Trust in the Lord

For Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Proverbs 22:17-21

17 Incline your ear, and hear the words of the wise,
and apply your heart to my knowledge,
18 for it will be pleasant if you keep them within you,
if all of them are ready on your lips.
19 That your trust may be in the LORD,
I have made them known to you today, even to you.
20 Have I not written for you thirty sayings
of counsel and knowledge,
21 to make you know what is right and true,
that you may give a true answer to those who sent you?

Note the central motivation for learning the proverbs: that your trust may be in the Lord. Knowing what is right and true, gaining wisdom and knowledge lead to trust, not skepticism. Faith in God is not based upon superstition, myth, and old wives' tales. It flows out of knowledge from the Scriptures which is then reinforced by knowledge from natural revelation and experience.

Why, then, do "educated" people not turn more naturally to faith? For the same reason "uneducated" people do not - sin. Man fails to trust God because he does not want to trust God. He wants to take pride in himself, to boast of his own wits. He therefore chooses his own path to knowledge, proving in his own mind that knowledge leads him from God.

But for you who believe, who want to grow closer to God, then seek knowledge; seek wisdom. Study the Scriptures; continue to study the Proverbs and meditate upon them so that your trust may be in the Lord alone.