Trusting In The Promises

"Trusting In The Promises" – Jeremiah 17:7-10 “Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD… For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters… and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.” The study begins with a distinction that governs everything: the trust that saves is not a faith in ideas nor a faith in oneself —“I can do it, I will get through this”—, because one day we go under, and what was never critical suddenly is. It is faith in God as the source. From there it develops the figure of the tree with an image taken from the island: the avocado trees attacked by the parasite, whose leaves turn black because something tiny fastens on and drains them until the tree dries and the fruit comes out starved; set against the tree by the waters, which does not even see when the heat comes. It continues with the deceitful heart of verse 9 —deceitful means perverse, incurable, sick, damaged at the root, and the one it deceives is oneself— and with the God who searches the mind and rewards according to works. Then it walks through five passages of trust: the measureless goodness laid up and shown in Psalm 31:19, the mercy that compasses him that trusts in Psalm 32:10, the redemption of the soul in Psalm 34:22, the snare of the fear of man in Proverbs 29:25, the perfect peace of Isaiah 26:3, and mount Zion that cannot be removed in Psalm 125:1.

I. As the years pass.

A. One learns more and knows more; but not always understands more.

1. There are darker days and brighter days: all depends on how we go on.

2. I do not depend on my strength: I depend on the drive to do what pleases God.

3. In baptism that creature is buried, and all things become new in your life.

B. For our life there are promises.

1. Do you take them into account, or wrap yourself further in the trouble and the ailment?

2. Today we understand everything, tomorrow nothing: that is our ordinary life.

3. We suffocate ourselves; no one can suffocate you unless you allow it.

4. You live because God chose you; in what you sleep through, you lose.

II. Doubt paralyzes.

A. Life comes to paralyze you.

1. Just when you thought you were getting going, something climbs on top of you.

2. One tires, and another piles on, and another comes: they come free of charge.

B. It is not a faith in ideas nor in oneself.

1. “I can, I will get through this”: and one day we go under; if not today, tomorrow.

2. What was never critical suddenly became more critical than we ever thought.

3. Rising in the morning your feet weigh five hundred pounds and your mind spins.

4. Trusting in oneself gains nothing; but in God as the source, yes.

III. What is not ours to enter.

A. We are the church of Christ, not an association; if one suffers, the other suffers.

1. Let the political leaders argue: they walk with an escort.

2. By speaking one gains nothing: you win whoever agrees, and the rest become enemies.

3. We cannot enter where we do not belong: you do not know that sphere.

B. While Jesus walked on earth, He walked hiding Himself.

1. He had to fulfill the time He came to teach, lest it be mistaken that He sought an empire.

2. The misreadings are in the hearer, and they bring what belongs to the earth.

3. If we are not careful, there are the troubles for free: a bit of curiosity here and there.

IV. Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD (v. 7).

A. He must live trusting, not doubting.

1. He who doubts despairs, and does not believe the promises God has for the one who seeks Him.

2. Trusting God brings blessing, because you activate faith.

3. If you have no blessing, it means you do not pray, you doubt, you live frightened.

4. Trials come, but the blessings are greater.

B. God is a fountain that constantly pours out blessing.

1. To be at peace is blessing; that you prayed and God opened the door is blessing.

2. To be in grace is blessing; for in disgrace there is no blessing.

3. Faith is not in us: we do not produce faith; faith is in God.

V. As a tree planted by the waters (v. 8).

A. The avocado blight on the island: the parasite that drains the leaf until the tree dries.

1. It is not that the tree changed: its leaves turn black and then brown.

2. And if the avocado comes, it comes out entirely starved.

3. The tree that is not nourished dries; and if blights come, they destroy it.

B. But the tree nourished, stable and fruitful even in the hard time is the one who trusts the Lord.

1. “He shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green.”

2. Why do you pray? Why read the Word? Because you have contact with heaven.

3. We cannot spend life weeping: the ungodly laments; the just man trusts.

4. What is heard, what the neighbor says, drowns and tires; but that is not the just man’s business.

C. The just man knows where he must stand.

1. Jesus did not go to the cross to have victims on the earth.

2. It is not the crowds: I never go with any crowd, nor will I.

3. If the tree dries, the promises died: how would the sheep go on with no green pastures?

VI. The heart is deceitful (v. 9).

A. And whom does it deceive? Oneself.

1. It tears us apart, brings us terrors, leaves us insecure.

2. Deceitful means perverse, incurable, sick, weak, malignant.

3. It is not merely one who does evil: it is something damaged at its root.

B. Better the direction of God than the heart.

1. You are calm, and suddenly your heart knots up and you cannot breathe.

2. If you were content today, tomorrow no one can bear you: who shall know it?

3. Do not be led by the heart nor by impulse: that confuses us.

4. When God chooses a people it is to bless it, with promises paid at Calvary.

VII. I the LORD search the heart (v. 10).

A. Only God knows and examines the true heart of each person.

1. And He rewards according to what we do, according to the fruit of our doings.

2. What must we see to? That what we do be pleasing before God.

3. I guard myself: that my heart not fill with doubt, with bitterness, with distrust.

VIII. How great is thy goodness (Psalm 31:19).

A. Its size is not stated, because there is no measure to determine it.

1. Nor years in which to expire: all the days of our lives.

2. And at last He will say: thou wast faithful in little, I will set thee over much.

3. It is abundant and surpasses all we can imagine.

B. Laid up, wrought, and before the sons of men.

1. Laid up for them that fear Him: God reserves special blessings.

2. Wrought for them that trust in Him: that goodness does not stay hidden.

3. And it becomes evident to others as a testimony of His faithfulness.

4. Let all drown and cry out; not the just man, for he waits on the goodness of God.

IX. Many sorrows shall be to the wicked (Psalm 32:10).

A. Life far from God brings suffering, emptiness and pain.

1. Like the rich young ruler: it is a matter of heart; one does not want to.

2. We have our own list of what we want; but God writes God’s promises.

3. Paul gave himself in pain: his beginning was pain and his death was pain, and it was for the work.

B. But he that trusteth in the LORD, mercy shall compass him about.

1. Though the trial comes we do not yield; the blow must be borne, and it is borne.

2. The mercy of God enriches us, because God has no limit.

3. In heaven our eyes will be opened: from this God kept you, there He brought the blessing.

4. In the trial your quality is shown; if you take it and own it, it stays in your life.

X. The LORD redeemeth the soul (Psalm 34:22).

A. God rescues, frees and pays the price for His children.

1. God never leaves us adrift: He upholds you with His right hand, He renews you.

2. Jesus heals the wounds of the heart; do not bring back what God already removed.

3. “I feel awful”: drop those knees and ask forgiveness. What is hard is a hardened heart.

4. It is not limited to a few: everyone who trusts receives this guarantee.

XI. The fear of man bringeth a snare (Proverbs 29:25).

A. Whatever you fear and see no way out of will set a snare on you.

1. And to loosen it you must come down, because the snare is choking you.

2. Fearing people, their opinion or their rejection traps us as in a snare.

3. To live depending on what others think enslaves.

B. But whoso putteth his trust in the LORD shall be safe.

1. God magnifies him, gives him honor, gives him power, sets him on high.

2. God honors the one who trusts Him, not the one who seeks to please men.

3. It is hard for us to trust because we are too taken with the earth and with vanity.

XII. Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace (Isaiah 26:3).

A. True peace does not come from circumstances, but from God.

1. You cannot come, say you liked the message, and then go celebrate with the ungodly.

2. The holy is holy because he is sanctified; the seeker, because he is separated from the world.

3. The world gives no peace and no joy: it gives pain, sadness and anguish.

B. “Whose mind is stayed on thee”: that implies spiritual discipline.

1. One must pray every day, because Monday’s prayer is not Tuesday’s.

2. Where is your heart? If it is in circumstances and terrors, there is no peace there.

3. The one with that continual trust is the one with roots; otherwise you live by halves.

4. For your ambitions you discipline yourself, and not in the spiritual; hence no roots.

C. Trust produces peace.

1. When I rest in God’s control, I cease to be a slave of anxiety.

2. In drought the roots go deeper, seeking water to sustain the tree.

3. We seek in prayer and in the Word: there are our roots.

XIII. As mount Zion (Psalm 125:1).

A. “Which cannot be removed, but abideth for ever.”

1. Do you want to abide forever? Then trust not in yourself, but in the Lord.

2. Trials come and the day grows hard; but those who trust are not moved.

3. We are no longer at the tree: we are a mountain.

4. Be spiritual beings; and when the soul is cast down, submit it to the voice of God.