Psalm 118.8-9 8 It is better to take refuge in the Lord
than to trust in man. 9 It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust
in princes. (ESV)
Jeremiah 21.3-7 3 Then Jeremiah said to them: “Thus you
shall say to Zedekiah, 4 ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Behold, I will
turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands and with which you are
fighting against the king of Babylon and against the Chaldeans who are
besieging you outside the walls. And I will bring them together into the midst
of this city. 5 I myself will fight against you with outstretched hand and
strong arm, in anger and in fury and in great wrath. 6 And I will strike down
the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast. They shall die of a great
pestilence. 7 Afterward, declares the Lord, I will give Zedekiah king of Judah
and his servants and the people in this city who survive the pestilence, sword,
and famine into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and into the hand of
their enemies, into the hand of those who seek their lives. He shall strike
them down with the edge of the sword. He shall not pity them or spare them or
have compassion.’”
Psalm 118 is worth paying attention to. The entire Bible
is worth paying attention to, but Psalm 118 is the focus of my attention today
because it is bordered by Psalm 117 which is the middle and shortest chapter in
the Bible, and by Psalm 119 which is the longest chapter in the Bible.
Now, the Bible has 1189 chapters in it and the central
verse of the Bible is this: It is better
to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in princes. (Psalm 118.9)
Whodathunkit? Coincidence? Perhaps. But with God there is nothing coincidental.
Ever.
All that to say: Jeremiah had the unpleasant task of telling
Israel, an arrogant, self-centered, and hard-hearted people, that they were
about to be overrun by another nation – a nation of pagans. The Israelis who
survived the sword would die by pestilence and famine. And this was a pathetic
nation that had adopted the obnoxious habit of trusting in princes (their
leaders) instead of trusting in the Lord. Their habit was so bad it merited
invasion by an evil foreign power to stop it.
Today, I thought about God’s use of a foreign power against
His people to break the bonds of the present power which had overpowered their belief
systems. I thought about the present powers we face today that help us deal
with our own obnoxious habit of trusting in leaders (our modern version of
princes) instead of trusting in the Lord. It seems sometimes the Lord allows
higher powers and stronger armies to defeat weaker powers and smaller armies to
enable His people to quit trusting in princes and start trusting in Him. There
is power in trusting in the Lord.
And that takes me right back to Psalm 118: It is better to take refuge in the Lord than
to trust in man. It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in
princes. Psalm 118 also says: Out of
my distress I called on the Lord; the Lord answered me and set me free. The
Lord is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me? The Lord is on my
side as my helper; I shall look in triumph on those who hate me. (Vv.
5,6,7) Can I walk in that confidence today? I know I need to…
Lord, I know
I have trust issues – help me! Amen.
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