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Biblical blessings.
#3. The blessing of confidence
(Psa. 2: 12; 34: 8 and 40: 4).
pp. 28 - 30
The first blessing we have considered is the blessing of confession (Psa. 32: 1-5).
The first logical step for any thus blessed is to trust unreservedly the One Who so
graciously and wondrously delivered from the bondage of unforgiven sin. Trust is the
logical outcome of faith.
We remember a famous tight-rope walker who seemed as much at home upon a rope
as most folks seem upon solid earth, asking a spectator whether he believed that he, the
tight-rope walker, could carry him across the rope on his back. "Yes", replied the
spectator, "I believe you could". "Will you let me then?" asked Blondin, for such was
his name. "No", replied the spectator. In a crude way this suggests to us the difference
that we must make between "believing" something as a fact, and "trusting". Most of us
"believe" the date "1066 William the Conqueror", but such belief makes no appreciable
difference to our lives, our hopes or our destinies. James tells us the demons "believe"
that there is one God, His Word and His Work, we trust Him, thereby concluding that He
is worthy of our fullest confidence. This "Biblical blessing" finds a place in the first
book of the Psalms:--
"Blessed are all they that put their trust in Him" (Psa. 2: 12).
"O taste and see that the Lord is good, blessed is the man that trusteth in Him"
(Psa. 34: 8).
"Blessed is that man that maketh the Lord his trust, and respecteth not the proud, nor
such as turn aside to lies" (Psa. 40: 4).
Two words are used in these verses for the idea of "trust". In Psa. 2: 12 and 34: 8
the word conveys the idea of a "refuge", such as might be afforded by a "rock",
a "shadow", a "shield" or a "wing". In Psa. 40: 4 the word means rather to "hang upon"
or "cling". In order to make our "trust" intelligent, let us see one or two illustrations of
the use of each word.
Trust as a "refuge":--
"Where are their gods, their rock in whom they trusted?" (Deut. 32: 37).
"Under whose wings thou art come to trust" (Ruth 2: 12).
"He is a buckler to all them that trust in Him" (II Sam. 22: 31).
Trust as "clinging."--As a noun this word means a "melon" which clings by tendrils,
and so supports itself (Numb. 11: 5). As a verb it is translated "make me hope" in
Psa. 22: 9, where the figure of a child clinging to its mother is used.
W. Kaye in a note on Psa. 2: 12 says:--