Trust in God: Lessons on Faith and Divine Kindness

Rabbeinu Bachya, in Sha’ar HaBitachon (The Gate of Trust), explains that one’s heart must be confident that the One in whom he trusts will fulfill His word and bestow goodness, even beyond what He explicitly promised in the holy Torah.

If you promise your child a birthday gift, but later, you overhear him telling his brother: “I don’t think Mom or Dad will really give me the gift they promised. They never keep their word,” your desire to give the gift would fade, because your child doesn’t trust you.

Rabbeinu Bachya teaches that if a person does not believe in God’s promise that “one who trusts in the Lord will be surrounded by kindness”, then he cannot truly reach the level of trust. One of the foundations of the Torah is to believe that all the prophecies and promises in the Torah, the Prophets, the Writings, and the words of our Sages are absolutely true. Not a single word is empty.

Every Jew understands that God never errs. If He promised and has the power to fulfill, He certainly will. If doubts arise in our hearts, it is only because of our limited understanding of His merciful ways. The more we strengthen our complete faith in His promise that those who trust in Him will be surrounded by kindness all their lives, the closer we draw to the true trait of trust in God.

Maimonides (Rambam) even rules in Hilchot Mamrim (3:1) that anyone who does not accept the Oral Torah is considered among the heretics — because all the words of our Sages were spoken with divine inspiration.

God Gives Out of Kindness, Not Because We Deserve

Many people say: “Perhaps I don’t deserve God’s help. I’ve sinned, I’ve made mistakes — why would He grant my requests?” Rabbeinu Bachya explains that God fulfills His words out of grace and kindness, not necessarily because we “deserve” it.

David Hamelech (King David) already answered this: “But I trust in Your kindness; my heart will rejoice in Your salvation” (Tehillim 13:6). Even David, a righteous man full of good deeds, relied not on his merits but only on God’s abundant kindness.

How much more should we, ordinary people, remember that our lives, health, livelihood, families, and friendships are all pure kindness from God, not something we earned. If we trust that He has always given us gifts of kindness, we can also trust that He will continue to do so in the future.

Strengthening Trust Through Verses

A special practice I have often used and experienced great salvation from is reciting verses of trust. Simply saying them aloud strengthens the heart in this trait. When one repeats the verse, the words sink into his heart until he truly believes them.

“But I trust in Your kindness; my heart will rejoice in Your salvation” (Tehillim 13:6). This verse combines both elements of God’s kindness and our trust in Him — making it easier to internalize the belief that God will fulfill our heart’s desires for good.

A Lesson from Rabbi Yisrael Salanter

Rabbi Yisrael Salanter, the father of the Mussar movement, once explained that trust means being certain that God will provide your needs if it is truly good for you.

During one of his lectures, a house painter asked: “Rabbi, if I stop working and just trust God, will He send me 10,000 rubles?”

Rabbi Yisrael answered: “Yes, this is a clear verse: ‘Commit your way to the Lord, trust in Him, and He will act’” (Tehillim 37:5).

The man rushed home and told his wife: “I don’t need to work anymore. The Rabbi promised that if I trust God, He will provide our livelihood.”

Days passed, but the 10,000 rubles never came. His wife scolded him: “Enough with this nonsense! Go out and bring food for the children!”

In despair, he returned to Rabbi Yisrael: “Rabbi, I have trusted God for a month, but no money has come!”

Rabbi Yisrael replied: “I’ll buy your 10,000 rubles from you for 5,000 in cash right now.”

The man’s eyes lit up: “Of course, Rabbi!”

Rabbi Yisrael answered: “Go back to work. If you were ready to sell your 10,000 for 5,000, it shows you never truly trusted that God would give it to you.”

Real Trust Shows in Action

I once answered a young man who told me: “I’ve trusted God for so long to send me my marriage partner, yet I still haven’t found her.”

I asked him: “Have you bought a wedding suit yet?”

“No,” he replied.

“And shoes?” I added.

“Never thought of it,” he admitted.

I said to him: “Have you ever seen a man certain he’s about to marry, yet not prepare his suit? If you don’t act on your trust, it means you don’t fully believe it. Keep strengthening your trust, and your wife will come straight to you.”