Some boast in chariots and some in horses, but we will boast in the name of the Lord, our God.
Boast can also mean to praise, to trust, or are strong through.
It sounds so clear and simple. Just trust God and it’ll all work out. Except for the fact that sometimes those who trust or are strong through chariots and horses… win. It’s easy to look at the mathematical result of these equations and conclude that while trusting in God is the best thing to do, sometimes if you rely on a chariot or horse, it gets the job done.
The scripture does not denounce the use of chariots and horses… but revolting against our placing of trust in these alternatives to the name of God Himself. It can feel like such a subtle difference – so subtle that it doesn’t seem to really matter. However, most things in life come down to subtleties. And if we can’t champion the subtleties then how on earth can we except to be victorious in the grand elements of this life?
Proverbs 20 has a couple references to differing weights and measures or false scales as being an abomination to the Lord. Why would anyone have differing weights or false scales? Long ago, this was how monetary transactions were completed. Weighing of the scales to determine the right price. It was an easy way to manipulate a transaction to get more of something.
Back to trusting in chariots or horses or God. I think in our small daily dealings, we can easily fall into the chance to manipulate a situation or circumstance to obtain a result that benefits us the most. However, to simply trust God and let the scales weigh out exactly the right results, this takes guts.
