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Psalm 118:8-9    It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in humans.  It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in princes.

As our surrounding culture turns further away from God and rejects his Word, and humanism becomes the universal default way of thinking, the wisdom of these verses is very apparent.

Nevertheless, the Psalmist challenges me concerning how much of my trust in the LORD is centred in the depths of my heart/mind/inner being, and how much of it remains purely ‘academic’ in my thinking and speaking!  In reality, is my true sense of security first and foremost in the LORD, or do I only pay him lip-service when the heat is on and it comes to the crunch?  (Please excuse the mixed metaphor!).

Am I myself the ‘human’ in whom I ultimately put my trust?  Self-confidence, especially when things are going well in my affairs because of my amazing cleverness, too often turns out to be a hidden pit into which I fall.  This was the downfall of my original parents, whose DNA I share, when they were convinced that it was ‘better’ to go their own way instead of obeying God’s Word.  The first suggestion with which Satan tempted them was “Did God really say …?” (Genesis 3:1), and after that everything was ‘heading south’.

Or do I really put my confidence in governments, world leaders, or institutions – the Psalmist’s ‘princes’ – rather than in the LORD.  Admittedly, the way the world in general, and our own culture in particular, is going makes it much less tempting to ‘trust in princes’ and makes me more inclined to ‘take refuge in the LORD’, but those of us who are older can remember a time when human wisdom and institutions seemed much more stable, reasonable and reliable; so, in effect, we became more conditioned towards ‘trusting’ in them rather than taking refuge in the LORD.

“Beneath the cross of Jesus I gladly take my stand, the shadow of a mighty rock within a weary land; a home within a wilderness, a rest upon the way from the burning of the noonday heat, and the burden of the day.  O safe and happy shelter!  O refuge, tried and sweet!  O sacred place where heaven’s love and heaven’s justice meet; as to the sleeping patriarch the wondrous dream was given, so seems my Saviour’s cross to me a ladder up to heaven” (Elizabeth Cecilia Clephane).   

– Bruce Christian