Proverbs 3:6 In all your ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct your paths. Such acknowledgment will not be a fruitless thing, it will have a practical effect. I. HOW GOD IS TO BE ACKNOWLEDGED. By a solemn and deliberate appeal to the great Disposer of all things for that aid and guidance which He alone can afford. This must involve — 1. A real conviction that God rules the world. If God has no care for the concerns of this lower world, to acknowledge Him is useless; if He acts in all things quite independently of oar conduct, acknowledging Him is an impertinence. 2. That we honestly admit to Him in each particular case that the matter is in His hands, and that it is ordered as He may see fit. This implies a course of thought just the very opposite of that which men commonly pursue in the business of life. To them all concerns and events are godless just because they are godless themselves. 3. A sincere dependence on Him for direction and help. This is the practical bearing of our conscious reference to God. A real and earnest acknowledgment of God is a belief in His supreme and almighty government of the world; a devout reference to His presence in all the concerns in which we are called to act, a humble reliance on His Spirit and aid; and this is a state of mind to be maintained, continually carried into every scene of duty and conflict, and made a settled habit of thought and feeling in all our ways. II. HOW WILL GOD DIRECT OUR WAYS? If proof that He does were wanted the whole experience of His people in all ages would rise up in witness. The promise is of direction. It is not necessarily a complete deliverance, and much less a painless course of ease and prosperity. How will the direction be effected? Through the working of our own minds and the counsels of others; by opening new paths and placing fresh aids within our reach; by influencing our souls through the teaching of His Spirit, and preserving them from false signs by which they were wont to be led astray. 1. Often God leads us and we know not how, we cannot say by what means it is. 2. Often God leads us even by means of obstacles. 3. Often God leads us by means of delay. 4. Sometimes God even seems to guide our way by means of our enemies. (J. M. Charlton, M.A.) Parallel Verses KJV: In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.WEB: In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. |
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