Articles
“Where Is Your Trust?”
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 straight your paths.
Be not wise in your own eyes;
fear the Lord, and turn away from evil.
It will be healing to your flesh
and refreshment to your bones.
Proverbs 3:5-8
The Hebrew word for “trust” (בְּטַח btakh) is used in a literal sense to physically lean upon something for support. Think of climbing rungs on a ladder. You are entrusting your body’s weight to each rung. The higher you climb, the higher the stakes in your trust.
In a figurative sense, it means to rely upon someone or something for protection, support or help. It is often used in the Old Testament to describe false securities, trusting in things that eventually prove worthless. Ezekiel provides a vivid example of this figurative use of “trust.” Instead of leaning upon the Lord in their hour of need, as the prophets consistently instructed them to do, Israel forged a military alliance with Egypt to protect them from the growing threat of Assyria (2 Kgs. 18; Isa. 36-37), something the prophets consistently warned them against. When Assyria finally attacked and defeated Egypt, Judah was devastated. In Ezekiel’s prophecy against Egypt he says that they “have been a staff of reed to the house of Israel, when they grasped you with the hand, you broke and tore all their shoulders; and when they leaned on you, you broke and made all their loins to shake.” (Ezek. 29:6-7)
We often misplace our confidence to our own hurt, putting all our hope and trust in a career that doesn’t work out, an economy that goes belly up or a government that fails to deliver. As David said, those who “trust in chariots and… horses” will be disappointed because, given enough time, “they collapse and fall.” (Psa. 20:7-8) The same will result when we lean upon our own moral goodness, our limited understanding or any other changeable false security. Scripture describes this folly variously from building a house on sand to being blown about by the wind on the sea.
What does it mean to “trust in the Lord with all your heart”? At the very least it means to “not lean on your own understanding.” Despite the maxims of our culture which say the exact opposite, if we take a minute to think about the proverb we will agree with its wisdom. We all remember how our 15-year-old-self thought our 10-year-old-self was a fool. And subsequently, how our 25-year-old-self thought our 15-year-old-self was a fool and how our 35-year-old-self thought our 25-year-old-self was a fool, etc. The more wisdom we attain the more apparent our folly. Even now, we are fools. Therefore, “do not lean upon your own understanding.” Every decision is fork in the road with the crooked path of our limited wisdom leading to danger and loss on one side and the path of God’s wisdom leading to life on the other. If we “acknowledge” God in our decisions by prayerfully considering what he says in Scripture, he makes our path “straight”, that is, smooth and free from obstacles so that we can progress toward the goal (Isa. 40:3).
While “some trust in chariots and some in horses… we trust in the name of the Lord our God. They collapse and fall, but we rise and stand upright.” (Psa. 20:7-8) Are you anchored? Are you building your house upon the rock? Are you leaning on the everlasting arms of the Lord? Those who “trust in the Lord… shall not be moved.” (Psa. 21:7) The only object of secure trust, the only one worthy of placing our total confidence in, is the Lord because only he can bear our weight. Jesus says, “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.” (Jn. 14:1)
