Which camp do you fall into? Psalm 20: 7-9 7 Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God. 17 8They are brought to their knees and fall, but we rise up and stand firm. 9 LORD, give victory to the king! Answer us when we call! The last three verses of the 20th Psalm above are the end of an extended blessing. It’s a blessing given to those that relied on God rather than the things of the earth. These people are different than those that trust in chariots or horses. But what’s the whole chariots and horses thing all about? Perhaps those two types of people could be further explained as those that expect to get a free ride (chariot people) and those that expect that in order to receive blessings they have to toil for them (horse people). Neither type would appear to be successful or righteous in the psalmist’s eyes. Given my farm upbringing it’s hard not to fall into the “horse” camp. Surely, nothing comes unless we work for it, correct? Anything worthwhile must be earned and what’s more worthwhile than the blessings of God? Put in the time, work hard and you’ll achieve the proper outcome. Good ‘ol Midwest logic. On the other side of the coin are those who feel entitled to be delivered merely because of their presence. The chariot people subscribe to the axiom that just showing up means they’re golden (Woody Allen quote comes to mind). This time though it’s their presence in the pew on Sunday or a check in the offering plate or the proper prayer, gesture or other factor in the formula that provides the wanted outcome: blessedness. There’s nothing really terribly wrong with either of the two camps. Effort, service and good works are all needed. Our presence in worship, our offering and our prayer are important too. If we take the psalmist at his word though, what I’m afraid it really comes down to is trust and faith. Those two, not the horses or chariots philosophies alone, achieve the blessings of our Father. Because unlike the horse and chariot people the trust and faith are not in ourselves, but in God and the belief that his grace exceeds anything we can do to earn or deserve it. Let’s be honest, none of us is hitting all the marks. So, when it gets down to it our belief is our only hope. I pray to God we can do that. Do you tend to be more of a horse person or a chariot person? Do you think it’s easier to go one way or the other rather than working on our trust and belief? Why? If you liked this and think someone else might too, share it with them using one of the icons below. If you would like to receive an email weekly with links to the posts from that week, you can just click this. Like trust and faith, it’s free. Click here if you’d like to go back to the home page.

Psalm

Chariots or Horses?