(Psa. 46: 1). This provides the word translated "trust" in over thirty occurrences, as,

for example, "He is a buckler to all them that trust in Him" (II Sam. 22: 31). "Trust"

therefore may "cling", in conscious weakness, or "shelter", in time of stress.

Of the three examples that follow each occurs but once and is translated "trust", but

they supply important aspects of meaning that are necessary to the complete conception

of "trust".

The idea of "staying" oneself upon someone underlies the word used by Elihu, when

he said to Job: "Judgment is before Him: therefore trust thou in Him" (Job 35: 14).

In that dread experience recorded in Psa. 22:, the Psalm of the Cross, the word

translated "trust" means "To roll on", and is used in Gen. 29: 3, where it speaks of

rolling a stone from the mouth of a well. This is the word chosen as a taunt by the

wicked when they said, "He trusted on the Lord that He would deliver him" (Psa. 22: 8).

The next example is taken from the Aramaic, or Chaldee, language, and is found in

Nebuchadnezzar's frank utterance after the deliverance of the three from the furnace.

The word used by that great king primarily means "To rely on", and is found in

Dan. 3: 28, where he is recorded as saying of God, "Who hath sent his angel and

delivered His servants that trusted in Him".

Two more words remain to complete the set.

The word "Amen" is known to every believer, and is the Hebrew word for "truth" and

"faithfulness".  It occurs five times in the form of "trust", but refers always to a

misplaced trust or a trust withheld: "Behold He put no trust in His servants" (Job 4: 18).

And, lastly, the seventh word occurs in that moving utterance of Job when he said,

"Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him", and introduces into the idea of trusting the

thought of "waiting" and "hoping".

Here then is a sevenfold presentation of the idea embodied in the words "To trust".

It means To cling, To find shelter, To stay upon, To roll upon, To rely on,

To put faith in, and To wait with hope.

Without further exposition, here, in this sevenfold concept of "Trust", is a message for

the tired and tested believer in these days. Here is a trust that has as many aspects as

there are days of the week. Here is a trust for all times and all occasions, and we

therefore commend to the reader's prayerful meditation this initial study.