Trusting God

Psalm 16

David Keller wonders what kind of impact it would have on churches if we adopted a strategy like Pepsi did a few years ago.[1] Do you remember the Pepsi ads that said, “Drink Pepsi. Get Stuff”?[2] Every time you chose Pepsi over other soft drinks you could accumulate points towards all kinds of things. Mountain bikes, t-shirts, household appliances – over fifty-five different products could be yours by simply drinking Pepsi. Drink more Pepsi and you get more stuff.

What if we did that in the church? “Follow Jesus. Get Stuff.” Would it work? We could issue cards and them stamp them for each Sunday someone comes to church. Once you get your card full, we could give out free Bibles or Christian CDs. Maybe for the Summer months we could double stamp for every Sunday someone comes to boost attendance? Maybe we could raffle off a cruise and everyone who exceeds their giving from last year would automatically be entered? Maybe when you join the choir you get a free I-pod? Become a Sunday School teacher and get a free computer? Serve on the Buildings and Grounds Committee and get a Lowe’s gift card? Would any of this work? Theologically, there are some real hurdles we’d have to overcome to do something like this…or we’d simply have to ignore the hurdles. But if we’re honest, don’t a lot of people on some level ask, “What do I get out of being a Christian? What do I get for following Jesus?” Have you ever wondered if everything you do in the life of the church is worth the effort?

We are back in the psalms today. Psalm 16 is an affirmation of trust in God.[3] The first singer of this psalm…and remember that the psalms are songs and prayers…has looked around at all the world offers and decided that a life that follows God is the preferred path. Was the psalmist getting a lot of “stuff” from God that prompts this expression of trust? No, I don’t think so. Scholars are uncertain about the exact circumstances regarding this psalm but two contexts seem most likely. First, this psalm could have been written just after the Babylonian exile, which was not really a joyful time for God’s people. Second, it could have been written after the Old Testament period which was a time when many different religions were competing for people’s allegiance.[4] Again, this period was not a high water mark for being faithful to God either. Yet, the psalmist still says, “The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot.”[5] The psalmist has undoubtedly decided to trust God in life. What is the source of this kind of trust? These proclamations of trust seem to be uttered in the absence of extra “stuff” used as an incentive, not in their presence. Most likely life has been very hard for the psalmist, not easy. Yet, still the psalmist proclaims, “You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you.”[6] How should we make sense of this?

Biblical trust has some hard principles attached to it. If you are going to trust God in life, you’re going to have to make peace with these.

First, biblical trust is about choice.

In the wake of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Billy Graham said these words at Washington’s National Cathedral: “Yes, our nation has been attacked, buildings destroyed, lives lost. But now we have a choice: implode and disintegrate emotionally and spiritually as a people and a nation; or become stronger through all the struggle to rebuild on a solid foundation. And I believe that we're in the process of starting to rebuild on that foundation. That foundation is our trust in God.”[7] There was every reason in the aftermath of September 11^th not to trust God. Many said God let us down. Yet, Billy Graham called upon this nation to trust God with a greater sense of urgency. Trusting in this way would first of all be a choice.

Terry Anderson was held hostage in Lebanon longer than anyone else. As one might imagine, life was horrendous for Terry and the other hostages. But it was while he was in captivity that Terry began reading the Bible, and engaging in some serious soul-searching. He writes that he was not a good husband. He drank too much and was unfaithful to his wife.

During his captivity, Terry felt enormous anger; he hated his captors. He tried to pray for them, but it was hard. Jesus taught people to love their enemies, but Terry knew how hard that was. “How is it right to feel anything but revulsion toward your kidnappers, your tormentors?” he rationalized.

Everything changed for Terry when God became real to him, and he renewed his faith in Christ. There were times when he would almost chuckle, his spirit became so light. Terry says God used his captivity to deal with his sins and weaknesses. I drank too much – no alcohol here. I chased women – no women here. I'm arrogant – what better than to put me in the hands of these arrogant, uncaring young men. I've been careless of others' feelings – these people give not one tiny thought to mine. I've been an agnostic most of my life – my only comforts here are the Bible and my prayers.

During his captivity, there were times when Terry felt like giving up. “I can't do this, God,” he would pray. “I'm finished. I surrender.” It was at that point Terry learned to place his total trust in God's hands and let God have the last word for him.[8] That was a choice Terry Anderson made.

Trusting God will always be a choice in the first place. Each of us has a cutting edge in life where our trust in God is being challenged right now. The first step toward making the psalmist’s words, “The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup,”[9] real, is to surrender ourselves to God in trust. We must make that choice to surrender and to trust. Is that something you can do?

Second, initial biblical trust is rarely going to be about experiences based on logic. The September 11^th example and Terry Anderson’s story are two examples. Here’s another one. One of the reasons the movie Shrek was such a success was the manner in which it turned every expectation on its head:

The green ogre wins the princess.

The lowly donkey is the hero.

The fairy tale outcasts are invited to the wedding celebration.

The wedding takes place in a swamp.

The smelly onion becomes the glorious coach.

This is Gospel stuff folks. In God’s world, stuff works out differently. Little boys like David slay Giants. Old women give birth to babies. Prophets tell the skies not to rain and it doesn’t. Then they tell it to rain and it does. You know the stories. If you apply logic to these stories and base your trust in God on logic, you’ll never trust God.

Biblical trust, the kind of trust the psalmist is proclaiming, is an unusual creature. In so many biblical stories, it seems that trust brought about more hardship than benefit. If you’re in to following God for the “stuff,” you’ll probably be disappointed. Yet, the last word in every story of the Bible is that when people trust God, it works out. The time frame may be longer than expected. The circumstances of trust may even be surprising. Yet, when people trust God, people say in the end, “You show me the path of life. In your presence there is fullness of joy; in your right hand are pleasures evermore.”[10] Through a long-enduring faith, that will be true for us too. Choose to trust God even logic and experience may seem to point in other directions.

Amen.

[1] David B. Keller, “Follow Jesus. Get Life.” The Christian Ministry, September-October 1999, pp. 26-27.

[4] Artur Weiser, The Old Testament Library, The Psalms (Philadelphia, PA: The Westminster Press, 1962), p. 172.

[7] This address happened on September 14, 2001, at the National Day of Prayer and Remembrance.

[8] Terry A. Anderson, Den of Lions (New York: Crown Publishers, 1993), pp. 74-75.