1 Samuel 30:6 And David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because all the people were bitter in soul, each for his sons and daughters. But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God.

1 Samuel 22:3 And David went from there to Mizpeh of Moab. And he said to the king of Moab, “Please let my father and my mother stay with you, till I know what God will do for me.”

Psalm 118:8 It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man.

There is a great deal of mistrust being sown these days. 

It appears that we have three different scriptures here that deal differently with individual trust issues.

First it would appear that King David had lost the trust of his people.

Secondly, David put a measure of trust in a foreign king to protect his mother and father.

Thirdly, protections are granted by God, not man.

The larger issue of trust is left to each individual to determine who earns our trust.

The people trusted those who had the same fears and anxieties they had, common ground.

Parental trust disappears when we fear for their safety. We fear they will make bad choices.

Better choices are made from a standpoint of personal history.

What has God done for you personally? What He has done for others is irrelevant. We cannot trust that God will respond to us based on others. What God has done to intercede on our behalf in the past is a better indicator of why we should trust God for our future.

Psalm 118:6 The Lord is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me?

1 Kings 5:4 But now the Lord my God has given me rest on every side. There is neither adversary nor misfortune.

What gives us rest and confidence is in those things we see that God has done for us and through us.

Psalm 40:5 You have multiplied, O Lord my God, your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us; none can compare with you! I will proclaim and tell of them, yet they are more than can be told.

Isaiah 35:4 Say to those who have an anxious heart, “Be strong; fear not! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God. He will come and save you.”

Isaiah 41:10 fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Proverbs 4:4 Let your heart hold fast my words; 

Genesis 3:24 He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.

I was thinking of writing about access. The thought came to me to use this opening verse as a basis for gaining access to the garden of Eden again, our idea of paradise.

Then as I read the passage over again, I had to change my way of thinking. The way is guarded to the tree of life. Sure the tree was planted at the center of the garden but the focus is not the garden but the tree of life.

John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way….

He is the way to the tree of life. The flaming sword turning every way is to ensure only those whom God justifies can come near to our Lord and obttain eternal life.

Ephesians 6:17 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,
Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

Two edge swords cut both ways, that is the word of God.

John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Revelation 20:4 Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God…

From the very beginning to the very end this has always been about Jesus, as the Son, as the Word, as the Way, truth and life everlasting.

Revelation 3:20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.

Jesus is knocking at the door to your heart. If you hear His voice you don’t get to say “Come in” you have to open the door to your heart and invite Him in.

If you are not hearing His voice, perhaps you need to pick up your bible and read.

Romans 10:17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.