“Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the lord, our God.”
– Psalm 20:7
What a great verse Psalm 20:7 is. What a confidence giving, confidence boosting, encouraging verse. You look around at the world and you see all kinds of things that you might be tempted to put your trust in, like your job, your income, people around you, even good people that you love that you’re tempted to trust in.
Because you think about power, symbols of power, and countries, and armies, and just all kinds of different things in the world that would say, “Hey, you can trust in this, you can trust in that.” The Psalmist here says, “I don’t trust in any of those things. I have a much greater more dependable place to put my trust, and that is in the name of the Lord, my God.” For David to say this when he needs military help in battle, he needs chariots, he needs horses, but he realizes the battle is not ultimately won by chariots or horses. The battle is ultimately won by God.
Do not settle for trusting in what will only lead to despair. Trust in the One who will not put you to shame.
This Verse Warns Us Not To Trust Everything
I was reading the other day in Deuteronomy where Moses was recounting how God was leading his people and Moses said, “It wasn’t because we were greater than this other army, it’s because God was fighting for us,” and that’s the whole point. This is why we don’t put our trust in anything in this world because our God is greater than everything in this world. Our God is the only true reliable ultimate source of trust. Our God is the only one who is worthy of all of our trust, all of our hopes, all of our plans, all of our dreams can be trusted with God. All of our lives, our family, our work, everything we have, everything we are, we can trust God with them. His name is worthy of our trust.
Psalm 20:7 Prays To Only Trust In God
So we pray. Oh God, we deliberately, today, turn aside from trusting anyone or anything in this world but you. You ultimately are where we place our trust. We know that as long as our trust is in you, we can never be moved because you are all powerful, you are all wise, you are all good, you are all loving, and you are totally worthy of all of our trust. God help us not to hold back anything in our trust in you.
God help us to trust you fully. Help us to trust you completely. God help us to trust you wholeheartedly today. Even with things in our lives right now that we don’t understand why this or that is happening, God help us to trust in you, not to put our trust in anyone or anything else. Some trust in chariots, some trust in horses. So God, we look to you and we trust in your name. In Jesus’s name we pray. Amen.
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David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
