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.
Two Paths
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.
Who Is Being Trusted
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 Measure: All the Heart
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.
Why Self-Reliance Fails
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.
Down to the Smallest Things
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.
Trust and Nearness
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.
Summary
- 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.