According to Proverbs 3:5, we are not to lean on our own understanding. Why? Because our own understanding of things will always come up wanting and short sighted. We are limited at best in what we understand and our natural desires are more powerful than our natural reason. Emotions and feelings taint the true picture. When David gazed too long at Bathsheba he relied on his own understanding. His judgment became clouded and the consequences were dire. When the nation of Israel reached the banks of the Jordan for the first time, they began to reason. They questioned the next step, sent spies into the land and based on their own understanding of the situation made a disastrous determination. Was David without knowledge of God? Did the Israelites not see the miracles of God? Yet in both instances, regardless of what God had previously done human nature was allowed to reign and once again people superimposed their will over the will of God.

          All moral failure stems from the same problem. As we seek to be in control and in charge of our lives we run the danger of allowing our own understanding to rule. Rationalization and justification take over and leaning on our own understanding seems to be the right thing to do. Scripture tells us that “There is a way which seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death”. (Prov. 14:12)  So there must be a better way. There must be a method by which we can reach decisions that work well for us and please God. In short, we need Him, He made us that way. Think about it, the God of all creation created us to need Him and to seek His favor yet we dare to expect that we can do it better, that we can know more, that we can be in control. Not only is our nature misguided but arrogant as well. It is inherently hostile to the things of God. This is why there is only one thing that God asks of us and that is complete and absolute surrender of ourselves to Him. Once we do this He is ready, willing and able to intervene on our behalf. His power is demonstrated only in our weakness. It is incredible and it defies the logical reason of man that we can know and hear from the God of the universe yet there is no other way to have spiritual life with God but on His terms.

The first meeting of the Continental Congress was opened with several recited prayers, Bible reading and an unscripted prayer by Rev. Jacob Duche, an Episcopal clergyman. When he read Psalm 35 it electrified the assembly. It’s a Psalm of reliance upon God, a call for vindication by God and a declaration of His righteousness. What did they know then that many do not now? They thought it wise to pray and seek the council of the Lord. They thought it wise to lean on His understanding rather than their own. The so-called enlightened wisdom of today’s governing body says there is no place for leaning on God’s understanding in fact there is no place for God. How did we get here from our reverent beginnings? It was fairly easy. Some along the way stopped reading God’s word. Some read it but stopped meditating on it. Others twisted it’s meaning. Many allowed foreign idea-ideologies to creep in. Most lost their personal relationship with their Savior. When a person doesn’t have that right relationship with God then they cannot behold Him in reality. When He is no longer real then they cannot trust. They are then left with nothing else but “to lean on their own understanding”.

          The  full verse of Prov.3:5 commands us; “Trust in the Lord with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding”. Only two of the spies sent by Israel had a different view. Joshua and Caleb wanted to cross the Jordan and enter the “Promised Land”. They trusted in the Lord and refused to lean on their own understanding but the Israelites chose the view of the eight spies. This view reasoned that the circumstances were too difficult. They allowed fear and emotion to taint their worldview. As a result they were found by God to be disobedient and were left to wander in the wilderness for forty years. The entire generation above the age of ten perished in the wilderness, never seeing the fullfiment of God’s promise, except for two men. The only two adults left alive when Israel entered the “Promised Land” were Joshua and Caleb. Their relationship with God remained in tact and He did not forget them. They trusted in the Lord with all their heart and refused to lean on their own understanding. God made them to need Him and they recognized their need. Do you?