PSALM 118:8

"It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in man."

'Hi, how are you?' 'Fine'. Not exactly an "in-depth" discussion, this brief interchange is normal as friends and acquaintances pass and briefly touch each other with a cliché or two. In reality, clichés are a way of life, saturating sentences and spreading various paragraphs. But, sadly, this is the essence of our communication, our relationships will stall on a superficial façade. Facts and opinions also fill our vocabulary. These words go deeper, but the true person still lies beneath them. Actually, only when honest feelings and emotions are shared can real people be known, loved, and helped.

Exactly the same applies when we talk to God. Often superficial communication spills over in those talks. It is very easy to slide through well-worn lines and sentences that we have been reciting for many years, and we quickly toss a cliché or two at God and call it a prayer. I'm really certain that God hears and understands these feeble attempts, however, by limiting the depth of our communication, we become shallow in our relationship with Him. Certainly God knows us, and certainly God wants to have genuine conversation and communication with us.

At the centre of the Bible is the Book of Psalms. This great collection of songs and prayers expresses the heart and soul of humanity. In them we find the whole range of human experiences expressed. This Book hold no clichés. Instead, David and the other writers honestly poured out their true feelings, reflecting a dynamic, powerful, and life-changing with God. The Psalmists confess their sins, express their doubt and fears, ask God for help in times of trouble, but also praise and worship Him.

As we read the Book of Psalms, we will not only be able to hear believers crying out to God from the intimate depths of fear, doubts, and despair, but we are also able to hear them singing to Him in the heights of celebration. It is not important whether the Psalmists are despairing or rejoicing, what is more important is that we always are able to hear them sharing honest feeling with their God.

It is obvious then, that men and women throughout history, because of the honesty expressed by these writers, have come again and again, to the Book of Psalms for comfort during times of struggle and distress. And through that journey, they have risen from the depths of despair to new heights of joy and praise as they discovered the power of God's everlasting love and forgiveness. It is, therefore, a vital statistic that the Psalms will provide poetry for the expression to praise, worship, confession to God, and more important, to guide us into a deep and genuine relationship with God.

But, let us go back to verse 8 of that specific Psalm 118. I can only explain by using a simple metaphor of the pilots that put their confidence in their planes, of the commuters that put their confidence in trains, cars, or buses. What is real, is that each day, we must put confidence in something or someone. If we are willing to trust a plane or a car to get us to a certain destination, are we willing to trust God to guide us here on earth and to our eternal destination? Do we trust Him more than any human being? How futile it is to trust anything or anyone more than God.

But let me go even further and pinpoint how pretty strange the way this verse and this Psalm worked out. Even if you are not a very religious person, you would have to agree with some interesting facts in this instance.

1. Psalm 117 is the shortest chapter in the Bible.

2. Psalm 119 is the largest chapter in the Bible.

3. Psalm 118 is the chapter in the very middle of the Bible.

To this, you must take notice to the fact that there are 594 chapters before Psalm 118, and that there are 594 chapters after Psalm 118. Furthermore, the centre verse in the Bible is exactly this verse 8 of Psalm 118, which we are busy discussing.

This, automatically, leads my grey matter cells, to realize that this verse say something very significant about God's perfect will for our lives.

The theme of this Psalm is "Confidence in God's eternal love". God's love is unchanging in the midst of changing situations. This gives us security. God is faithful and just. When we put our trust in Him, He quiets our hearts. Because He has been faithful throughout history, we can trust Him in times of trouble.

People can be unfair and friends may desert us. But we can trust God. Knowing intimately that God drives away doubt, fear, and loneliness.