Trust
I read this verse in my devotions this morning, and have been pondering it since.
"Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord." (Jeremiah 17:7, ESV)
Is there a difference between saying "I trust in the Lord" and saying "My trust is the Lord," or is it merely poetic repetition? It seems to me that there may be a subtle difference, that saying "My trust is the Lord" is stronger--perhaps the difference between saying "I'm going to choose to put my trust in Him" and "I would not even know what it is to trust apart from Him."
As I said, it's been on my mind. What do you think?
Labels: devotional, ponderings
posted by Jason at 4:51 PM
8 Comments:
I looked up "trust" in the Oxford American Dictionary. The entry is very long! Longer than I thought it would be. It was very enlightening. There are a lot more nuances to "trust" than I usually think of.
I think I agree with you. It's not poetic phrasing; it has a stronger implication. If your trust IS God, then even if he refuses it you can't give it up. Also, if your trust is GOD, then it's infinite. (Does that make sense? I can't think of a different way to say it that would be more clear and as concise.)
I'm too tired to make a phrase out of something like "oqqqpt," sorry...
9/21/2006 1:26 PM
"If your trust IS God, then even if he refuses it you can't give it up."
--I'm not sure that I understand what you mean here, as far as him refusing it.
"I can't think of a different way to say it that would be more clear and as concise."
--I know what you mean. I feel like I understand a difference, but I'm not quite sure how to explain it.
9/22/2006 10:00 PM
As I said...I couldn't think of a different way to say it :-) But what I mean is...if TRUST=GOD, as we can infer using the mathematical usage of "is" in a word problem, then the two cannot be separated. To use an analogy, my mother could not refuse to be my mother, regardless of the relationship we have. I didn't mean that God would refuse our trust, I'm trying to illustrate how inseparable the two are (likewise, I'm not saying that my mother and I have a horrible relationship). Is that better? :-)
elubtyd
Elephants Love Utterly Bubbly Tubs, Yearning Dearly
9/23/2006 10:36 PM
I think I understand what you're saying. . . kind of. But let me try to again to say what I think we've both been trying to get at.
Anything else we trust in will fail us. God cannot, by His very nature, ever fail us. That He (and He alone) is worthy of our trust cannot change. We trust what makes us feel secure. God is our security; hence, He is our trust.
9/25/2006 8:20 PM
Exactly! Much thanks.
bekmhxq
Be Everyone's King, My Heart--Xerxes Quakes.
9/25/2006 10:23 PM
Great observations.
Here's comming from a slighly different angle.
I think that the difference between "trust in the Lord" and "trust is the Lord" is in the very grammatical structure; the first form of trust is a verb the second a noun.
I cannot tell you why, but most English-speaking people would give more weight to a noun than to a verb. The illustration that first came to my mind is the statements "I love you", and "you are my love". We all would attribute more sincerity and force in the latter; it is not something most of us would say casually.
Wherefore, this verse is remininding and commanding us to ACT (trust in the Lord) and to insure that we ARE (trust is the Lord). In other words, this verse demonstrates the paradoxical tension between God's work and our work in sanctification.
Ronald Suffield
10/11/2006 3:43 PM
Thanks for sharing that! Your last paragraph is especially interesting. So, extrapolating from what you said: we need to remember that what we do in sanctification (obey, demonstrating our trust in God) stems out of who He is (our trust).
10/12/2006 8:49 PM
Yes, that is how I understand it.
Pax Dei vobiscum,
Sterling
(There's my new identity)
10/16/2006 6:27 PM
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