Read the instructions - then trust in Him

 

My grandma used to say, "There's method to my madness!" In other words, if you looked carefully, there was a logical reasoning behind how she did things and why.  Some task or process may have seemed chaotic or illogical, but in time, the "method" behind the "madness" could be seen.

In much the same way, if we will look carefully, we will see a pattern in how God works: He doesn't work through man's strength or schemes (though, as we've seen, He can use ANYTHING to further His plans), but He does work through those who fear (reverence) and trust Him.

Have I made it as clear as mud? Let me try to explain . . . . 

In verses six through twelve, we studied the power of God's Word. Now we will look at how God accomplishes things.

From heaven the Lord looks down
    and sees all mankind;
 from his dwelling place he watches
    all who live on earth—

he who forms the hearts of all,
    who considers everything they do.

 No king is saved by the size of his army;
    no warrior escapes by his great strength.

A horse is a vain hope for deliverance;
    despite all its great strength it cannot save. (Psalm 33:13-17)

If you and I were to go up in the elevator of the Empire State building, we would walk out onto the observation deck and look around us. We could walk to the wall and peep over, and see the thousands of tiny people below. Hurrying and scurrying, they walk and drive cars and speak to others, and go about their lives. We would only be able to see a couple of blocks worth, looking almost straight down, but we'd know that beyond our gaze were many, many more streets and many thousands (millions) of people. We wouldn't know their names. We wouldn't know what was going on in their lives. We wouldn't know what was in their hearts.

But we know Someone Who does know all of that. 

The psalmist pictured God as looking down from heaven just like we were looking down from the observation deck. But there's two HUGE differences! God sees everyone on earth - not just those two blocks we can see, looking straight down from the building. He sees the bustling city of Hong Kong, and all of the freedom fighters there. He sees a pastor in Canada who is feeding the poor and preaching the gospel, in spite of persecution. He sees a missionary fending off demons in the wilderness of Africa. He sees the native hunting for food in the Amazon, and he sees the suited businessman in the skyscraper, too. More than just seeing everyone, God knows what they are thinking in their hearts. He made each of us -- and He understands not only what we do, but also why we do it!

In verse sixteen, the psalmist mentions a king going out to battle. He's proud of his mighty army. Is he trusting in that army for victory? God knows. The soldier nearby is strong, muscular, and well-trained, and he counts himself fortunate to have his impressive horse to add to his advantages. Is the soldier trusting in his own strength and the strength of his horse? God knows.

Even as believers, who say that we trust in God's faithfulness, our human tendency is to perfect our methods. By this I mean, we will trust in the methods. We live in a day that is overwhelmed with how-to books and manuals on how to live a victorious Christian life. We see techniques on how to have that idyllic, happy family. We see instruction books, seminars, and workbooks on how to build a successful network of disciples, or how to grow a church organically. Now, don't get me wrong -- many of these methods are helpful because they are based on Scripture. And I think that we all can agree that God's normal way of working (both to resolve situations and to "grow" Christians) is not faith alone, but instead: faith plus something. 

Faith plus hard work.

Faith plus a scripture-based method or means to accomplish His will.

For humans, the danger is that we read the instruction book, or plug in the method, and trust IN THEM to work.  It's far better if we use the instructions while we trust IN HIM to work. The psalmist is building on this concept and saying that God does not work through man's strength or schemes because then man gets the glory!

The psalmist makes another really important point, here, in verse eighteen.

But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him,
    on those whose hope is in his unfailing love,
 to deliver them from death
    and keep them alive in famine. (V. 18-19)

Verse thirteen said that God sees everyone and knows their hearts. Verse eighteen says that the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him. God looks with favor on believers who fear Him and who trust in Him to deliver them from overwhelming situations. Put into today's vernacular, he's saying, God's means of working is not to find people with slick methods and great white board talks and bless them. It's not to find the person with the best gimmick nor the most beautifully designed workbook. God's means of working is to find people who trust in Him and bless them!

Why do we know that? Well, these people are not described as strong or self-sufficient. In fact, they are in a terrible predicament. They are in grave difficulty - facing death and famine. People who know how to be thankful and to worship must first learn to trust in God. And for people to learn to trust in God, they must first be stripped of every human prop. Take everything away . . . what's left? We look to God alone for our deliverance. 

That's so important! We might ought to read that couple of sentences every day!

Paul told us in II Corinthians:

We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself. 9 Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. (II Corinthians 1:8b-9)

Oh my goodness! I love it when the Bible tells us right out loud! It's clear and I understand! God works through helpless people who trust in Him.

Verses 18-22 are filled with a variety of synonyms for trust in the Lord. We see "fear" (which means reverence), we see "hope," "waits," and these, too: "our help and shield, our heart rejoices in Him, and we trust in His holy name."

We wait in hope for the Lord;
    he is our help and our shield.
 In him our hearts rejoice,
    for we trust in his holy name.
 May your unfailing love be with us, Lord,
    even as we put our hope in you.

So, it's not that the methods are wrong -- that beautiful workbook, the talk with the whiteboard, etc -- all of those (if based on scripture) are profitable for our study and use. It's when we trust in the method that we do wrong. Our trust must be in God alone.

If we do? What then? We'll talk about the results tomorrow!