“Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths Be not wise in thine own eyes fear the Lord, and depart from evil.” (Prov 3:5-7)
Many, many times during the last year, when perplexed, bewildered, uneasy, fearful, not knowing the best course to take, we have repeated in our mind the words ‘Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understand mg,” and with the words has usually come a sense of relief They can have a quieting effect They can give assurance to the mind that God has made certain promises of help, if we do our part and trust in Him with all our heart.
Our trouble is that we do not call them to mind soon enough How much better it would be to have them always in mind —at our right hand—then we would not be moved Being the weak creatures we are, we usually struggle through much mental stress, sometimes almost to despair, before we take hold of ourselves and “cast our burden on the Lord’ and recognize our dependence upon Him, our need of more faith For without faith it is impossible to please God We tend to be anxious about the future, to see great obstacles ahead, to fear our inability to overcome them, shall we say, to fear at times our strength, or courage, or pa hence to live through them and gain the Kingdom? Why did our God cause these words to be written? Because He knew our weakness He knoweth our frame, he remembereth that we are dust, ‘ and because of this ‘as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear Him, ‘ not the proud, not the arrogant, not those who are always right in their own eyes, not those who can force their way through, who lean or trust on their own understanding, but He pitieth them that fear Him.
Confidence Shaken
At times, in our lives, our confidence is apt to be badly shaken More and more we realize the weakness of the flesh—our own and our brother’s. It shows up in various ways Sometimes a realization of the very pettiness, smallness in ourselves and in our brother, leaves us with a sense of unworthiness, despair, hopelessness We find the flesh, our flesh, is mean, contrary, unkind, given to thinking evil, misjudging, condemning, and we bring ourselves up with the thought who am I to be judging the mind or motives of another?” “To his own Master he standeth or falleth” The same applies to me, “So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God As Paul said of those who condemned him. It is a very small thing that I should be judged of you, or of man s judgment Yea, I judge not mine own self, but He that judgeth me is the Lord” Paul had come to “trust in the Lord with all his heart”
This matter of being judged by some in Corinth, could have hurt Paul badly and hindered his work, had he not been strong enough to cast it off He was blessed with the assurance, from time to time, that God had found him faithful, that the Lord stood by him This would give him a strength Criticizing, faultfinding and misjudging is liable to badly weaken the hands, for it will cool the zeal for God’s work, dry up the love of the Truth, badly undermine individuals, and if allowed to develop, will destroy the love that should exist in an ecclesia No wonder it is so strongly condemned It is a weakness that many of us are likely to be guilty of, it is the flesh It is so easy to condemn another, but so hard to accept another’s condemnation of ourselves In both cases it is equally wrong, but we tend always to overlook the wrong until it strikes ourselves Most of us need to humble ourselves in this matter Think of James’ words “My brethren, be not many masters” (teachers, pointing out the faults of others, telling them what they ought to do) “knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation—humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord Speak not evil one of another, brethren He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law; but if thou judge the law, thou are not a doer of the law, but a judge.”
We will not be rid of this evil as long as we are in the flesh. Remember to “trust in the Lord with all thine heart”. If we are the one judged and condemned by our brother, it will help greatly to tide us through the evil days, if we remember these words. Otherwise, we may have a bad reaction. Bitterness may well up in our hearts—and the flesh calls for fighting back—and if we know the law of Christ we know that bitterness is unlawful, and our heart condemns us; but if we can accept the condemnation gracefully and, like Paul, consider it a light thing—because of our trust in God—what a blessing. What a peace of mind!
Some are offended
Others have a different reaction. Instead of fighting back when they are misjudged or condemned, their tendency is to draw back, to stumble; they are weakened in the faith; they are offended. If we are of such a nature, then let us also call the same thought to mind, “trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not on thine own understanding”. “Cast thy burden on the Lord and He will sustain thee and comfort thee”. This thought can help us in many ways. At work, think of the problems that arise. At home, think of the difficulties that beset many. Sometimes the brain seems completely distraught; it struggles for a way out. What better, at such a time, than to recall these words to mind—”trust in the Lord with all thine heart”—it will help.
Sometimes sickness—serious sickness—is too much for us. We seem helpless, and to a large extent we are helpless in the matter. We appear to be entering or are in a cloud—a dark cloud—and we are afraid. We fear the immediate future. There is much suspense. Sometimes it is for ourselves, but more often it is for another close to us; sometimes a child, our child, not old enough to be “in Christ”. At such times let us try to call these words to mind and “trust in the Lord with all thine heart”. If we do “He’ll give thee strength whate’er betide thee, and bear thee through the evil days.”
Sometimes it is the cares of life from other aspects. Things are not going right, or so they appear to us. Our little world seems to be falling apart; our hopes are fading; the joy we anticipated is not realized. The trouble and sadness we have seen in others’ lives, comes into our own, and we are apt to overlook or forget for the time that the Lord chastens every son whom he receiveth. The words of Eliphaz to Job are applicable to many of us:
“Thou hast instructed many, and thou hast strengthened the weak hands. Thy words have upholden him that was falling, and thou hast strengthened the feeble knees. But now it is come upon thee, and thou faintest: it toucheth thee, and thou art troubled.”
How true for most of us! It is the weakness of the flesh. Let those who are able, those who are well, those who may be prospering, those who today are joyful, remember the afflicted and “hold up the failing hands and strengthen the feeble knees”. The evil days may, yea—if they are God’s children—they will come upon them in turn, and they will need a brother’s hand. If we are God’s children the day will come when we will realize our utter dependence upon Him and the great need of trusting in Him with all our heart and leaning not on our own understanding.
Who will move the Stone?
Another thought—Remember the words of the women as they made their way very early in the morning toward the sepulchre of Jesus? They have been used by our brethren to exhort us in the past: “Who shall roll away the stone?” Joseph had rolled a great stone to the door. The high priests had come along later and sealed the stone, and set a watch. “Who shall roll away the stone?” It was too large for them. It was a problem to be overcome. It would have been a good excuse for not going on with the work, but there was a love drawing them; their desire was to perform this for their Lord. How many have likewise wondered what the outcome of the matter that is troubling them will be? “Who shall roll away the stone?” Who rolled away the stone from the door of the sepulchre? For we read, when they looked, they saw that the stone was rolled away. for it was very great” Who rolled it away? “The angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door” Who will roll away our stones if we “trust in the Lord with all our heart and lean not on our own understanding”? If we “acknowledge Him in all our ways”? The answer is in Psalm 34, verses 6 & 7:
“This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them ‘
This is His promise to us, my brethren and sisters On our part we must have faith in the promise, if we are to gain the blessing, for often it is necessary to both “hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord”
Let us not overlook the necessity of “acknowledging Him in all our ways”, not just when trouble comes—not just when we feel the great need of His help —but “in all our ways”, in good and bad, in joys as well as in sorrows For if we neglect Him during our good days, if we go our own ways when things go well with us, then, as He told other evil doers, “He will laugh when our calamity cometh ‘ On the other hand, if we do acknowledge Him in all our ways, if we place Him first in all things—whether it be by devoting to Him the first of all our increase, recognizing His good hand in all the blessings we receive, willing-hearted in all our service for Him, bearing one another’s burdens with a desire to fulfill His laws of love and kindness; in other words, putting Him first, recognizing Him as our life, our strength, our hope and our Joy—we can be sure He will direct our paths and that His angel will encamp about, not to relieve us of all sorrows, all trials, all testing, but to so providentially arrange our lives that we will not be tried beyond our strength.
‘Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding In all thy ways acknowledge Him and He will direct thy paths Be not wise in thine own eyes, fear the Lord and depart from evil”
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One