Well-Placed Confidence.

“My heart is confident in you, O God; no wonder I can sing your praises with all my heart.” – Psalm 108:1 NLT

David is ready. He is prepared to face anything. He is strong and confident. Why? Because of God. This is not a case of self-confidence, but David’s confession that his hope and trust are in God alone. He knows that with God’s help he can face any situation with confidence and peace. He says, “With God’s help we will do mighty things, for he will trample down our foes” (Psalm 1087:13 NLT). There is no enemy too powerful or problem too big for God. David has learned that fearing is futile and pointless when God is on your side. Trying to take matters into your own hands is ridiculous when you have the God of the universe fighting for you. David’s awareness of this fact causes him to sing God’s praises. He can’t help but express gratefulness for God’s unfailing love and faithfulness. He has seen it in the past and he is confident that he will see it in the future, all because of what he knows about God’s unchanging nature. God has promised to rescue His people “by His holiness” (Psalm 108:7 NLT). His very character assures that He will do what He has promised to do. He will come through. He will answer.

But in the midst of the storm it is easy to forget that God is faithful. When surrounded by trouble, it is tempting to doubt that God will keep His promises. Like David, we can begin to question God, “Have you reject us, O God” Will you no longer march with our armies?” (Psalm 108:11 NLT). It is during those times we must remind ourselves that God is faithful. He rescues. He restores. He may not do it according to our schedule or exactly as we would like it done, but He will do it. The temptation for us during what appears to be those seasons of inaction on God’s part, is to turn to someone or something else for help. In many cases, we are tempted to trust ourselves for the solution we’re looking for, in spite of our abysmal track record. But David knew better. He said, “all human help is useless” (Psalm 108:12b NLT). Anything we turn to as a substitute for God will eventually fail us. But with God’s help we will do mighty things. This is a lesson only learned through experience. It can be taught, but it is rarely caught, until we are forced to experience it first hand. Relying on God takes guts. Trusting Him when everything in you says to take matters into your own hands takes faith. But as we grow in our understanding of His character, we become increasingly more confident and quick to place our trust in Him and Him alone.

Ken Miller
Grow Pastor & Minister to Men
kenm@christchapelbc.org