Where is your trust?

Psalm 118:8-9

We just elected a governor, and some people are very happy with the results, while others are thinking we are doomed. This got me thinking about Psalm 118:8-9. It stands right at the center of the Bible; There are 594 chapters before and 594 after Psalm 118, and I don’t believe that is totally by accident. It is the heart of Scripture where we find a call to trust in the Lord alone. Nothing could be clearer or more needed in this day we are living in. The Psalmist reminds us not to build our lives on people. Do not build your hope on powerful leaders. It reminds us we must build our lives and our hope on God and God alone. This is a profound truth: God not only saves us, but is also an ongoing source of our life, holiness, and strength. Salvation isn’t simply a doorway we once walked through, but it is a life of ongoing trust and grace, enabling obedience. Three ideas stand out to me from Psalm 118:8-9. Let me share them with you.

1. Trust in Humans is Limited

Let’s look at verse 8 for a moment: “It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in humans.” I know we all know what it is to trust people. Relationships are part of how God made us, but we also know that people, even the good and living ones, have their limits of trust. We know that people make promises they cannot keep, forget, get tired of, or change, and ultimately, people will fail us. I know I’m guilty of some of this, and this doesn’t mean I, or people, are all bad; it makes them human.

I remember a story was once told of a young boy who leaped from a tree into his father’s arms, but only to fall flat on the ground. The father had stepped back, and the boy cried, “Daddy, why didn’t you catch me?” The father whispered, “Let this be a lesson to you, don’t trust anyone. Not even me.” Now, the father was teaching the wrong lesson here, but the image is real; humans cannot always catch us, even when they want to. We are not called to mistrust people, but we are called not to place our ultimate trust in them.

John Wesley wrote that the root of all sin is a broken trust in God, the turning of our reliance away from Him to ourselves or others. When we trust ourselves or others instead of God, we will always be disappointed. However, we trust God first and are free to love others as they are, not as a savior.

2. Trusting the government is dangerous.

Verse 9 goes on to read, “it is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in Princes.” In the context of biblical language, the word "prince" represents those with power, influence, or authority over people. The Psalmist warns us that even the strongest and most secure powers of this world are an unstable foundation. Kings will rise and kingdoms fall. Leaders will come and leaders will go. Nations will prosper and nations will crumble. However, God does not change. Look at what Malachi 3:6 says: “For I the LORD do not change,” or what Hebrews 13:8 reads. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”

This reminds me of a story I once heard about a pastor asking his congregation, “Where does your help come from?” A man proudly answered, “From the government!” The pastor smiled and said, “Then when the government shakes, your help will shake. But when your help comes from the Lord, who made the heavens and the earth, there is nothing on earth that can take it away.” This is true when we trust earthly powers instead of truly trusting God; our holiness, our peace, and our identity will rise or fall with the news cycle. If we put our trust in the Lord, then when bad news hits us, our hearts remain firm, even when the world trembles.

3. Refuge in the Lord is always secure.

The psalmist says in these two verses that it is better to take refuge in the Lord. This means not merely believing in Him, but to lean on him, to run to him, and to depend on him. Refuge means that God is our shelter, He’s our strength, He’s our sustainer, and He is the one who does not fail us. We trust in Him not because we are strong, on the contrary, we are weak; but we trust Him because He is faithful. God’s grace is not just a pardon; it is power to endure, power to love, power to live holy, and power to walk upright in a world full of shaking.

Our trust is not passive; trust opens the door for God’s sanctifying grace to actively work in. When we truly take refuge in God, we are strengthened in the trial, purified in love, and kept in peace. This is not a theory, but it is lived in reality. Let me give you an example of this in real life: during a storm, a massive oak tree bent violently in the wind, but beneath the ground, its roots ran deep and wide. Other trees fell, but the oak stood firm. It was not because the storm wasn’t strong, but the Oaks Foundation was deeper than the storm. When we find refuge in people, our lives will sway and fall. Conversely, when we have refuge in the Government, our hope will shift with circumstances. However, if our refuge is in God, our foundation is so strong that no matter what storms of life hit us, we will not fall.

Let me ask you a question, and be open and honest with yourself.

Where is your trust coming from?

 What are you leaning on?

What are you afraid to release into God’s hands?

These verses are quite clear; the only safe place to rest your life is in God himself. Not in people, or in leaders, or in systems, or not in ourselves, but we should put our trust in the Lord because this is the wonderful thing about God, He meets our trust with power, he meets our surrender with strength, he meets our weakness with victory.