LEARNING DAILY

Psalm 146:3, Do not put your trust in princes, nor in a son of man, in whom there is no help.

Psalm 20:7 Some trust in chariots, and some in horses; but we will remember the name of the Lord our God.

Where do you put your trust, your hope. When you face difficulties, uncertainties, discouragement, and trials who do you go to? When you need encouragement or need answers whom do you seek? The Psalmist would say the first person to trust is the Lord.

Read the rest of the Psalm and you will find that the one who seeks God first is happy (blessed). Why? Because his hope is in the Lord who made heaven and earth and everything in them (v. 5). God keeps truth forever (v.6). He executes justice, gives food to the hungry, and frees the prisoners (v. 7). He opens the eyes of the blind and lifts the head of the depressed (v. 8). God loves the righteous (all Believers) (v. 8). He watches over strangers, cares for the fatherless and widow (v. 9), and He turns upside down (frustrates the plans of) the wicked (v. 9).

Psalm 146 reminds all people to be very careful about placing their trust and reliance on others, especially those in places of power and authority. People are limited in their ability to save and protect; those people often let us down. The answer for Believers is to center their focus on the God who never waivers and never fails.

Jeremiah 17:5-7 says the same thing as he states that the man who places his trust in man is curse; the man who places his trust in the Lord is blessed. In the days the Psalmist and Jeremiah lived, people placed their faith in their leaders and in the number of chariots (their military) they had. They believed that political allies would keep them safe. Placing their trust, their hope, and their faith in man was in reality rejecting God and relying on their own strength ingenuity, and other people. That pretty much describes what we do today, doesn’t it!

 God promised blessings for those placing their faith and trust in Him. But Israel rejected Him and turned their trust to men. That did not work out so well for Israel. Time and time again their self-reliance and dependency on their leaders turned into disaster. God alone is worthy of Believer’s trust. To try to get through this life on our own resources is foolishness and difficult, ending in disaster. Believing that one can get through this life by trusting in ourselves or in other people or in our leaders is to forfeit a wonderful relationship God desires to have with each person. God created each person to live their life in close relationship with Him; that relationship is centered in trust and faith.

So, who do you trust in today? Trusting only in your own power or in our leaders and our military and our alliances will bring disaster. But trusting in God, knowing He places people into a position of power, are blessed. Those who do know they are blessed all their days with God’s care, love, protection, peace, guidance, provision, and His promise of eternal life in His kingdom! Make your reliance on Him a lifelong journey as you walk the narrow way into His kingdom.