Useless advice? No way!

"Trust in the Lord."

Although the word "trust" is not actually seen in verses one through six of our psalm, it's the main idea! I think that some people today view the phrase "trust in the Lord" as a bit of nice advice that is impractical (some people would even call it useless advice) for someone who is suffering in a trial. 

But it is NOT useless -- it is some of the most practical and wise counsel that we can follow when we find ourselves in a difficult situation. What does it actually mean? And how does this glorify God?

Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy,

for in You my soul takes refuge.

In the shadow of Your wings I will take shelter

until the danger has passed.

I cry out to God Most High,

to God who fulfills His purpose for me.

He reaches down from heaven and saves me;

He rebukes those who trample me. Selah

God sends forth

His loving devotion and His truth. (Psalm 57:1-4)

The first thing we can see is that David wants everyone to know He is relying on God alone. The word he chooses gives us the picture of baby chicks which take refuge under their mother's wings when danger lurks about. If a chicken hawk is circling overhead, or a dog or fox is nosing about, the chicks run for mama and she puts her wings over them to cover and protect them. The chicks are entrusting their lives to her protection. Their instincts tell them: don't try to outrun the danger, just trust in mama's sheltering wings. 

Taking refuge in God means that we trust Him completely. We are depending on Him to protect us. We make the conscious choice to rely upon God alone. 

Looking at it from the other direction, it means that we do NOT rely upon human merit. In some translations, verse one says "have mercy," and in others we read, "be gracious." God's grace and mercy refer to His undeserved favor. I bet that is probably one of the hardest concepts for us to understand . . . we humans are a proud bunch. Our hearts just have trouble with the fact that we don't deserve His grace! Many believers just do not understand it -- they tell God that they've been extra good lately. They list the things they have done, from reading the Bible to attending church, to giving of their financial blessings. 

And then they tell God what they want Him to do. Or they tell Him it's not right for them to have to endure this trial.

Based on what they have done.

Uh oh.

They think God owes them something. And that is not trusting in God alone; that is trusting in human merit. The only way we can approach God is through grace.

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— (Ephesians 2:8)

The second thing we do NOT rely upon is human methods. Here's what this is talking about . . . sometimes as believers we are too heavily reliant on methods. Barely a day goes by without someone coming up with a new concept, a new method to reach out to unbelievers.... to grow our church.... to increase our financial accounts.....   Some of these are biblical, and some are just business plans re-packaged to appeal to pastors and church members. (As long as those methods are harmonious with scripture, they should not cause problems. But we must be careful to give the Lord, not the plan, the glory!)

In our personal lives, we may be tempted to rely on human methods to get out of our trial. This is a pretty tough one to figure out, and we must pray for wisdom in order to move forward. There are times when we simply must wait on God to act on our behalf. Think about David -- once when he and his men were on the run, they hid in a cave, and Saul came into that very cave to relieve himself. Instead of doing what his men said, and killing King Saul, David crept up and silently cut off a sliver of Saul's robe. (His conscience bothered him, even then!) 

David trusted that the Lord would remove Saul without his help. Look at the phrases in our psalm posted above -- he said God reaches down, He saves him, rebukes those who trample him. David was trusting God and relying on His protection and His active care for him. He decided (with the help of the Spirit) that he should not "help" God by killing Saul, even though he knew it was God's will to give the throne to him (David).

So.

Here's the big question: When is it okay to use human methods and when is it wrong? I guess the first thing we must do is to pray for discernment. 

The next thing is to search the scriptures for examples. We should remember this -- it is ALWAYS wrong to rely totally upon human methods and give no thought to our Father. Every once in a while it may be wrong to even USE human methods, much less rely upon them and exclude God. 

Here's the big answer for our big question: We can ask ourselves who will get the glory if I use these human methods to accomplish things? Who will be glorified if I get out of my trial this way?

Maybe it's just me, but I'd rather err on the side of leaning lightly on methods and leaning heavily on trusting God.  And then make absolutely certain that God gets all the glory!

Trust in the Lord? Rely on Him alone?

Best advice ever!