Weltanschauung (Proverbs 3:5,6)

Weltanschauung. Let me say it again, but this time I’ll stand back, in case I don’t say it, but spray it. Weltanschauung. A simple word-for-word translation of this German word would render the world “worldview,” but linguists (that is, someone who studies language) wouldn’t call worldview a definition for weltanschauung. A person’s weltanschauung is a worldview that fully covers beliefs about philosophy, religion, morality, government, society, politics and economics. To have a weltanschauung, the person just doesn’t know about these topics, but the person fully understands them, has come to a conclusion about, can fully defend his or her stances, and knows how they affect life and how to live them out. The book of Proverbs stresses that people need to have a weltanschauung, but mores specifically, God’s people need to have a godly weltanschauung, and not a human weltanschauung.

 

If you have your Bible book with you, turn to Proverbs 3:5. If you have a Bible app on your tablet or smartphone, boot up your Bible, and put in your search bar Proverbs 3:5.

 

Proverbs 3:5,6 ESV- 

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.”

Before we look at the text itself, we need to look at the structure of Hebrew poetry. We have to look at the structure of Hebrew poetry because Hebrew poets used the structure Hebrew poetry to get their message across to their audience. To ignore the structure of a Hebrew poem would be like saying there’s no difference between a sonnet and a limerick. Hebrew poets formed their poetry around poetic parallelisms, or parallels of arrangement and idea, where one line parallels another line in thought. Poetic parallelism appear in a few forms. One kind of parallelism is synonymous parallelism, in which two lines say the same thing using different word that are typically synonyms, hence synonymous.

Now take a look at verse five. Verse five is a synonymous parallelism. It may not seem like a clear-cut parallelism in English, but the Hebrew says differently. Trust parallels lean. The Hebrew word betah, more fully means to rely on heavily. Lean, in Hebrew, is tishshan. Literally, tishshan translates into “lean,” but it has a figurative meaning of trusting in somone. In ancient times, kings would lean against their ministers, magistrates and governors in public to symbolize that the king trusted that person with the power the king gave the person, and so the public should trust the person in power as well. The Lord does not parallel “your own”, but rather parallels “not your own,” for, as this passage teaches, the Lord’s ways are not our ways. Heart parallels understanding. Once again, this pair of words better parallels in the Hebrew. In modern-day America, we associate the heart with our emotions, or how we feel. The Hebrews associated lev, the Hebrew word for “heart,” not only with emotions and how a person felt, but also intellect and how a person thought. Solomon probably meant it in the latter sense, for the latter sense best parallels “understanding.” Binyat, the Hebrew word for “understanding,” comes from two words translated as “between” and “to discern.” Compounded, binyat literally means “to discern between.” This connotation implies that understanding involves discerning between morally right and morally wrong. Put it all together, Solomon carefully chooses his words and parallelisms to teach his son to trust and heavily rely on God’s way of thinking, not his own or anyone one else’s, especially in terms of morals.

How does someone think like God thinks? The first half of verse six provides a good start to thinking like God. It reads, “In all your ways acknowledge him.” The Hebrew word translated into “acknowledge” in its base form is yada, Yada simply means “to know,” but it carries deeper connotations. This type of knowing is more intimate. It means getting to know someone or something better. It means knowing to improve your relationship with someone. As the prepositional phrase “in all your ways” hints, it’s an all-encompassing knowledge that affects how you think and how you act. Solomon instructs his son to first get to know the Lord as much as possible in order to think like God and act like God.

 

At the end of verse six, Solomon gives a blessing for those who acknowledge the Lord and think like he does. Proverbs 3:6b says that God “will make your path straights.” Commentators debate what this could mean. Some commentators suggests it means an easy life, while others suggest it means a simple life. I think the answer goes back our parallelism. The first half of first verse five ends with thinking from the heart, the second half of verse five ends with understanding, the first half of verse six ends with acknowledging God, all intellectual pursuits. So the second half of verse six must also end with something intellectual. Therefore, I believe the blessing of “straight paths” refers to thinking straight. For those who choose to think like God instead of thinking like man, God blesses them with straight, clear thinking.

 

If anyone in the Bible got this idea, the apostles in Acts got it down. In Acts chapter five, the high priest and the Sanhedrin council call the apostles in after an angel frees them from prison and they return to preaching in the temple. Previously, the Sanhedrin had charged the apostles to no longer preach about Jesus publically, and in exchange, they wouldn’t get in big trouble. Sounds like a good compromise, right? Not for the apostles. They went right back to preaching in the temple courts. When asked for a defense, Peter and the apostles answer in Acts 5:29, “We must obey God rather than men!” I’m not sure if Peter and the apostles had this Proverb in the back of their head, but they knew had to think like God, even if it meant disagreeing with the ruling council. In return, they got the blessing Proverbs 3:6b records. Acts 5:41 says that apostles left there rejoicing. Anyone else facing the hard pressing judgments of the Sanhedrin would walk away discouraged, but not the apostles. They rejoiced because they knew the suffering came about doing God’s will. They knew preaching the name of Jesus was God’s will because they trusted in God’s understanding and thought like God.

 

Christians today constantly have to vie with outside worldviews trying to compete with a godly worldview. Therefore, Christians should constantly remind themselves that they need to trust with God’s understanding and not lean on man’s understanding. I encourage you that whenever a secular view challenges your godly worldview, just repeat Proverbs 3:5 to yourself as reminder that you stand behind God’s truth. When the world tells you that those group of cells in a woman’s uterus is just an extension of her body, which she can do as she pleases, you must trust in the Lord, and lean not on our own understanding. When the world tells you that two men or two women marrying each other is love, you must trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. When the world teaches the world and life came about after billions of years of chance lining up, you must trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. When the world tells you that the only way to bring about peace is to engage in more war, you must trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding.

Sometimes the Christian’s greatest obstacle to obtaining a godly worldview can be himself or herself. Christians too often get tempted to think God’s will is their will, instead of making their will God’s will. American Christians pursue the American dream, expecting God to bless it. If a Christian gets too caught up in this idea, the Christian can face disappointment when they don’t get that safe, easy life. Instead, if the Christian starts thinking like God thinks, the Christian can see clearly how God has blessed him or her and will continue him or her. A girl might struggle for a while in her faith when her body will not produce a child, something she always wanted. When she surrenders her will to God, she can think the way God thinks, and she can see how God is moving. God could lead to adopt a child and provide love to a child who might have grown up in a home without love. And all because she thought like God.

In closing, I pray you may have a weltanschauung, and not just any weltanschauung, but a godly weltanschauung. May your weltanschauung guide you to think more like God and less like the world or yourself. And may in turn God show you the way clearly.