Learning to Lean

Scripture Reading: Psalm 20:7

Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.

David’s point here is not that he forever eschewed the use of any and all military armament. He was not telling his men to drop their shields and remove their armor and charge the enemy with a sling and a bag of rocks as he had done with Goliath. He was not saying, as Satan did to Jesus, “Throw yourself down from this pinnacle because God promised to protect you.” David was not promoting a “you need no sword if you trust the Lord” theology.

To trust the Lord and not the sword is easier when you don’t have a sword. When you don’t own a chariot and a horse, you can’t make them the object of your trust. You might lust for them, but you can’t trust them. When you are broke, you aren’t believing in your checkbook. When you're unemployed you don’t depend on your salary.

It is the actual possession of chariots and horses that presents a challenge to living by faith. Owning chariots and horses gives us options – visible, physical, tangible options. These are viable options because we have seen them work. Battles have been won by armies riding chariots and horses. And when we can step up into a chariot and pull on the horse’s reins, we are tempted to make them the source of our hope.

When you trust in the Lord, you are relying on a promise(s). Even more, you are relying on the credibility and ability of the One Who made the promise. Can he and will he do what he has said he will do? Faith, at its core, depends upon something we can’t see. We can’t see the ability or power of the person who made a promise to do what was promised. We might look at a track record and past examples of them having kept similar promises, but we can’t see their right now reliability. Faith, then, comes down to trusting the Person who made the promise. Are they the kind of people we can count on when it matters? That is the question we are answering when we decide whom we will trust.

Faith honors God because it testifies that He is trustworthy. When we believe in Christ, we are saying that He is truthful, honest, and reliable. When we trust in the name of the Lord we are standing on air. Or, if you prefer, we are like Peter stepping out of the boat and onto (not into) the sea. And we are saying, we can stand here because He (Jesus) has told us we can.

The challenge to faith comes when we are riding into battle on our horse and chariot. To not fall victim to the temptation to believe they will save us is the test. Will our heart rest in these things we can touch and see and use, or in Christ? Faith in God doesn’t necessarily require that we abandon the chariots and horses (although it might – think here of David and Goliath). Faith in Christ means that we are looking to Him and resting in Him and relying on Him, and not on our chariots and horses.

It is here that we need to say with David, “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.”