What is True Trust in Hashem? Part I

Rabbeinu Bachya in his classic work Chovot HaLevavot (Duties of the Heart), in the section of Sha’ar HaBitachon (The Gate of Trust) profoundly addresses the benefits of trust in God.

What Is Trust?

The Hebrew root of the word bitachon (trust) is ב.ט.ח, which means to be secure or to feel safe. Rashi, commenting on the verse in Bereishit 34:25 — “And Shimon and Levi, the brothers of Dinah, took each man his sword and came upon the city confidently (בטח), and slew all the males”, explains that they felt “secure” because they trusted in the strength of their father Jacob. Even before the battle began, they were confident of victory through his merit.

In Sha’ar HaBitachon, Rabbeinu Bachya offers two definitions of trust.

1. The tranquility of the one who trusts — that his heart will rest securely upon the One he trusts in, certain that He will do what is good and right for him, and that everything will turn out for the best.

To illustrate this, the Chofetz Chaim offered a parable: A man once needed to undergo a very serious surgery. Naturally, he worried if the surgeon be skilled enough. Before the anesthesia took hold, he was told that his own father would be the one operating on him. Immediately his heart calmed. If there is anything good that can be done for me during this operation, he thought, surely my father will do it to the very best of his ability. He fell asleep in peace, knowing he was in good hands.

Human beings are born with countless needs for clothing, food, shelter, health, a spouse etc. All these create endless worries, but the one who trusts in God feels no anxiety, because he knows that the One responsible for all of this is his Father in Heaven, who loves him. Just as the son of a wealthy father does not worry about who will pay for his wedding, as he knows that when the time comes, his father will take care of it, so too should a Jew trust that when the time comes, God will provide what is needed.

2. Childlike security — David the Psalmist testified about himself that he trusted in God like a small child trusts in his mother. As it says (Tehillim 131:2): “Surely I have stilled and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother, my soul is like a weaned child within me.” The Vilna Gaon explained that this is the highest level of trust.

A baby is the most helpless being in the world. He cannot feed himself, clothe himself, or find shelter. He cannot even keep himself clean. Yet he is not anxious, because he knows, I have a father and mother. The last time he was hungry, he cried, and his mother came and fed him. The last time he was dirty, he cried, and someone cleaned him. The last time his stomach hurt, he was given medicine to soothe the pain.

David said that his soul felt the same way. Just as a baby does not wonder after a meal, What will I eat tomorrow?, so too David did not worry at all about the future. His trust in God gave him perfect peace of mind.

Why Trust Brings Peace

A baby also feels no worry because he lacks the intellectual capacity to imagine distant problems. He simply does not think about tomorrow. Similarly, one who trusts in God can live with calm because he recognizes: I don’t have the wisdom to solve every problem. If he cannot find a solution, he knows it is not because the problem is unsolvable, but because his own intellect is limited. However, the Creator’s wisdom is infinite, and He can solve anything.

One who trusts lives peacefully, knowing that he is in good hands. Just as a patient undergoing surgery does not worry about how to hold the scalpel, or where to cut, because he knows the surgeon understands far better than he does, so too the believer leaves everything to the all-wise Creator, who alone knows how to direct every detail of life.