Lean Not Unto Thine Own Understanding

Proverbs 3:5-7, “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil.

I am as guilty as anyone of questioning God, becoming frustrated, wondering why He doesn't seem to answer my prayers. I was pondering this popular passage of inspired Scripture today and something caught my attention. The Bible teaches us, LEAN NOT UNTO THINE OWN UNDERSTANDING.” We have all done that, unfortunately.

It is our human nature to try to figure things out, to understanding why things are the way that they are. That is quite normal. But with God, things don't work that way. It wasn't meant for mankind to figure out and understand God. What saith the Scripture? Isaiah 55:8-9, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.” This Scripture passage is so vital to understand.

Many people become frustrated, angry and even bitter toward God because they don't understand Him. They can't figure out their life. They don't know why bad things happen to good people, and good things happen to bad people. Nothing seems to make sense to them, and their human rationale suggests that God must be a cruel being. We've all been there at some time in our life.

The Lord fully knew that we would feel this way. Psalms 103:14, “For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust. That Bible verse was Pastor Jack Hyles' mother's favorite Scripture passage. Her name was Coystal Mattie Hyles (1887-1984). She was a remarkable woman, who raised a remarkable boy.

The Lord knew that we would feel frustrated and left in the dark, so He put Proverbs 3:5-7 in the Bible. Proverbs 3:5-7, “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil. The Bible commands you and me NOT to lean unto our own understanding. The Hebrew word for lean is shaan which means: to support one's self. The word rest in the Old Testament is also translated from this Hebrew root word. Thus, we ought not rest in our own wisdom.

The word “Trust” in Proverbs 3:5 is the Hebrew word batach which means: “to hie for refuge.” The word “hie” means “to step on.” Hence, to trust the Lord is to step on Him for safety. That is, to trust Him for salvation. You've simply got to believe that Jesus did it all for you.

When nothing in life seems to make sense, and we cannot figure out why God won't help us, and He seems to have ignored all of our prayers; we should just lean (rest) upon the promises of God in the Scripture. We should fear the LORD, and depart from evil” (Proverbs 3:7).

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