Week 12 – How Trust in God Is Built

Nov 19, 2010 Gary Henry F – Faith

“Therefore let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to Him in doing good, as to a faithful Creator” (1 Peter 4:19).

In the Scriptures, there is a great triad of virtues: faith, hope, and love (1 Corinthians 13:13; 1 Thessalonians 5:8). Together, these qualities of Christian character summarize the right response of the human heart to God our Creator. But long before these qualities appeared together in the New Testament, they were praised and recommended in the Psalms. In this lesson, we begin with “faith.”

Faith is more than mere belief. Yes, we must certainly believe the truth about God intellectually, but beyond that, we must learn to trust Him personally. As James Dobson put it, “Faith in God is like believing a man can walk over Niagara Falls on a tightrope while pushing a wheelbarrow. Trust in God is like getting into the wheelbarrow!”

Faith and trust in God are not passive qualities but active ones. Paul, for example, expressed appreciation for the Thessalonians’ “work of faith” (1 Thessalonians 1:3). One measure of our faith is how industrious we are in the service of God. To trust God is to labor actively in His work in the world.

We live in an age when the tide of unbelief is increasing at an alarming rate. No longer surrounded by a culture that even pays lipservice to faith, we are presented with a challenge: will we give in to the independent, autonomous spirit of the age or will we maintain trust in God? Will we bow to the pressure of cynical doubters and disbelievers or will we hang on to the solid evidence that God can be counted on?

Faith and trust are not things that we gain once and for all at the moment of our conversion; they are qualities that have to be grown. So one of the most important things in the spiritual life is to see the importance of trusting God at deeper and deeper levels in our lives. We must learn and believe more and more of the truth about God, and then based on that faith, we must learn to trust Him in more and more areas of our lives. Not a day should go by when we do not work on increasing our trust in God.

But if we need to grow in our trust in God, how do we do that? That is what we will try to find out in this lesson by looking into the Psalms.

“Preserve me, O God, for in You I put my trust” (Psalm 16:1).

Monday: Psalm 36:5-8

Key Idea: Our God is a God of eternal, perfect faithfulness.

1. What do we mean when we say that God is “faithful”? To what does David compare God’s faithfulness? What other attributes of God are mentioned?
2. How can we know that God is a faithful God: (1) by His faithful acts in the history of salvation, (2) by His faithfulness in other people’s lives, or (3) by His faithfulness in our own lives? Which of these do you think is the most important?
3. Compare the words “truth” and “trust.” How is our trust in God related to His truthfulness? Consider, for example, Titus 1:1,2.
4. Think about Numbers 14:11. When Israel failed to go in and take the land of Canaan, why was their lack of confidence in God so blameworthy? Why should they have trusted God more? In what sense can it be said that they were not “believers”? See Deuteronomy 1:32 and Hebrews 3:18,19.
5. If a person has personally seen the “signs” that God has performed, how does that person’s faith differ from that of a person who has not? What can we learn from John 20:29 on this point?

Tuesday: Psalm 31:23,24

Key Idea: God has been faithful to us; we ought to be faithful to Him.

1. In this passage, who are the “faithful” whom the Lord “preserves”? In v. 24, what are the faithful encouraged to do? What does it mean to “hope in the Lord”?
2. Consider 2 Timothy 2:11-13. Is God’s faithfulness to us conditioned on our faithfulness to Him? In what sense will He remain faithful even if we prove faithless?
3. Should our confidence in God fluctuate with the ups and downs of momentary experience? What can we learn from Job’s attitude in Job 13:15? Compare this with Daniel 3:16-18.
4. In 2 Corinthians 5:14,15, what was Paul’s motivation to remain true to God?

Wednesday: Psalm 20:7,8

Key Idea: God is our only perfect source of security.

1. What does David mean when he says that “some trust in chariots, and some in horses”? If we need strength or protection, what is our only real hope?
2. Everyone has someone or something in which they place their ultimate trust. Other than God, what are the things people often look to for their security? Consider these: spouses, families, money, work, possessions, pleasure, friends, self. Can you think of others?
3. Is it inconsistent for the person who trusts God to do all he can to provide for himself? If two people do all they can outwardly to provide for themselves, what is the inward difference between the one who trusts God and the one who does not?
4. What difference did Jonathan’s attitude make in 1 Samuel 14:6? See also Asa’s attitude in 2 Chronicles 14:11.
5. How should the truth of Psalm 127:1,2 affect our attitude?
6. What was Paul’s perspective on security in Romans 8:31?

Thursday: Psalm 37:3-8

Key Idea: We ought to put our complete trust and confidence in God.

1. In v.3, what admonition is given? What are we encouraged to do in v.5? What about v.7?
2. In practical, everyday terms, what are the evidences that show whether we’ve really put our trust in the Lord?
3. Think of the analogy between our heart and a large house with many rooms. In some things, we trust God and have given Him access to those “rooms,” but what about the “rooms” that we have not yet given Him access to? What are the aspects of life where it is hardest to trust God?
4. Considering 1 Peter 4:19, what does it mean to “commit” ourselves to God?

Friday: Psalm 34:8-10

Key Idea: We gain greater trust in God by making real commitments to Him.

1. In v.8, how do we learn of God’s goodness and trustworthiness? In v.9, what does it mean to “fear the Lord”? In v.10, who are those who “shall not lack any good thing”?
2. Would you say that growing in faith and trust is an “intellectual” or an “experiential” process? Can we do it merely by thinking or do we have to get involved in actual situations where trust is required?
3. Can we learn to trust God more without taking some risks? Is there any completely “safe” way to grow in faith?
4. Is there not a good sense in which we are to “prove” God? Consider Malachi 3:10. What is the difference between this rightful proving of God and a wrongful testing or tempting of God?
5. What did Paul mean in Philippians 4:11-13 when he said that he had “learned” to trust God in all circumstances? How did he learn what he knew of God’s dependability?

Putting It All Together

God has proven His trustworthiness over and over again, while every other source of security has proven undependable. Faith means not only believing the truth about God but also trusting Him personally and committing ourselves to Him. We must make it a priority to grow in our trust in God. We gain greater trust by getting actively involved and learning by experience that God is trustworthy.

Gary Henry – WordPoints.com