Trust in the Lord
Vicky Moots PastorKingman, Kansas
The word “trust” occurs 152 times in the Old Testament. The New Testament equivalent of “trust” is “faith.” The different Hebrew words which have been translated as “trust” have four basic meanings: 1) “to lean on,” 2) “to take refuge,” 3) “to roll on” or “to roll oneself upon,” and 4) “to stay upon.”
It is interesting to note that the center verse of the whole Bible is written about “trust.” That verse is Ps. 118:8: “It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man.” The meaning of “trust” in this verse is “to lean on.” The basic idea of this word is “firmness and solidity.” In other words, it refers to something that is solid enough to lean on.
Another verse which expresses the idea of “leaning” is Prov. 3:5: “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.” We must lean on the Lord and not ourselves.
Now I would like to use an example from the physical body to illustrate the meaning of this verse more clearly. If a person falls and suffers a broken hip, then they must undergo physical therapy after surgery to learn how to walk again. They will require the use of a walker to lean on to help support their weight on the injured leg and to help maintain their balance in order to keep from falling. The walker must be sturdy, and the person must be instructed in how to use it properly. In addition, the person must trust that the walker will support them.
However, some patients never learn to walk again after a broken hip because they are fearful that they will fall again. They are afraid to put their full trust in the walker. As a result, they are hindered in their ability to walk. Likewise, our Christian walk is hindered if we have a lack of trust.
Learning to lean on a walker with all of your weight is like learning to lean on the Lord with all of your heart. We must realize that spiritually, we have no strength of our own or ability to walk without leaning upon Him. We cannot lean on our own understanding. It will not hold us up. If we are not trusting the Lord completely, then we will always have fear of falling.
Notice that the verse in Prov. 3:5 instructs us to trust the Lord with all of our heart, not just a part, not just half-heartedly. We are to first acknowledge our weakness and our need for God’s strength, and then we must lean fully upon Him. We cannot be victorious in our Christian walk or in our trials if we do not lean upon the Lord and trust him completely. If we put our trust in ourselves instead of the Lord, we will fall.
Today, if you are currently going through a time of weakness, a time of testing, a wilderness experience, and find that all of your strength is gone, then I encourage you to lean upon your Beloved, as the Shulamite did in S.O.S. 8:5: “Who is this that cometh up from the wilderness leaning upon her Beloved…” Who is this Shulamite? She is the picture of the Bride of Christ.
The bride recognizes her need for the strength of her Beloved and leans upon him, not just in times of testing, but in her everyday experiences. She trusts Him with all of her heart and knows that she can safely lean upon Him. But she also leans upon Him simply because of her love for Him, even as John leaned upon Jesus breast.
In Ruth 2:12 we find the second meaning of the word “trust,” which is “to take refuge.” These are the words of Boaz, to Ruth: “The Lord recompense thy work, and a full reward be given thee of the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to trust.” Ruth’s testimony was that she trusted in the Lord and took refuge in Him, under His wings.
We, too, can be safely sheltered under His wings when we take refuge in the Lord and trust Him completely, as is declared by the psalmist in Ps. 91:2,4: “I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust” ... “He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust...”
The third meaning of the word “trust” in the Hebrew is found in Ps. 2:2. This psalm is a Messianic psalm regarding the crucifixion of Christ. Verse 8 states, “He has trusted in the LORD that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him.” The word “trust” in this verse means to “roll upon the Lord.” This is exactly what Jesus did on the cross. He committed His Spirit into God’s hands. He rolled everything over upon His Father, and became obedient unto the death of the cross, and God raised Him up in victory over the grave. The Lord will also deliver us from our trials when we trust Him enough to roll our problems over onto His shoulder and leave them there.
The last meaning of the word “trust” is found in Job 13:15, where it means “to be patient, to hope, to stay upon.” Job was enduring a severe physical and emotional trial, and seemingly had no one to turn to, for his wife and friends had turned their backs on him. However, Job knew that, in spite of his circumstances, he could put his trust in the Lord. In this verse Job proclaims, “Though he [God] slay me, yet will I trust him...” Job’s hope and trust in the Lord extended even beyond the grave, and so he knew that he could safely depend on Him to take care of him. He trusted God in spite of his suffering. His faith and trust in the Lord were steadfast. God’s grace was sufficient for Job and for Paul and will also be sufficient for us when we put our trust in Him.
