Trust in the Lord: Proverbs 3:1-8

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight” (Prov. 3:5-6, NASB).

Eric Erikson, well-known and highly respected psychoanalyst says that all of us develop in stages. In each stage we learn certain skills to cope with life’s crisis. In each stage we develop a skill that helps us to live a good life’ or we develop a skill that hinders us from living a good life. Erikson says that the first stage of development is “Trust vs. Mistrust.” He says that we may grow up with a firm sense of trust; the right experience can cause our confidence to crumble. If Erikson is right then we can never fully trust each other because all of us are capable of doing something that causes the other person to lose their trust in us. Further, if Erikson is right we cannot trust ourselves. The text before us however, tells us that there is one who we can trust. He is the one that we ought to trust the entire day, every day in every experience in our life.

I am motivated to write this article because our country, and yes our world has been experiencing one crisis after another over the last two to four years. You see, nothing new is taking place. As the preacher in Ecclesiastes says, “That which has been is that which will be, and that which has been done is that which will be done. So there is nothing new under the sun” (Eccl. 1:9, NASB). Since there is nothing new how is it that we experience crisis in our life? We can begin to understand this by looking at the word “crisis.” A crisis is a crucial or decisive point or situation; a turning point. It is a condition in which that which is stable becomes unstable.

Our understanding of crisis does not conflict with the preacher when he says that there is nothing under the sun. The preacher explains this more fully by telling us that things continually rotate in time and seasons (3:1-8). We can say that the events that have been taking place are things that most of us have not experienced in our lifetime. We do not know what to do under the current circumstances. For us, most of these events signal a crisis in our life. We are asking ourselves what we should do. What do I believe” When news reports seem to be contradictory, who should I believe? Who should I trust? You see many people are living on mistrust instead of trust.

Our text focuses on three things. First, we ought to trust in the Lord. This means that we give our hearts to the Lord. Second, we should not lean (rely) wholly on our own understanding. Thirdly, we are to acknowledge God in all of our ways, in everything that happens in our life. When we follow these three instructions, the Lord will direct our paths, the way that we should go.

The word “trust” is a verb indicating to trust, to be confident. It expresses the feeling of safety and security that is felt when one can rely on someone or something else. The psalmist writes, “He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God; many will see and fear and will trust in the LORD” (Ps. 40:3, NASB). The psalmist is expressing his state of being confident, secure, and without fear. Before he learns to trust in the Lord he is crying because he is in the pit of destruction with his feet stuck in the miry clay (vv. 1-2). The Lord changes his situation and his cries turn to songs of praise to God. Let us return to our text.

The preacher tells us to trust in the Lord. We are to trust in the Lord with all of our hearts. What does it mean to trust someone? First, we have to give something. Second, we have to give up something. Third, we have to receive something. Erikson says that when a child receives quality care and is treated well, especially by the mother (primary care-giver) trust is developed. The child develops an intense feeling for the care-giver. The child gives mother its heart. The child is sure that mother will supply him/her with food, clothing, warmth, affection, and comfort. The child puts all of their confidence in the mother. Why? Because the child has given mother his/her heart.

When we talk about the heart we are not talking about this fist sized organ that sits in the left side of our chest and pumps blood throughout the body. What we mean is that we give our total self to someone. We are to give our total self to God. When we trust God with all of our heart we give our total self to Him. We gladly allow God to do for us as God knows what to do and how to do it. The baby is uncomfortable because it needs a diaper change. The baby does not know what makes him/her uncomfortable, and the baby does not know what to do to relieve the discomfort. The mother changes the diaper and the baby is comfortable again. The baby learns that mother can make things right. The baby learns that he/she can trust mother. This brings us to our second point.

We should not rely wholly on our own understanding. When I use the word “our,” I mean both my personal understanding and the understanding of other people. People come from various backgrounds. Each person has their own life experiences, but ones personal life experience does not give her/him the answers to all the problems and crisis that they face. The experiences and knowledge of those that we know and those we hear about does not always have the answers to our crisis. How often do we hear a news reporter ask the question of a person with knowledge of the situation: “What can we do to make sure that this never happens again?”

Think about this: The preacher would never ask the question. Why? Because the preacher tells us that what is has been and will be again. In fact, human beings are often deceived when we think that we have autonomy over life’s situations. Yes, we are created to take care of the world that we live in. We are obligated to do the best that we know how to prevent and solve problems. However, the scriptures teach us that sin hinders our ability to receive and utilize knowledge that comes to us from the truth found in the word of God. This brings us to the third point.

We are to acknowledge the Lord in all our ways. Regardless of the situation we are to seek God’s wisdom. How often do I hear people asking questions about issues that are taking place in the world? There are many opinions expressed. People believe a variety of things. Some things sound so logical and people are convinced to agree with what is said. On the other hand, those that know the scriptures are aware that many of these opinions, philosophies, and doctrines disagree with what the word of God found in the bible. For example, many people believe that Donald Trump is an agent of the devil/Satan. The bible, however, tells us that God raises wicked people to do His will. “It is I who says of Cyrus, He is My shepherd! And he shall perform all My desire” (Isa. 44:28, NASB). Continuing, the Lord says, “‘For the sake of Jacob My servant, and Israel My chosen one, I have also called you by your name; I have given you a title of honor though you have not known Me (Isa. 45:4, NASB). “That men may know from the rising to the setting of the sun that there is no one besides Me. I am the LORD, and there is no other” (Isa. 45:6, NASB).

We are to acknowledge God in all our ways; in every situation that we encounter. We know that our knowledge cannot be compared to the knowledge of God. God does not think the way that we think, and God does not do things the way that we do. In 1 Samuel 16 the Lord sends the prophet to the house of Jesse to anoint a king. Samuel sees the oldest son Eliab, and he immediately believes that he is seeing the king (v. 6). “‘But the LORD said to Samuel. “Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart” (1 Sam. 16:7, NASB). Our human knowledge is limited, and we do not have God’s wisdom. This reminds me of two old wise saying. “All that glitters ain’t gold.” “Big things come in small packages.” “You Can’t Judge a Book by the Cover” is a song recorded by singer Bo Diddley in 1962.

When we acknowledge God in all our ways, we seek to know the will of God in every situation. This means that we do not give God control over certain things and retain self control over other things. Yet, this seems to be the way of people. We try to control everything. We want to make our own decisions. We refuse to consider the words of God. At last, we discover that we do not have the answer to our problems. Then, we expect that a “loving God” will not allow anything bad to happen to good people. People are not good; that is, people maybe good by current human standards, but compared to God people are not good.

When we acknowledge the Lord, He directs our paths. This means that God shows us the way to go in the circumstances of our lives. The world may be saying one thing while God is saying something different. We do not follow the ways of the world. This is not an easy thing to do. Why? It is because we are not different from other people. We, by nature, go by what we see with our eyes. We are inclined to agree with other people because we see the same things that they see. When the Lord directs our paths, it is often the case that we see things differently. We walk down a different path. Our worldview is based on the love and wisdom of God; a wisdom that the world does not know. We are blessed when we trust in the Lord.