Trust in the Lord to Straighten Your Path

Proverbs 3:1–10 KJV 1900

1 My son, forget not my law; But let thine heart keep my commandments: 2 For length of days, and long life, And peace, shall they add to thee. 3 Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: Bind them about thy neck; Write them upon the table of thine heart: 4 So shalt thou find favour and good understanding In the sight of God and man. 5 Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; And lean not unto thine own understanding. 6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, And he shall direct thy paths. 7 Be not wise in thine own eyes: Fear the Lord, and depart from evil. 8 It shall be health to thy navel, And marrow to thy bones. 9 Honour the Lord with thy substance, And with the firstfruits of all thine increase: 10 So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, And thy presses shall burst out with new wine.

Introduction:

Any skilled teacher knows that repetition is a key component in learning and mastery. The writer of Proverbs was a skilled instructor. Once he proclaimed the theme of his book in Proverbs 1:7, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction,” he revisited that theme multiple times: repeating it, illustrating it, and expanding upon it. Chapter three is intimately connected to this concept through its theme verses, Proverbs 3:5–8. Since, no matter how we define the fear of the Lord, we run into obedience as a universal component of that concept, it is crystal clear that a synonym of that concept is to trust God. Is it any wonder that John H. Sammis penned these well-known and powerful words?

When we walk with the Lord / in the light of his word, / what a glory he sheds on our way! / While we do his good will, / he abides with us still, / and with all who will trust and obey. / Trust and obey, for there’s no other way / to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.

As we dig into this text, we will notice that the author exhorts us to do four things to achieve his overall exhortation that you trust in the Lord to straighten your path. But in order to understand what the author means about our path being straightened, we need to consider two scripture passages by way of introduction: Deuteronomy 32:4 and Isaiah 42:16.

In Deuteronomy 32:4 we read, “He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.” The word from Proverbs 3:6 about God directing or straightening our path is the word translated “right” in Deuteronomy 32:4. God’s just, righteous character ensures that any path he directs us in will be just and righteous as well.

But there is a second idea present in this concept of straightening, and we find it clearly illustrated in Isaiah 42:16: “And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them.” Here we see the compassionate leader taking care to guide those who would not be able to find the way on their own. If we are to then summarize this concept of trusting God to straighten our path, we might phrase it this way: because I could never find it on my own, I will trust God to lead me in the way of righteousness. This is the path of wisdom!

I. Exhortation 1: Obey God’s Law (Prv 3:1–2)

A. The trusting action: obeying God’s law (Prv 3:1)

Explanation: Why, you might ask, does a father who is exhorting his son to wisdom begin his lecture with commands to obey God’s teaching? Because he himself has been taught that the trust that leads to obedience is foundational to a worshipfully submissive relationship to God. Obedience comes before understanding! Consider Psalm 119:98-105, “Thou through thy commandments hast made me wiser than mine enemies: for they are ever with me. I have more understanding than all my teachers: for thy testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the ancients, because I keep thy precepts. I have refrained my feet from every evil way, that I might keep thy word. I have not departed from thy judgments: for thou hast taught me. How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth! Through thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.”

Quotation: As Tremper Longman III writes in his commentary on Proverbs, “Not to forget is to remember, and to remember something in the OT means more than mere cognitive retention. To remember, or not to forget, means to obey.”

Argumentation: This idea is further emphasized by the poetic parallelism that describes what we are supposed to do in place of forgetting God’s wisdom: our heart is supposed to keep it. The word translated “keep” here has the idea of watching over to protect.

Quotation: Psalm 40:11 uses this same word when it records the prayer of the psalmist: “Withhold not thou thy tender mercies from me, O Lord: let thy lovingkindness and thy truth continually preserve me.”

Explanation: But notice what is to keep God’s teaching: the heart. The heart here represents the entire inner person––mind, will, and emotions. This represents our efforts to cooperate with God’s saving and sanctifying work in our life. Paul writes in 2 Cor 5:17, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” This new man has God’s law written in his heart as Jeremiah promised would one day happen to Israel when God saves them, “But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people” (Jer 31:33).

B. The straightening result: a long, peaceful life (Prv 3:2)

Explanation: If you asked 100 random people the secret to a long life, you would probably get dozens of different answers. Quite frankly there is only one way to a long, peaceful life: following God’s way. Endless years without peace are a curse, and endless years without God is death!

Application: Ask yourself, “how do I define success?” Some of you feel successful when you are successful in your career. If that is you, would you be able to feel successful if your company went bankrupt and you lost your job? Is that the best definition of success? Others of you feel successful if you feel like you are raising a good family. But the devil can rob you of that “success” when a child becomes a parent out of wedlock, or you find out one of your children struggles with same-sex attraction. If your definition of success, if what brings you peace in your life is not a worshipfully submissive relationship with God and sweet fellowship with Him, then you have set up an idol as your God. False beliefs have crept into your heart, and your mind is giving credit to lies.

Exhortation: Remember, peace is not about the smoothness of your life circumstances. It is about the sovereignty of our God. When you walk in wisdom, you can be Joseph in jail, Daniel in the lions’ den, or Paul in prison and still have peace. Because, you know in your heart of hearts that though every evil man in the world and every evil angel, even Satan himself, is arrayed against you; God can and will turn the worst that they can do to try to destroy you into good that will only draw you deeper into his love and make you a more beautiful, more polished gem to one day in Heaven shine in his crown for all eternity.

II. Exhortation 2: Reflect God’s Character (Prv 3:3–4)

A. The trusting action: reflecting God’s character (Prv 3:3)

Explanation: When you obey God’s commandments from the heart, you will naturally begin to reflect God’s character in your life. The words translated mercy and truth are used often in the Old Testament to describe the character of God. Genesis 24:27 says, “And he said, Blessed be the Lord God of my master Abraham, who hath not left destitute my master of his mercy and his truth: I being in the way, the Lord led me to the house of my master's brethren.” Exodus 34:6 highlights this again, “And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth….” There are even entire Psalms dedicated to declaring the mercy of the Lord (Ps 136).

Application: Here we are commanded to bind these character qualities about our neck and write them on the tables of our heart. Once again, we see the truth that outward actions issue forth from the contents of the heart. A pure and loving heart will yield pure and loving actions. Mercy and truth are standing in for the law and commandments of verse 1. There is no possibility of outwardly reflecting God’s character without God’s word being resident in our heart.

B. The straightening result: favor and good success (Prv 3:4)

Explanation: The key to favor and good success is Christlike character. It is entirely possible that Proverbs 3:4 was in Luke’s mind when he wrote of Jesus “And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man” (Lk 2:52). And Paul is very clear about God’s intention for us to reflect God in this way in Romans 8:29, “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.”

Quotation: Ray Ortlund in his commentary on Proverbs reminds us, “What are we counting on about God? We are staking everything on God’s being steadfastly loving and faithful to us forever through Christ, because he promised to be. The sage is saying to us, ‘You know that’s who God is. He told you so in the Bible. Okay, let who God is change you.’ So much … religion is not about who God is. So much … religion makes us the immovable ones, the center around which God orbits. [Worldly] religion is not about us changing and repenting and adjusting to who God is. It is about God making us feel better about ourselves without our having to change. But the truth is, God is who he is, so that we can become more like him. And after all, isn’t that what we want? A person of steadfast love and faithfulness can be trusted. You have nothing to fear from such a person. You have everything to admire in such a person. God is in that person. And he wants to make you more like himself. So many people have been let down by Christians. They do not believe anymore, because they did not see the reality of God in God’s people. They saw people wearing crosses around their necks but without binding steadfast love and faithfulness around their necks. The fraudulence of that makes people angry. And they have a right to be angry. So the Father is saying here to his children, ‘My steadfast love and faithfulness to sinners—let that be your persona. Wear that reality in public, because it’s who Jesus is. I want you to be like him right out in the open, for other sinners to see and have hope.’”

III. Exhortation 3: Trust God’s Perspective (Prv 3:5–8)

A. The trusting action: trusting God’s perspective (Prv 3:5–7)

Explanation: This does not come naturally to us, but it is absolutely vital to achieving what God designed us for and what we ultimately want for ourselves. It goes all the way back to the garden of Eden where God’s perspective was “Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die” (Gen 2:16–17). Compare that to Eve’s perspective: “And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat” (Gen 3:6).

Application: Abraham is one of the most beautiful examples of this truth in action in Genesis 22, and the writer of Hebrews brings that event even more clearly into focus when he writes “By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called: Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure” (Heb 11:17–19).

Illustration: Even our Lord Jesus Christ reached a point in his earthly journey where he had to cast his entire trust onto the Father’s perspective. For as he spent time alone in the Garden at Gethsemane, he prayed: “O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt” (Matt 26:39). Christ is the perfect example of Proverbs 3:6, “In all thy ways acknowledge [literally know personally and intimately] him, and he shall direct thy paths.”

B. The straightening result: God’s direction and wholeness (Prv 3:8)

Explanation: When we know God personally and intimately, we will be convinced that his wisdom always chooses the best way for us. We will be convinced that nothing bad for us will ever overcome his infinite power to make all things come out for our good. We will be convinced that there is nothing in existence, whether tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword, or death, or life, or angels, or principalities, or powers, or things present, or things to come, or height, or depth, or any existing creature that will be able to separate us from his infinite love.

Application: These certainties bring about the peace and well-being that is emphasized throughout this chapter as a result of living the wisdom-saturated life encouraged by the father in his lectures to his son.

IV. Exhortation 4: Invest for God’s Glory (Prv 3:9–10)

A. The trusting action: investing in what brings glory to God (Prv 3:9)

Explanation: We have here an exhortation to accomplish what we can only do properly and do well after we have obeyed the first three exhortations in our text. We are created as stewards of God (Gen 1:26). “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.” We cannot steward well for God unless we thoroughly understand what God desires. We cannot thoroughly understand what God desires until we first obey him, second begin to reflect him, and third place our complete trust in him.

Argumentation: Our passage commands us to “Honour the Lord with our substance.” Part of that certainly is giving the first part of our income to the Lord through his church. Both Jesus and Paul remind is with an Old Testament quotation that those who give of their time to minister to our spiritual needs are worthy of our contribution to having their physical needs met (Lk 10:7; Gal 6:6; 1 Tim 5:18). But the concept of stewardship goes far beyond tithing or giving to the church. The Lord has provided 100% of our income, and he has 100% authority over how we spend the other 90% that we righteously keep for our own needs. When Jesus said to his disciples, “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Mt 6:19–21), I believe that he was going far beyond speaking about a tithe. We can be quite certain that he was speaking about using the rest of our material possessions in ways that glorify him as well. Consider Paul’s warning in 1 Tim 6:9–11: “But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.”

Application: So we ought to use all of what God gives to us in a wise manner. If we give God 10%, but we spend the other 90% on selfish desires, toys, playing lotto, and not taking care of our families, have we honored God? I say not! God has given us stewardship over our families, and we honor God when we use what he has given us to fulfill the God-given responsibilities that we have from him. Consider 1 Tim 5:16 as one small example: “If any man or woman that believeth have widows, let them relieve them, and let not the church be charged; that it may relieve them that are widows indeed.”

B. The straightening result: increasing returns (Prv 3:10)

Explanation: For faithful stewards God promises increasing stewardship. God stated this principle to Eli in 1 Sam 2:30: “Wherefore the Lord God of Israel saith, I said indeed that thy house, and the house of thy father, should walk before me for ever: but now the Lord saith, Be it far from me; for them that honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed.” And Christ built upon our understanding of this with his illustration in the parable of the unfaithful steward. The Lord summed up the lesson in Lk 16:10–12: “He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much. If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man's, who shall give you that which is your own?”

Quotation: Matthew Henry put it this way: “God will bless you with an increase of that which is for use, not for show, for giving away, not for hoarding. Those who do good with what they have shall have more to do more good with.”

Argumentation: Paul shows how Jesus was the living illustration of what the Sage writes here in Proverbs 3 in his second letter to the Corinthians, chapter 8 verse 9: “For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.” But this promise in Proverbs 3:10 is not a promise in the sense of those who preach a prosperity gospel would have us take it. It is a promise from the perspective of God who sees the end from the beginning. It is a promise not limited to this life, but it clearly includes the next life. The world we live in is still under the curse of our sin. Remember Romans 8:22–23, “For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.”

Conclusion:

               My dear friends, do you long to walk in the path of wisdom? You cannot find that path on your own! You need a compassionate leader who can guide you to that path, a compassionate leader who can steady you when you stumble on that path, and a compassionate leader who will not leave you on your own to find your way to the end of the path. Jesus is that compassionate leader! Paul wrote to the Philippians (1:6), “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.” I strongly encourage you before you leave to purpose in your heart that with God’s help you will begin by obeying God’s law, continue by seeking to reflect God’s character, grow by trusting God’s perspective, and finally be a faithful steward by investing in what brings glory to God. Trust in the Lord to straighten your path!