The Great Hinge: Word and Trust Text: Proverbs 16:20
Introduction: Two Sides of the Same Coin
The book of Proverbs is intensely practical. It is not a collection of esoteric sayings for monks in a cloister, but rather a divine manual for living in God's world, God's way. It teaches us how to conduct our business, how to manage our homes, how to speak to our neighbors, and how to think about the world. And in the middle of this glorious book of applied wisdom, we find verses that are like great hinges upon which a whole life of blessing turns. Proverbs 16:20 is one such hinge.
This proverb is a couplet, a classic feature of Hebrew poetry, where the second line reinforces, expands, or clarifies the first. And here we have two actions that are presented as the foundation of a truly successful and happy life. The first is to consider the word, and the second is to trust in Yahweh. We must see that these are not two separate activities for a godly man, as though on Monday he considers the word and on Tuesday he trusts in the Lord. No, these are two sides of the same glorious coin. They are inextricably linked. To trust in Yahweh is to consider His word, and to truly consider His word is to be driven to trust in Him. You cannot have one without the other. Our generation is full of people who want the blessing of the second clause without the labor of the first. They want to "trust God" in some vague, sentimental sense, without any regard for what He has actually said. This is not faith; it is foolish presumption. It is the equivalent of wanting to be a master carpenter without ever picking up a hammer or studying a blueprint. It cannot be done.
Conversely, there are those who approach the Word of God as a mere academic text. They can parse the verbs and diagram the sentences, but their knowledge is sterile. It has not led them to cast themselves wholly upon the Lord in dependent trust. This is the dead orthodoxy of the Pharisees, who searched the Scriptures thinking that in them they had eternal life, but who refused to come to the very Christ to whom those Scriptures testified. True consideration of the Word always, always leads to trust in the person of God. This proverb, then, is a diagnostic tool. It shows us the direct, causal relationship between what we do with God's revelation and the state of our lives.
The Text
He who considers the word will find good, And how blessed is he who trusts in Yahweh.
(Proverbs 16:20 LSB)
Handling the Word Wisely (v. 20a)
The first clause sets the foundation:
"He who considers the word will find good..." (Proverbs 16:20a)
The key verb here is "considers." Other translations render it as "gives heed to," "handles wisely," or "ponders." The Hebrew word carries the idea of prudent, skillful, and intelligent attention. This is not a casual glance or a sentimental feeling. It means to apply your mind to the Word of God. It means to study it, to meditate on it, to turn it over in your mind, to ask questions of the text, and to seek understanding. This is the Berean spirit, who "received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so" (Acts 17:11). The man who does this "will find good."
Now, what is this "word"? In the immediate context of Proverbs, it refers to the instruction of wisdom, the commandments and teachings found in the law and the prophets. It is the revealed will of God. But we, who live on this side of the cross, know that the Word ultimately became flesh and dwelt among us. Jesus Christ is the Logos, the divine Word of God (John 1:1). Therefore, to consider the word is to consider Christ. To handle the Scriptures wisely is to see that they all point to Him. He is the treasure hidden in the field of the Old Testament. He is the one who opens our minds to understand the Scriptures.
And the result of this consideration is that you "will find good." This is not a promise of a life free from all trouble. The Bible is far too realistic for that. Rather, it means you will find what is truly, objectively, and eternally good. You will find the good portion that cannot be taken away. You will find wisdom for your decisions, comfort for your sorrows, strength for your trials, and a solid foundation in a world of sinking sand. To neglect the Word of God is to guarantee that you will find folly, chaos, and ruin. To build your life on the shifting sands of human opinion or personal feelings is to build a house that will collapse in the first storm. But the man who hears the words of Christ and does them is like the wise man who built his house on the rock. The good is found in the Word because the Word is the blueprint for reality. When you align yourself with it, you align yourself with the grain of the universe.
The Blessedness of Trust (v. 20b)
The second clause flows directly from the first, elevating the theme from finding good to a state of blessedness.
"And how blessed is he who trusts in Yahweh." (Proverbs 16:20b LSB)
The word "blessed" here is a rich one. It means happy, fortunate, to be envied. This is not the fleeting, circumstantial happiness that the world chases. This is a deep, abiding state of well being that is rooted in a right relationship with God. This blessedness is the central theme of the Psalms, "How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked... But his delight is in the law of Yahweh" (Psalm 1:1-2). It is the opening of the Sermon on the Mount, the beatitudes. This is the life God intends for His people.
And what is the key to this blessed life? It is he "who trusts in Yahweh." To trust is to lean your whole weight upon something. It is to rely on, to confide in, to feel safe with. Biblical trust is not a blind leap in the dark. It is a confident reliance on the character and promises of God, which are revealed in His Word. This is why the two clauses of our proverb are so tightly woven together. How can you trust a God you do not know? And how can you know Him apart from His self-revelation in the Scriptures? The more you consider the Word, the more you see of God's faithfulness, His power, His wisdom, and His covenant love. The more you see of Him, the more you are enabled to trust Him. The Word fuels the trust, and the trust lives out the Word.
This trust is not in our own understanding, which Proverbs 3:5 explicitly warns against. It is trust in Yahweh, the covenant-keeping God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He is the one who is, who was, and who is to come. To trust in Him is to abandon all self-reliance. It is to stop trusting in our own plans, our own righteousness, our own strength, or in the princes of this world. It is to say with the psalmist, "Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of Yahweh our God" (Psalm 20:7).
This is the very heart of the gospel. We are not saved by our works, but by grace through faith. And what is faith but trust? We hear the word of the gospel, the good news that Christ died for our sins and was raised for our justification. We consider this word. We see in it the perfect justice and the measureless love of God. And the Spirit enables us to respond not with mere intellectual assent, but with whole-souled trust in the person and work of Jesus Christ. We lean our entire hope of salvation upon Him. And in that moment of trust, we are declared righteous and become partakers in this blessedness. The man who trusts in Yahweh is blessed because his sins are forgiven, his future is secure, and he is adopted into the very family of God.
Conclusion: The Integrated Life
So we see the divine logic. A wise handling of the Word of God leads to a deep trust in the God of the Word. This is the integrated life. It is a life where doctrine and devotion are not in separate compartments. What you believe about God, learned from His Word, directly impacts how you live your life, how you face your trials, and where you place your ultimate confidence.
The world around us is falling apart precisely because it has rejected both halves of this proverb. It scoffs at the Word of God, treating it as an ancient, irrelevant book of myths. And consequently, it has no one and nothing to trust in. People trust in government, and are repeatedly disappointed. They trust in money, and find it to be a faithless master. They trust in themselves, and find themselves to be broken reeds. The result is not blessedness, but anxiety, despair, and chaos.
As Christians, we are called to live differently. We are called to be people of the Book, people who diligently consider the Word. This means our Bibles should be open, read, studied, and memorized. And we are called to be people of faith, people who take God at His Word and trust Him in every circumstance. When we do this, we will find good. We will find His wisdom for our confusion, His peace for our anxiety, and His joy in our sorrows. We will be, in a word, blessed. Not because of our circumstances, but because our trust is in the unchanging, all-powerful, covenant-keeping God, Yahweh Himself.