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His Heart Trusts Her
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I will say to the Lord, "My
refuge and my fortress, My God, in whom I trust"
(Psalm 91:2 NAS).
To trust (Batach-#982) means
to confide in or set one's hope and confidence upon
anyone (Gesenius' Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon to the Old
Testament). In Scripture, the word refers both to
faith that is placed foolishly and to faith that is
placed wisely. Clearly, the object of one's trust
determines the peril or the safety into which one enters
through the act of trusting.
As to foolishly-placed trust, the Old
Testament usages of Batach show a host of things
in which people should not trust: Egypt, its gods
and kings; graven images; man, the arm of flesh, and
friends; bows, swords, horses and chariots; fenced
cities, lying words, robbery, and perversity; one's
riches; and one's own wisdom, knowledge, strength,
heart, and self, to name a few. All these
disappoint the hope put in them.
As to wisely-placed trust, all but
one of the uses of this Hebrew word point to people
putting their trust directly in the Lord God, His Name,
His Word, His mercy and salvation. That is why a
second meaning of Batach is "to be secure, to
fear nothing for oneself" (Gesenius), for "whoso putteth
his trust in the Lord shall be safe (Proverbs 29:25 KJV).
But the one atypical usage of
Batach stands out, for it involves placing trust in
someone other than God and still being safe and blessed:
The heart of her husband
trusts in her, and he will have no lack of gain.
She does him good and not evil all the days of her
life (Proverbs 31:11-12 NAS).
Compare this verse about the husband
of a God-fearing wife with the following:
The Lord is my strength and my
shield; my heart trusts in Him, and I am
helped (Psalm 28:7 NAS).
God intends for a husband to trust
his wife. It means actively and voluntarily
opening his heart and inner self to her, confiding in
and putting his confidence in her, and entrusting his
life into her hands, much as he would to God. It
makes him vulnerable, touchable, accessible, but it
honors his wife and God, and it releases her to truly be
his helper. Although God intends for a husband to
do this, men fear it and struggle against it. In
our counseling, we often help men to learn to trust
their wives, and wives to learn to do their husbands
good and not evil.
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Call Metro (817)640-6440 Total Life Ministries
319 Osler Ste. 130 Arlington, TX 76010
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