The Vocabulary of Trust (rewind)

But as for me, I trust in You, O Lord, I say, “You are my God.”  Psalm 31:14  NASB 1995

Trust – By now we should be quite familiar with bāṭaḥ (trust).  TWOT’s reminder is important:

in Hebrew, bāṭaḥ expresses that sense of well-being and security which results from having something or someone in whom to place confidence. It is significant that the LXX never translates this word with πιστευω “believe in” but with ελπιζω “to hope,” in the positive sense “to rely on God” or πειφομαι “to be persuaded,” ^[1]

Perhaps the following comment is just as crucial:

In general, the ot contrasts the validity of that sense of confidence which comes from reliance upon God with the folly of any other kind of security. It is made plain that all such trust will end in disgrace and shame (Ps 31:14 [H 15], see bôš), whereas those whose hope is in God alone will be delivered from their enemies (Ps 22:4 [H 5])^[2]

Notice how David expresses the sense of security and confidence.  “You are my God.”  There is a lot packed into this declaration.  First, it declares that YHVH is David’s only God.  In a polytheistic world, this declaration matters.  David is restricting any help from the divine to this God, and this God alone.  David is no Laban, keeping a few household gods on the side in case one or the other failed to perform.  If YHVH doesn’t come through, David is SOL.  

Second, David asserts that he totally relies on YHVH.  His well-being and security, top priority issues in this poem, are going to be resolved only by YHVH’s hand.  He is placing no confidence in any other solution.  As TWOT notes, this is not a matter of believing some creed or dogma.  This is hope, David’s only hope.  While trusting in men may be expected to fail, with God everything is at stake.  

Clearly David’s declaration of God’s absolute reliability isn’t always converted into human behavior.  David made decisions that are just as suspect as any other human being.  But those choices didn’t diminish God’s constancy.  What they did is cause public distrust in God.  David’s life was supposed to be a reflection of God’s character, and when he did not act as a manifestation of that character, other people considered David’s God suspect.  The general tone of this Psalm is not maintaining God’s reputation among the people.  Yes, there are personal consequences, but the point is this:  if a faithful follower of YHVH cannot find vindication, then no one will believe God really cares.  Our actions and reactions are the most powerful presentation of God.  “If you have seen me, you have seen the Father.”

Topical Index: bāṭaḥ, trust, hope, character, Psalm 31:14