The Blessedness of Trusting in the Lord

Next Part The Blessedness of Trusting in the Lord 2

"Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreads out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat comes, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit." Jer 17:7, 8

What a dreadful thing it is to be under the CURSE of God; to have his curse in our body, his curse in our soul, his curse in our family, in our substance, in our goings out, in our comings in; his curse in life, his curse in death, and his curse to all eternity. And how the fear and apprehension of this curse has made the hearts of many wither like the grass, filled them with gloomy forebodings night and day, and made them sink under apprehensions of dying in despair, and lying forever under the wrath of the Almighty!

But on the other hand, what bliss and blessedness there is in being under the BLESSING of the Lord; his blessing in body, his blessing in soul, his blessing in our families, his blessing in our substance, his blessing in life, his blessing in death, and his blessing through all eternity. And as there are many who have feared and trembled under his curse, when events proved in the end there was no real cause for apprehension; so many have rejoiced, or thought they rejoiced in God's blessing, when it was all a delusion, for they were among those who said they would be blessed, though they added "drunkenness to thirst."

Thus we must not altogether take our fears and feelings, nor our doubts and apprehensions, of these matters as certain indications whether we are under the curse or under the blessing. But we must come to the word of God– that is the grand arbiter; that is God's own judgment of these matters; that speaks as the voice of God, and pronounces who, according to the mind of God and the estimate of God, are under God's curse; and who, according to the mind and estimate of God, are under his blessing. Now I do not know a more remarkable passage in the whole compass of God's word, to point out who are under the curse and who are under the blessing, than my text and the connection of it.

But the Holy Spirit, by the pen of Jeremiah, makes a contrast between those who are under the curse and those under the blessing; and he says of the former, speaking authoritatively in the name of the Lord– "Thus says the Lord– Cursed is the one who trusts in man, and makes flesh his arm, and whose heart departs from the Lord." The Lord here does not lay down a man's moral or immoral character as a test of salvation. He does not say, "Cursed is the thief, the adulterer, the extortioner, the murderer, the man who lives in open profanity." He puts all that aside, and fixes his eye and lays his hand upon one mark, which may exist or does exist with the greatest morality, and it may be with the highest profession of religion. "I will tell you," the Lord says, "who are under my curse. This is the person who trusts in man, who makes flesh his arm, and in so doing his heart departs from Me."

Now taking a wide and general survey, who is there free from this intimation of the Lord's eternal displeasure? Who can say he does not trust in man and make flesh his arm? Why all have done it and all will do it until they are taught better. The confidence of most stands wholly upon this ground. They trust in man, in themselves, or some other, and they make flesh their working arm, to work out their own plans of salvation, build up their own goodness, establish their own righteousness, and bring forth something in and by the creature with which they hope to gain eternity with God. But this is the point that God especially sets his hand upon as marking them, that in trusting in man and making flesh their arm, their heart departs from the Lord; it being impossible in God's view for a man to be neutral in these matters; it being impossible in the judgment of God for a man to trust in man, and make flesh his arm in one direction; and to trust in God and make the power of God his arm in another direction. God knows no such neutrality; he winks at no such half measures; he does not allow a man to stand with one leg upon self and one leg upon God; one foot on free will and one foot on free grace; to work with his own right arm his own righteousness, and take with his left gospel blessings. Such neutrality in the sight of God is as bad as it would be in the case of a war for a man, a subject of Queen Victoria, to stand neutral– be sometimes in favor of the Queen, and sometimes in favor of the invader. Such a man would deserve to be shot by both armies.

"He shall be like the HEATH in the desert." You have seen, perhaps, the sorry heath, the ground not being good enough to produce food for man or beast; but it can produce a little stunted leaf, a few miserable reeds that just relieve the dry sand, please the eye, but contain in them no nutriment or utility. And so this person who trusts in man and makes flesh his arm, is like the heath in the desert; with an 'appearance of verdure' and something like greenness and growth, and yet, when examined, a miserable crop that benefits neither himself nor anybody else; a few stunted starved specimens of miserable heath, that cannot feed a lamb or even sustain a goat. Such a man "shall not see when good comes." Good may come to others, but good will never come to him; a blessing may fall upon the righteous, but no blessing shall fall upon him. Trusting in man, departing from the Lord, he sets himself out of the reach of God's blessing, puts himself into a place where God's mercy falls not, and therefore never sees when good comes, for there is no good for him.

"But shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited." That is, a religion merely in name and appearance, without anything fruitful, god-like, or God-glorifying. And thus he lives and thus he dies under the eternal curse of the Almighty, as making flesh his arm and trusting in man.

Now it will be my object this evening, taking the words of our text, to contrast with such the character on whom God has pronounced his blessing; and you will see how the two differ in almost every point; how the Holy Spirit with his graphic and vigorous pen, has sketched both these characters and painted them in such life-like colors, that each stands out as it were in contrast to the other, that we may compare the two men in the curse and in the blessing, see the dealings of God with each, and thus, if we be under the blessing, gather for ourselves some good hope through grace, and have some testimony that not the curse rests upon us, but the blessing of the Lord which makes rich and he adds no sorrow with it.

In opening up the text, I shall, therefore, with God's help–

First, direct your thoughts to the blessedness of the man who trusts in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is.

Secondly, take up the comparison which the Holy Spirit has given us– that such a man resembles "a tree planted by the waters, and that spreads out her roots by the river."

And Thirdly, speak of the fruits and blessings that spring out of his being thus planted by the hand of God by the waters and by the river– that he "shall not see when heat comes, but his leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit."

I. The BLESSEDNESS of the man who trusts in the Lord. I intimated in the opening of this discourse, that we were not to take our 'fears and feelings' as certain marks and indications of our state and standing before God. If we took our fears and feelings at certain stages of our experience, we would draw altogether a false conclusion. For instance,when the Lord begins his gracious work upon a sinner's heart, he opens to him the evil of sin; he sends the Holy Spirit with power into his conscience to apply his law; and with the law comes a curse. So that while he is in that state and stage of experience, under a sensible feeling of the wrath of God in his conscience, under the application of a fiery law, under the dismal apprehension of wrath to come, under miserable forebodings of what his state may be for time and for eternity, that man would draw altogether wrong conclusions if he concluded he must live and die in this miserable condition; that because he is now feeling the wrath of God, he will forever feel the wrath of God; because now under the curse of the law, he will live and die under the curse of the law; and because he has dismal forebodings of a dreadful eternity, it will be so on his death-bed.

We will take him at that stage, to throw a clearer light upon the whole subject, and we shall see the Lord sends his law into the man's conscience, and lets down a sense of his displeasure into his mind, for the very purpose of breaking him off from his trust in man and making flesh his arm, that he might not live and die under the curse attached to those who do trust in man and make flesh their arm. He, like others, trusted in himself; he, like others, made flesh his arm in working out, as he thought, a righteousness which would please God; in performing a number of good works, to build up a Babel tower to reach to heaven, and to satisfy the demands of a righteous law by yielding what the law demanded.

But wrath still pursuing, the curse still continuing, fear still prevailing, bondage still settling upon him, he is taught eventually by those means, the folly of making flesh his arm and trusting in man, in self, or anybody else. Thus preparatory to the blessing comes the curse; before the gospel comes the law; before the ceasing to trust man, and ceasing to make flesh his arm, comes the breaking of the arm and the destroying of the confidence in the flesh. Then taking him at that period, he is brought to this point, that he cannot put trust in himself nor in anybody else. Whenever he has put his trust in himself or anybody else, he has met with nothing but disappointment; whenever he has accepted anything from the creature, nothing has followed but vexation, destroyed hopes, and blighted expectations.

Now when he is in this state, the Lord begins to commune with him from the mercy seat– he draws him near to his gracious self; he begins to open up his word to his apprehension, enlightens the eyes of his understanding, drops some sweet promise into his heart, and discovers his truth in its sweetness and blessedness; or by some such operations of his grace– for we cannot limit the Lord– he has various ways of unfolding his truth to believing hearts– he brings this poor, tried, distressed, and exercised soul to look unto him. And the more the soul is enabled to look unto him, the more it sees in him his suitability to its wants and woes.

The more we look to the creature, the worse we find it; the more we look to self, the worse we find it; the more we trust in man or in one's own self, the greater is the disappointment.

But when we are drawn off from this vain-confidence and enabled by the power of grace to see who and what the Son of God is, and he is presented to our mind in the word, or in the sweet revelation of his person and work, and the Holy Spirit is pleased to take of the things of Christ and show them unto us, and raise up a living faith in our soul, then we begin to see and feel how worthy he is of our confidence. We see his glorious Person– Immanuel, God with us– and all the glory of God shining forth in his most beautiful and blessed countenance; and this draws forth faith and love. And we see from time to time what a wondrous work he came to do, and how he did it completely. We are led to see how he came to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself; to make reconciliation for iniquity; to bring in an everlasting righteousness, and to do the whole will of God. And we find as we look unto him, trust in him, and cast the weight of our weary souls upon him, there is a stay, there is a support, there is an encouragement which we could never have found anywhere else.

We have tried the creature, and the more we leaned upon the creature, the weaker it was. But when we are brought off the creature and begin to lean upon the Lord, he honors that faith by showing us what a strong foundation is laid in his Person and work. Thus he sweetly draws us and encourages us by his alluring grace to come out of our miserable selves, in which there is nothing but confusion and disappointment, and bondage, sin, and misery, and to come to him and find rest and peace. And as we find the benefit and blessing of so doing, and God's face begins to shine as the face of the Father in Christ Jesus, and the Holy Spirit helps our infirmities, then we begin to see what a suitable object of faith, this dear Son of God is; and the more we believe in him, the sweeter we find him; and the more he draws forth faith upon his glorious person and work, the more darkness is dispelled from the mind, the more bondage is loosened from the spirit, and the more peace and consolation are felt in the soul. This is trusting in the Lord. "Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord."

Now these lessons are taught us, that we might ever make the Lord our trust. Until we have had some discovery of this nature, some bringing near of the person and work of Christ– some sweet teaching to make him known and precious, some revelation of his person, blood, and work, there is no trust in him– eternal matters are so at an uncertainty. But when he has made himself known and precious, then he teaches us by these things to trust in him.

Now he is determined to make us trust in him at all times and all seasons; because he won't continue these sweet feelings, nor ever indulge the soul by setting it at rest. But he will teach us to trust in him when we cannot see these manifestations. And thus it may be, he will bring upon us some trial in providence, or some affliction in the family, or some circumstance in grace that shall very much try the mind.

Now, perhaps, we are losing sight of Jesus, our best Friend by this time, and through unbelief and weakness, and the fermenting infidelity of our wretched heart, beginning again to trust in self and make flesh our arm. And what is the consequence? The Lord does not appear, and we get into bondage, confusion, and misery. Now the Lord has to teach us to trust in him, and therefore he will bring those things upon us whereby we shall have reason to trust him. If in providence we go to a friend for help and find that help withheld; or if, trusting in our own strength, we find it but weakness, our plans all disappointed, our finest schemes all turned upside down– what are we to do? Trust in the Lord! for all this is meant to bring us out of self-confidence, and leaning upon an arm of flesh, to trust in the Lord, and look to him– and him alone.

So it is in grace. It is easy to believe when the Lord is present; easy to walk upon the water when he upholds; but how are we in a storm? How do we get on when circumstances threaten, and conscience accuses, and temptations of various kinds start up– some to draw aside, and some to alarm and threaten? Why, like Peter, we begin to sink into the water. Now the Lord will teach us still to trust– not to live by sense nor sight, but to live by faith in the Son of God– to trust him in the dark; to look unto him, because there is nobody else that can do us any good; to hang upon him, because look where we will, all is darkness, confusion, guilt, and bondage, except in him and through him.

And thus, sometimes from sheer necessity, having no other refuge, driven out of all other hope, and having no other help– from sheer necessity, as in the case of Esther when she went to the king– from sheer necessity, having nobody else to look to, we are taught sometimes to trust in the Lord. And we shall always find, sooner or later, if we trust in the Lord and do not trust in ourselves– if we do not make flesh our arm, God will honor that faith and crown that trust with his manifested approbation. Therefore, "Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord!"

And is there not everything in the Lord to draw forth this trust? Look at his power. "All power is given unto him in heaven and in earth." O what almighty power! Where can we find power in any body else?– power in ourselves or power in a friend? All their strength is weakness when it comes to the point; all their help, when it comes to the push, fails and is broken. The Lord has all power, both in providence and in grace, "The silver and the gold are his, and the cattle on a thousand hills." He has but to speak and it is done.

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