Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
—Proverbs 3:5
The main purpose of the book of Proverbs is to guide in the path of wisdom and understanding. The writer of Proverbs warned us to distinguish between trusting our own understanding and seeking the spiritual understanding that God gives.
“Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.” In all our seeking after knowledge and wisdom, in all our plans for studying the Word, we have two powers at work: the intellect that knows things from the ideas we form, and the heart that knows them by experience as they become part of our wills and desires. One of the main reasons Bible teaching and Bible knowledge bear little fruit in the lives of Christians is because we trust in our own understanding.
Many people argue that God gave us our intellect, and without it there is no possibility of knowing God’s Word. This is true, but in the Fall our whole human nature was disordered. The will became enslaved and our understanding was darkened. Most people acknowledge that even the believer does not have in himself the power of a holy will and needs the daily renewing of Jesus Christ. They admit that the believer does not have the power to love God and his neighbor unless it is given to him by the Holy Spirit. But most people do not realize that the intellect is equally ruined spiritually and incapable of understanding spiritual truth.
It was this desire for knowledge that led Eve astray and was the outcome of the temptation. To think that we can take the knowledge of God’s truth for ourselves out of His Word is still our greatest danger. We need to realize the terrible danger of self‑confidence and self‑deception and to see the need for this warning: “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.”
Instead of trusting your understanding, come with your heart to the Bible and trust God. Let your whole heart be set upon the living God as the Teacher when you enter your prayer closet. Then you will find good understanding. God will give you an understanding heart, a spiritual understanding.