He Will Make Straight Our Paths

Proverbs 3:5-8 ESV

“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.”

So, what does that look like if we are trusting the Lord with our whole heart? Well, we know first off that it is the opposite of leaning on (relying on) our own understanding. So this has to do with God’s wisdom and his way of thinking versus our own. And it means we have confidence and reliance and dependence upon his wisdom and counsel and direction over and/or in place of our own. So, that means that we are actually following his directions and his wisdom and we are not going our own fleshly and selfish ways.

So, what does it mean if we are trusting him with our WHOLE heart? Well, the heart of humans is the core of our being, and it has to do with our mind, soul, nature, and spirit, the essence of who we are in character and in deed. And it also has to do with compassion, sympathy, kindness, tenderness, affection, and concern. And it is out of our hearts that either evil or good is produced, based upon what is stored up in our hearts. So we will only trust the Lord wholly with our hearts if our hearts are inclined towards him.

[Luke 6:45; Matthew 15:17-20]

So, if we are acknowledging the Lord in ALL our ways, what does that look like? Well, this word “acknowledge” is not just about admitting that God exists. This word has to do with learning to know him, discerning good and evil, and seeking his wisdom. It has to do with knowing him intimately, and to own his wisdom and his counsel and goodness as our own, not taking the credit for it, but receiving his wisdom and making it our wisdom. And to know him means that we obey him in practice (see 1 John 2:3-6).

So, if we are acknowledging (or knowing him) in ALL our ways, it means literally in ALL our ways, not in just some of our ways, and not just the ones we want to follow him in but while we refuse to follow him in ALL our ways. It means that we seek his wisdom and counsel and that we follow that wisdom and counsel in all of our ways, in all of our thinking, believing, speaking, and behaving. But this doesn’t mean that we do this perfectly all the time, but that this is our practice and we don’t deliberately ignore him.

And he will make straight our paths. And what is “straight”? It is the opposite of crooked, right? “Straight” means “honest, above board, upright, trustworthy, unmixed with the world, unadulterated, morally pure, decent, righteous, and undiluted by those who exchange good for evil. And what are our paths? They are the ways in which we live, the ways in which we behave and speak and think, in practice. If we are making him our trust, and not our flesh, he will direct us in the ways of holiness, and we will not walk in sin.

So, we are not to be wise in our own eyes, choosing our own course, going our own way, doing what we want to do regardless of what God wants us to do. But we are to walk in the fear of the Lord, obeying his commands, believing him, and responding accordingly. We are to show him honor and respect and reverence in all that we do, think, speak, and have as our being. But we may not do that perfectly, yet we should be making that our practice, and we should be rejecting all of our being that is not honoring him.

And we are to turn away from evil. So many people today who profess faith in Jesus Christ are buying into a diluted and altered gospel which is not teaching them that they must put sin to death in their lives and that they must now walk in the ways of the Lord. And so they are continuing in deliberate and habitual sin but while claiming heaven as their eternal destiny. But that is not biblical. That is anti-biblical. For Jesus died that we might die to sin and live to him and to his righteousness (1 Peter 2:24).

And when we are walking in obedience to our Lord and not in sin it will bring much healing to our minds, to our emotions, to our bodies, and to our hearts. It doesn’t mean that we will have no physical ailments, though. But it does mean that there is much healing for us when our trust is in the Lord and not in ourselves, and when we are walking in his ways, and not in the ways of the flesh, and when we are relying on his wisdom and understanding and not on our own. For he gives us much peace when our trust is in him.

Trust and Obey  

Words by John H. Sammis, 1887

Music by Daniel B. Towner, 1887

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. 

Not a shadow can rise, 

not a cloud in the skies,

But His smile quickly drives it away;

Not a doubt or a fear, 

not a sigh or a tear,

Can abide while we trust and obey.

Not a burden we bear, 

not a sorrow we share,

But our toil He doth richly repay;

Not a grief or a loss, 

not a frown or a cross,

But is blessed if we trust and obey.

But we never can prove 

the delights of His love

Until all on the altar we lay;

For the favor He shows, 

for the joy He bestows,

Are for them who will trust and obey.

Then in fellowship sweet 

We will sit at His feet.

Or we’ll walk by His side in the way.

What He says we will do, 

Where He sends we will go;

Never fear, only trust and obey.

Trust and obey, for there’s no other way

To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KB4KcleYiWM

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