Confidence in an unfaithful man in time of trouble is like a broken tooth, and a foot out of joint.
Man trusting in man
This is sometimes a great evil. To trust in man and disregard God, or to repose in man the confidence that rightly belongs to God alone, is sinful and ruinous. But in some respects it is natural and right to trust our fellow-men. We are social beings. There can be no friendship without trust. It is right to trust our friends--
1. For sympathy in joy or sorrow.
2. For help in time of need.
3. For honourable fidelity in all confidences.
I. The test of man as an object of trust. The “time of trouble” tests the faithfulness of those in whom we confide. Prosperity brings friends; adversity tests them. Three kinds of trouble test man as an object of trust--
1. Trouble in our circumstances, or loss and poverty.
2. Trouble in our reputation, or misrepresentation and slander.
3. Trouble in our character, or sin. For a truly Christian man may fall into grievous sin.
II. The failure of man as an object of trust.
1. The unfaithful man in time of trial fails those who trust him.
2. The failure of the unfaithful man in time of trial is painful to those who trust him. The attempt to use the broken tooth or dislocated joint causes suffering. Some of the keenest anguish of human souls is caused by the failure of those in whom they trusted.
Learn--
(1) To be faithful to every trust reposed in us.
(2) To be careful in whom we repose confidence.
(3) To prize those whose trustworthiness we have proved.
(4) To place our supreme trust in God. (William Jones.)
