A Matter of Trust

Introduction

It's said that it takes countless acts of faithfulness and honest dealings to earn someone's trust; that trust is earned over a long period of time. However, that hard-earned trust can be lost in an instant of one single indiscretion or dishonest act. Thereafter, restoring trust can prove to be more difficult than earning the trust in the first place. In fact, if an act of broken trust is egregious enough (although such an act is quite subjective) trust may never again be restored. In such a case, true and intimate relationship is not possible. Trust is a precarious matter. In our culture in particular, trust seems to be an easily expendable commodity. Husbands are dishonest with their wives, wives are dishonest with their husbands, children are dishonest with their parents, neighbors are dishonest with each other, and politicians...don't even get me started on that! Trust, however, is far more than a matter of being honest or dishonest. Trust is the fundamental element and basis for all healthy relationships. It encompasses our speech, our actions and our attitudes toward one another. If you're not quite sure that you agree or understand my point, consider for a moment if it would be possible for the world to exist if you could not trust anyone. Before you dismiss my point, consider the many times you blindly trust everyday: For those of you who wear contacts, you trust that someone hasn't replaced your contact solution with acid. For those of you who have bank accounts, you trust that those at the bank won't steal your hard-earned money. For those of you who are students, you trust that your teachers won't arbitrarily give you an "F" on all of your work. I can give you countless other examples but I'm hoping you get my point, we must trust in order to function in our society. Most important of all is the roll trust plays in our relationships. We can, of course, be in relationship with people without trusting them entirely. However, such relationships are really only functionary. In other words, these are relationships where people just use each other for what they need and/or want. These are not relationships rooted in love for another, for love requires trust. Specifically, with respect to our relationship with God, everything is a matter of trust.

Trust is a very important theological concept forged in the fire of the Old Testament first and thereafter passing through the refiner's fire in the New Testament. However, as is often the case, the English translation of the Old Testament Hebrew and New Testament Greek fails to fully convey the relational depth of biblical trust. Therefore, the purpose of this lesson is to take a close look at the biblical meaning of "trust" with particular attention to its use and development in the Old Testament with added elaboration from the New Testament.

Meaning

The Hebrew word for “trust” is jfb (bth). The word occurs 120 times in the Old Testament with 44 occurrences alone in the Psalms and a significant number in the book of Isaiah as well.[1] “Trust is a concept of central importance in the OT. It expresses that which is, or at least should be, central in people’s relationship with God.”[2] Brennan Manning writes,

“Trust is the rare and priceless treasure that wins us the affection of our heavenly Father. For him it has both charm and fascination. Among his countless children, whom he so greatly loves and whom he heaps with tenderness and favors, there are few indeed, who truly entrusting themselves to him, live as veritable children of God. There are as few who respond to his goodness by a trust at once filial and unshaken. And so it is that he welcomes with a love of predilection those souls, all too few in number, who in adversity as in joy, in tribulation and consolation, unfalteringly trust in his paternal love. Such souls truly delight and give immense pleasure to the heart of their heavenly Father. There is nothing he is not prepared to give them. ‘Ask of me half of my Kingdom’ he cries to the trusting soul, and ‘I will give it to you.”[3]

The primary meaning of jfb (bth) is “to trust” or “to feel secure” while in other less frequent cases it can mean “to be confident,” “carefree” or “unsuspecting.” In the causative Hebrew stem of the word, its usage means “to cause to rely on someone or something” or “to inspire confidence.”[4]

Historical Development

Historically, however, it is difficult to determine the specific development of the word. In part that’s because its primary use in many of the passages of the Psalms is difficult to date because those particular Psalms are difficult to date. Adding to the difficulty of determining the word’s development is its use to describe man often in a negative sense while at the same time describing God in a positive sense. It is, however, believed that Isaiah was influential in the usage of the word.

“Weiser refers to Isa. 30:15 and argues that Isaiah played an important role in the history of the word, but it is doubtful whether he really gave so much impetus to its development. Perhaps it would be more appropriate to emphasize that the root bth is intimately connected with Wisdom Literature…Isaiah, whose language is strongly influenced by Wisdom terminology, could have used the form bitchah in order to express the peculiar idea of ‘trust’ in God. Afterward there arose a greater and greater distinction between the two usages of bth depending on whether a particular passage was speaking of man or of God.”[5]

This finding certainly bears out when considering the varied uses of jfb (bth) throughout the Old Testament. Trust is rarely if ever a quality that is associated with man but always a quality associated with God.

Usage

The uses of jfb (bth) can be more specifically categorized as 1) Trust that is taken for granted; 2) False security (trusting in the wrong things); and 3) Trust in God. An example of trust taken for granted can be found in Proverbs 3:29; “Do not plot harm against your neighbor, who lives trustfully near you.” This usage makes clear that there is an unspoken trust that is taken for granted between neighbors that must be honored. Likewise, there are numerous examples of admonitions against false securities throughout the Old Testament. Particularly prominent is the false security in riches as expressed in Proverbs 11:28; “Whoever trusts in his riches will fall…” Although there are countless examples of this throughout the Old Testament, it is particularly useful to recall Jesus’ parable of the rich farmer who, when he prospered, simply built bigger barns for his crops. He trusted his future to his agricultural wealth and neglected the fact that God is the author of life and death—an extremely good example of false security. Another example of false security in the Old Testament is the false security found in fortified cites, weapons, horses, chariots and warriors. For example, Isaiah 31:1 records an admonition; “Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, who rely on horses, who trust in the multitude of their chariots and in the great strength of their horsemen, but do not look to the Holy One of Israel, or seek help from the LORD.” Ultimately, there are no longer any kingdoms or empires in existence today that existed during the Old Testament age—yet God is the same today as he was then. Finally, the positive usage of the word is particularly prominent in reference to true security that can be found in God alone. This is the clearest usage yet of the word. We can read one of the many examples of this in Jeremiah 17:7; “But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him.” This stands in sharp contrast to Jeremiah’s admonition a few verses earlier in verse five where he writes, “This is what the LORD says: "Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who depends on flesh for his strength and whose heart turns away from the LORD.” When considering the use of jfb (bth) in its entirety, an unmistakable principle begins to emerge—trust in anything other than God alone is fleeting at best and destructive at worst. Primarily because trust in anything other than God involves being in “relationship” with something or someone (including ourselves) that has been distorted by the ravages of sin. This point cannot be over-emphasized. “Thus the feeling of being secure in God is the only certain support for human life.”[6]

Theological Significance

The concept of trust is crucial within the understanding of our theological construct. As stated previously, “It expresses that which is, or at least should be, central in people’s relationship with God.”[7] It is important to note that there are significant sections of the Old Testament that do not include the word jfb (bth). This is particularly important when we consider that those sections are the books of Genesis, Exodus, Numbers and Samuel which include the narratives of such biblical greats as Abraham, Moses and David! “This instantly shows that it would be foolish solely to focus attention of the specific occurrences of a certain Heb. root…and that one must consider the concept of a certain type of relationship with God that is represented by the specific word.”[8] Nowhere is this relational concept more evident than in the words of Christ recorded in John 14:1; “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, trust also in me.” Although “trust” is derived not from the Hebrew in this case but from the Greek verb pisteuo, which is also translated as “believe,” and the Greek noun pistis which is translated “faith,” the principle of relationship is the same. Christ is building a foundation upon which a relationship with him can be erected and that foundation is firmly planted on the bedrock of “trust” in a God whom they already knew to be good, holy and faithful. Therefore, when considering both the negative and the positive usage of the word jfb (bth), a clear relational theme begins to emerge. Yet a simple word study can fall short of painting a clear picture of the theological and relational significance that is intended to be conveyed.

“The story line of faith and its relational dynamics are the reasons that word studies will fail theology as a method for discussing faith in the Pentateuch. The hazards of word studies are well illustrated by the virtual absence of ‘trust’ in the Pentateuch. ‘Trusting in the Lord’ is clearly related to ‘faith’ and is well represented in Psalms and Proverbs (batah, ‘to trust’). The idea of trusting or not trusting God is reflected in many of the pentateuchal stories and exhortations, but it is not reflected in the characteristic vocabulary of the Pentateuch.”[9]

Particularly in those pentateuchal narratives, God is depicted consistently trying to realign the relationships of his people away from trusting in governments, people, self, riches, strength, influence or appearances, all of which have been distorted by sin and are destined to perish, and move them back into relationship with himself—the God who is perfect, holy, unchanging and eternal. Ultimately, the theological concept conveyed by the word jfb (bth) is perhaps the most important of all biblical concepts as Manning writes, “The stakes here are enormous, for I have not said in my heart, ‘God exists,’ until I have said, ‘I trust you.’ The first assertion is rational, abstract, a matter perhaps of natural theology, the mind laboring at its logic.  The second is ‘communion, bread on the tongue from an unseen hand.’ Against insurmountable obstacles and without a clue as to the outcome, the trusting heart says, ‘Abba, I surrender my will and my life to you without any reservation and with boundless confidence, for you are my loving Father.’”[10]

Application

            The bible is replete with characters that model godly trust for us. Whether it’s Abraham leaving his home at God’s command before even knowing where he was going, or Daniel who trusted that God would protect him from Nebuchadnezzar’s furnace, or Peter getting out of the boat to walk on water or Jesus allowing himself to be crucified, we are quite familiar with the biblical examples of trust. But what does this trust look like in our everyday lives? Is trust emotional, psychological, physical or spiritual? The short answer is: It’s all of those things at various times in our lives; We cry out in our sorrow and pain for the God who comforts us, we confidently live our lives in the knowledge that God is sovereign, our actions reflect the fact that God is in control of what we say and do, and our spirit longs for the day when we can spend eternity with God. Don’t get me wrong, trust is far from easy. Manning writes, “Unwavering trust is a rare and precious thing because it often demands a degree of courage that borders on the heroic…It requires heroic courage to trust in the love of God no matter what happens to us.”[11] Trust is a precious commodity in God’s economy and those who trust their families, relationships, finances, careers, etc. to God’s care won’t be disappointed (cf. Rom 10:11). Being in a love relationship with the Creator of the universe requires, devotion, worship, discipline, humility along with countless other actions and attitudes. However, above all else, our love relationship with God ultimately boils down to simply A Matter of Trust.

            I’d like to share an excerpt from William Young’s wonderful novel, The Shack, that illustrates my point about the relational dynamic of trust. Without giving away the story, the main character, Mack, has lost his little girl to a serial child molester/killer while camping with his other two children. In his grief, he searches for her and finds himself in “the shack” where, it turns out, his daughter was killed. There, he has an encounter with all three persons of the Trinity. In the particular scene I want to share, a grieving and angry Mack is having a meal with Papa (the Father), Sarayu (the Spirit) and Jesus (the Son). Mack asks what any reasonable person would ask in his position: Why? That’s where we’ll pick up the conversation with Papa speaking.

            “We created you, the human, to be in face-to-face relationship with us, to join our circle of love. As difficult as it will be for you to understand, everything that has taken place is occurring exactly according to this purpose, without violating choice or will.

            “How can you say that with all the pain in this world, all the wars and disasters that destroy thousands?” Mack’s voice quieted to a whisper. “And what is the value in a little girl being murdered by some twisted deviant?” There it was again, the question that lay burning a hole in his soul. “You may not cause those things, but you certainly don’t stop them.”

            “Mackenzie,” Papa answered tenderly, seemingly not offended in the least by his accusation, “there are millions of reasons to allow pain and hurt and suffering rather than to eradicate them, but most of those reasons can only be understood within each person’s story. I am not evil. You are the ones who embrace fear and pain and power and rights so readily in your relationships. But your choices are also not stronger than my purposes, and I will use every choice you make for the ultimate good and the most loving outcome.”

            “You see,” interjected Sarayu, “broken humans center their lives around things that seem good to them, but that will neither fill them nor free them. They are addicted to power, or the illusion of security that power offers. When a disaster happens, those same people will turn against the false power they trusted. In their disappointment, they either become softened toward me or they become bolder in their independence. If you could only see how all of this ends and what we will achieve without the violation of one human will—then you would understand. One day you will.”

            “But the cost!” Mack was staggered. “Look at the cost—all the pain, all the suffering, everything that is so terrible and evil.” He paused and looked down at the table. “And look what it has cost you. Is it worth it?”

            “Yes!” came the unanimous, joyful response of all three.

            “But how can you say that?” Mack blurted. “It all sounds like the end justifies the means, that to get what you want you will go to any length, even if it costs the lives of billions of people.”

            “Mackenzie.” It was the voice of Papa again, especially gentle and tender. “You really don’t understand yet. You try to make sense of the world in which you live based on a very small and incomplete picture of reality. It is like looking at a parade through the tiny knothole of hurt, pain, self-centeredness, and power, and believing you are on your own and insignificant. All of these contain powerful lies. You see pain and death as ultimate evils and God as the ultimate betrayer, or perhaps, at best, as fundamentally untrustworthy. You dictate the terms and judge my actions and find me guilty. The real underlying flaw in your life, Mackenzie, is that you don’t think that I am good. If you knew I was good and that everything—the means, the ends, and all the processes of individual lives—is all covered by my goodness, then while you might not always understand what I am doing, you would trust me. But you don’t.”

            “I don’t?” asked Mack, but it was not really a question. It was a statement of fact and he knew it. The others seemed to know it too and the table remained silent.

            Sarayu spoke. “Mackenzie, you cannot produce trust just like you cannot ‘do’ humility. It either is or is not. Trust is the fruit of a relationship in which you know you are loved. Because you do not know that I love you, you cannot trust me.”

            Again there was silence, and finally Mack looked up at Papa and spoke. “I don’t know how to change that.”

            “You can’t, not alone. But together we will watch that change take place. For now I just want you to be with me and discover that our relationship is not about performance or you having to please me. I’m not a bully, not some self-centered demanding little deity insisting on my own way. I am good, and I desire only what is best for you. You cannot find that through guilt or condemnation or coercion, only through a relationship of love. And I do love you.”…

            “One last comment,” he [Mack] added, turning back. “I just can’t imagine any final outcome that would justify all this.”

            “Mackenzie.” Papa rose out of her chair and walked around the table to give him a big squeeze. “We’re not justifying it. We are redeeming it.”[12]

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[1]Abraham Evan-Shoshan, A New Concordance of the Bible, (Jerusalem, Kiryat Sefer Publishing House, 1997) pp. 164-165.

[2] Willem A. VanGemeren, ed., New International Dictionary of Old Testament Theology & Exegesis, Vol. 1, (Grand Rapids, MI, Zondervan Publishing House, 1997) p. 644.

[3] Brenan Manning, Ruthless Trust, (New York, NY, HarperCollins Publishers, 2000) p. 3.

[4] David J. A. Clines,ed., The Dictionary of Classical Hebrew,(Sheffield, England, Sheffield Academic Press, 1995) p. 120.

[5] Ibid., p. 94.

[6] Ibid., p. 93.

[7] Willem A. VanGemeren, ed., Dictionary of Old Testment Theology & Exegesis, p. 644.

[8] Ibid., p. 648.

[9] T. Desmond Alexander and David W. Baker, eds., Dictionary of the Old Testament: Pentateuch, (Downers Grove, IL, InterVarsity Press, 2003), p. 281.

[10] Brennan Manning, Ruthless Trust, pp. 6-7.

[11] Ibid., pp. 3-4.

[12] William P. Young, The Shack, (Newbury Park, CA: Windblown Media, 2007), pp. 124-127.