Within this verse we are given a warning, “…do not depend on your own understanding.” Our hearts are corrupted and we should not depend on them, as we are with sin each and every day. The heart is a false guide. Not long ago we talked about the dangers of following your heart, and many “wise” people of our time telling us to do so. Here we explicitly see the bible telling us not to, but instead to put all of our trust in the Lord.

This isn’t saying to just throw it away, however, instead diligently cultivate it through our trust and pursuit of God. In a world of such extended knowledge, ignorance isn’t that of bliss. It’s the fruit of laziness, dissipation, and misguided delusion.

We see in Proverbs 28:26 that self-dependence is of no use, but is instead that of rebellion (Jeremiah 2:13, 9:23) and ruin (Genesis 3:5-6; Isaiah 47:10-11).

“The great folly of man in trials is – their leaning to or upon their own understanding and counsels. What is the issue of it? ‘The steps of his strength shall be straitened, and his own counsel shall cast him down’ (Job 18:7). First, he shall be entangled, and then cast down; and by all his own counsels, until he comes to be ashamed of it (Hosea 10:6). Whenever in our trials we consult our own understandings, or hearken to self-reasonings, though they seem to be good, and tending to our preservation; yet the principle of living by faith is stifled, and we shall in the issue be cast down by our own counsels.’ (Treatise on Temptation, chap. 8).

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