“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for; the evidence of things not seen.” Hebrews 11:1
One of the greatest aspects of the Christian faith is that it is very practical, and in some regards, very simple. From a practical standpoint, it is so because of the essence of faith itself. Scripture tells us that faith is “substance.” What does this mean? From God’s standpoint, faith is something He has created, given to men, to be the catalyst and the power of one’s life. It exists as being very real, not because we can see it, but because God declares it to be such. It is just as real as all that we can see. Truly, it is even more real, for it is maintained by God, provided daily by God for us, so that we can appropriate all that He desires us to believe Him for. Also, the only time when faith will pass away will be when “faith becomes sight. ” We then shall see the Lord Jesus as He is, becoming perfectly like Him. At that point, faith will no longer be needed, for our appropriation of Him as our Life, Light, and Love will be complete. In the interim, before the believer goes to be with Christ, there is the necessity of exercising faith on this earth. The strength, quality, and quantity of faith, is determined by the knowledge of Christ, His glory and power, His goodness and love, and the understanding of His faithfulness to accomplish all that He has promised that He will do. So, how is faith practical? How is it to be exercised and lived?
One of the greatest men of faith in the Bible was David. From being a young shepherd, keeping his father’s flock of sheep, until he became the King of Israel, David’s life was characterized by a simple trust in God, and this lived by adhering to simple truths that have eternal ramifications, or results. God found in David one who was very teachable with regard to learning the great truths of the Great Shepherd, the Creator and Redeemer, his Keeper, Provider, and Guide. David would eventually see the Lord Jesus as His salvation, His Light, and Strength. It would be on the basis of the character and nature of God, that He would resolutely believe. The basic principle of faith by which he learned to live was that God was perfectly, entirely faithful, to fulfill His word. What He said, He would do. On one occasion, revealed in Psalm 16, David declared his resolve: “I have set the Lord before me: because He is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.” (16:8) With regard to the practicality of faith, David was a master. He learned how to take the great truths of God which had been revealed to him, and then apply them to his life and circumstances. That which distinguished David in a marvelous way was the ability that God gave him to appropriate God, according to the truth of who He was and what He said, specifically believing Him for His intervention in the life. It was as if he learned to “bring heaven down” to earth, and see realized the will and life of Christ “in earth, as it was in heaven,” though certainly to a lesser extent. This can be seen so clearly all through Psalm 37.
David begins this Psalm by avoiding the temptation to be occupied with “evildoers,” and “workers of iniquity.” He then proceeds to the central issue of the Psalm, by stating: “Trust in the Lord.” Here he takes of a position faith, setting Christ before him, trusting Him supremely and above all other things or people. His is a personal, deliberate faith, placed in a single person. Secondly, the natural result of such a faith is the doing of that which is good towards others on earth. This is the simple expression of the goodness of God. He goes on to say, “Commit thy way unto the Lord.” Here is the deliberate committal of all that he is to God.
Dear Father, Strengthen wondrously our faith. In Jesus’ name, Amen.