O Israel, trust in the Lord; He is their help and their shield. 10 O house of Aaron, trust in the Lord; He is their help and their shield. 11 You who fear the Lord, trust in the Lord; He is their hell and their shield. 12 The Lord has been mindful of us; He will bless us; He will bless the house of Israel; He will bless the house of Aaron, 13 He will bless those who fear the Lord. —Psalm 115:9-13
Are you beginning to see a pattern? The author calls upon the nation to trust in the Lord, for He is their help and shield; he calls on their spiritual leaders to trust Him, for He is their help and shield; he calls on the individual Jew to trust in the Lord, for He is their help and shield. The writer declares that the Lord “has been mindful of us.” This may be a hint that this is a post-exilic psalm. Jeremiah wrote: “For thus says the Lord: after seventy years are completed at Babylon, I will visit you . . . and cause you to return to this place. For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope” (Jeremiah 29:10-11). The Lord had told Israel that because they had forsaken the Sabbath year for years, not allowing the land to rest, as He had told them to do, that He would remove them from the land for one year of every year that they had disobeyed Him in that command. But He also said that while they were in Babylon, they were to remember that His thoughts toward then were of peace and not of evil, to give them a future and a hope. This psalm reminds them that the Lord is still thinking of them and blessing them. We see repeated: “Trust in the Lord; trust in the Lord; trust in the Lord.”
Has someone you trusted ever lied about you? Did it damage your friendship with them, and maybe even destroy it because you couldn’t trust them anymore? God isn’t like that! Paul wrote: “[I] Paul, a bondservant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God’s elect and the acknowledgment of the truth which accords with godliness in hope of eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began . . . ” (Titus 1:1-2). Listen, God cannot lie, and therefore, He can always be trusted, He will never be responsible for damaging a relationship, and He said He is never out to hurt you. So trust Him! He is your help and your shield. What’s the point of listening to things that aren’t true? Sadly, in our own nation, lies about people in positions of authority have become the new normal. They lie about one another and they lie about themselves. In all honesty, it doesn’t matter who sits in the Oval Office, because America’s problem isn’t political; it’s spiritual. America has a heart problem, and this is true for every other nation and for people the world over. If our nation is ever to be made great, it must start by acknowledging God as creator and endower of anything good. This applies to all nations, America, Israel, Iran, et al., that if they will trust in the true and living God, He will be their help and their shield. And yet, people seem to prefer to listen to lies.
College professors are turning their backs on what they learned as children and are perverting truth on college campuses. Many now reject God’s offer of salvation because someone with a PhD lied to them, telling them that evolution proves there is no God. “Intellectuals” write books filled with hatred and fallacy, and gullible people flock to them to hear their lies.
As it was in the days of our psalm above, so it is today. We’re told that “God doesn’t want you to feel guilty! You don’t have to lower yourself by repenting. God loves you just the way you are.” If you believe those things, then you’re believing in something that isn’t true. Our Father, who cannot lie, says, “Trust Me. I am your Help and Shield, your Provider and Protector.” We must trust and believe in Him, or, like Humpty Dumpty, we’ll have a great fall, and unless we repent of having believed lies against our God, we can’t be put back together again.
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