Triplet of Trust

My father, in his youth, carried a pilot's license. Once and a while he would rent a small Cessna and fly around with a couple friends. I once asked him what the hardest part of flying was. He told me that it was trusting in your instruments.

He described what it was like getting caught in a storm and not being able to see. Everything in you wants to look out the windshield and figure out what’s going on, but that is a fatal move. You must fully trust your instruments; they do not lie.

It would seem to me that this is very similar to living a life of faith. We are called to trust not in our feelings but rather in the unseen God who does not lie.

(From Christopher Nerreau’s Sermon: “Don’t Lose Heart.”)

Today’s passage- - is rooted in trust. This Psalm has been called a battle Psalm because of the overtones of battle and trouble. The scene in the Psalm is surrounded by trouble and calamity. In many ways this Psalm is modeled like a worship service that we would have at church. There are three voices that speak in the Psalm. In verses 1-8 we hear the voice of an individual, who is giving testimony to the congregation about God’s faithfulness, encouraging those around them to trust in the Lord. There is then a response of the entire congregation in 9-13. The congregation responds to the worship leader and proclaims the promises of God. And then finally in 14-16 God responds to the people.

All of these voices surrounding one theme: We can trust our God.

In fact, notice that is sandwiched between one promise of God stated in 2 different ways: God will protect you- God is trustworthy. But wait for a second, because the promise of this Psalm is specific to a certain kind of people, it is not a universal promise, but a specific one with specific people in mind. The Psalmist states it three times in these verses:

v1: He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.

v9: Because you have made the LORD your dwelling place— the Most High, who is my refuge—

Because you have made the LORD your dwelling place—

v14: Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him; I will protect him, because he knows my name.

Think of it, friends. Trust is rooted in relationship. Who do I trust the most? The people that I know. Most of us would never think to allow a stranger the same privileges in our lives as those we are closest to. Is there anyone here that would be willing to drive into Harrisonburg, find a completely random stranger that you have never met and give them the keys to your home? Would you ask them to babysit your kids? Would you ask them to hold onto some money or your credit card for you? Probably not! Who do we give keys to? Who babysits out kids, or holds onto valuables for us? Those who we know, our neighbors, our family, our friends. You see, when we are in relationship with people, when we take time to learn who they are, our trust in them grows.

I will protect him, because he knows my name.

the Most High, who is my refuge—

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .

Think of the kinds of people described in this Psalm. Verses 1 and 9 describe people that dwell in the shelter of God, abide in the shadow of the almighty. The words dwell and abide are words of permanency. These are the words we associate with our homes, our houses, our places of residence. There is a sense of permanency in these places, they form us and sustain us- especially in the south when we ask someone where they are from it is a deeper question than their address, we are wondering about their values, their connections, their upbringing- where you dwell will almost always dictate who you are.

For many people God never becomes their dwelling place- God is merely their emergency room. No one lives in the emergency room. The emergency room is a temporary place that you go when you are hurting, sick, or in trouble. We go to the emergency room with full expectation to return home, or to be sent to a long term place- we get frustrated when we are in the emergency room for too long. Some people treat God this way. God is who they turn to in trouble, when they are in need, when they are sick. God is merely a place they visit in the tough times. We like having hospitals close in our cities and towns, knowing that we can get to one quickly if we break a bone or suffer a heart attack. Many people love to know that God is close, that they can get to Him quickly when they need him, he is a fixture in their life, but not their residence. God is a really good emergency room. But at some point in our lives God must become something more if we really want to know him....

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .

There is a Latin phrase that I love- Coram Deo- which means living in the presence of God. It carries this idea that we are made to live fully aware and full inside the presence of God. That our home, where we are meant to be is openly in the eye of God. God wants to be our home. Our place where we reside, the place that forms us and creates who we are. God is supposed to be our primary.

Verse 14 says that God will protect those who know his name. Now, you may be thinking “I know God’s name! It’s God, Yahweh, Jesus...” Yes, that is true, but we must remember that especially in Hebrew culture to know someone’s name meant something much deeper than just the thing we call them. The names was connected to who they are, knowing them intricately. There are a ton of people that know your name, but they do not know who you are. They know your name, but they do not know your heart. Is that you with God? We learn God’s name in Sunday School, sermons, and Bible Study- we learn who God is by having a relationship with him.

Think about living in the presence of God again, they say that you never know someone until you live with them- many of us learned this when we got married. We dated a person- sometimes for a long time, but we learned all kinds of new things about them- good and bad- once we got married and started to live together. Can I just say, many people- maybe even some of you- will spend your whole life dating Jesus. You will get with him and hang out once a month or once a week, but you have not committed to letting him move in.

1-8: A person speaks

9-13- A Community responds

14-16: God responds

Trust comes from living in the presence of God

Coram Deo

Also, notice the context and content of the promises in this Psalm. The Psalm never says that trouble will not come, or will not surround you. In fact, it says the exact opposite. Read v3-6.

This promise sandwiches the Psalm

You see, trust is a learned behavior- we are not pre-programmed to trust. Trusting people is learned by our interactions with them. I think about our dear Foster Daughter. She trusts Jessica and I, why? Because we are there for her in her times of need- but she did not just trust us because she came to live with us. No, the first few weeks of being her foster parents were touch and go- she was only a few months old and here are these 2 random people that are now caring for her. She learned to trust us because she cried and we were there- she was hungry and we fed her, she was hurt and we consoled her, she was sleepy and we rocked her- trust was learned not given.

How do we learn to trust God? By being put in situations that demand we trust him. Trouble comes our way and we think “why is God punishing me?” and God is saying “I’m not, I am showing you that you can trust me.” God puts us in situations to build our trust- one testimony at a time.

Some of you all know that I bought a little project car at the end of last summer- a 1984 Mustang. This car had been in someone’s barn for the past few years, but was a heck of a deal, and a project I have always wanted to tackle. The car wouldn’t start when we picked it up, so I dollied it home and got to work. A new battery, tightening some wires and filtering some fuel and she fired up. Can you guess where my first ride was to? Shane Biller’s house- for you all that don’t know Shane lives about 3 miles from me and I only go about 1/4 on a main road to get there- so it was a good test run. My next run was to 7/11 in Mauzy, then to Mt Jackson, then I took it down 81- that’s when I realized it needed a water pump.... I didn’t get in the car the first time and kick it across state lines- no! I wasn’t sure that it could handle such a ride, I didn’t trust the car yet. As I took more and more trips- each a little longer than the last, checking off different road conditions I learned to trust the car more and more.

I think that is a lot like our relationship with Christ- we come to know Jesus and begin to follow him and the first sign of trouble along the way we can get overwhelmed, but Jesus is saying- I want you to trust me, and this will teach you something about me to build trust. How do you learn to trust God in the midst of cancer? By looking to the times he didn’t fail you when you had strep throat, or you tore your rotatory cuff, or you got in the car accident. How do you know you can trust God when you child leaves for college? By remembering he protected them on the first day of school, the day they confronted a bully, their first day with a drivers license, and all the other days along the way. How do you trust God when you lose your job? By remembering all of the other bills he helped you pay, the other jobs that he brought you, and the other unexpected bumps along your path that he took care of.

There is not a promise that trouble will not come- but that when Trouble comes we will be delivered

I love the testimony’s of people who had radical transformations of faith- they were drug deals or prostitutes and Jesus radically changes them in an instant- those things teach us about Jesus’ radical grace and unfailing love. But there is something just as beautiful about someone who never turned to drugs or alcohol, their testimony may be bland or boring to some people- but they teach us about God’s undying faithfulness and eternal favor.

So what does your story of faith, your testimony of trust look like? What stories can you tell of God’s faithfulness and how your trust in God has developed over the years?

One last thing- don’t focus on the wrong things when it comes to trust. We think a lot about deliverance. Being set free from what is holding us back or weighing us down. Don’t focus too much on the deliverance piece of trust- Deliverance is from God but deliverance is not God. Here’s what I mean by that- It takes faith to believe that God will deliver you, but it takes even more faith to know that if God doesn’t deliver you he is still God and he is still good. Oswald Chambers said it this way: “Faith for my deliverance is not faith in God. Faith means, whether I am visibly delivered or not, I will stick to my belief that God is love. There are some things only learned in a fiery furnace.”

Can I ask you a blunt question today? The thing that you are praying the most for right now- If God says no, will you still trust him? It takes faith to believe that God will say yes, but it takes even more faith to believe that God is still good when God says no. We teach our kids to trust us by coming through for them, but at some point if we only say yes and never say so their trust quickly turns to entitlement. You know, entitlement those kids who fall apart the moment that they don't get what they want…yea those kids. God want’s a trust people, not an entitled people. When we put our eyes on the deliverance and not the deliverer we miss the mark- we trust the wrong thing.