lord preserves the simple. I was brought low, and he saved me.

He saved me. Return to your rest, O my soul. For the Lord has dealt bountifully with you, richly.

For you have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, and my feet from falling, he tells God.

As a result, in verse 9, we can see that David remained committed to walking before God for the rest of his life. He says, verse 9, I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living.

Of course, David could be the land of the living, referring to his physical existence, and of course, true life in the kingdom to come, the world tomorrow.

These verses record the personal reasons why David trusted God. They're personal. Now, I suggest that we can adapt David's approach here in helping us to learn to trust God just as much as David trusted God. A man after his own heart.

You might try this. Write down in a notebook your worries and concerns. Of course, some young people might want to text yourself what's bothering you. It's there forever in the cloud. Write down in an notebook your worries and concerns, and then take those worries and concerns to God in prayer.

Pray about it. Humbly ask God, just like we see David doing, ask God for his help and his deliverance to your problem. It doesn't matter how big or small your problem is. Go to God with it.

But then, once you pray and ask God to help you, you've got to do something important.

You've got to believe that God will answer your prayer. You've got to believe that God will somehow, in his own way, take care of your worries and concerns.

Again, it's going to be his way, according to his will and in his time.

We can't always expect God to get back to us like our friends will in texting.

Sometimes, yes. Sometimes it takes a little longer.

Your part is also, or our part, then, after we do this, our part is also to be patient with more prayer, fasting, seeking wise counsel, constantly obeying God. Remember, why should God answer you if you're not even trying to keep his law? You've got a part to play here if you want God to answer you. But constantly, we've got to believe that he will respond, because he will. He will. Now, here's the thing. As time goes by, maybe weeks, months—I've gone back and found things I wrote maybe years ago, and I come across it—so give it some time, and then go back and reread what you wrote in that notebook and what you prayed about. Then ask yourself, do you still have those same worries? Have they gone away? Have they been resolved somehow? If you no longer have those worries, sit back and think about, well, what happened? Why don't you have those worries anymore? And think of it this way. What did God do? Oh, they just went away. No. Either God helped you to think better, or maybe God did something you're not aware of. Something happened. What did God do? Like David, if we would do this, I think we might gain some confidence, along with a lot of joy, that comes from trusting God and seeing how He does answer our prayers. He is trustworthy. Now, this is just one little exercise. You know, it's not homework per se. You can do it if you like. But I think it's an exercise we might try to help us see that it is better to trust God than to trust ourselves. You can do more than just walk around feeling sorry for yourself and grumpy to mom and dad, or us old folks grumping to our friends. Our friends get tired of us being grumpy, don't they? Take it to God.

You might try this. God is worthy of our total trust. He is worthy of our worship. And if we maintain that right relationship with God, He will answer our prayers. He will answer in the best way and at just the best time. That's what David learned. He learned to trust God. There's no reason why we can't be learning that, too. And so, as those called of God to be firstfruits, again I ask, who do we trust? Who do we trust? Do we trust ourselves or our own desperately wicked hearts? Or do we trust others with their own desperately wicked hearts? Think of it that way.

How about uncertain riches? Or maybe the things of human ingenuity, things of man?

We know there's nothing else on this earth or in this vast universe that we can totally trust for salvation. Nothing else but only our Heavenly Father. Only our Heavenly Father provides the way by which we can put on immortality. And that is through the blood of the Lamb, Jesus Christ, His Son.

To trust anything more than we trust God, it is absolute uselessness. It's absolute vanity.

It's foolishness. But if we say that we trust God, and this is important, if we say that we trust God, then brethren, we have got to believe God and we've got to obey God.

1 John 2.17 says, He who does the will of God abides forever. He who does the will of God abides forever. So, who do you trust?