Trust in the LORD with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make your paths straight.
The Promise
What is the promise that we find in verse 6? "He will make your paths straight." The Hebrew term means "to make smooth, straight, right." Obstacles that are in the way are removed. Roads that curve back and forth are straightened out. Valleys are filled. Mountains are made low.
"He will make your paths straight."
Think of
"He will make your paths straight."
In the Book of Daniel we read about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. They refused to bow before the golden image made by King Nebuchadnezzar. So they were thrown into a blazing hot furnace. But when the king looked, he saw four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out without a burn mark on them, and they didn't even smell of smoke.
"He will make your paths straight." I also think of Daniel who continued to pray to the Lord God Almighty even though there was a command that no man should pray to anyone except to King Darius. As a result, Daniel ended up in a den of hungry lions. But the lions didn't touch him or bother him.
"He will make your paths straight."
We can think of the time Paul and Silas are in jail. They have been stripped and beaten and flogged. They are in an inner cell and their feet are fastened in stocks. But instead of feeling sorry for themselves they are praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners are listening to them. And God sent such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison are shaken and all the prison doors fly open and everybody's chains fall off.
The Three Commands
The first command is "Trust in the LORD with all you heart."
What does it mean to trust in the Lord? At the root of the Hebrew word for trust is the idea of lying helplessly on the ground. This is total submission to another of will, emotions, and desire.
We are to put our trust in the LORD.
This is the God who loves us in Jesus Christ. This is the God who is our Creator. This is the God who is accomplishing His plan to save His people. This is the God who holds the whole world in His hands. This is the God who determines times and dates and life and death.
-It wasn't Allah who loved me enough to send his only son to die for me.
-It wasn't Muhammad who took his cross and stamped "pardon" on my soul to save me from hell.
-It wasn't Buddha or Confucius who divinely inspired the writing of an infallible, inerrant Bible.
-It isn't the Rev. Moon who gives me a peace that passes all understanding.
-It isn't Merrill Lynch or Charles Schwab who provides my every need.
-It isn't some new age crystal that heals my diseases.
-It isn't the stars that give direction and meaning to my life.
It is the LORD who has done all of this.
He has proven time and time again that He can be trusted.
"Trust in the LORD with all your heart."
Heart here does not mean the organ inside the chest. It means the inner person. It means the center of our intellect and emotion and will and conscience and personality. It means that everything in us and about us is to trust in God. It means total trust. It means we hold back no area of our mind or will or feeling. It means we trust God with every fiber of our being.
The second command is "lean not on your own understanding."
We see the Hebrew word for "lean" when blind Samson leaned against the huge pillars supporting the Philistine temple (Judges
"Lean not on your own understanding."
We cannot rest our weight upon what we think or feel or dream or imagine. We need to admit we don't know everything, we don't understand everything, and too often we are just plain wrong!
Getting to know God's voice requires spending much time in the Word and in prayer. A lot of what God says to us in His Word is simply too wonderful, unbelievable and incredible for us to believe. So our human understanding begins to ask, "How can this be? It is impossible!" Suddenly, our human understanding builds a hedge against God!
We see this with Sarah. God told the elderly Sarah she would have a child and become the mother of many nations. What an incredible, beautiful promise! But Sarah's human understanding quickly rose up and said, "Me, a mother at 90? Why, my womb is dead. My husband is an old man. It is impossible!" She laughed at the thought!
The third command is "in all your ways acknowledge him."
In everything you do, in everywhere you go, in everything you think, in everything you plan, at all times keep on confessing and recognizing God as the Lord of your life. Surrender yourself to Him so His plans becomes your plans, His will your will, and His desires your desires. He wants to rule supreme in your life.
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