The Contradiction of a Two-timing Faith
Psalms 37:1-40
A sister felt a pang of guilt, realizing that she was two-timing even though she was not a philanderer. The reason she ended up two-timing was her older sister, who had entered her thirties after breaking up with a boyfriend she had been dating for over ten years.
Her sister had little dating experience and had broken up with a boyfriend she had naturally assumed she would marry. Consequently, she ended up not as a glamorous single or a “gold miss,” but simply as an “old maid”—and one with few opportunities to meet men at that.
Her sister speaks as if singing: “Don’t just date one person; date a wide variety of people. That way, you won’t end up like me.” Taking her sister’s experience as a mirror, the younger sister ended up precariously two-timing.
It is said that there is only one fundamental reason for two-timing in a relationship. That is “fear.” It is the fear that the person you are currently dating might no longer feel the same way as they do now as time passes.
Conversely, it is a form of “insurance” taken out of the fear that the other person might leave. People who were abandoned by someone in their childhood suffer from a pathological inability to trust others, leading them to take out many “insurances.”
This is how they end up becoming “playboys.” Then, why does the fear that the other person might leave arise? It is because one is suspicious that the other person might change. However, the one who actually changes is oneself.
Everyone is bound to evaluate others according to their own standards. Since the trust one possesses is lacking, everything the other person treats you appears to be in that same light, causing anxiety to begin.
Trust applies equally to faith. Having one foot in the world of reality while weighing God’s promises against one’s own theories is described as being “like chaff blown by the wind” (Psalm 1:4).
The reason for this double-dealing is that one places the foundation of one’s life within oneself. Those who base their lives on themselves are bound to waver, and there is anxiety deep within their hearts. Trust is a decision.
Therefore, the Bible urges us to make a choice. “How long will you waver between two opinions?” (1 Kings 18:21). Through the cry of the prophet Elijah, it urges us to abandon our “two-faced faith” and trust in God.
The Hebrew verb for “trust” (batah) means “to hurry to take refuge.” This is embodied in the image of Lot and his family hastily leaving the land of Sodom for a safe place, following the Lord’s guidance.
Complete trust means not looking back. If the path the Lord leads is deemed the right path, one cannot straddle the line. Lot’s wife, who clung to worldly attachments, eventually becomes a pillar of salt, trampled underfoot.
Psalm 37 is a psalm of wisdom by David urging us not to complain about the prosperity of the wicked, but to trust in the Lord and do good. David uses four imperative verbs in his exhortation: “Trust,” “Entrust,” “Wait,” and “Act.”
** Trust in the Lord and do good (3) Commit your way to the Lord (5) Be silent before the Lord and wait patiently for Him (7) Turn away from evil and do good (27)
The first exhortation David gives us is to “trust in the Lord.” Trust is a compound word of trust and entrustment.
“Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and feed on His faithfulness” (Psalm 37:5). As the years of our faith grow longer, we keenly realize that trusting in God is both easy and difficult. The longer we live our life of faith, the more accustomed we become to worshiping, reading the Bible, singing hymns, and praying.
Therefore, it seems as though God is close to our lives. However, if we look closely, we also realize that we rely more often on what we possess or on people than on trusting God.
We have unwittingly become a man of two-faced faith. There are times when we are startled to realize that God is merely one of the things we trust. Therefore, He gives the second imperative verb.
It is “Entrust.” Entrusting is a discipline. It means to concretize trust through the discipline of entrustment. Prayer is the discipline of presenting my will to the Lord and entrusting it to His will.
Asking for what I want to gain in the world is not the essence of prayer. Prayer is a time to crucify my will and follow the Lord’s will. “Then won’t my life cease to exist?”
There may be those who protest or feel fear in this way. However, in reality, what makes me suffer is ‘my life.’ There is no need to get angry or frustrated even if things do not go according to my plans.
When we trust in the Lord, He fulfills the desires of our hearts. The third keyword is “Wait.” Waiting with faith for the Lord to work is “active trust.” Waiting quietly is also a discipline.
The final command is “Do good.” The reason He gives us the courage to do good is that by doing so, we can become conscious again of the fact that our lives stand before God. The four commands are not separate. It is connected like a single cycle.
By remembering and acting upon these five verbs, we come to ‘make His faithfulness our sustenance’ while we remain on this earth. It is the message that ‘Your goodness and mercy will surely follow us’ (Psalm 23:6).
O God the Father,
Let me trust and entrust not my will, but Your will,
Let me wait for Your actions, and do good.
I pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
