Proverbs 3_5_6 Clippings from Logos

Proverbs often mentions three classes of people who desperately need wisdom: the fool, the simple, and the scorner (see 1:22). The fool is the person who is dense, sluggish, careless, and self-satisfied. Nabal in 1 Sam. 25 is a good example; the name “Nabal” means “fool.” The fool hates instruction (1:7, 22) and is self-confident (12:15). He talks without thinking (29:11) and mocks at sin (14:9). The simple are those who believe everything and everybody (14:15) and lack discernment. They are easily led astray by others because they lack understanding (7:7). They cannot see ahead (22:3) and, as a result, repeatedly walk into trouble. Scorners mock at God’s wisdom because it is too high for them (14:6), but they will not admit it because they know everything (21:24). The Hebrew word for “scorner” literally means “to make a mouth”; and we can easily picture them sneering and curling up their lips in scorn. They never profit from rebuke (9:7–8; 13:1) and, as a result, they will one day be judged (19:29).

Wiersbe, Warren W. Wiersbe’s Expository Outlines on the Old Testament. Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1993.

WEOOT: Introduction

Proverbs outlines for us the character of the wise: they listen to instruction (1:5); obey what they hear (10:8); store up what they learn (10:14); win others to the Lord (11:30); flee from sin (14:16); watch their tongue (16:23); and are diligent in their daily work (10:5).

Wiersbe, Warren W. Wiersbe’s Expository Outlines on the Old Testament. Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1993.

WEOOT: Introduction

Proverbs are generalizations about life and not promises for us to claim, although there are some great promises found in the Book of Proverbs. The basic requirement for understanding and applying these proverbs is the fear of the Lord (1:7) and a willingness to obey (3:5–6; see John 7:17)

The Book of Proverbs summons us to understand and apply all of God’s revealed wisdom for all of life.

Wiersbe, Warren W. Wiersbe’s Expository Outlines on the Old Testament. Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1993.

WEOOT: Chapters 2–4

***************Proverbs 3:5–6 are precious promises to Christians who want to know and do God’s will in every area of life. God wants us to know and do His will; He is eager to reveal His will to us (Eph. 5:8–10; John 7:17). There are certain conditions that we must meet before God can direct our paths.***************

3:1-4 We must listen to the Word of God (God's will is found in God's Word). Not only the mind, but also the heart should remember and consider God's Word. We must take advantage of every opportunity we have to read and hear God's Word. In our own private time, in Sunday school, and during church services, THE BETTER WE KNOW OUR BIBLE, THE BETTER WE KNOW GOD'S WILL FOR OUR LIVES!

3:5-10 We must obey the Word of God (If we really trust God we will obey God), The Better we know God through our Bible the more we will trust God! We must not trust our own idea and wisdom but instead ask God to direct us.

3:11-12 We must submit to the Word of God

3:13-26 We must treasure the Word of God

Wiersbe, Warren W. Wiersbe’s Expository Outlines on the Old Testament. Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1993.

10000SI: Because You’re My Dad

One day, while my son Zac and I were out in the country, climbing around in some cliffs, I heard a voice from above me yell, “Hey Dad! Catch me!” I turned around to see Zac joyfully jumping off a rock straight at me. He had jumped and them yelled “Hey Dad!” I became an instant circus act, catching him. We both fell to the ground. For a moment after I caught him I could hardly talk. When I found my voice again I gasped in exasperation: “Zac! Can you give me one good reason why you did that???”

He responded with remarkable calmness: “Sure...because you’re my Dad.” His whole assurance was based in the fact that his father was trustworthy. He could live life to the hilt because I could be trusted. Isn’t this even more true for a Christian?

10000SI: Boy Trusted His Father

Some years ago I read an account that went something like this:

A group of scientists and botanists were exploring remote regions of the Alps in search of new species of flowers. One day they noticed through binoculars a flower of such rarity and beauty that its value to science was incalculable. But it lay deep in a ravine with cliffs on both sides. To get the flower someone had to be lowered over the cliff on a rope.

A curious young boy was watching nearby, and the scientists told him they would pay him well if he would agree to be lowered over the cliff to retrieve the flower below.

The boy took one long look down the steep, dizzy depths and said, “I’ll be back in a minute.” A short time later he returned, followed by a gray-haired man. Approaching the botanist, the boy said, “I’ll go over that cliff and get that flower for you if this man holds the rope. He’s my dad.”

10000SI: Trust Him ***************

Trust Him when dark doubts assail thee, Trust Him when thy strength is small,Trust Him when to simply trust HimSeems the hardest thing of all.

Trust Him, He is ever faithful,Trust Him, for his will is best,Trust Him, for the heart of JesusIs the only place of rest.

FSB: Chapter 3

3:5 Trust Yahweh Since wisdom comes from Yahweh (Prov 2:6), He must be trusted. This often involves relying on God’s wisdom rather than human wisdom

Barry, John D., Douglas Mangum, Derek R. Brown, Michael S. Heiser, Miles Custis, Elliot Ritzema, Matthew M. Whitehead, Michael R. Grigoni, and David Bomar. Faithlife Study Bible. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012, 2016.

K&D: Fourth Introductory Mashal Discourse, 3:1–18

He knows the right way to the right ends. He knows what benefits us. He is able to free us from that which does us harm: therefore it is our duty and our safety to place our confidence wholly in Him, and to trust not to our own judgment

Keil, Carl Friedrich, and Franz Delitzsch. Commentary on the Old Testament. Vol. 6. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1996.

HCBC: Solomon’s Discourses (1:8–9:18)

Wisdom is more than a matter of knowing rules of right and wrong; it is a matter of knowing God. The wise trust in the Lord rather than in their own wisdom.

Garrett, Duane A. “The Poetic and Wisdom Books.” In Holman Concise Bible Commentary, edited by David S. Dockery, 237. Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1998.

BBC: C. Wisdom’s Rewards (3:1–10)

3:6 Finally, there must be an acknowledgment of the Lordship of Christ: “In all your ways acknowledge Him.” Every area of our lives must be turned over to His control. We must have no will of our own, only a single pure desire to know His will and to do it.

If these conditions are met, the promise is that God shall direct our paths. He may do it through the Bible, through the advice of godly Christians, through the marvelous converging of circumstances, through the inward peace of the Spirit, or through a combination of these. But if we wait, He will make the guidance so clear that to refuse would be positive disobedience.

MacDonald, William. Believer’s Bible Commentary: Old and New Testaments. Edited by Arthur Farstad. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1995.

MC Pr: 3:5

3:5. Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And do not lean on your own understanding.

We come now to perhaps the most familiar and best loved verses in all of Proverbs. Here, too, we encounter an exhortation (vv. 5–6a) and, then, a promised reward (v. 6b). Like the last exhortation/ reward, the exhortation here is given in three lines. The first line calls us to ‘trust’ in the Lord with all our hearts. This ‘trust’ is the sense of security and safety that comes from being under the care of another more competent than ourselves.7

This trust is to be total: ‘with all your heart’ (cf. ‘in all your ways,’ v. 6). The heart represents the totality of one’s inner being: mind, emotions and will. Everything we are and all we have must be rested upon the Lord as our security.

The second part of the exhortation is cast negatively: we are not to ‘lean’ on our own understanding. The root of the verb means to support yourself on something,8 to lean with your entire weight upon something.9 We are not to take our ‘own understanding’ as buttressing support. ‘Understanding’ is a word that is generally given a positive spin by Solomon (cf. Prov. 1:2; 2:3), but here is seen negatively. Here it is that human wisdom worked up from our natural selves as compared to the divine wisdom that God gives to those who seek Him (cf. James 3:15–18). This does not mean to imply that there is nothing to be trusted in ‘common sense,’ but simply that you don’t use it as your sole, or even primary, support in life. Rather, we should bank our all on God and the wisdom of His ways. His ways are above ours (Isa. 55:8–9; Rom. 11:33–34), and must be chosen when they seem to contradict our earthly, human wisdom.

3:6. In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight.

The third line of the exhortation is found here: ‘In all your ways acknowledge Him.’ The verb ‘acknowledge’ means simply ‘to know.’ Such knowledge is more than acquainting yourself with God, but describes a deep experiential knowledge. The fact that this is to be ‘in all your ways’ (cf. ‘with all your heart,’ v. 5) drives deeper still the level of intimacy intended.

Finally, the reward is stated: ‘And He will make your paths straight.’ The straight paths of the wise contrast with the crooked or perverse ways of the wicked (Prov. 2:13, 15; 3:17; 10:9). The reward is more than the promise of simple guidance. It includes the removal of obstacles (Isa. 40:3; 45:13) from the path of the wise and the surety of arriving at one’s destination.10

When you abandon yourself to God in trusting obedience, finding your entire support in Him and striving in every avenue of your life to know Him more intimately, He guarantees that the path before you will be clearer and smoother than otherwise it would have been, and that He will keep you in His will.

Kitchen, John A. Proverbs: A Mentor Commentary. Mentor Commentaries. Fearn, Ross-shire, Great Britain: Mentor, 2006.

ARSA: II. There Must Be a Total Commitment

a commitment to Him that acknowledges Him as Lord over every area of my life. That’s what it means: “In all thy ways acknowledge him.” Acknowledge Him how? As Lord, as Sovereign God, as the One whose right it is to rule over my life.

Rogers, Adrian. “Finding God’s Way in a Dark Day.” In Adrian Rogers Sermon Archive, Pr 3:5–6. Signal Hill, CA: Rogers Family Trust, 2017.

ARSA: B. A Divine Dynamic

He bulldozes a path through the wilderness. That’s exactly what it means. It means, “to cut a path.

Rogers, Adrian. “Finding God’s Way in a Dark Day.” In Adrian Rogers Sermon Archive, Pr 3:5–6. Signal Hill, CA: Rogers Family Trust, 2017.

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