Those who came to
believe in Jehovah and His Messiah, and consequently lived by faith in Him,
were those who “trusted[i]
in the LORD God of Israel”[ii]
and in His Word (Psalm 119:42). 
Such a trust manifested itself in obedience to His Law in the trials of
this life,[iii]
and brought both temporal[iv]
and eternal deliverance (Psalm 125:1). 
Trust also led to an acknowledgment of Jehovah in one’s practical life
(Proverbs 3:5-6).  All the nation
was called to such a trust (Psalm 115:8-11).  The Lord saves and preserves those who trust in Him (Psalm
86:2), so that true Israel can say: 
“Behold, God is my salvation; I
will trust, and not be afraid: for the LORD JEHOVAH is my strength and my
song; he also is become my salvation,”[v]
while the ungodly trust in evil deeds or plans,[vi]
men,[vii]
false gods (Isaiah 42:17), external ritual (Jeremiah 7:4), or their own
righteousness (Ezekiel 33:13) instead of in Jehovah only (Zephaniah 3:2).  Those that truly know the Lord trust in
Him, and He will not forsake them,[viii]
nor allow them to be confounded, but deliver them,[ix]
and surround them with mercies (Psalm 32:10), since they trust in His mercy[x]
for ever and ever (Psalm 52:8), and they will dwell in the Land (Psalm 37:3,
5).  The Bible contrasts those who
trust in Jehovah with those who “believed not in God, and trusted not in his
salvation . . . a stubborn and rebellious generation; a generation that set not their heart aright, and whose spirit was not
stedfast with God . . . [that] kept not the covenant of God, and refused to
walk in his law . . . [that] sinned still, and believed not for his wondrous
works. For their heart was not right with him, neither were they stedfast in
his covenant.”[xi]  In short, trust in the Lord marked the
true Israelite,[xii] he who was
blessed[xiii]
with temporal and eternal salvation.

Other Hebrew forms
related to the verb trust[xiv] similarly indicate that temporal and eternal salvation was
received by those who trust in Jehovah. 
Those would be “saved” who placed their “confidence” in Him.[xv]  Those who “hope” in the Lord rather
than placing their “confidence” in any other source are blessed, without any
limitation to either this life or that to come.[xvi]  The Old Testament consequently
declares:  “Blessed is that man that maketh the LORD his trust” (Psalm 40:4), for
He is the only fit object of “confidence” (Psalm 65:5) or “trust” (Psalm
71:5)—all other objects of “trust” are like a “spider’s web.”[xvii]  “Confidence in an unfaithful man in
time of trouble is like a broken tooth,
and a foot out of joint,”[xviii]
while those whose “trust” is “in the LORD” find in Him “strong confidence” and
a “place of refuge.”[xix]

Thus, Jehovah is
Himself the salvation for the “righteous,” those who take refuge or trust[xx] in Him (Psalm 64:10).  Believers can say: 
“God . . . in him will I trust: he is my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower,
and my refuge, my saviour.”[xxi]  To “all them that trust in him” He is a
shield and place of safety.[xxii]  “[A]ll those that put their trust in
[Him] rejoice . . . because [He] defend[s] them” (Psalm 5:11).  They are blessed, now and forever
(Psalm 34:8), receiving of the great goodness He has stored up for them (Psalm
31:19).  The believer, one who
forsakes confidence in men to trust in Jehovah only (Psalm 118:8-9),[xxiii]
can say: “O LORD my God, in thee do I put my trust: save me,”[xxiv]
while those who trust in false gods (Deuteronomy 32:37), evil men (Judges
9:15), or pagan nations (Isaiah 30:2) are destroyed.  Because of His “lovingkindness,” believers will “never be
ashamed” or “desolate” or “destitute” or “put to confusion” because they “trust
in” Him, being rather “deliver[ed]” in His “righteousness” and having their
souls “redeemed.”[xxv]  The “LORD . . . knoweth them that trust
in him” (Nahum 1:7), so those “afflicted and poor people” who “shall trust in
the name of the LORD” (Zephaniah 3:12) receive His promise:  “he that putteth his trust in me shall
possess the land, and shall inherit my holy mountain” (Isaiah 57:13).  They will “abide” in His presence “for
ever” (Psalm 61:4), and have a refuge and sure hope in death (Proverbs
14:32).  Those who “come to trust .
. . the LORD God of Israel” will receive a “full reward” (Ruth 2:12), for He
will “save them, because they put their trust in him” (Psalm 37:40).  Trust in Jehovah is connected with
trust in His Son (Proverbs 30:4), the Messiah;  all those who repent and trust in the Son of God receive
temporal and eternal blessing, while those who do not will perish under
Messianic wrath:  “Kiss[xxvi]
the Son,[xxvii]
lest he be angry, and ye perish from
the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him” (Psalm 2:12).

B. B. Warfield notes:

“[A]long
with an ever more richly expressed corporate hope, there is found also [in the
Old Testament] an ever more richly expressed individual trust, which finds
natural utterance through an ample body of synonyms bringing out severally the
various sides of that perfect commitment to God that constitutes the essence of
faith. Thus we read much of trusting in, on, to God, or in His word, His name,
His mercy, His salvation (jAf;Db), of seeking
and finding refuge in God or in the shadow of His wings (hDsDj), of committing ourselves to God (lAlÎ…g), setting confidence (lRsR;k) in
Him, looking to Him (JKAmVsˆ…n) relying upon Him
(NAoVvˆ…n), staying upon Him (JKAmVsˆ…n), setting or fixing the heart upon Him (qAvDj),
binding our love on Him (qAvDj), cleaving to Him (qAb∂;d). So,
on the hopeful side of faith, we read much of hoping in God (hD…wIq), waiting on God (lRjˆy),
of longing for Him (hD;kIj), patiently waiting
for Him (lElwøjVtIh), and the like.

By
the aid of such expressions, it becomes possible to form a somewhat clear
notion of the attitude towards Him which was required by Jehovah of His
believing people, and which is summed up in the term “faith.” It is a
reverential (Exodus 14:31; Numbers 14:11, 20:12) and loving faith, which rests
on the strong basis of firm and unshaken conviction of the might and grace of
the covenant God and of the trustworthiness of all His words, and exhibits
itself in confident trust in Jehovah and unwavering expectation of the
fulfilment of, no doubt, all His promises, but more especially of His promise
of salvation, and in consequent faithful and exclusive adherence to Him. In one
word, it consists in an utter commitment of oneself to Jehovah, with confident
trust in Him as guide and saviour, and assured expectation of His promised
salvation. It therefore stands in contrast, on the one hand, with trust in self
or other human help, and on the other with doubt and unbelief, despondency and
unfaithfulness. From Jehovah alone is salvation to be looked for, and it comes
from His free grace alone (Deuteronomy 7:7, 8:18; 9:5; Amos 3:2; Hosea 13:5;
Ezekiel 20:6; Jeremiah 39:18; Malachi 1:2), and to those only who look solely
to Him for it (Isaiah 31:1; 57:13; 28:16; 30:15; Jeremiah 17:5; 39:18; Psalm
118:8; 146:3; 20:7; 1 Samuel 17:45; Job 31:24; Psalm 52:9). The reference of
faith is accordingly in the Old Testament always distinctly soteriological; its
end the Messianic salvation; and its essence a trusting, or rather an
entrusting of oneself to the God of salvation, with full assurance of the
fulfilment of His gracious purposes and the ultimate realization of His promise
of salvation for the people and the individual. Such an attitude towards the
God of salvation is identical with the faith of the New Testament, and is not
essentially changed by the fuller revelation of God the Redeemer in the person
of the promised Messiah.” (“The Biblical Doctrine of Faith,” Warfield, in Biblical
Doctrines, vol. 2 of Works)

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