One of the main reasons one can't take interest is because it takes away the feelings of bitachon, trust in Hashem. For when one conducts business he looks to Hashem, for he doesn't know if he will profit or not. One relies on Hashem to help him succeed. However, one who takes ריבית has his profits cut out for him and has guaranteed money, so his reliance on Hashem is diminished. Therefore the Torah puts the two laws together to teach us the importance of bitachon.
The sefer טעם ודעת adds that the ultimate level of bitachon is when one doesn't worry about his livelihood at all and has total reliance on Hashem. If one could reach that level he won't even have to do anything and his sustenance will come to him. Once מהר"ם אלשיך was giving a class on this level of bitachon and said that everyone has the potential to reach the level of רשב"י , who without any work had his sustenance. There was one man there who took these words to heart and right then and there decided that he would have total reliance on Hashem. He sold his donkey and wagon to a gentile and sat all day and said tehillim without a care in the world.
One day he hears his donkey in the yard and goes out to look. The wagon is filled with dirt. A he starts to unload the wagon he sees that under the dirt there is gold treasure! The man who had bought the donkey and wagon had been digging a ditch and found this gold treasure. He put it in the wagon and covered it with dirt so no one would see, then went to fill up the hole. As he was filling it he fell in and was buried in the ditch. When he didn't come back to the wagon the donkey headed home the way he was used to, to his old master, who now because of his blind faith was set for the rest of his life.
When the talmidim asked the אלשיך why this talmid merited this and no one else did, he answered that this man has absolutely no question that Hashem would take care of him, therefore he merited.
There's another story told that when Reb Yisroel Salant gave this same class on bitachon, and said that if one has total reliance on Hashem he needs to do nothing more. One man came to him afterwards and asked if that's really true. Reb Yisroel answered that if you commit to have complete faith in Hashem, I will guarantee that Hashem will give you ten thousand ruble, a fortune in those days. The man went home, quit his job and said tehillim all day waiting for his ten thousand ruble. Days went by, then weeks, and still no money. Slowly every ruble he had was used up, but the man still kept his faith.
One day as the hunger was getting to his family, his wife came to him and said, why don't you go ask Reb yisroel why his guarantee hasn’t been fulfilled yet. Reb Yisroel told him that he still believes that it will come and is still guaranteeing the money. However, if he doesn't want to wait, Reb yisroel offered to buy the futures from him for five thousand ruble. Reb Yisroel would give him the money now, and when the man got the ten thousand he would give it to reb Yisroel. The man agreed.
Reb Yisroel turned to him and said, go back to your job for if you are willing to give up ten thousand ruble for five thousand, then you don't really believe wholeheartedly and it will never come to you.
Unfortunately, most of us are like the man in the second story. We believe that Hashem will take care of us, but don't have that ultimate faith of completely relying on Hashem without putting in our own efforts. With the laws of שמיטה and ריבית, the Torah is teaching us how to train ourselves to have complete trust in Hashem so that one day, we too, will merit immeasurable reward!
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