Thus says the Lord : “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the Lord. He is like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see any good come. He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land. “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.” (Jeremiah 17:5-8 ESV)
I have heard it said that if you are out of God's Will - you will lose time, money and energy. I think that most of us would agree in regards to that statement. To not trust in God and His plan for our lives has devastating results.
These two verses paint a picture of the man who does not trust in God and the man who does and the results for both. The contrast is stark contrast to one another with few similarities apart from the fact that they both truth in some being.
We all have to put our trust, our final reliance, in someone or something. It might be God, or it might be another person. Of course, we are all constantly putting some degree of trust in others, for example trusting that the driver behind you will use his brakes and not come crashing into you.
What is meant here is not that kind of trust, but the kind of trust in which there is a deep hope and reliance, the thing we expect to hold firm when everything else fails. For many people that trust is in themselves. But the choices in who to trust can be reduced to just two. Is it a human being, or is it God? That is the stark choice, and Jeremiah describes these two choices to us and explains the consequences of each. Let’s have a look at what the Bible has to say here.
The first trust that we are shown here is the Trust Of Man. As life gets more technical and mechanical - as life is filled up with more and more knowledge, I think that we end up trusting the strength of man often over the strength of God.
The scripture refers to making "flesh our strength." The human race has been shown time and time again, both corporately and individually, to be both feeble and sinful. We don't mean to fail or make bad decisions, but we do.
There is a hymn that has had words slightly changed over the years. It used to say:-
God is with us, God is with us,
So our great forefathers sang,
Far across the field of battle,
Lo their Holy war cry rang
Never once they feared or faltered
Never once they ceased to sing,
God is with is, God is with us!
Christ our Lord shall reign as king!
The change occurred in the fifth line – ‘never once they feared or faltered’ has been changed to the more accurate – ‘though at times they feared and faltered’. All men and women, even the strongest and the bravest fear and falter at times, and fail to deliver. Trusting in humanity, other people or ourselves has dire consequences.
The person who trusts in man is here likened to a desert plant, a piece of desert scrub. These plants are small and spindly. They are dry, they have no fruit. All their effort must be put into getting the tiny bit of moisture that they are able to reach. They live on salty, barren, uninhabited land, where, even if they did grow in beauty, nobody would see them or enjoy them. They were made for a hard existence on the margins. There is nobody to tend them, few insects to pollinate them, or birds and animals to carry their seeds. They rely for survival solely on their own resources, and have become adapted to just relying on themselves.
I live in the High Desert and I get this. The barrenness of land is a picture of the barrenness of soul that many people have. Their spiritual life is so puny and it takes all their energy just to survive let alone bring forth fruit.
If we trust in man, rather than God, we can end up like that. We put all our energy into survival, so we cannot spare any to give fruit. We cannot have those qualities in our lives that bless others. We become dry, with nothing to give. Our interactions with other people do not leave them blessed or strengthened or encouraged. We do not display the beauty and the holiness of Christ in our lives.
What is more, when God moves close in times of blessing, we cannot benefit from it, we cannot enjoy it, we cannot receive the blessings that God wants to give us, because we have so adapted ourselves to living on our own resources that we cannot receive from him. We can sit here while others are being moved by God, experiencing his blessing, worshipping him for his holiness, and spend our time thinking about what we are going to do next, or what has happened in the week just gone and the blessing of God does not touch or move us in the slightest.
The contrast that is given in this passage is to put our trust in God.
In contrast to fallible humans, God is the unfailing one, the one who has never been known to fail or to let anyone down. He is the one who keeps all his promises and always delivered what he has said he will.
Trusting in God has very different consequences to trusting in man. In contrast to the dried-up plants of the desert, the person who puts their trust in God is likened to a strong, fruitful tree. The waters, or rivers, by which this tree is planted were probably irrigation channels, deliberately dug for the purpose of watering the land. The sense of the scripture here is that it was planted deliberately and carefully in a place where it would be bound to flourish. The channels were kept flowing at all times of year and in all weathers. Even in times of draught they flowed on, watering and moistening the soil around them. A tree planted beside them would be able to spread out its roots along the banks, and grow tall and strong. It would not need to put all its effort into finding water, so it would be able to give fruit and to be of use. Such a tree does not rely just on itself for survival, but also on the people who tend it and ensure that the waters continue to flow.
A person who puts their trust in God is first described as ‘blessed’ or ‘happy’, unlike the others who are described as ‘cursed’. Such a person is like the tree by the water. God provides an endless source of blessing and strength, flowing all the time, no matter what happens in life. Just as the tree can develop roots to reach along the banks to take full advantage of all the water, so a person could develop spiritual roots to reach out and receive all the blessings that God is wishing to give to them. At times when God comes close they know it and are able to be close to him, to spend time with him and enjoy him. They do not rely on themselves for survival and blessing, but on the one who gives them their water, their nourishment, their blessings.
But this flourishing tree is not just growing for its own benefit. It grows tall and strong, and is leafy, so that people can shelter from the fierce heat of the sun under it. Fruit grows, a valuable source of food, vitamins and nourishment. When we grow like this tree people who are suffering from the difficulties of this life can come to us and find relief. They can be nourished from being with us and strengthened and blessed, brought close to the one true God who is the source of all joy.
The person that trusts in God "does not fear the heat" that comes. In other words, times of draught will still hit us, but they shall not cause us damage. Because the channels are still flowing we can still be strong and useful to others.
Therefore the choice is clear. Trust in man who will fail you, you will wither and dry and be of no use to anyone, or trust in God and be well watered, giving shade to others.
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