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Good Morning and welcome to Sunday School.
In my devotions this week I was led to a couple verses in Jeremiah that challenged me to reevaluate the way we in the church turn words and concepts into church-speak.
They get so used to reciting a verse that the words become a pat answer, something you say, rather than something you believe.
The verses I read mention the word “trust”.
When you think of the word trust, what comes to mind?
What does trust mean?
· Faith
· Confidence
· Assurance
· Reliability
Is it something you give or something you receive?
Both, you can put your trust in someone or something.
· We trust our employers to pay us for our labors.
· We trust our doctors when they prescribe medicine.
· We ask creditors to trust us when we make purchases with a credit card.
· We tell our children to trust us, when they ask for advice.
We “trust” everyday.
But trust doesn’t come easy.
· We don’t trust people we don’t know.
· We lock our doors at night and put alarms in our vehicles.
· You can’t get a car loan or a mortgage without going through a credit check.
· Employers don’t hire everyone who applies.
We tell our children that they have to earn our trust.
· We don’t let them stay out until midnight until after they have been faithful to an 11 PM curfew.
· We don’t let them borrow our cars until they have proven to us they are responsible drivers.
We trust some people more than others.
You might even say there are degrees of trust.
This morning I want to do something different.
Instead of looking at one or two passages, I want to look at a number of verses that illustrate what the Bible says about trust.
Let’s start in Exodus 14:31, the Israelites have just crossed the Red Sea and seen Pharaoh’s army drowned.
31 And when the Israelites saw the great power the Lord displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord and put their trust in him and in Moses his servant.
Now jump down to Chapter 19:9
9 The Lord said to Moses, “I am going to come to you in a dense cloud, so that the people will hear me speaking with you and will always put their trust in you.”
In both of these verses God is using the senses of seeing and hearing to build first hand knowledge so that the people will put their trust in Moses.
And they do.
Now flip over a few pages to Numbers 20:9.
Moses had been instructed by God to speak to a rock in order to provide water for Israel in the dessert.
But when he got out in front of the people…
9 So Moses took the staff from the Lord’s presence, just as he commanded him.
10 He and Aaron gathered the assembly together in front of the rock and Moses said to them, “Listen, you rebels, must we [Moses & Aaron] bring you water out of this rock?”
11 Then Moses raised his arm and struck the rock twice with his staff.
Now God honored him and water did gush forth from the rock but because Moses and Aaron abused that trust by making themselves Israel’s provider instead of God, there was a judgment attached.
12 But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them.”
You have all heard the saying, “as the head goes, so goes the body”.
People follow the leader.
When Moses wavered in his trust in God, that gave the enemy a foothold in the people’s trust in God.
We’ve studied passages in Deuteronomy referring to the spies in Canaan in depth.
We know 10 spies wavered in their trust that God could give them the Promised Land.
And because of that those adults who left Egypt would not enter the Promised Land.
We also know that Caleb & Joshua, the 2 spies who did trust that God would do what He said he would do, did inherit the Promised Land.
If we fast-forward a few hundred years we encounter men and women of God who vary in their levels of trust in God.
I’ve got a list of people, on a scale of 1-5, with 1 being no trust and 5 being complete trust how would you rate these people?
· Deborah (Judge who led Israel into battle) 5
· Gideon (fleece) 3
· David (Goliath) 4-5
· Solomon 2-3
· Ahab (& Jezebel) 1
· Elijah (ran from Jezebel following Mt.
Carmel) 4-5
Turn to 2 Kings 18:5
5 Hezekiah trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel.
There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before him or after him.
6 He held fast to the Lord and did not cease to follow him; he kept the commands the Lord had given Moses.
Hezekiah would be a 5.
He might even be a 6 if we compare him to the others on the list we looked at.
Hezekiah set a new standard for trusting God.
And just like there was a judgment for not trusting God, there is a reward associated with trusting God.
Remember Caleb & Joshua received their inheritance.
What did Hezekiah receive?
7 And the Lord was with him; he was successful in whatever he undertook.
He rebelled against the king of Assyria and did not serve him.
8 From watchtower to fortified city, he defeated the Philistines, as far as Gaza and its territory.
Did you ever wonder what would cause men like Hezekiah trust God whole heartedly and not faint like the rest of Israel?
Well, it takes work.
Hezekiah learned about trust in God through study of His Word.
As king, Hezekiah would have access to the writings of David & Solomon.
What did they say about trust?
Turn to the book of Psalms.
In Psalms 5:9 David is talking about his enemies.
Not that you would put your trust in your enemies -- but the point I want to make here is that not everyone is worthy of your trust.
9 Not a word from their mouth can be trusted; their heart is filled with destruction.
Their throat is an open grave; with their tongue they speak deceit.
What about God, is He worthy of trust?
Psalms 9:9-10
9 The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble.
10 Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you.
Boy that was a big hint.
In order to trust God you have to know Him.
Those who knew God by name, trust in Him.
By name refers to how they know Him: Jehovah Jireh, their provider; Jehovah Nissi, their banner; Jehovah Rapha, their healer.
For David, God fought his battles.
Psalms 20:7
7 Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.
Psalms 28:7
7 The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped.
Psalms 44:6-10
6 I do not trust in my bow, my sword does not bring me victory; 7 but you give us victory over our enemies, you put our adversaries to shame.
8 In God we make our boast all day long, and we will praise your name forever.
What are the benefits of trusting the Lord?
Psalms 84:12
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