How can I learn to trust in God?

But now there is another matter, and it is this. We spoke of the young man starting on the voyage of life, his hand apparently holding the tiller, and guiding the ship. Now many a young man, and even a young believer, thinks that this is not only apparently, but is really so, and that he is the architect of his own fortunes, and that it is his will that is to direct his future life. Many accept Christ as their Saviour, who have but a very faint idea of what it is to accept God as their Father; and yet the one relationship is as true as the other. And if the one makes them happy for eternity , the other is certainly the secret of true happiness for time . There is a wonderful difference between the young man who goes forth rejoicing in his own strength and sagacity, and thinks that he can outwit the world, and the humble Christian who leaves home placing the tiller of the little vessel of his life into his Father's hand, and trusts Him to guide him aright through the dangers and difficulties of each day. “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.” Do not think that any detail of your new life is too small for God to guide you in. The choice of your business, of your future home, of your companions, should all be entrusted to Him; and He will greatly own and honor such confidence, and lead you in the very best path . For it is folly to suppose that if we have a loving and all-wise Father, He would or could do anything else. The poet's words are indeed true:

Let us beware lest we fail in our confidence in the Lord as those fearful men failed. We may have spoken of safety in Him in fair weather, but when sailing upon stormy waters let us hold firmly to the fact that He cannot fail. Have we committed ourselves to His keeping? He is most worthy of our trust. Can we say as said Paul of old, "I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed to Him against that day"? Do we know His love and His wisdom so well that we can stay our minds upon Him and put the helm of our tiny craft into His hands and leave it there? Do we ask sometimes, "Carest Thou not?" Let the Scriptures give the answer: "Casting all your care upon Him; for He cares for you" (1 Peter 5:7).

Let us beware lest we fail in our confidence in the Lord as those fearful men failed. We may have spoken of safety in Him in fair weather, but now we are surely sailing upon stormy waters and are being tested and may yet be more hardly tested as to where our trust is placed. Let us hold firmly to the fact that He cannot fail. Have we committed ourselves to His keeping? He is most worthy of our trust. Can we say as said Paul of old, "I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed to Him against that day"? Can we pass through the present trial no matter how severe it may become, knowing that He could remove it, but does not do so, seems indeed to be asleep in regard to it, and yet be quiet and restful about it all? It is written, "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee: because He trusted in Thee. Trust ye in the Lord for ever: for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength" (Isa. 26:3). Do we know His love and His wisdom so well that we can stay our minds upon Him and put the helm of our tiny craft into His hands and leave it there? Do we ask sometimes, "Carest Thou not?" Let the Scriptures give the answer, "Casting all your care upon Him; for He careth for you" (1 Peter 5:7).

Firstly (verses 1, 2) we learn that this life is one of perfect dependence upon God as we hear the Lord say, "Preserve me, O God." As a Divine Person He could have preserved Himself, but this would have been no pattern for us. He did not preserve Himself, nor avail Himself of the aid of twelve legions of angels. He walked through this world with all its trials in entire dependence upon God, as became the position He had taken as Man. Moreover, the One on Whom He depended was One in Whom He had perfect confidence, for He can say, "In Thee do I put my trust." In human affairs we may be dependent upon one in whom we have little confidence. In God we have One on Whom we can depend by casting all our care upon Him, and can do so with perfect confidence knowing that He cares for us (1 Peter 5:7). The apostle Paul, following the Lord's example, expresses his dependence, when he says, in the midst of all the trials he had to face, the Lord "will preserve me to His heavenly kingdom", and shows his confidence in the Lord, when he adds "The Lord shall deliver me from every evil work" (2 Timothy 4:18).

Such endurance is impossible without prayer. In the midst of trials and hardships, the various perplexities which come upon the believer, they, as well as we, lack wisdom; we often do not know what to do. Wisdom is needed, not human wisdom, but that wisdom which is from above. This wisdom enables us to discern His will and to follow the right guidance. It is obtained by an utter dependence on God, and the expression of that dependence is prayer. He giveth to all liberally, nor does He upbraid. We can come to Him at all times, and habitually wait on Him for guidance and direction; and as we wait on Him thus and count on Him there will be no disappointment. Often believers think they have divine guidance, but it is but following some kind of an impression, certain impulses, which may come from ourselves, or from the enemy. But constant waiting on the Lord and trusting in Him, this is wisdom. All this necessitates childlike faith, which means counting on His faithfulness and on an answer from Him. If we doubt his faithfulness or question His answer we cannot receive anything from Him. Hesitance about God, a double-mindedness, depending upon something else besides God is in reality unbelief. "For he that wavereth (is not positive in his utter confidence and dependence) is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord. A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways." If the believer is double-minded, looking to the Lord and at the same time looking elsewhere, he dishonors Him, and He cannot honor the believer and answer his prayer. How blessedly it was expressed by David, which perhaps was remembered by these believing Jews, when the inspired king wrote: "My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from Him" (Psalm 62:5).

Art thou, at this moment in any pressure, in any trial, need, or difficulty? If so, let us entreat thee to look simply and solely to the living God. Turn away thine eyes completely from the creature: "Cease from man, whose breath is in his nostrils." Let thy faith take hold now on the strength of God Himself. Put thy whole case into His omnipotent hand. Cast thy burden, whatever it is, upon Him. Let there be no reserve. He is as willing as He is able, and as able as He is willing, to bear all. Only trust Him fully. He loves to be trusted — loves to be used. It is His joy, blessed be His name, to yield a ready and a full response to the appeal of faith. It is worth having a burden, to know the blessedness of rolling it over upon Him. So the king of Judah found it in the day of his trial, and so shall the reader find it now. God never fails a trusting heart. "They shall not be ashamed that wait for Me." Precious words! Let us mark how they are illustrated in the narrative before us.

For the reasons above stated, our path necessarily must be one of absolute dependence upon the Lord Jesus. In the days of His flesh, He voluntarily took this place. He was truly God all fulness was pleased to dwell in Him; but we are told that He, being found in fashion as a man, humbled Himself, took upon Him the form of a servant, and became obedient, etc. We could not take upon ourselves the form of a servant; for we are servants, and never were anything else. In this way it is that the blessed Lord trod the path of faith perfectly, and has left us an example that we should follow His steps. Hence we are told that "when He was reviled, He reviled not again; when He suffered, He threatened not; but committed Himself to Him that judgeth righteously." And so in this psalm, the first words are, "Preserve me, O God: for in Thee do I put my trust." How wondrous is the love and lowliness that could take the place of such entire dependence! Surely when hungry for forty days and nights He could have commanded bread to be brought forth, and it could not possibly be withheld; but He chose this place of dependence, and replied, "It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." Again, on another occasion, when men were seeking to swallow Him up in their cruel hatred, could He not have prayed to His Father, and He would presently have given Him twelve legions of angels? (Matt. 26:53.) Most assuredly He could; but He chose rather the path of dependence and obedience as Jehovah's servant, and in this He has left a perfect example for us to follow. I gather, therefore, from this psalm, that a life of absolute and constant dependence will characterize those who follow Christ. As the apostle Paul forcibly puts it, "Having nothing, and yet possessing all things;" having no resources in self, no stock in hand, but unceasing and thorough dependence on Another for all our help. And I doubt not that the true effect of entering into our perfect standing, and full character of blessing in Christ, will be to seek to bring the power of all that into this present scene, as alone suited to Him whom having not seen we love. It is comparatively easy and natural to make God our refuge in great emergencies, and in peculiar trials; but to trust in Him at all times as the constant habit of our lives, in all the details of our brief sojourn here, is another thing. To look to Him about every matter, whether rough or smooth, painful or pleasant, and to go forth day by day watching His hand, obeying His voice, leaning on His arm, associating all the almightiness of His power, the infiniteness of His wisdom, and perfectness of His love with all our affairs, great or small, at home or abroad, things spiritual or temporal, must mark the character of those who thus live in dependence on God. So perfectly and unceasingly was this path of dependence trodden by the Son of God that we hear Him saying, "I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, He gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak. … Whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak." (John 12:49-50.) Here we see the perfectness of the blessed Lord in thus depending on the Father for every word He should speak; and His seeking a solitary place in the wilderness for prayer, getting up a great while before day and going out into a desert place to pray, spending a whole night in prayer, and being usually engaged in prayer before any great event, such as choosing His apostles, the transfiguration, etc., all show the reality of the life of dependence which this perfect One lived. From all this, and other Scriptures, we learn how faith, prayer, and thanksgiving must ever accompany our exercise of real dependence upon God.

Let the believer always have this simplicity of confidence that the Lord may be fully depended on to lead him rightly. This is far from bold self-confidence, just as it is far from the impatience that acts as in a panic. For God is calm and deliberate in the carrying out of His will and faith in Him will give quiet calmness too.

Yet we are told to “cease from thine own wisdom,” which means that wisdom cannot be rightly used save as you “trust in the Lord with all thine heart”—wisdom must not be divorced from real communion with and dependence upon the Lord.

Let us clearly grasp it, that wisdom is not merely the application of human sagacity to human circumstances, but it must be in connection with Him, “who of God is made to us WISDOM” (1 Cor. 1:30). “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom” (Prov. 9:10). “The fear of the Lord prolongs days” (Prov. 10:27). Have we begun with wisdom? Let us learn a lesson from the wisest of men. “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not to thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths” (Prov. 3:5-6).