Trust. 

Merriam-Webster defines it as one in which confidence is placed as a noun or to place confidence within as a verb.  Trust is such a fragile thing in the days which we are living.  Who and what can we trust?

Can we trust our government?  Do they really have our best interests in mind?  Our employers?  Our spouse?  Like, are they really working late and how close are they really to that coworker?  Our friends?  Our pets?  Will my dog dig through the trash can the moment that I walk out the door?  Can we even trust ourselves?

Trust is built over time and through relationship.  Trust grows as it is tested and tried and proven to be reliable.  Trust, however, can be destroyed in a matter of moments.

There is only One who is truly trustworthy because there is only One who never changes.  As the scriptures reveal, anyone who puts their trust in the Lord will never be put to shame (Romans 10:11, Isaiah 18:16, Hebrews 13,8).

Truly trusting in the Lord is so much more than mere words, however.  I can tell you that I trust a lawn chair.  I can tell you that it is completely safe to sit in.  I can tell you that it can totally support your weight.  Talk is not the same as trust.  Trust both speaks and acts.  Trust is jumping up and placing as much force as I can with my own body totally and completely into that lawn chair.

Do we truly trust in the Lord, or do we just say that we trust the Lord?

I love these lines in a song of praise that will arise in the end times encouraging us to place and keep our trust in the Lord alone:

Isaiah 26:3-4

3 You will keep in perfect peace

    those whose minds are steadfast,

    because they trust in you.

4 Trust in the Lord forever,

    for the Lord, the Lord himself, is the Rock eternal.

This morning, as a real-life example of trusting in God, we turn to Hezekiah. 

2 Kings 18:1-8

1 In the third year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, Hezekiah son of Ahaz king of Judah began to reign. 2 He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-nine years. His mother’s name was Abijah daughter of Zechariah. 3 He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father David had done. 4 He removed the high places, smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles. He broke into pieces the bronze snake Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites had been burning incense to it. (It was called Nehushtan.)

5 Hezekiah trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel. There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before him or after him. 6 He held fast to the Lord and did not stop following him; he kept the commands the Lord had given Moses. 7 And the Lord was with him; he was successful in whatever he undertook. He rebelled against the king of Assyria and did not serve him. 8 From watchtower to fortified city, he defeated the Philistines, as far as Gaza and its territory.

Like many of us, Hezekiah starts strong trusting in the Lord.  He boldly removes any stumbling blocks and hinderances in God’s people following His lead putting their trust in the Lord.  They quickly see the fruits of this choice.  They were successful, they stood up against oppression, they overcame any and every obstacle and enemy that tried to stand between them and God’s promises to them.

Then, like many of us, that trust began to waiver as it was put to the test.  Hezekiah’s enemy, the king of Assyria, found a weakness.  He attacked and successfully overtook the fortified cities of Israel.  This was the northern kingdom of God’s people whereas Hezekiah was the king of the southern kingdom of God’s people, Judah.

Unlike Hezekiah’s trust in the Lord, Hoshea refused to trust in Him and rebelled against Him.  This lead to the nation’s downfall in Hezekiah’s fourth year as king:

2 Kings 18:12

This happened because they had not obeyed the Lord their God, but had violated his covenant—all that Moses the servant of the