The Hiding Place (A Reminder)
“How blessed is the man who has made the Lord his trust” Psalm 40:4NASB
Trust – The word batach means the sense of well-being and security that result from having something or someone in whom to place confidence. It is translated in the LXX as “hope,” not “belief.” It stresses the feeling of being safe and secure rather than an intellectual and volitional act in response to revelation. It means to live at ease because of confidence in God.
Those who trust in God alone will be delivered from their enemies (Ps. 22:4); their prayers will be answered (I Chr. 5:20); they will walk in straight paths (Prov. 3:5); they will be given joy and gladness (Ps. 16:9 and 33:21); they will know inner peace and absence of fear (Ps. 4:8 and Isa. 26:3). The cause for our trust in God’s promises is not based on what we have done or can do. Trusting in God’s promises does not depend on how worthy I am to receive anything from Him. It is based solely on the unswerving loyalty of God’s gracious kindness. And it is trust in God alone.
In English, the opposite of trust is mistrust or doubt; but not so in Hebrew. The opposite of batach is sātar, the act of hiding. In other words, the antonym of trust is keeping secrets. In biblical terms, the man with a secret sin has no hope. Why? First, because his secret is a delusion; there are no secrets from God. Therefore, his life stands on something that is not openly shared with God and that means he is not trusting in God alone. His secret is a personal form of idolatry. Secondly, the man with a secret knows that he is out of alignment with God’s directive. His secret robs him of hope in the Lord because it demonstrates his unfaithfulness. Secrets break hesed obligation, the very obligation that maintains an open relationship with God.
Hope in God is not wish fulfillment but rather confident expectation. God’s chief characteristic is His faithfulness and trustworthiness (Deut. 33:28, Ps. 27:3). These characteristics show themselves most clearly to one who recognizes that he is utterly without personal resources. There is no other way than to trust completely in a gracious and dependable God. Putting one’s confidence in anything but the sovereign God is complete foolishness. In the Bible, there is a long list of false grounds for security. In particular, the Bible heaps scorn upon those who live in complacency, never having evaluated the flimsy basis of their lives (Isa. 32:9-11, Ezek. 30:9, Amos 6:1).
Batach is a very serious word. We say that we trust God, but too often our actions deny these claims. Recovery begins when we honestly examine our lives and commit ourselves to do something about what we find. A fearless inventory of our behavior usually reveals that we are still trying to take care of things by ourselves. An examination of our personal secrets reveals how little we trust our emotional well-being to God. We really don’t think God is reliable in every area of life. That isn’t trust. Trust says, “God, you are able. I put all my eggs in your basket. I’ll do whatever you want me to do, but unless you come through for me, I’m finished.” Start today. Pick the one thing that you have tried over and over to fix in your life but nothing has changed. Decide to trust, even if you are convinced it is impossible. Doubting is your problem, not God’s.
Do your actions show that you trust God, or is “trust” just another comfortable word in your religious vocabulary?
Topical Index: trust, batach, Psalm 40:4
Trust in the LORD with all your heart and (?)
“lean not” to your own understanding..
— in ALL your ways acknowledge Him and (?)
He will direct your paths..
~ Blessed are those who trust in the LORD and have made the LORD their hope and confidence ~
What heights of love, what depths of peace
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease
My Comforter, my All in All
Here in the love of Christ I stand.
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?
Shall tribulation,
or distress,
or persecution,
or famine,
or nakedness,
or peril,
or sword?
As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
NO,
in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us.
[When did He stop loving us?]
For I am persuaded, that neither death,
nor life,
nor angels,
nor principalities,
nor powers,
nor things present,
nor things to come,
nor height,
nor depth,
nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our LORD.
Only trust Him, — now.
.
Shalom Carl,
Proverbs 3:5-6 was the first thing I ever remember reading in the Bible a long time ago…It has been the hardest thing for me to do… It’s a long walk from Egypt to Israel.
I was looking through my Mama’s collection of favorite sayings a few days ago and found a copy of one that said “There is no greater pleasure than just being in the company of someone you can trust completely.”
Perhaps we don’t stay in that great conversation as much as we should because we lack that trust in all our situations.
I think lack of trust must come from two different sources: either we have not taken the time to study the reasons we have been given to trust God or are believing false information about Him, or we have placed ourselves outside of the correct posture WE should stay in to be able to trust Him. I know I was believing horrible lies about Him even while my intellect thought I knew Him. It may be helpful to take the time to look honestly at what we are believing about Him in those places where we find we are not trusting Him. I have also found it enlightening to examine my own posture; the stance I am taking because of what I am believing about MYSELF in those places, too. Usually, I find that either I have fallen (again!) for the myth that it is “all up to me”, or a version of that called “I think I can handle this”. Focus on Self, whether in pity or pride, cements me in loneliness, but I am not alone because He abandoned me; I am alone because I abandon Him whenever I take my eyes off of the One Who said that if He be lifted up, He will draw all men unto Himself. If I am looking at Him, Who came all the way to where I am, then I am going to repent of all that is keeping me from Him.
Back to the great conversation.
Amen, Laurita!
I love that quote from your mother. thanks
A on-time word for me, Skip! I was just about to do it my way again because time seems to be running out in certain areas of my life. Climbing up the ladder of faith and trust, one rung at a time, I often forget to take His Hand which He is extending to me! Shalom Shalom!
Good morning Skip, just thought that I would share this with you and the other readers, got a call on Shabbat morning. That my granddaughter was in the hospital with a brain anareheism, at the moment I was alarmed but I prayed about it I was concerned but not worried for my father is the greatest physician ever she had surgery on Sunday and all is well praise be to YHWH trust always!
Thanks for posting this testimony, Monica! It blesses me to read it!
May He continue to heal your granddaughter!
A “UNIVERSAL” TESTIMONY?
Emunah which the Greek mindset translate as “faith” is probably better translated as “trust” (trusting faithfulness) so it makes sense that “batach” cannot be “trust”. Neither can it be “hope” which is an abstract concept, what about “security”?
I am pondering this rather than to address an impending crises of court orders and bailiffs …
Why am I mentioning this? Because I have asked YHWH to deliver me from the corruption of the Western Court Systems.
Although my wife is a trained barrister, I hate the corrupt Josephite (Ephraim and Manasseh) court systems and procedures. But no one is really challenging the perversion of justice in the “adversarial” (the best liar wins) legal systems (UK, US, and proselytes).
What are we to do? Fight the system or hermitize?
Legal practitioners are clear evidence of current presence of the seed of the serpent. But Judges are exponentially worse. They are like the hand-puppets of HaSatan him(her)self. The last time I advocated in the “High Court” in London, I stated the fact that the Judges were the Whore of Babylon (Greek Perversion): No wonder I was given an 18 month Civil Restraining Order to protect these inglorious bastards.
However, even though I have better things to do, I became involved in helping other victims of the “system”. e.g. Someone with Chronic Traumatic Brain Injury (a form of dementia) of whom the British Land Registry stole some land resulting in a major legal case which he cannot deal with; another who had been crippled for 10 years and the National Health Service (NHS) refused to treat or compensate; about 10 minor cases, which I helped win (the first 2 cases, I am still working on); and my own major cases which seems to drag on and on; etc.; etc..
The issue!….
Should I (we) continue (I derive no benefit from it and it consumes a lot of time. I also have to remain functionally insolvent during this time to prevent “financial manipulation” as this is the only way to fight this beast!)?
Or should I give up (and go on benefits; spending my days with Bible study, etc…. the easy way out)?
I AM NOT PUTTING THIS ON (AT) THE TABLE FOR AN ANSWER.
I fully accept that this exponential burden / decision is mine.
However, My contribution is, that my experience is, that your burden / test never gets lighter in this world. It gets progressively more complicated (that is why it is so difficult to mentor a more virgin Torah Walker).
Getting back to the POINT… and the QUESTION:
What is the Table’s opinion on a Worshipper’s required interaction with the Law of the World?
A side / sly question: Has anyone in this community ever benefited from the Worldly Justice?
RE: Has anyone in this community ever benefited from the Worldly Justice?
No. I have not.
I had a case tried in the London High Court and lost but I think the judgement was fair. At the same time I was also a friend of the late Lord Denning who as Master of the Rolls was the chief justice of the Civil Division of the High Court. A more fair and honest person you will never meet. His judgments and opinions were highly respected and apolitical, based primarily on Magna Carta and common law.
I may have once lost a judgement but I always knew I had a friend I could trust.
Personally I like Denning’s decicions, but this is what the BBC (British) think of him:
‘But in seeking justice Lord Denning, considered himself entitled to get round – or even change – any rule of law that stood in his way. There was no need to wait for legislation…”Parliament does it too late,” he argued. “It may take years and years before a statute can be passed to amend a bad law. …. “The judge … should make the law correspond with the justice that the case requires.” … Lord Denning’s prejudices demonstrated the risks of letting one man dispense justice.’
I can’t speak on the justice systems of other countries but, in the USA, justice is an oxymoron. It goes to the highest bidder, one with the best connections, most power, greatest place of positioning, and what will bring in the best political and public opinion.
I’ll say I know of some fair federal and state judges but, they only get to work with the information that is allowed to be presented to them. If left to a jury, then all the above apply.
Short of the Creator of heaven and earth intervening, you’d stand a better chance to get justice, with a coin toss. Just sayin…
We’re told to place our trust/faith in Adonai, that’s where I try to put it. I’ve yet to be let down. Not if I’ve truly trusted in His faithfulness, mercy, sovereignty, and Kingship.
Very true.
I have even observed opposing advocates discussing, before a hearing, whose client has the deepest pockets and then orchestrating to let that client win.
Yes, that’s what I was getting at. I’ve actually been the result of one of those “meetings”. After they had ran me out of funds to continue “paying” for “legal justice”.
They aren’t typically done in a hearing environment, at least not the majority of them. I mean they may actually go through the motions in a proper open format but, they had already made the arrangements behind closed doors or over cocktails, beforehand.
I’ll honestly say this though. I can’t personally say, I’ve ever been “unfairly”, or more appropriately stated, “innocently”, placed on the short side of the stick/legal system. If you get my meaning, in a prior life of course.
“Justice” in today’s world, really isn’t about guilt or innocent, right or wrong. It seems to be more about who can “prove” or “win” they’re case. Or, pay enough, have enough pull/power to make that happen.
But my question remains: As Kindom Priests, are we supposed to live outside / around / avoid getting involved with the legal system OR are we supposed to confront and expose the unrighteousness???
I’d say, take a look at what Jeramiah told the Israelites to do when living in Babylon.
BTW, that references Gen. day 2 🙂
This seems to be a resonating point in my life these days. G-d’s brought it back over and over. I think He’s trying to make a point about truly trusting Him. 🙂 Sadly, it’s often easier said, than done. But I’m learning… bit by bit, day by day.