Trust--Marcus & Justine

Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.”

Marcus and Justine, you have picked a great passage as your wedding text. Just a note before we begin, many preachers will use a watch or a clock to mark the time so their sermons don’t go too long. I don’t use a clock, I use a calendar!

Today you begin your lives together as husband and wife. The Lord has blessed you with loving parents, wonderful families—He has given you your family and friends so that you may know Him, His love, His grace, His truth and His righteousness. He so blessed you, that you would indeed “trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.

The Lord has directed you to this, your wedding day. In His wisdom, He has directed you through twists and turns, times of ease and times of great difficulties. Individually and together, you have already journeyed through such times. And He will guide you through all the things to come. He is Faithful and True, you can trust in Him.

So, continue trusting in the Lord with all your heart. Hold nothing back from God. Entrust to Him your mind, heart and will. Only by being servants to Christ our Lord, can you be servants of one another. Consider what He requires of you in marriage:

He created you individually for Himself, and He created you for each other. You belong to Him, and now You belong to each other.

In Genesis 2:24 we learn “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” This process involves leaving and cleaving. In leaving, you step out of your parent’s homes. This means taking all their love, their truth, their wisdom, their grace, their chastisement, their teaching, and putting it into a new context—the context of your marriage. But as their different styles and methods come together, you will have to learn to submit to one another. Some things will be done the Lof way, others will be done the Hummelman way—all to the glory of God. This way, this process is the cleaving together; the coming together of two individuals, two families, into one.

Parents—John and Debbie, Andre and Racheal, you will have to let them go. You will have to let them become one. You will certainly be able to guide, influence, bless and encourage them. There will be moments to welcome them home, to wrap your loving arms around them and support them. There will also be moments where distance and tough love is required—so that they become closer and cleave together.

This is the wisdom of God, of how He designed marriage. This is His plan, and we do well to submit to it, not leaning on our own understanding. Let us consider the wisdom and understanding has the Lord given in His Word:

Prov 18:22 “He who finds a wife finds a good thing, And obtains favor from the Lord.” Pr 19:14 “Houses and riches are an inheritance from fathers, But a prudent wife is from the Lord.” 1 Co 7:4 “The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. And likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does.” Pr 5:18 “Let your fountain be blessed, And rejoice with the wife of your youth.” Pr 15:1 “A soft answer turns away wrath, But a harsh word stirs up anger.” Pr 14:1 “The wise woman builds her house, But the foolish pulls it down with her hands.” Pr 21:9 “Better to dwell in a corner of a housetop, Than in a house shared with a contentious woman.” Pr 22:14 “The mouth of an immoral woman is a deep pit; He who is abhorred by the Lord will fall there.” Pr 27:15-17 “A continual dripping on a very rainy day And a contentious woman are alike; Whoever restrains her restrains the wind, And grasps oil with his right hand. As iron sharpens iron, So a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.” Pr 31:10-17 “Who can find a virtuous wife? For her worth is far above rubies. The heart of her husband safely trusts her; So he will have no lack of gain. She does him good and not evil All the days of her life. She seeks wool and flax, And willingly works with her hands. She is like the merchant ships, She brings her food from afar. She also rises while it is yet night, And provides food for her household, And a portion for her maidservants. She considers a field and buys it; From her profits she plants a vineyard. She girds herself with strength, And strengthens her arms.”

We could consider many more passages but suffice these for now. Accept the Lord’s wisdom, as provided in His Word. Do not depend upon your own understanding. The Lord provides you with wisdom, not only in His word, but also in those of your family, your church family, your friends. But their wisdom is only of value in as much as it comes from the Lord.

This day begins your way together. Acknowledge Him every morning, and every night. Begin and end your day with prayer. Pray for each other. Pray that your love will continue to grow. Pray that your loving appreciation for each unique strength, weakness, character, and personality will constantly grow. Confront one another whenever sin occurs. Each of you consider the other more highly than yourself.

In acknowledging Him in your ways, in your marriage, adopt the teaching of Ephesians 5:21 “submitting to one another in the fear of God.” The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom and understanding. In applying Ephesians 5 to your marriage, God says, “Justine, submit to your own husband, as to the Lord”—this is not submission to any man this is submission to your own husband. “For the husband is the head of the wife, as also Christ is the head of the church, and He is the Saviour of the body. Therefore, just as the church submits to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything”—this everything applies only to what is in keeping with God’s Law, God’s Word, not just anything that Marcus makes up, and likewise.

Hear the Lord’s instruction to you, Marcus. “Love your wife, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the Word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. So Marcus, love Justine as your own body; he who loves his wife, loves himself—the two are one flesh.

Marcus and Justine, in your life together, the Lord will lead you and direct your paths. Two verses come to mind—Luke 3:4 “as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, saying: “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; Make His paths straight.” And Psalm 23:3 “He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake.” The paths of the Lord are paths away from sin, and toward righteousness. Listen to the Lord and turn from sin. Together, hand in hand, walk in the path the Lord puts before you, for your salvation from sin, and for His name’s sake, for His glory. Amen.