It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in people. [Psalm 118.8]
Two years ago, I wrote the article Trust People? approaching the verse above from one perspective. Today, I feel like there is a little more that can be said as this verse is considered from another angle.
If a person's actions do not give evidence of his trust in God alone, how will his words ever convince the world of its need for Him? Also from today's One Year Chronological Bible reading:
Why let the nations say, “Where is their God?” [Psalm 115.2]
Man fails when he trusts man. The only thing any person should trust about another person is:
For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. [Romans 3.23]
On a side note: if our expectations of people are based on God's Word, then we are not so easily offended when people are indeed what God says they are. Furthermore, if we understand that man has no capacity for good, then, and only then are we able to genuinely and appropriately praise God, not them, for any goodness seen in them.
It is idolatry to call a man good. To call another human being good is to determine they are trustworthy; it is, in fact, to trust in them. To trust them, adulterously puts them in the place of God in our life; it makes them a god unto us. This is problematic because God said:
“I am the LORD your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt, the place of your slavery. “You must not have any other god but me. “You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea. You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods. I lay the sins of the parents upon their children; the entire family is affected—even children in the third and fourth generations of those who reject me. But I lavish unfailing love for a thousand generations on those who love me and obey my commands. “You must not misuse the name of the LORD your God. The LORD will not let you go unpunished if you misuse his name. [Exodus 20.2-7]
Our praise and thanksgiving is to be reserved for God FOR THE VERY REASON THAT HE ALONE IS GOOD.
Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever. [Psalm 118.1]
To praise or thank another person as "good" (or, trustworthy) is idolatry against God; it is indeed a misuse of God's good name in violation of His 3rd Commandment. To praise or thank another person as "good" (or, trustworthy) is an affront to the goodness of God.
Now let's take this a painful step further...
Fallen man has created imposing industries of finance, insurance, medicine and technology. Believers and non-believers alike enjoy the benefits (goodness, trustworthiness) of these man-made industries. Believers claim they are "gifts from God." Non-believers, in contrast, say they are a testament of the ingenuity of man and, as such, are good and trustworthy. True non-believers think it foolish that believers actually believe these industries are gifts from God. Psalm 115.2 says:
Why let the nations say, “Where is their God?” [Psalm 115.2]
Psalm 118.8 says:
It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in people. [Psalm 118.8]
“Why do you call me good?” Jesus asked. “Only God is truly good. [Mark 10.18]
Jesus never asked a question He did not know the answer to. The question above is no exception. Jesus' question was an invitation to his followers to understand that He was, in fact, God in the flesh. And, then, His little statement following, Only God is truly good, confirms what is stated in this article. Any argument otherwise has no Biblical basis whatsoever.
Father, help me to see that any disappointment I have with man is my own profession of idolatry against You. This needs to change in my life - help me. So be it.
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