Trust Like Sand

Trust Like Sand

May 2, 2016

Psalm 23:4  "Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be shaken but endures forever."

Putting your trust in a person or thing is quite natural to do.  We like to trust as it allows us to relax into a place of comfort.  If you trust your spouse to be faithful, then you can rest assured when he is away on a trip.  Trust gives you peace.  If you trust you have accurately calculated the monies required for you to survive in retirement then you can rest easy at night knowing you'll always have a safe place to sleep in the future.  We find ways to purposely trust, because the opposite is stressful, full of anxiety.  If you don't trust someone, you're always on guard, uneasy about how he could shift, not knowing what result you should expect.  If you don't trust something, you'll always be looking for ways to bolster it, lest you need to abandon it altogether.  The ability to trust or not trust is a built-in quality we have all learned to hone in order to survive.  It becomes instinctual.

We as Christians, understand we should trust the Lord.  To some extent we all trust the Lord, but I would suggest we mistrust the Lord more than we actually trust the Lord.  The Bible says if we trust the Lord, we will be like Mount Zion, unable to be shaken.  Examine the analogy for a moment and understand what Mount Zion was to the Israelites.  Mount Zion was first and foremost a metaphorical place representing the Lord's Kingdom, His authority, and His governance.  It was only after the Israelites formed the city of Jerusalem that they named the tallest and most rocky hill, Mount Zion.  The physical Mount Zion became a visual representation of the Lord's governing authority.  When the psalmist wrote about Mount Zion, he was not talking about the physical rocky, earthen structure.  He was referring to the steadfastness of the Lord's dominance and rule.  Without re-writing Scripture, and with this understanding in mind, re-read the Scripture in it's meaning:  those who trust in the Lord are like His eternal governance, authority, and power, which cannot be shaken.  The Scripture would never suggest if we trust in the Lord we would become as immovable as the Lord Himself, but the analogy is pretty close.  To trust in the Lord is to trust in all them embodies the Lord, His love, His power, His authority, His design, His goals, His plans, His forgiveness, and His restorative work.

I don't think I've ever fully trusted in the Lord to the extent the Lord would desire.  If I truly had trust in Him, I'd always be at peace, resting in His love, His power, His authority, His design, His goals, His plans, His forgiveness, and His restorative work.  In coming back to the physical analogy of the mountain, my trust is more like sand, able to be shaped easily by my surroundings.  My situation and my viewpoint are my surroundings, which shape my trust.  This is opposite how it is supposed to be, in that my trust should already be formed solid like the mountain of God.  When my surroundings change, my trust should still be formed in the likeness of the Lord's authority.  To our logical minds, sure the Lord has all authority, but for some reason we don't act that way.  We act as if the Lord is away from His throne quite often, as if He is taking a break from being in charge.

If asked, sure we might say the Lord is always on His throne, but we, because of our mistrust, don't always ascribe to Him the full authority of His governance at all times.  He has all power, but is not able to work fully in this one portion of our lives.  He has a master design, but He probably doesn't care about these few details over here.  He has a plan but not for ALL of our lives.  He forgives all my sins, except these two we cannot mention out loud.  He can restore our lives, but not to the completeness of everything else.  When we talk like this, our trust in Him is not as firm as a mountain, but shifting sand.  When we truly trust in Him, we are trusting in His FULL governance over all things, to His fullest extent.

Don't take my word for it; look it up:  2 Sam 7:28, Ps 9:10, Ps 20:7, Ps 91:2, Is 26:4, Is 53:7, Joel 2:32, Amos 6:1, Matt 7:24-27