Proverbs 3:26 (ESV)
for the LORD will be your confidence
and will keep your foot from being caught.
The word used in this proverb for "confidence" has an unusual meaning. The word is "ḵesel" in the Hebrew and it is used to designate the fat or loin of the intestines. If you have ever been told to "gut" it out, that is the use here. Solomon isn't telling us to "gut" it out, but by using this word he is telling us that if we reach down deep in the midst of a struggle we can be assured we can "gut" it because God is our "gut" ... our strength. God is at the base as we dig down deep. He should be our strength within:
Ephesians 3:16 (ESV)
that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being,
If we find our foot caught in a trap we can have faith that God is our “kesel.” He is our strength. He is our confidence. When we put our faith in God we can relax and know that God is what we can rely on and not on our own strength. We can't trust ourselves because we are failing ourselves and God all the time. God is our loin! He is our stronghold. Note what Peter says about the “power” we have through “faith” in God:
1 Peter 1:3-5
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
Peter says that believers are being guarded by God’s power “through faith.” We can have confidence in life because we have confidence in God. Our faith in God gives us strength. So when the Scripture says we should “take up the shield of faith,” we can have confidence in our life.
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