Trust
Proverbs 3:5, “iTrust in the Lord with all thine heart; And jlean not unto thine own understanding. 6 In all thy ways kacknowledge him, And lhe shall direct thy paths.” [1]
I. Will
A. His
B. Heart
II. Wit
A. Whose
B. How
III. Way
A. Honor
B. Honesty
Introduction: We have been discussing personal responsibility lately. It is so easy to tell others what they should do. It is so easy to look away from the mirror and watch what others are not doing that you think they should be doing. It is so easy to look at a commentary from someone who has the same Bible and Holy Spirit that you do to find a theological answer. For whatever reason, we always look out first instead of looking in.
Recently I argued with a very good Christian friend who had decided against taking a medication that his doctor said he needed. I happen to take that medication and insurance deems it not necessary to cover. Well I pay for it and take it. My friend said that he did not and was not going to do that. Of course I argued thinking he should listen to my wise advice.
Then he unloaded on me. They used to call me by my last name, Brady. I’ll paraphrase; Brady, don’t you know that I pray before making a decision? Do you think I am incapable of making decisions for myself? Do I have the freedom to make mistakes and learn or are you the authority on everything?
Finally that shut me up. It hadn’t been long since I had made one of the biggest mistakes of my life. I do so appreciate that there were people there who talked to me and changed my mind. Actually they didn’t change my mind. They simply overruled me and prevented me.
There is a difference between thinking you know what’s best for someone else when you have made a decision for yourself and letting God speak through you on behalf of a brother or sister Christian. Before we offer advice it would be amazing if first we considered the source of our trust for giving others advise. Who is this going to benefit? What is my motive for advising this sibling in Christ? So we will be alike or so God can use us both in different ways for His glory and our good? Most here aren’t old enough to remember the old TV show, “Who do you trust?” So who is it that you trust before you open your thoughts and mouths?
The scripture that we will revisit this morning has been preached over and over yet there is always more. One assignment was to write a paper on this. It was not easy to stop looking for things to say about this third proverb from Solomon to his son.
Solomon wrote most of the pieces of advice that we call Proverbs. There were others who are mentioned but mostly Solomon. We know the truth of how he came to have such wisdom and yet we also know how quickly that wisdom turned into bitterness as we read the first part of Ecclesiastes. At the end of Ecclesiastes Solomon finally found true wisdom. Everything that we do to serve self-gratification winds up being useless. We are here to learn to trust God.
That day with my friend as he was talking me down was an eye opener. This proverb is to one person. It was written for advice for Solomon’s son perhaps because Solomon had learned his lesson. The YOU is implied here; YOU TRUST, with all THINE HEART, don’t lean on THINE UNDERSTANDING, Acknowledge Him in all THY WAYS, and YOU acknowledge Him. When you do that then He will be able to direct THY PATHS.
So; is this advice that we are to give others or is it advice that each individual should take and own for our self? I thought I had the answer to that before. Praise God for making it new again.
Scripture: The focal scripture today is Proverbs 3:5-6. Please stand if you’re able.
Prayer: Let us pray. Be seated.
Message: We read these proverbs and mostly agree that many were written by Solomon. He was supposed to be the wisest man because wisdom is what God granted him. People came from all over to hear from Solomon yet he certainly made some strange decisions.
Which son did he write this to in this proverb? We know that his son Rehoboam lost most of the kingdom to Jereboam. If this was the son Solomon addressed many of these proverbs to it seems that the words were lost on that particular son. If we listen they will not be lost on us.
This is a question of will. It is a question of what we choose to trust when deciding which path to follow. What is trust? Once a decision has been made a person conforms his/her will to do a thing. Unless something big happens, the course is set. The path is confirmed.
Trust is foremost. Solomon knew that God had granted him wisdom and people counted on that wisdom and they trusted him even though he made some costly mistakes. Here Solomon warned his son to trust in the Lord and not in his understanding or wisdom of things. Did Solomon trust in his wisdom or God’s will for his life?
We learn by making mistakes or at least I always have. Make mistakes that is. I’m still learning and I’m still making mistakes. It could be that Solomon was attempting to prevent his son from making the same mistakes that he had made.
Solomon learned about heart. He juggled 1000 women. He shared his heart with whoever might bring him more treasure in this life and as we read Ecclesiastes we learn that in the end Solomon finally realized that the only thing that was worth doing with all his heart is to serve God. To serve God with all your heart means that you must first trust God with all your heart.
Lean not on your own understanding. We do learn from our mistakes and we do take those things to heart. We pray and we pray and sometimes we see the miracle that God has brought and we say something flip like, “prayer worked.” So whose wit or wisdom is it that we trust in when we say that our prayer worked? It goes back to the original statement. Trust in the Lord!
Many years ago and still today people have been led to believe that if something doesn’t happen in the way that a person prayed for then that person didn’t pray hard enough. The other night in our Bible Study we heard that some feel this has done great damage. I agree!
For the part of the one who felt disappointed that their prayer was ignored that person might lose trust in prayer. Actually it goes much deeper than that. There have been people who turned away who thought that they were disciples but were actually following their own understanding of things. This doesn’t necessarily mean that were not saved or that they backslid away. It only means that their faith was tested for something later on.
How do we know that our prayers will be answered? How can we trust that God will do what we think we want Him to do? Whose will is it that we seek? Matthew 6:33, “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; sand all these things shall be added unto you.” [2]
Whose kingdom? God’s kingdom! Whose will? God’s will? Whose understanding of things; or wisdom or wit? Only God’s! How? Well, it starts with prayer that we find God’s will and that He will give us His wisdom. If we seek first what we think and then believe that we can impose our will on God He will look away. When we do that, we lose the way that He has set for us and He lets us see how far we can stray away.
Which way are we supposed to acknowledge God? We have seen so many tests even here in our little flock. Most everybody here has gone though some sort of calamity in the past few years. We have seen some all sorts of things that would have shut these doors once and for all but yet here we are. What have we been doing here?
We have prayed for things that if we had our way would have maybe turned out different. We have not lost heart. We decided that whatever way God had for us to go we would honor Him. You can look around and see example after example of things that seemed very strange at the time yet we trusted even when it seemed we might be disappointed.
This is a message of encouragement and hope. We hope in the One who is the only hope. His name is Jesus. The Way, The Truth, The Life, The Light. In everything that we do whether we see that which we wished for or not, when we acknowledge that there is nothing done that is not allowed or caused by Him then we can honestly say that it is Him who has directed our path.
In all thy ways acknowledge Him! I have not always done that. Have you? “The doctors sure were there for me! Boy that was lucky. I was in the right place at the right time! People just seem to be drawn to me. It’s not what you know but who you know.”
These are just a few of the things that we say when we discount God. In all our ways we trust some manmade thing called luck when everything that we have or will have is provided by and for God. We are His! He knows what He is doing with us. He knows the way that He has for us to go. When we are honest with Him He will be honest with us. When we discount Him He will let us go our own way in our own understanding when we mistake His gifts to be of more importance than He is in our lives.
Prayer:
Invitation: We have heard this particular scripture many times. Many papers have been written to expose the truth that is here in these two little verses. We know this by heart as they say. We might know it by memory. Do we really know it in our heart?
Can you trust in the Lord with all your heart even when you see that which you prayed would not happen? Is your understanding of what happened more important than trusting God no matter what happened? Can you truly acknowledge Him when you have worked hard and now people are praising you for a job well done? Or do you think we might be waiting to see whether what He allows is Ok before we adapt our will to follow the path that He has set for us?
These are the questions that we find here. Where are you? He has more for us to do than what He has already done through us. Do you believe that and trust that with all your heart? You can! Consider as we sing…
i Ps. 37:3, 5. See Ps. 25:2.
j So Jer. 9:23. Ecclus. 5:2.
k 1 Chr. 28:9 (Heb.).
l Comp. Jer. 10:23.
[1] The Holy Bible: King James Version (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., Pr 3:5–6). (2009). Logos Research Systems, Inc.
s So 1 Kin. 3:11–14. Ps. 37:25. Mark 10:30. 1 Tim. 4:8.
[2] The Holy Bible: King James Version (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., Mt 6:33). (2009). Logos Research Systems, Inc.
