This week we continue our X-Ray Questions series, as we look at the question: What or whom do you trust? You can read the other posts in this series by clicking here.

X-Ray Question:

(11) What or whom do you trust?

Trust is one of the major verbs relating you to God – or to false gods and lies. Crucial psalms breathe trust in our Father and Shepherd. Where instead do you place life-directing, life anchoring trust? In other people? In your abilities or achievements? In your church or theological tradition? In possessions? In diet, exercise, and medical care?

Understand

The person or object that we trust is the one we believe will provide us with happiness, joy, protection, deliverance, comfort, etc. Our trust should be in God and God alone because finite persons, inanimate objects, your abilities and achievements, or thoughts (I have in mind here theological traditions, or health ideas) will always fail you.

Repent

We must repent by realizing that God should be the one we must place our trust in, not in our own abilities or achievements, our traditions, other people, or objects. For when we decide to place our trust in anything other than God, we are trusting in something that will ultimately fail us and we are leaning on our own understanding. Solomon writes in Proverbs 3:5:

Trust in the Lord with all your heart
And do not lean on your own understanding

Solomon also tells us that the one who leans on his own understanding is a fool (Prov. 12:15)

In Psalm 103, David tells his readers of the benefits of the Lord: He pardons all your iniquities, heals all your diseases, redeems your life from the pit, crowns you with both lovingkindness and compassion, and He takes care of the oppressed by performing righteous deeds and judgments for them. Not only does God do all those things, David also says He “satisfies your years with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle.”

The Lord’s benefits are greater than we could ever imagine and ever hope. Since He is the Holy, Unchangeable, and Sovereign Lord, what David wrote will never change. God is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. As a result, we can place our trust in Him knowing He will bring us joy, comfort, peace, deliverance, protection, etc. In short, He alone will fill the longings of our heart.

Scripture

Here are a few passages from God’s word to meditate on this week, as you consider the question: What or whom do you trust?: Prov. 3:5, 11, 18; 12:15; Pss 23, 103, 131.

All X-Ray questions taken from David Powlison’s book Seeing with New Eyes.