Confide in Jehovah with all thy heart, and lean not unto thine own intelligence;
This verse sets two rival supports side by side: the LORD, and a person's own grasp of things. Commentators read it as a choice between two ways of living, and they ask what "all your heart" means in daily life.
One writer sets the choice out as two paths, and points to where the wrong one started:
Two paths lie before man — to trust God, or to trust himself and his own wisdom for his happiness. This is exactly where Eve failed. She did not confide in God, did not trust Him and what He had said, for her happiness. She leaned on her own understanding, thinking she could secure it better by doing what seemed advantageous to her. So it is with every sinner. He thinks he can secure his own happiness better by doing his own will than by listening to God. Trust in God is the first positive, active principle of life and wisdom.
The command is only as good as its object. One commentator points to the privilege in it. Israel had such a God to trust, and He asked for that trust:
How blessed for the Israelite that he had Him to trust in — and that He even asked for that trust! He was in no way told to trust himself. He was only a creature whose breath is in his nostrils; what is he worth? It was wise to stop leaning on man, wiser still to trust in the LORD.
The words "all your heart" set the measure. One writer explains what "all" means here:
Our understanding is very faulty in many things. If we depend on it, we will be badly misled. The only safe alternative is to trust in the Lord with all our heart — that is, fully and without reserve. He will certainly not deceive us, and there is no possibility of His making a mistake.
The second half of the verse says something about how man was made. One writer links it to two other warnings in the Bible:
Cursed is the man who trusts in man, says the prophet (Jeremiah 17:5), and he who trusts his own heart is a fool (Proverbs 28:26)... God has made man dependent on Himself. So no one should think he can take up eternal problems and solve them by his own natural intelligence. If he tries, he is as certain to go astray as if going astray were the one desire of his heart.
Trust that stops at the large decisions has not obeyed the verse. Writing to someone starting out in life, one writer shows how far this trust should reach:
Do not think that any detail of your new life is too small for God to guide you in. The choice of your business, your future home, your companions — all should be entrusted to Him. He will honour such confidence, and lead you in the very best path. For it would be foolish to think that a loving and all-wise Father would or could do anything else.
Guidance is not a technique for getting answers on demand. One writer looks at John, one of Jesus' closest followers, and links guidance to living near the Lord:
John did not go and take a place near Christ to know His secrets; he had a place near Christ, and then the secrets were given to him. You cannot go to Christ with your questions, as John did, unless you are living near Him. It is simply "trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding." You must live near the Lord, or you cannot count on His guidance.
- Two paths. Every life leans on one of two supports — God, or self. Eve chose the second, and so does every sinner who thinks his own way will make him happier than God's word.
- All. The measure is the whole heart: full, with nothing held back. Our understanding is faulty at many points; He never deceives and never makes a mistake.
- Not self. God set man in dependence on Himself. Confidence in your own natural intelligence for eternal questions guarantees going astray.
- Every detail. Nothing is too small to entrust — work, home, friendships. A loving and all-wise Father could not lead you anywhere but the best path.
- Nearness. Guidance follows closeness. Live near the Lord, and the promised direction becomes something you can count on.
in all thy ways acknowledge him, and he will make plain thy paths.
Verse 5 tells the heart where to lean. Verse 6 takes that trust into the street, the office and the daily calendar. So what does it look like to acknowledge Him in all your ways, and how does the promised direction reach us?
One commentator sets the two verses side by side as the first and second working principles of wisdom. He points back to Eve in the garden to show the opposite.
Two paths are before man — to trust God, or to trust himself and his own wisdom for his happiness. This is just what Eve failed in. She did not trust God, or what He had said, for her happiness. She leaned on her own understanding instead... Trust in God is the first positive, active principle of life and wisdom. The next is acknowledging Him in our ways. We let His will and authority shape them, not our own will and wisdom, and we do that openly (v. 6). He will surely direct our steps. No human wisdom can guide like that.
"All your ways" is wide on purpose. It reaches into the corners of life where God is left out. The second half of the verse answers with a God who takes an interest in the obstacles in front of us.
We owe it to the LORD to acknowledge Him where He is easily ignored or forgotten — in each detail of daily life, and in all of them. And it did bear present fruit, for He could not forget, who never slumbers or sleeps. "And He will make straight your paths." He is Lord of all, no less than He is the Eternal. He concerns Himself with every obstacle and difficulty for those who want to walk by His will without turning aside.
Many treat God as a consultant for crises only. The verse asks for something steadier. Another Scripture explains why.
It is written that "it is not in man who walks to direct his steps" (Jeremiah 10:23). And again we read, "In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths." We are not just to turn to the Lord in some great emergency. We are to wait on Him as a habit, in the details of life, great and small. Acknowledging Him, we shall find that He guides us; then we shall be able to say, "I bless the LORD who gives me counsel."
Acknowledging Him is not only inward. One writer draws out the spoken side of it.
Not only should we recognise His guidance, but we should be glad to acknowledge it in all our ways and by word of mouth also. We ought to SAY, "If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that." And notice, please: we OUGHT to say it. It is not something we may say and then find that God approves. It is something we must say if we want to give Him His proper place in our lives.
Changes of circumstance are the test — a new job, a new friendship, a new tie.
At every change it is our privilege and our safety to depend on God and to do the will of the One we belong to... "O God, we belong to You. Guide us in all our ways," should be our cry. A young man starting in business, or young Christians forming friendships and new ties, should let one great fact control them: they were bought with a price.
How does God make a path straight? Writers point first to Scripture, and to asking.
But the direction must come from the word of God. Sometimes we do not know what to do — we want to do what is right and we don't know what is right. Well, you lack wisdom, don't you? And "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God." It shall be told you, "This is the way, walk in it."
That does not mean finding a verse for every errand. So how do we know what to do?
It is not, by any means, a question of having a literal text of Scripture for every movement or every act... The answer is: wait on God, with a single eye and a sincere heart, and He will make your path as plain as a sunbeam.
- Acknowledge — the trust of verse 5 becomes the obedience of verse 6. His will shapes our ways, not our own, and we say so openly.
- All — the small details where He is forgotten, and the big changes that decide a future.
- Habit — not a rescue call in a crisis. We wait on Him in matters great and small, and say "if the Lord wills" out loud.
- Means — direction comes through His word, and through asking God for the wisdom we admit we lack.
- Result — He makes the paths straight and takes on every obstacle. Wait on Him with a single eye, and the way is as plain as a sunbeam.
Be not wise in thine own eyes; fear Jehovah, and depart from evil
The proverb has just told the reader to trust God and not to lean on his own understanding. Verse 7 turns the same lesson inward: stop admiring your own judgment, fear God, and leave evil behind.
Every person stands at a fork. One writer traces both roads back to Eve's choice.
Two paths are before man — to trust God, or to trust himself and his own wisdom for his happiness. This is just where Eve failed. She did not trust God and what He had said for her happiness. She leaned on her own understanding. She thought she could secure her happiness better by doing what seemed to be to her advantage. So it is with every sinner. He thinks he can secure his own happiness better by doing his own will than by listening to God… But self-confidence is ruin. "Be not wise in your own eyes." Men do not see far if they only see self, and self is always what is in our own eyes.
Being wise in your own eyes means taking advice from yourself. That advice has a long and unimpressive record — and a known source.
The great danger for all is to seek counsel from within, and thoughtful, experienced people face it most. Yet experience should have taught them a less flattering tale. All Scripture echoes this word, "Be not wise in your own eyes." The bait of Satan was to become so, and man has always coveted it. How blessed when we learn our folly and find a far better wisdom open to us!
Self-importance is not a private fault. It often grows out of weakness, and the damage spreads past the person.
Self-conceit is often the offspring of weakness and ignorance. The mind swells with an imagined superiority to those around us. We brush aside the opinions of the lowly, and self-confidence follows. Wherever this pride shows itself among Christians, it destroys the prosperity of the church and hinders the blessing of the individual. May the Lord give us the spirit of a little child — humble, teachable, dependent.
The verse speaks to the conscience as well as to the heart. The fear it calls for rests on forgiveness, not on dread.
But there is a word for conscience as well as heart… "Fear the LORD, and turn away from evil." Was there ever true fear of Him without pardon? Certainly Psalm 130:4 makes it clear that there is forgiveness with Him, that He may be feared. Without it, what can the fear be but slavish and tainted? This nerves the soul to turn away from evil. We hate it, because He hates it.
Another writer says what this fear is not, and what it brings.
This fear of the Lord is not the slavish dread that marks the superstitious. No. It is a reverent trustfulness accompanied by hatred of evil… Where we keep this, the presence of the Lord is a reality and joy.
The two halves of the command belong together. Obadiah served in the court of wicked King Ahab. One writer sees in him a man who had the first half without the second.
"Obadiah feared the LORD greatly." That might seem enough for a faithful walk, since "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom." But we are also told: "fear the LORD, and turn away from evil." And again: "The fear of the LORD is hatred of evil." A man may fear the Lord greatly and still dishonour Him by his link with the world that rejects Him.
Turning from evil goes further than never doing anything wrong. One writer marks the difference with Adam before the fall.
Departing from evil is something more than walking in His fear. There is a hatred of evil, partly for what it is, partly because it is against His will. I may walk in God's fear and do no evil myself, and still not be marked, I think, by departing from evil. Adam, innocent, would have walked uprightly and done nothing wrong. He would not have departed from evil; he had nothing to do with it. I do have something to do with it. So I depart from it, leave it, and break with it. This has to do with holiness.
- Self is short-sighted. Those who only see self do not see far. Self-confidence is ruin, and it repeats Eve's attempt to secure happiness her own way.
- Self-counsel is the bait. Being wise in your own eyes was Satan's first bait. The cure is to learn your folly and find a far better wisdom.
- Self-conceit spreads. Pride brushes aside the lowly and hinders blessing for the whole church. The cure is the spirit of a little child.
- Fear rests on pardon. God forgives so that He may be feared. Without pardon, fear is only slavish. With it, the soul hates what He hates.
- Fear breaks with evil. Doing no evil is not the same as departing from it. A man may fear God greatly and still dishonour Him by his link with a world that rejects Him.
it shall be health for thy navel, and moisture for thy bones.
Verse 8 gives the reason for the command just before it: turning from evil in the fear of the Lord brings healing, and that healing reaches the body. Is this a promise of physical health, or a picture of something deeper?
The words are a consequence, not a standalone blessing. One writer sets this verse beside the chapter's opening call to keep God's commandments. He reads both as one law of life:
Men's vices destroy their bodies, and rob human life of all that makes it worth the name. The law given here is a law of life: "My son, do not forget My law, but let your heart keep My commandments; they will add to you length of days, years of life, and peace. … Fear the Lord, and turn away from evil: it will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones" (Prov. 3:1-2, 7, 8). This must be so, if God is over all, and "the Lord's eyes are over the righteous."
If "it" means the fear of the Lord, then everything depends on what that fear is. One commentator ties this fear to pardon. Forgiveness changes the fear, and that fear gives the strength to turn from evil:
Was there ever true fear of Him without pardon? Certainly Psalm 130:4 makes clear that there is pardon with Him that He may be feared. Without pardon, what can the fear be but slavish and tainted? This nerves the soul to "depart from evil." We hate it, because He hates it… A son honours his father, a servant his master. His honour, His fear, are no longer light things to us. And the effect is wholesome and blessed. "It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones."
Another writer puts the same reverence in positive terms — trust, not dread:
This fear of the Lord is not the slavish dread that marks the superstitious. No. It is a reverent trustfulness accompanied by hatred of evil. "The fear of the Lord is to hate evil" (Prov. 8:13).
Why name the body at all? One writer takes the two images apart and finds a spiritual meaning in each:
If we give the Lord His place, then we recognize that evil can have no place. This response to the Lord will mean "healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones" (v. 8). Of course, this is not only literal. The bones are the framework of the body, so this implies spiritual health and strength. The body stands for daily activity, and the bones for the strength that carries the activity out.
The verse only makes sense against the choice set out just before it. Two roads are open, and one of them wrecks the traveller:
Two paths are before man — to trust God, or to trust himself and his own wisdom for his happiness. Trust in God is the first positive, active principle of life and wisdom. The next is owning Him in our ways, taking His will and His authority to shape them, not our own will and wisdom — and doing so openly (v. 6). He will surely direct our steps… But self-confidence is ruin. "Be not wise in your own eyes" (v. 7). They do not see far if they only see self, and that is what always is in our own eyes.
Commentators differ on whether a healthy body is still guaranteed. One holds that godliness affects the body in ordinary ways:
Godliness leads to health of mind and body. Timothy had a weak stomach and frequent illnesses. He was careful in his habits, almost to the point of legality. He was likely to live longer than a heavy drinker.
Another writer draws a line between Israel's promise and ours:
We must always take account of the government of God, and especially those whom He has blessed with the knowledge of redemption. If Israel had simply obeyed the Lord, He would have kept them from such physical diseases, for He is the Lord who heals. In our present time of grace, obedience is not promised to keep us free from physical disease. But obedience will surely keep us from spiritual disease, and give us spiritual health and strength.
- Cause. The healing of verse 8 is the fruit of verse 7. Fear God, turn from evil, and this follows. Trust your own eyes instead, and self-confidence ruins you.
- Gift. The fear that heals rests on pardon. Without pardon, fear is only slavish. With it, fear becomes a son's honour for his Father, and the nerve to hate what God hates.
- Reach. The promise touches the whole person — flesh for daily activity, bones for the strength that carries it.
- Limit. Commentators differ on the body. One sees godliness lengthening life. Another holds that under grace, obedience guards against spiritual disease, not physical.
- Result. God's government makes the outcome sure, for His eyes are over the righteous. Vice destroys the body; reverence makes life whole.
Honour Jehovah with thy substance, and with the first-fruits of all thine increase;
Proverbs 3:9 puts honour to God where it can be counted — in income and harvest. The real question is not how much God wants, but where He comes in the order of our spending.
The word "honour" here is not about warm feelings. One writer points to how Jesus used the same word with teachers who dodged the duty of supporting their parents:
First, the Lord brings forward the law of Moses, the word of God — "Honor your father and your mother." This command plainly made it binding on the Jews to maintain their parents, if necessary. (See Proverbs 3:9, for a similar use of the word "honour.") But they wanted to escape this responsibility, and they invented a religious excuse for doing so.
So honouring God with your wealth means parting with it.
"Firstfruits" means the first part of the harvest, given to God before the owner uses any of it. One writer sets the verse beside what God assigned to the priests:
In Proverbs we read, "Honor the LORD with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce." God also provided for the support of the priests. Besides parts of the various offerings, Scripture says, "All the best of the oil and all the best of the wine and of the grain, their firstfruits that they give to the LORD, I give to you." This gives us another example: the first and best of all we are and have are to be devoted to God. In judging our own state, we can hardly overrate this question: do we habitually give God our first and best?
There is a difference between giving God a slice and giving Him the first slice. One writer presses that the order matters more than the amount:
Everything you possess belongs to God, and you are only a steward. God has a particular claim beyond this. He claims a place in your everyday calculations — and not any place, nor a second place, but the first place... It is not a set quantity of your time, intellect, or money. You may give Him a large portion of these in a legal spirit, thinking you may then use the rest for yourself, and yet be far, far away from the blessing... To give God His place is more to Him than giving Him any portion... Place is greater than portion. God will not accept second place at your hands.
Some assume that because Christians are not under the law of Moses, a verse like this no longer applies. One writer answers that the claim is heavier, not lighter:
We are not under law, but under grace. So we have no such rules about what we are to give to the Lord. But may there not be some most valuable instruction for us in these solemn words? Indeed, is it not true that now all that we are and have belongs to Him who has redeemed us through His precious blood? Much more, then, should we enter into such a word as this, "Honor the LORD with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce."
God fixes no percentage now. So how do we obey the verse? One writer points to regular giving, sized to what we receive:
Whatever our possessions are, our first thought should be how to honour the Lord in the use of them. For all that we have comes from Him... We do not need to wait for the proceeds of all our labour for the year and then give a tenth. We are not commanded (as Israel was) to give one-tenth of our income to God. Instead, we are encouraged in 1 Corinthians 16:2, "on the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up, as he may prosper." No exact amount is even suggested, but "as he may prosper" leaves this to the individual's faith. Yet 2 Corinthians 9:6 tells us, "whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully." This beautifully confirms that believers are not under law, but under grace.
The instinctive objection is that giving away the first portion leaves less to live on. One writer meets it head-on:
When believers are enjoying the love of the Spirit there is no lack; the poor are cared for, and every need is met... "Honor the LORD with your wealth" is a word we do well to remember. Will it impoverish us? Not a bit. God knows how to deal with grudging souls.
- Honour costs. The verse uses "honour" the way Jesus did about caring for parents — real support, not religious talk.
- Honour comes first. Firstfruits are the first portion, given before you keep anything back. The best of the oil, wine and grain went to God.
- Honour is place, not percentage. God will not take second place. Give Him a portion but keep first place for yourself, and you miss the blessing.
- Honour deepens under grace. No rule fixes the amount now. But everything we are and have belongs to the One who redeemed us, so the claim grows.
- Honour loses nothing. Set something aside each week, as you prosper. Giving God first place makes no one poorer.
so shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy vats shall overflow with new wine.
This verse is a promise, and it hangs on the verse before it. Barns and vats overflow only where God has been given the firstfruits. So is this a guarantee of wealth? And does it still hold for us?
The name used here matters. One writer points out that this promise was spoken to a people under a rule where obedience and blessing were visibly linked — and that the link is not the same for us now.
Jehovah is the name for God which He gave to Israel. By it they were to learn His ways and bear witness to Him in His earthly government... the word was: "honour Jehovah with your substance, and with the firstfruits of your increase." It is always true as a moral principle. But at that time God was showing His direct judgment in real events, so the result was certain: "then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine." The rejection of Christ brought heavenly hopes to light for believers. It also brought suffering and persecution, along with better spiritual blessings even while they were here. The text speaks of normal results for the earth, and Israel on it.
So the principle holds in every age. The guaranteed harvest belonged to Israel under that earlier arrangement.
The word behind "vats" names the press, not the drink.
The word yekev is translated "wine" in Deuteronomy 16:13. It means "wine-press," or more exactly, "winefat"... The vat is used figuratively for the wine it produced, as the floor is for the corn.
So the promise is physical: grain stores packed, presses running over.
The verse before speaks of firstfruits. One writer makes this a matter of place rather than amount.
Everything you own belongs to God, and you are only a steward. But God has a particular claim beyond this. He claims a place in your everyday calculations — and not just any place, not a second place, but the first place... It is no particular quantity of your time, intellect, or money. You may give Him a large portion of these in a legal spirit, thinking you may then use the rest for yourself, and yet be far, far away from the blessing... To give God His place is more to Him than giving Him any portion.
On the amount, the writers do not speak with one voice. Some hold to the tenth as a floor:
Proverbs 3:9 says, "Honour the Lord with your possessions, and with the firstfruits of all your increase." Many people live by this principle, especially older ones. From whatever source their income comes, they are careful to see that at least one tenth goes to the Lord... It has been well said that if the law required a tenth, then to give less under grace is a disgrace!
Others read the New Testament as leaving the figure open:
We do not need to wait for the proceeds of all our labour for the year and then give a tenth. We are not commanded, as Israel was, to give one tenth of our income to God. Instead we are encouraged in 1 Corinthians 16:2, "on the first day of the week let each one of you lay something aside, storing up as he may prosper." No exact amount is even suggested. The words "as he may prosper" leave this to the individual's faith. Yet 2 Corinthians 9:6 tells us, "He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, but he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully." This confirms that believers are not under law, but under grace.
That is the fear the second half of the verse answers, and one writer meets it head-on:
As for stingy souls, what can we say of them? But "the generous soul will be enriched." It holds good to this day. "Honour the Lord with your substance" is a word we do well to remember. Will it make us poor? Not at all.
Yet this is not a technique for getting rich. What God claims is first place, and a gift offered in a legal spirit misses the blessing.
- First — God gets the firstfruits, before you work out anything else. Place matters more to Him than portion.
- Free — grace fixes no figure. "As he may prosper" leaves the measure to each person's faith, though some hold the tenth as a minimum.
- Full — barns packed and presses overflowing. God answers generosity with plenty, not shortage.
- Framed — the guaranteed harvest belonged to Israel under God's earthly government. The principle still stands, but our richer blessings are spiritual.
- Fearless — giving does not leave you poor; the generous soul is enriched, and that holds good to this day.