Trust: Certainty in an Uncertain World

In Mark 9:24 a father, desperate to have his child restored to him with Jesus’ healing, shouted, “Lord, I believe: help my unbelief!”[1] Faith is necessary for belief: a subjective, human response to objective, supernatural truth must accompany one’s trust.[2] Yet this commitment to God’s will and word are not the same as “possibly” or “I hope the Colts win the Super Bowl.”  Emphasis on assurance leading to certain confidence that something will definitely occur is rather the idea.  The Hebrew word for trust, “amen” (or “so be it”), is based on reliable authority.  The New Testament words for “faith” and “belief” are equivalent to this, their Old Testament counterpart.[3]

The word amen captures the fullest meaning of religious faith: it portrays an informed decision to commit oneself to God.[4] Another Hebrew word batah expresses that sense of well-being: security and reliance providing protection which results from having something or someone in whom to place confidence.[5] Some people trust in human beings[6], others in violence[7], still others in riches[8], military power[9], or in one’s own goodness[10].  The result of this misplaced trust is complacency[11] and shame[12].  Deliverance[13], answered prayer[14], ”straight paths”[15], inner peace[16], and joy[17] result from one who listens to the admonition “trust in the Lord”[18].  The story which best represents trust in God is found in 2 Kings 18-19 with its comparable passages in Isaiah 36-37 and 2 Chronicles 32.

Mahseh suggests one knows they are in danger, who then actively seeks shelter or security.  Because of the topography of Israel, caves and retreats found in hillside rocky crags offered refuge from bad weather[19] or from other dangers[20].   God was pictured as “cover”[21], “the rock”[22], or “refuge”[23]: The Almighty IS Mahseh[24].  The two words for trust are found together in Psalm 118:8-9; “It is always better to Mahseh God than to batah human rulers.”  The declaration in Psalm 46:1, “God is our refuge (Mahseh),” shows human helplessness and insecurity.  There is a need for the defensive fortress[25], a metaphor to show existing shelter based on God’s unchanging nature.[26] His “ever present help” means both He can be found and He is enough[27].  Because of earthly instability and change, Psalm 46:10 commands human nations and the physical earth to “Stop!”, “Desist!”, “Be Still!” reminiscent of Jesus’ jurisdiction over the sea from Mark 4:39, “Be Still!”, “Quit making noise!” “Muzzle yourself!” “Shut up!”[28]

Questions to Consider:

Q: How does one trust in something or someone they cannot see?

A: John 14:6-9; cf. John 1:14, 18; 20:24-31; Acts 1:21-22; 26:25-26; 1 Peter 1:16-18; 1 John 1:1-3

Q: What happens when we struggle with doubt?

A: Thomas in John 20; dependence upon the historicity of Scripture

Q: What is the indicator that I no longer place my trust in God?

A: Job 31:24-28

Q: What happens when we seek and trust but we still “step in it?”

A: There are no assurances or guarantees of only humanly good things happening to us in this life (see below)

Q: What happens when we seek and trust and still evildoers prosper?

A: Job 12:6; 24:23

Q: What happens when we are distressed and depressed because of our situation and the seeming silence of heaven?

Life is hard.  Humanly speaking, “bad” things happen.  We don’t always get what we want.  Sometimes we don’t even get our perceived needs.  Things don’t always go “our way.”  Injustices are a constant.  The best of intentions is riddled with contradictions.  Difficulties cannot be sidestepped, whitewashed, or eradicated.  Fallen people in a fallen world, sin.  This simple teaching of discord in reality is best explained in Scripture. 

Addendum: Why “Bad Things May Happen”[29]

1. Disasters encourage people to repent (Luke 13:1-5).

1. God is glorified in negative circumstances (John 9:1-3; 11:1-4).

1. God disciplines His people (Psalm 103:10-11; Proverbs 3:10-11; Lamentations 3:22-25; Hebrews 12:4-8).

1. Trials test the genuineness of our faith (1 Peter 1:6-7).

1. Trials bring patience and maturity (James 1:2-4).

1. Trials help to conform us to Jesus’ image (Romans 8:28-29).

1. Trials produce perseverance and character in us (Romans 5:3-5).

1. Trials help us to depend on Christ alone (2 Corinthians 12:7-9).

1. Future—“teleology” means the study of ends: what will happen in the future?  Humanism is enslaved to the present; a dog chasing its tail.  The view affects advertising where everything must be new, novel; change for the sake of change.  Hope is central to the Christian (Titus 2:11-14; Revelation 21:23-26).  If there is no hope there is no reason to live holy lives in the present.  To summarize: where we come from and where we’re going helps us know how to live life now.

Everyone trusts something; everyone ‘uses’ a crutch.  Mark lives-teaches trust at Crossroads Bible College.

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[1] Some had real problems believing, including the disciples (cf. 6:6; 16:14; Matt 13:58; 17:20).

[2] Hebrews 11:1-6 and 11:7-40 respectively.

[3] Notice a summary statement of some OT uses of “faith,” “belief,” or “trust”: Abram exercised belief in God (G 15:6); Gen 45:26—“unbelievable!  Joseph can’t be alive!”; Ex 4:5—the opportunity to believe in truth is there if they want it; Ex 4:1, 8-9, 31; 14:31—people may or may not exercise that belief; Num 14:11—“I can’t believe it!”–God’s response when people do not exercise belief; Num 20:12—levels of trust, commitment; Deut 1:32—mistrust in the face of past promises fulfilled; Deut 9:23—distrust when commanded; 2 Chronicles 20:20—exercising belief based on God’s spoken word; Job 24:22—surety is not based in human power, position, prestige; Psalm 27:13—Confidence based on patience; Psalm 78:22, 32—unbelief in the face of provision and miracle; Psalm 106:12—belief in the face of intervention and miracle

Psalm 119:66—desire for instruction is based on belief in God’s written word; Proverbs 14:15—prudence planning everyday affairs; Isaiah 7:9—human responsibility and effort are necessary in exercising faith

[4] Lawrence Richards, Expository Dictionary of Bible Words, 114.

[5] John N. Oswalt, Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, 101.

[6] Psalm 118:8; 146:3; Jeremiah 17:5.

[7] Psalm 55:23; 62:10.

[8] Psalm 49:6; 52:7.

[9] Deuteronomy 28:52; Psalm 44:6; Jeremiah 5:17.

[10] Ezekiel 33:13; Hosea 10:13.

[11] Isaiah 32:9-11; Ezekiel 30:9; Amos 6:1.

[12] Psalm 31:14.

[13] Psalm 22:4.

[14] 1 Chronicles 5:20

[15] Proverbs 3:5

[16] Psalm 4:8; Isaiah 26:3.

[17] Psalm 16:9; 33:21.

[18] Proverbs 16:20; Isaiah 30:15; Jeremiah 17:7.

[19] Job 24:8; Isaiah 4:6; 25:4.

[20] Psalm 104:18

[21] 2 Samuel 22:31; Psalm 18:30

[22] Deuteronomy 32: Psalm 62:7.

[23] Psalm 94:22

[24] Psalm 14:6; 46:1; 62:8; 71:7; 91:9.

[25] Psalm 46:7, 11.

[26] Psalm 46:2 compares earth’s most durable, immutable features—the ground and mountains—to the possibility that God would be moved: as if that were possible (the word “moved” appears twice for emphasis in verses 5 and 6).  The mountains may “move” (v 2, NIV “fall”) and the nations may “move” (v 6, NIV “fall”; the Hebrew idea is something “tottering”).

[27] Psalm 46:1; cf. Joshua 17:15; Isaiah 55:6; Zechariah 10:10.

[28] Some ideas in this paragraph come from Donald Wiseman, Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, 307-08 and Derek Kidner Psalms, 174-176.

[29] This list is not exhaustive.  For a more complete response to the question see Mark Eckel Let God Be God: Teacher’s Guide (Colorado Springs: Purposeful Design, 2001), Interact 38a teacher answers to “Asking Why”.