Psalms 40:4

Blessed is the man who maketh the Lord his trust.

The blessedness of making the Lord our trust

I. What is implied by our trust.

1. That it rests in the Lord Himself.

2. It sets aside all self-confidence.

II. Some reasons why the man who makes the Lord his trust is blessed.

1. He acts in accordance with the Divine will.

2. There is stability in his trust; you may always depend upon it.

3. It bestows true manly dignity and freedom from all servile fears.

4. It gives quiet composure to the mind. (W. H. Horwood.)

The Lord our trust

The psalmist here expresses--

I. A peculiar habit of mind. What is implied in trusting in God?

1. A knowledge of His character.

2. It implies the consciousness of reconciliation.

3. Obedience.

4. Piety or devotion.

II. The happiness connected with this trust in the Lord.

1. See it by way of contrast. For how insufficient and unstable are the objects in which the world trusts. Riches, skill, virtue and the like.

2. In the perfections of the God in whom we trust. Think of all His attributes and each will minister to this happiness.

3. In what is prepared for such, both here and hereafter. (W. Wright.)

Faith commended

I. Faith has the divine approval. Wherever there is faith God is pleased with it. He has made it the main requirement of His gospel. It is the one thing needful in prayer. It is the mode and manner of the spiritual life, for “the just shall live by faith.”

II. This is highly reasonable. We love to be trusted, and are much troubled when we are not. It is our proper position towards God, and it supplies the link between us and Himself. The complete confidence of the heart is the essence of obedience and the fountain of it. And it is no objection that faith, trust, seems such a small matter. But within the compass of it there lies a force whose power would be difficult to measure. It is a virtue which contains within it seed enough to sow all the acreage of life with holiness.

III. And faith is blessedness. For in trouble it assures us that “all things work together for good.” And it releases from trouble. Read this psalm. It creates within him a deep peace and a holy elevation of character. We put down our foot on what seems thin as air and, behold, it is firm as a rock beneath us. But some one says, “I could not live with nothing to depend upon.” Is God nothing? The believer has nothing more, and what does he want more? And faith makes blessed in death. For the believer knows he cannot truly die. If ye will believe, ye shall have both heaven on earth and heaven in heaven. God uplift us from the miry clay of unbelief to the rock of confidence in Him.” (C. H. Spurgeon.)

Trust in the Lord--the only way to happiness

“As happy as a king” is a common phrase; but history almost seems to say, “As miserable as a king.” In his last will Henry IV. spoke most sadly of his life, which he had “misspended.” The last words of Henry VIII. were, “All is lost.” “I, Eleanor, by the wrath of God, Queen of England,” so wrote Eleanor of Aquitaine, Queen of Henry II. Queen Mary begged that, when she died, not even the semblance of a crown might be put upon her brow. “I am aweary of my life,” said Queen Elizabeth to the French ambassador. And in the present time we have all seen how much there is in the lot of the Czar of all the Russias that none of us would like.
True happiness can never be realized, either by king or peasant, apart from God, and the wise king said very truly, “Whoso trusteth in the Lord, happy is he.”