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In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be shaken but endures forever. As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds his people both now and forevermore.

The scepter of the wicked will not remain over the land allotted to the righteous, for then the righteous might use their hands to do evil.

Lord, do good to those who are good, to those who are upright in heart. But those who turn to crooked ways the Lord will banish with the evildoers.

Peace be on Israel.

Psalm 125

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

What do you place your trust in?

Is it in yourself or do you put your faith and hope in someone else?

I’ve seen it both ways and have lived it both ways in my life.

Let me discuss the matter of trusting in one’s self first.

At one time in my life, I was confident that I could do it all to include somehow working things out while handling the adversities in life. No matter what I went up against, I felt I could get through it on my own.

Here’s what I discovered. The more I tried to carry my own burdens, the heavier the weight of my world became on my shoulders. And that weight increased and increased the longer my problems endured and compounded until I was no longer able to stand underneath them anymore. I found out that I didn’t have the strength to bear what I was going through and ended up on my knees where I could have just went in the first place. More on that in a moment.

Now, let me examine the matter of placing trust in someone else. There is a good and bad to this and it depends on who you are placing your trust in. We’ll start by examining what happens when you place your trust in another human being.

I had an opportunity to minister to a woman who had tragically lost her husband. She was obviously distraught because she had lost her partner but what made this exponentially worse was because she depended on her spouse for everything. Her complete faith and hope in life was invested in him and when he died, she was left emptied. In her mind, she had lost everything and didn’t know how to move on in life.

Our Savior Jesus tried to teach us a valuable lesson on the dangers of placing our hope in the wrong things. Consider these words from His Sermon on the Mount:

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matthew 6:19-21

The woman I testified about had not followed the advice of Jesus. She had stored up all her treasure on earth within the vessel of her husband and when he died, he took her treasure with him. And since her treasure was fully in her mate so was her heart. She ended up losing everything that was of value to her and found her heart empty because she placed her value in the wrong place.

Now let me discuss what could have changed that outcome.

Ask yourself this: What would have happened if the woman had placed all her hope and trust in Jesus instead of her husband?

In this scenario, the woman’s heart would have been where her treasure was and that was in Jesus. Thus, although she lost her husband, she would have not lost her treasure, the One who would be there to surround her, bring her comfort, and love her, filling the void left by her mate’s death. In Jesus, she would have invested in the greatest valuable we have access to and in doing so would have secured her life now and forever more.

Friends, when we make Jesus our treasure in life, when we place our faith and trust in Him, then we can live life in peace and without fear, knowing with certainty that He is ever with us and the One with the power to help us through any and all circumstances. I mentioned earlier about ending up on my knees under the weight of my troubles when I tried to bear them. Well, God’s word instructs us to bring those concerns to the Lord in prayer, not being anxious about anything, so we discover the peace of God that transcends all understanding.

Yes, in the Lord, and in Him alone do we find the security to make it through this worldly life God has placed us in.

The psalmist who wrote the 125th Psalm truly understood this years before Jesus would arrive. Look at these verses from our passage:

Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be shaken but endures forever. As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds his people both now and forevermore.

Look at the word of God here as it relates to who we should place our trust in.

When we trust in the Lord, we cannot be shaken. He surrounds us with His love, strength, and power as surely as the mountains wrapped themselves around Jerusalem, always there to protect, provide, counsel and deliver us from the circumstances of life. Through Him, there is nothing we cannot endure, there is nothing we can’t handle, there’s nothing we can’t figure out.

On our own, we are isolated and alone, too weak to deal with life’s challenges. Depending on anyone outside of the Lord will leave us vulnerable and at risk of losing all we hold onto. But placing our total faith and trust in the Lord who surrounds us will leave us secure and safe forever, nestled in the comfort and peace of His strong, loving arms.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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