One Whom We Can Trust

Psalm 33

It is safe to say that we all like to be told the truth and want to trust the word and integrity of the people we are dealing with.  I once knew someone who constantly lied to everyone they came in contact with. No one could trust whether what they were saying was the truth or not.  Sometimes it was, but quite often their words were cleverly constructed lies. Very quickly after meeting them, most people knew that they were not someone who could be trusted for anything.  There is One, though, who we can trust implicitly, and know that every word He speaks is the absolute truth, and that is the Lord God.

Our Scripture passage today is Psalm 33, and one of its key verses, verse 4, lets us know that God’s Word is both right and true.  All of God’s Word, the Bible, is true. It is reliable. God does not lie (Numbers 23:19). His Word does not change. Unlike many people that we might know, God does not say one thing one day, and then something totally different another day.  Another thing that we can rely on is that God never goes back on or forgets a promise. Many of us might know someone whose promises mean nothing, as they rarely keep their word to us. However, when God makes a promise to us, we can trust that He will keep His Word to us.

When we have trouble believing a person’s word, it is usually because we have doubts about how reliable they have been in the past with telling the truth.  We doubt their character and integrity. When we struggle to believe that God’s Word is true, we are doubting His character. God has promised to take care of us and meet all of our needs (Philippians 4:19).  He promised to never leave us (Hebrews 13:5). There are countless other equally precious promises throughout the Bible. Do we fully believe and trust them? When we question God’s Word or His goodness, we are agreeing with Satan, who is the father of lies (John 8:44).

We read in verses 6 - 9 that when God speaks a word, the word that He says comes to life. God spoke and all of creation came into being. He didn’t have to spend eons of time pouring over blueprints. Instead He spoke, and it came into being. The author of Hebrews says that Jesus upholds all of creation by the Word of His power (Hebrews 1:3).  Not only that, but God’s Word also has resurrection power, as it can bring to life those who are dead in sin. A lost man or woman who is dead in their sins, living in the control of the kingdom of darkness, has to just open, read, and believe God’s Word, call upon Jesus, and be given new life.

Another theme in this psalm is that of the contrast between man’s plans, which are futile at best, and God’s sovereign plans (vs. 11). There is nothing we can plan that can override what God has planned. No situation or person, nor anything in the past, present or future are hidden from Him (vs. 13 - 15).

In this often scary world, with political conflicts and rumors of war just about every day, where and to whom can we turn to for help?  As we read in this psalm, God rules over every nation on earth (vs. 16 - 17). We should not trust in or rely on any country’s military strength to help us.  There is no army, nor any country’s military equipment and power that can help us. Our hope and trust should only be in God. He alone is our help and shield (vs. 20).  We can safely trust God’s power and His love for us, and we can trust and rely upon His Word to us.