Trust not in Man by Scott

The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Apr 2, 1867

Trust not in Man.

By Scott

“Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils; for wherein is he to be accounted of?” Isa. iii, 22.

Surely men of low degree are vanity, and men of high degree are a lie; to be laid in a balance, they are altogether lighter than vanity. Psa. lxii, 9.

Thus saith the Lord: Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord. For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited. Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord and whose hope the Lord is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.” Jer. xvii, 5–8.

A DREADFUL curse is here pronounced against every one who trusteth in man. To expect safety, prosperity, or happiness, from any man, or number of men; to rely on their power, wealth, wisdom, valor, favor, and fidelity; and thus neglect the promises, precepts, and ordinances of God, and to bestow more pains to obtain the patronage and protection of man, than the divine favor; as if a powerful prince could render that man happy, who has God for his enemy: by these things, and such as these, men make flesh their arm; and put a poor, frail, dying, sinful, creature, in the place of the almighty and everlasting Protector and Helper. In so doing the heart departeth from the Lord, and renounces its reliance on him. And as trusting in other men idolizes them; so reliance on our own capacity, knowledge, wisdom, strength, or righteousness, idolizes ourselves; and when this is habitual, it subjects a man to the curse here pronounced. A person of this character resembles the “heath,” a sorry, worthless, shrub, which grows in the barren desert, and withers for want of moisture; and whilst other plants, in more fertile soils, flourish by seasonable showers, this still continues the same, as doomed to grow into its native heartless soil. Thus he, who trusts in man, can never share the prosperity of God’s people. He must remain destitute of divine grace, unfruitful, unholy, and worthless, frustrated of all his expectations, liable to be deprived of all comfort, exposed to all misery, and excluded from the presence and favor of God.

But he who trusts in the Lord, and expects every blessing from his mercy, grace, and providence, according to his word is a happy man. He resembles a tree planted in a fertile soil, on the bank of a river, which is not affected by heat or drouth, but is covered with verdant leaves, and continues to bear fruit in the most unfavorable seasons. His profession and prosperity are permanent; he remains safe in every difficulty, and needs not fear any event, for he shall not cease from bringing forth the fruits of righteousness to all eternity. The clause rendered, “he shall not see when heat cometh,” is in the Hebrew text and in the Septuagint, “he shall not fear, etc.,” and this gives a clearer sense than the present reading from the margin of the Hebrew.—Scott.