Learning To Trust God

INTRO

So far, we’ve had 100 lessons in the Wisdom books—including Job and Psalms. Today, we continue with our second lesson in the book of Proverbs. First Kings states Solomon wrote over 3,000 proverbs. God used Solomon to write down divine principles for everyday living. For the study of Proverbs, Wisdom is the one word that describes the Messiah (1 Corinthians 1:24). Everything Solomon pointed to as wisdom, in the book of Proverbs, came from God and eventually points to Jesus as the Messiah. In chapter 2, the writer referenced both God’s Law and God’s commands. Proverbs 3:4-6 is a classic text out of Proverbs, and it’s where we’ll camp out today.

TEACHING

Proverbs 3:1-4: Proverbs 3 continues the “our son” language from the first two chapters. Wiersbe explains verses 1-10 point out to Solomon’s son the set of conditions to follow in his life.¹ Verse 2 implies that if you live according to God’s Law and commands, you’ll live a longer life. Is it a condition? I think he’s saying that if we live our life according to God’s instructions, we’ll live life out to the fullest. Colossians 1:9–10 states: “For this reason also, since the day we heard this, we haven’t stopped praying for you. We are asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, so that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him, bearing fruit in every good work and growing in the knowledge of God.” The first condition is that we need to “learn God’s truth” of His mercy and faithfulness (v. 3)² (Luke 2:52). When we follow the conditions in verse 3, we’re following the example of Jesus.

Proverbs 3:5–8: The second condition calls us to “obey God’s will” (v. 5). It’s not enough to learn about God; we’re required to obey His will in our lives. We need to do the work by trusting God with our entire beings, rather than depending upon ourselves. We are to trust God to guide us in the right direction (v. 6). Nelson’s Commentary defines the phrase “trusting in God” as “a conscious dependence on God, much like leaning on a tree for support.”³ We tend to think about the narrow paths—like how to pay off the mortgage in a shorter period of time or take a job because the salary is more. But God may have another path for us that we haven’t even considered because we’re focusing only on what is right in front of us at the moment. We ask God to bless our efforts, even when we haven’t sought His plan for us. Verse 7 says not to consider yourself to be wise but fear the Lord and turn from evil. Verse 8 states these things will bring about healing and strength.

Wiersbe brings a different picture to the concept of trust and describes it as “to lie helpless, facedown,” as “a servant waiting for the master’s command in readiness to obey.”⁴ We trust in the Lord but wait for what He wants. The instructions state to trust in the Lord, not on ourselves; to think about the Lord to guide us; and to fear the Lord and seek His wisdom to help us turn away from evil. These instructions lead to healing our bodies and strengthening our bones. Healing comes when we trust in the Lord. Our question is: are we willing to trust God with our face down before Him, waiting on Him to guide our paths? That means God can come in and do whatever He wants because He is God.

Proverbs 3:9–18: Wiersbe explains the third condition is to “share God’s blessings” (vv. 9–10).⁵ We are to give the Lord our possessions and the firstfruits of our harvests (v. 9), and we will be blessed with His blessings (v. 10). This goes against everything we believe in American society—take what we have and invest it for ourselves. Instead, it all belongs to God, and He blesses us in our obedience to Him. Remember we can NEVER out-give God. Wiersbe states we are to “submit to God’s chastening” (vv. 11–12).⁶Nelson’s Commentary explains, “The discipline of the Lord is the other side of His grace. We should cherish God’s correction in our lives, because God disciplines only those He loves”⁷ (Hebrews 12:7–10).

CLOSING

This is a process. We have to learn God’s truth so we can obey His will in our lives. We have to share God’s blessings as we go, and we have to be ready to accept God’s discipline, which in His love, helps us to continue to learn His truth. This is a phenomenal text about how to take God’s principles and apply them to our everyday lives. And we do it so we will look more and more like Jesus every day.