Trusting God's Sovereignty Amidst Difficulty and Uncertainty
Scripture repeatedly anchors trust in God's character rather than in favorable circumstances. The psalmist declares, "In God I trust; I do not fear. What can mere humankind do to me?" [1], a confession made not in prosperity but amid threat. The question itself acknowledges human limitation: adversaries may harm the body, but they cannot nullify God's covenant faithfulness. This trust is not passive resignation but active reliance on one who has proven himself "a help and a shield" [5].
The Nature of Biblical Trust
Trust in God involves transferring the weight of one's security from visible supports to the invisible reality of God's power and promise. The writer to the Hebrews describes believers as "receiving a Kingdom that can't be shaken" [2], contrasting the permanence of God's reign with the instability of earthly kingdoms. This unshakable kingdom becomes the ground for serving God "with reverence and awe" even when present circumstances tremble. The Lexham English Bible rendering of Psalm 56:4 emphasizes the object of trust: "In God, whose word I praise—in God I trust" [3], linking confidence to the reliability of divine revelation rather than to the resolution of difficulty.
Assurance in the Midst of Affliction
Christian assurance does not eliminate hardship but reframes it. Torrey's Topical Textbook catalogs the resources available to "afflicted saints": God's presence ("God is with"), his refuge ("God is a refuge and strength"), his comfort, preservation, and deliverance [4]. These are not theoretical abstractions but experiential realities tested in extremity. John Gill, commenting on Psalm 28:7, identifies God as "the author both of natural and spiritual strength" who provides "fortitude of mind, to bear up under all the exercises he was tried with" [8]. The strength is not for escape but for endurance.
Matthew Henry observes that believers may "come boldly to the throne of grace" with the petition that they "might never be made ashamed" of their dependence on God, "for God will never disappoint the hope that is of his own raising" [7]. This confidence rests on God's character: he does not awaken expectations he will not fulfill. Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown note that in seasons when "one's faith is tried to the utmost, particularly by speculative difficulties," and "the spiritual eye then swims," believers must fortify themselves by returning to foundational convictions [6]. Trust persists not because difficulty has vanished but because the one trusted remains constant.
Sources
- Psalms “Psalms 56:11 (LEB) — God I trust; I do not fear. What can mere humankind do to me?”
- Hebrews “Therefore, receiving a Kingdom that can’t be shaken, let us have grace, through which we serve God acceptably, with reverence and awe, -- Hebrews 12:28”
- Psalms “Psalms 56:4 (BSB) — In God, whose word I praise— in God I trust. I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?”
- Torrey's Topical Textbook “Torrey's Topical Textbook: Afflicted Saints — God is with -- Ps 46:5,7; Isa 43:2. God is a refuge and strength to -- Ps 27:5,6; Isa 25:4; Jer 16:19; Na 1:7. God comforts -- Isa 49:13; Jer 31:13; Mt 5:4; 2Co 1:4,5; 7:6. God preserves -- Ps 34:20. God delivers -- Ps 34:4,19; Pr 12:13; Jer 39:17,18. Christ is with -- Joh 14:18. Christ supports -- 2Ti 4:17; Heb 2:18. Christ comforts -- Isa 61:2; Mt 11:28-30; Lu 7:13; Joh 14:1; 16:33. Christ preserves -- Isa 63:9; Lu 21:18. Christ delivers -- Re 3:10. Should praise God -- Ps 13:5,6; 56:8-10; 57:6,7; 71:20-23. Should imitate Christ -- Heb 12:1-3; 1P”
- Psalms (Nonconformist/Puritan) “Matthew Henry on Psalms 115:9: In these verses, I. We are earnestly exhorted, all of us, to repose our confidence in God, and not suffer our confidence in him to be shaken by the heathens' insulting over us upon the account of our present distresses. It is folly to trust in dead images, but it is wisdom to trust in the living God, for he is a help and a shield to those that do trust in them, a help to furnish them with and forward them in that which is good, and a shield to fortify them against and protect them from every thing that is evil. Therefore, 1. Let Israel trust in the Lord; the body”
- John (Presbyterian) “Jamieson, Fausset & Brown on John 6:69: And we believe,--(See on Mat 16:16). Peter seems to have added this not merely--probably not so much--as an assurance to his Lord of his heart's belief in Him, as for the purpose of fortifying himself and his faithful brethren against that recoil from his Lord's harsh statements which he was probably struggling against with difficulty at that moment. Note.--There are seasons when one's faith is tried to the utmost, particularly by speculative difficulties; the spiritual eye then swims, and all truth seems ready to depart from us. At such seasons, a clear”
- Psalms (Nonconformist/Puritan) “Matthew Henry on Psalms 71:1: Two things in general David here prays for - that he might not be confounded and that his enemies and persecutors might be confounded. I. He prays that he might never be made ashamed of his dependence upon God nor disappointed in his believing expectations from him. With this petition every true believer may come boldly to the throne of grace; for God will never disappoint the hope that is of his own raising. Now observe here, 1. How David professes his confidence in God, and with what pleasure and grateful variety of expression he repeats his profession of that c”
- Psalms (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Psalms 28:7: The Lord is my strength,.... That is, the author both of natural and spiritual strength; that gave him strength of body, and fortitude of mind, to bear up under all the exercises he was tried with; the strength of his life, spiritual and temporal, and of his salvation; the strength of his heart under present distresses, and who he knew would be so in the hour of death, when his heart and strength would fail; and my shield; to protect and defend him; as were the love, power, and faithfulness of God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, his power and fulness, his blood, righteo”