What the Bible Says About Trusting Others – Psalm 118:8

Trust. It’s a funny thing. We bet our lives on it every single day. You trust the chair you’re sitting in won’t collapse. You trust the bank with your life’s savings. But trusting people? That’s a whole different ball game. We’ve all been there. The gut punch of a broken promise. The sharp sting of betrayal from a friend. It makes you want to build walls. It makes you careful. And it pushes many of us to ask a serious question: in a world full of imperfect people, what the Bible says about trusting others feels more urgent than ever.

The Bible isn’t some sterile manual with a simple yes or no. It’s messy, just like life. It’s packed with stories, wisdom, and raw human emotion that helps us navigate our relationships. And right at the center of it all is Psalm 118:8: “It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in man.” That verse is our North Star. It’s not telling us to become hermits, but to get our priorities straight. It’s about building our lives on the solid rock of God’s faithfulness, which gives us the footing to deal with the shifting sands of human relationships.

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Key Takeaways

• God is the Only Sure Bet: The Bible makes it crystal clear: God is the only one who deserves our absolute, no-holds-barred trust. He’s the only one who’s perfect, who never changes his mind, and who will never let you down.
• Be Wise, Not Suspicious: God calls us to be smart and discerning about who we trust. This isn’t about being cynical; it’s about being a good judge of character and looking at people’s actions, not just their words.
• Relationships Need Trust, but It’s a Two-Way Street: We were made for community, and you can’t have that without trust. But it’s not something you give away blindly. It has to be earned over time through consistent, reliable actions.
• Getting Hurt is Part of Life, but God Heals: The Bible doesn’t sugarcoat it—people will betray you. It acknowledges how much that hurts but shows us that our real hope isn’t in avoiding pain, but in running to God for healing when it happens.
• Forgiveness and Trust Aren’t Twins: We’re told to forgive people who hurt us, but that doesn’t mean we have to instantly trust them again. Forgiveness is a gift you choose to give. Trust is something they have to earn back.

So, What Does Psalm 118:8 Actually Mean for Us Today?

Let’s be honest. When you first hear, “It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in man,” it sounds a bit rough. It almost feels like a divine permission slip to write everyone off. But that misses the point entirely. The original language is key. The word for “refuge” means a safe place, a fortress, a shelter when the storms of life are raging. The word for “trust” is about where you place your confidence.

So, the verse isn’t saying you can’t count on a friend to help you move a couch. It’s saying something much deeper.

It’s saying: “Do not make another human being the foundation of your soul.”

Because people will let you down. That is a 100% guarantee. They have bad days. They make boneheaded mistakes. They break promises, not because they’re evil, but because they’re human and broken, just like us. If your ultimate security—your emotional and spiritual safe house—is another person, you’re building on an earthquake fault. It’s going to crumble. The only question is when.

Psalm 118:8 is about where you run first. When the doctor gives you bad news, when you lose your job, when the betrayal hits you—where do you turn? Do you grab the phone to vent to a friend, or do you first fall to your knees and cry out to God? The verse is a powerful call to get our dependencies in the right order.

If We Can’t Trust People, How Are We Supposed to Live?

That’s the million-dollar question, right? It feels like a total contradiction. How can we take refuge only in God but also live in a world that runs on trust? You trust the pilot flying your plane, the pharmacist filling your prescription, the person who babysits your kids. Life would grind to a halt without some level of human trust.

The Bible understands this. It’s not promoting a life of paranoid suspicion. The secret to solving this puzzle is good old-fashioned discernment. We aren’t called to be suckers, but we aren’t called to be cynics either. We’re called to be wise. As Proverbs 14:15 puts it, “The simple believe anything, but the prudent give thought to their steps.” God wants us to think, to pay attention, especially about who we let into our inner circle.

Isn’t Christianity All About Love and Community?

You bet it is. We’re told to encourage each other and to “Carry each other’s burdens” (Galatians 6:2). You can’t do that through a telescope. It demands getting close, being vulnerable, and, you guessed it, trusting people.

This is the beautiful tension in Scripture. We have to love our neighbors and live in community. That means we have to be trustworthy ourselves and be willing to take a chance on others. But we do all this knowing that our ultimate hope isn’t in the community itself, but in the God who invented it. Our church, our friends, our family—they are incredible gifts. But they are not God. They are the places where we learn to love and trust, even when it’s scary and messy.

What’s the Difference Between Godly Trust and Human Trust?

Here’s an image that helps me. Trusting God is like anchoring your boat to a mountain. That mountain isn’t going anywhere. It doesn’t care about the wind or the waves. It will always be there, solid and secure. Your anchor will hold.

Trusting a person is like tying your boat to another boat. It might be a bigger, nicer boat, and on a calm day, it feels pretty secure. But when a hurricane hits, that other boat is getting tossed by the same waves you are. It’s fighting its own battle. Tying up together might feel good for a moment, but it provides zero ultimate security.

We give God our absolute, unconditional trust. For people, we extend conditional, earned trust. It’s a trust that says, “I’m choosing to rely on you based on your character, but my soul’s anchor remains firmly planted in God.”

Has Anyone in the Bible Ever Struggled With This?

The Bible is not a highlight reel of perfect saints. It’s the raw, unfiltered story of real people who struggled, failed, and wrestled with the same things we do. The pain of misplaced trust and betrayal echoes through its pages, giving us stories that serve as both warnings and deep encouragement.

Didn’t David Get Betrayed by His Own People?

King David, called a man after God’s own heart, knew the bitter taste of betrayal. The most gut-wrenching example was his trusted counselor, Ahithophel. The Bible says Ahithophel’s advice was so good it was like hearing from God Himself. This was David’s guy. But when David’s own son, Absalom, tried to overthrow him, Ahithophel switched sides and joined the rebellion.

You can feel the heartbreak in the Psalms. Scholars think Psalm 41:9 is about this moment: “Even my close friend, someone I trusted, one who shared my bread, has turned against me.” David knew what it was like to be stabbed in the back. But his response wasn’t to build a fortress around his heart. It was to run to his true fortress, God.

What About Samson and Delilah’s Story?

This is the classic story of what happens when you trust the wrong person, especially when your heart is involved. Samson was given supernatural strength by God for a specific purpose. But his real weakness was relational. He kept trusting Delilah, a woman who was actively working with his enemies to destroy him.

She begged him for the secret to his strength. He knew better. He lied. She kept at it. The red flags were practically smacking him in the face, but he was blinded by his affection and ignored them all. Finally, he got so worn down that he gave in, told her his secret, and it led to his ruin. It’s a brutal reminder of the danger of handing your deepest vulnerabilities to someone who hasn’t earned that right.

And What Does Judas’ Betrayal of Jesus Teach Us?

This is the ultimate betrayal. Judas wasn’t just a face in the crowd. He was one of the twelve disciples. He spent three years with Jesus, saw the miracles, heard the teachings, and shared meals with him. Then he sold him out for a bag of silver.

The lesson here is staggering. Even being in the presence of perfect love and perfect trustworthiness doesn’t guarantee someone won’t betray you. Jesus knew what Judas was going to do. And what was His response? He didn’t let it make Him bitter. He didn’t let it stop His mission. He absorbed the pain and walked the path to the cross. It shows us that we can’t control if people betray us, but with God’s help, we can control our response.

I’ve Been Burned Before. How Can I Trust Again?

This isn’t just theology for me. I’ve lived it. A number of years ago, I went into business with a man I considered a close friend. We were both believers and prayed together about the venture. I trusted him without reservation. We laid out the whole plan, and I poured my savings and my life into it, fully believing he was doing the same.

The discovery that he wasn’t was slow and agonizing. Deadlines got blown. Phone calls weren’t returned. When I finally uncovered the truth, he hadn’t just been lazy; he’d been lying. The business imploded. I lost the money, but what hurt more was losing the friendship. For a long time, I felt like an idiot. The bitterness was constant. I was terrified of relying on anyone ever again. My ability to trust was completely shot.

Psalm 118:8 was the beginning of my healing. I had to admit that I had put my ultimate hope in our business plan and our friendship instead of in God’s control over my life. My refuge had been my friend, and when he crumbled, so did I. Healing wasn’t about pretending it didn’t hurt. It was about moving my foundation back to God and asking Him to teach me how to trust again, but this time, with wisdom.

So How Do I Know Who Is Safe to Trust?

Learning to trust again means you have to be smart, not just emotional. The Bible gives us principles for this. Jesus said you’ll know people by their fruit (Matthew 7:16). Fruit takes time to grow. You have to be patient and watch. Before you give someone deep access to your life, you need to be a “fruit inspector.”

What kind of fruit are we talking about?

• Consistency: Are they the same person no matter who is around? Do their actions line up with their words over time? One good deed is nice. A pattern of good deeds reveals character.
• Humility: What happens when they mess up? Do they get defensive and start blaming everyone else, or do they own it and apologize? A person you can trust is a person who is humble enough to say, “I was wrong.”
• How They Treat Others: Pay close attention to how they treat the waiter or the cashier. Their behavior toward people who have nothing to offer them tells you everything you need to know.
• Faithfulness in the Small Things: Jesus said that if someone is faithful with a little, they’ll be faithful with a lot (Luke 16:10). Do they keep small promises? Are they on time? That’s where trustworthiness is built.

Does Forgiveness Mean I Have to Trust Them Immediately?

This is huge. Forgiveness and trust are not the same. Forgiveness is between you and God. It’s your choice to cancel the debt someone owes you, because Christ cancelled yours. It is a command, and it’s for your own freedom.

Trust, on the other hand, is earned back. It’s rebuilt slowly, one trustworthy action at a time. You can completely forgive someone for betraying you while also wisely refusing to put yourself back in the same vulnerable position. For a relationship to be fully restored, you need both forgiveness and rebuilt trust. Sometimes, you can only have the first, and you have to make peace with that.

How Does This Apply to My Most Important Relationships?

These principles are for every area of life, but they become even more critical in our closest relationships. Being wise here isn’t a lack of faith; it’s good stewardship of your heart.

What About Trusting My Spouse?

Marriage is designed by God to be a covenant of incredible trust. In a healthy marriage, trust is like oxygen. But even the best spouse is still a flawed human. They will mess up. They will hurt you.

The secret is that the marriage itself must be anchored in God. Your trust in your spouse is immense, but it has to be secondary to your trust in God. He is the glue that holds you together. When there’s a breach of trust, it’s your shared faith that provides the strength to forgive and start the difficult process of rebuilding. To learn more about building a strong relational foundation, the work on attachment theory from accredited institutions like Baylor University’s Robbins College of Health and Human Sciences can provide valuable psychological insights that complement biblical principles.

Can I Really Trust My Leaders at Church?

Pastors and church leaders have a position of great trust. The Bible holds them to a very high standard. We are told to respect them and to submit to their leadership. This requires us to start from a place of trust.

But they are still human. They are not perfect. The Bereans in the book of Acts give us the perfect model. When the Apostle Paul preached to them, they “received the message with great eagerness,” but then they went home and “examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true” (Acts 17:11). They were respectful, but they were also responsible. Trust, but verify. That’s our model. Listen with an open heart, but be a student of the Word yourself.

What if My Lack of Trust Is Hurting My Walk with God?

Here’s the hidden danger: when we’ve been hurt by people, we can start to project that onto God. Without even realizing it, we start treating Him like He’s just another person who is going to let us down. We stop praying bold prayers because we’re not sure He’ll come through. We hold back parts of our lives because we’re scared He’ll drop the ball.

I know this from experience. After my failed business, I became fiercely self-reliant in my ministry. When a new opportunity came up that required a team, I was terrified. In the beginning, I was a horrible leader. I micromanaged everyone. I was driven by the fear that they would let me down.

One night, an older man on the team pulled me aside and said, “Son, you’re trying to do God’s job. Let us do our job, and let God be in charge of the results.” He nailed it. My fear of trusting people had become an excuse for not trusting God. That night I prayed, “God, I don’t fully trust this team, because they’re human. But I trust You. So I’m choosing to trust you through them. Help me lead with wisdom, not fear.”

It changed everything. The project wasn’t perfect, but it was a success. More than that, it was joyful. I learned that biblical trust isn’t about finding perfect people. It’s about trusting a perfect God in the middle of a world of imperfect people.

How Can I Learn to Trust God More Than People?

Building trust in God is like building a muscle. You have to work at it. It won’t happen on its own. If you’re struggling with this, here are a few practical things to try:

• Study His Character: Read the Bible to discover who God is. Zero in on passages about his faithfulness and unchanging love (Lamentations 3:22-23, Malachi 3:6). The more you know His character, the more you’ll trust His heart.
• Keep a Record of His Faithfulness: Get a journal and write down every time God has come through for you. Big or small. When you’re struggling to trust Him today, go back and read the receipts of His faithfulness in the past.
• Pray Specifically: Instead of just “God, help me,” get specific. “God, I am terrified about this meeting. Please give me your peace and the right words to say.” When you see those specific prayers answered, your faith grows.
• Take Small Steps of Faith: Start small. Trust God to get you through a tough conversation. Trust him for a small financial need. Seeing His faithfulness in the little things will give you the courage to trust Him with the big things.

In the end, what the Bible says about trust is incredibly freeing. It takes the pressure off. We don’t need the people in our lives to be perfect. We can love them, build deep relationships, and give grace when they mess up, because our ultimate security isn’t riding on them.

Our refuge is in the Lord. And He will never, ever let us down.

FAQ – What the Bible Says About Trusting Others