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Proverbs 16:1-33
“The preparations
of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue is from the LORD. 2 All
the ways of a man are clean in his
own eyes; but the LORD weigheth the spirits. 3 Commit thy works unto the LORD,
and thy thoughts shall be established. 4 The LORD hath made all things for
himself: yea, even the wicked for the
day of evil. 5 Every one that
is proud in heart is an
abomination to the LORD: though hand join in
hand, he shall not be unpunished. 6 By mercy and truth iniquity is
purged: and by the fear of the LORD men depart from evil. 7 When
a man’s ways please the LORD,
he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him. 8 Better is a little with righteousness than
great revenues without right. 9 A man’s heart diviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps. 10 A
divine sentence is in the lips of the
king: his mouth transgresseth not in
judgment. 11 A just weight and balance are the LORD’s: all the weights of the bag are his work. 12 It is an abomination to kings to commit wickedness: for the throne is established by righteousness. 13 Righteous
lips are the delight of kings; and
they love him that speaketh right. 14 The wrath of a king is as messengers of death: but a wise man will pacify it. 15 In
the light of the king’s countenance is life; and his favour is as a cloud of
the latter rain. 16 How much better is it to get wisdom than gold! and to get understanding rather to be chosen
than silver! 17 The highway of the upright is to depart from evil: he
that keepeth his way preserveth his soul. 18 Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty
spirit before a fall. 19 Better it is
to be of an humble spirit with the lowly, than to
divide the spoil with the proud. 20 He that handleth a matter
wisely shall find good: and whoso trusteth
in the LORD. happy is he. 21 The
wise in heart shall be called prudent: and the sweetness of the lips increaseth learning. 22 Understanding is a wellspring of life unto him that
hath it: but the instruction of fools is folly. 23 The
heart of the wise teacheth his mouth, and addeth learning to his lips. 24 Pleasant
words are as an honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones. 25 There
is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. 26 He
that laboureth laboureth for himself; for his mouth craveth it of him. 27 An
ungodly man diggeth up evil: and in his
lips there is as a burning fire. 28 A
froward man soweth strife: and a whisperer separateth chief
friends. 29 A violent man enticeth his neighbour, and leadeth
him into the way that is not good. 30 He
shutteth his eyes to devise froward things: moving his lips he bringeth evil to pass. 31 The
hoary head is a crown of glory, if it be found in the way of
righteousness. 32 He that is slow to anger is better than the
mighty; and he that ruleth his
spirit than he that taketh a city. 33 The lot is cast into
the lap; but the whole disposing thereof is of the LORD.”
“Free Will” verses “Predestination”
“Chapter
16, we get an interesting look here, the sovereignty of God, and some of it is
sobering, it’s really remarkable. It says “The
preparation of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the LORD.”
(verse 1) we’re going to have a lot of “and’s” here, so the thoughts are building. There’s a few where it will say “but,” that’s
contrastive, but here the ideas are building. “The preparations of the heart in
man, AND the answer of the tongue, is from the LORD.” man cogitates, he thinks, he
does this, he’s planning, and then finally what he says, it says here ‘It’s
from the LORD.’ It’s interesting, we know from our study in
the New Testament, in Philippians Paul said “It
is God which worketh in you, both to will and to do of his own good pleasure.” Here it says “The preparations of the heart of man, and the answer
of the tongue, is from the LORD.” [This, combined with verses 9 and 33, sounds
like “predestination” coupled to the concept of “free choice.” If these verses apply to all of mankind, not
just that of the “saved,” which is a New Testament concept, and this was
written as part of the Old Testament, then these expressed concepts would tend
to indicate, when carried to their uttermost end, that God is ultimately in
control of it all, in spite of free choice in a world which is now under the
direct influence of Satan, and not God’s influence, God’s direct influence only
coming upon mankind in general after the Lord’s 2nd coming. The whole Plan of God, his ultimate Plan of
Salvation must be taken into consideration to properly combine the two Bible concepts
where God gives everyone “free choice” in life, but is in ultimate control of
everyone’s actions and what they say and do, what we
call “predestination.” The concept of “predestination” shows up in verse 1, “The preparation of the heart of man, and the answer of the tongue, is of the LORD.” i.e. predestination. Compare this with verse 9 which says “A man’s
heart diviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps.” (now verse 9, we could say without much doubt, applies to
believers, both then and now, and includes both concepts of “free choice” and
“predestination.”) But verse 33 says “The lot is cast into the lap; but the whole disposing thereof is of the LORD.” Now this one most definitely could apply to
both believer and non-believer alike, and includes both concepts of “free
choice” and “predestination.” (see http://www.unityinchrist.com/E-Mails/June%2014/FallHolyDays-short.htm to come to a better understanding of how this may all shake out in the
overall Plan of Salvation for mankind as a whole.)].
Men, Women, Will Justify Just About Anything, But God Has The Final Say
All the ways of a
man are clean in his own eyes; but
the LORD weigheth the spirits.” (verse 2) “are clean in his
own eyes,” that’s true, isn’t it? Men
[and women too] will justify anything, you know people like that. You know, friends if they backslide, they
become prodigals, you try to go and talk to them, and it’s amazing the
justification people can come up with. So, “All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes;” here’s
the contrast, “but the LORD” is the one who “weigheth the spirits.” God is the one who
searches the spirit of man, so they can say what they want to say, God is the one,
and God alone is able to lift our guilt, he’s the one who weighs, he’s able to
take weight off, leave weight on.
God’s Calling Is A Progressive Revelation
or
‘Do Your Best, Commit The Rest’
“Commit thy works
unto the LORD,
and thy thoughts shall be established.” (verse 3) so you commit your works unto
the LORD…you
know, people always tell me ‘Well how do
I know if God wants me to do this? How
do I know if God wants me to do that?’ and always when they’re asking me
that I’m thinking ‘I don’t know, you
think I know that because I’m a pastor? I don’t know that.’ I know
what the Bible tells me, and I know that my pastor, Chuck Smith, before he went
home to be with the Lord, would always tell me “God’s calling is a progressive revelation. If you’ll give him each day, God’s calling
will unfold in your life, it’s a progressive revelation.” It doesn’t give you the five-year-plan and
the ten-year-plan so you can decide whether you want to cooperate with
him. It just says ‘If you commit your works unto the
LORD,
thy thoughts shall be established.’ (verse 3) It’s interesting, the Hebrew is “if
you roll them over on the LORD,” the idea is, you do your best
and all this, Chuck used to say “Do your best, and commit the rest.” That’s a Chuck Smith proverb. Your works, you do your best, and then it
says, “roll them over onto the LORD.” It’s his responsibility, ‘you’ve done your best, roll it
over unto the LORD,’ “and
thy thoughts shall be established.” (verse 3b)
‘The LORD’s Made All Things For Himself, Even The Wicked For The Day Of Evil’
Verse 4, “The LORD hath made all things for
himself: yea, even the wicked for the
day of evil.” I would say, you’re
in that category. Wait a minute, we could have an hour-long controversy here on this
one. Look, the Lord doesn’t tempt, James
says, anybody with wickedness. What do
you mean ‘the LORD even makes the wicked for the
day of evil’ the day that’s necessary, for the day of evil? What’s that speaking of? Well
look, if we back up, right before that, he’s made all things for himself. This is, look, our Christian journey. The reason you exist, the reason I exist, is
not for yourself, it is for himself. We
were created for him. That flies in the
face of our selfishness immediately. Are
you married? If you thought (I always
thought mawage), if you thought
marriage was for your fulfillment and for your blessing, and I’ve been married
for a long time, and it is fulfilling and there is blessing, but clearly
marriage, the Lord, is another arena to conform you into the image and to the
likeness of his Son. The husband is
supposed to love the wife the way Christ loves the Church, the wife is supposed
to relate to her husband the way the Church relates to Christ. There’s something in that for him, and of
him. And in all of life, you know, it’s
interesting the Westminster Catechism says ‘That
we were created for his glory, the purpose of man is to glorify God.’ And we should. But I think further than that, it tells us in Revelation
chapter 4:11, ‘That all things were created for his pleasure…what gives him
pleasure, what gives him joy, that we were created for his pleasure.’ Careful, because then you think, ‘Well, what is he, an egotist? just so he can have a jolly old day? Created for his pleasure, that’s what this is
all about?’ Well, you have to take a
step back and say ‘Well then, what is his
pleasure?’ If it says “for his pleasure,” what is his
pleasure? Well I think we see that when
he tries to describe to us his relationship with us in human terms. The Bible gives us those
anthropomorphisms. He tells us that he
is the Bride Groom and we’re the Bride. That’s one of the ways he tries to describe his relationship to us. He tells us he’s the Father and we’re the
children, he puts it in human relationships. He tells us he’s the Shepherd and we’re the sheep. You go through that and you realize he’s
stooped down, he’s created this stage of human history
to take out a Bride for his Son. We were
created in the final analysis for his pleasure, not just to give him glory, we
should, but for his pleasure, and for yours. And what is that pleasure, it’s the pleasure of Almighty God, it is to
fellowship with us. He paid the ultimate
price in the blood of his Son, not so we can say ‘God, give me this, God give me that…’ and it says we should cast
all of our care upon him, we should make our requests known. But the ultimate benefit of the price of his
Son on the cross, was he tore sin out of the way, he
satisfied his eternal judgment and wrath, so that now he can stoop to us. He calls us children. Look, again, I raised four kids, I haven’t
raised sheep, so I can’t go there, I feed them every Sunday but I don’t raise
them. You raise four kids, it’s not so
they can give you glory and praise you, you don’t come home from work and your
little kids are kneeling down, ‘Oh praise
you Daddy, you’re so good.’ No, you
wish that was happening for a day, but that’s not what happens. Ok? It
isn’t so they can serve you, people think that’s the
purpose of man, to serve God. Well I
have four kids. It’s not like I had one,
and put him behind the lawnmower. I said ‘Honey, if we have three more we can get
the whole yard taken care of.’ You
know, when I let my kids help, particularly when they were little, I did that
to bless them, not to bless me. You know
what a four-year-old is like with a paintbrush in his hand? ‘Daddy, can I help, Daddy, can I help?’ and he only helps for five minutes, then he’s tired and he’s gone, and you
gotta patch up everything he did. That’s
the way I am in the ministry, I feel like you know, he lets me do this so it
blesses me, and then every Sunday after I preach he’s gotta go and fix up
everything I said. His pleasure is to
fellowship with us. You know, my wife,
my wife does not exist to glorify me. If
you’re married you should be laughing. She’s not there to serve me. Look, your children are a praise, if they’re
raised right in the Lord, they do serve. You wife, of course, the spouse, the relationship is to serve one
another. But the beauty of the marriage
is the intimacy. We were created for his pleasure, it says here “The LORD hath made all things for himself.” He is not selfish, ‘he’s made all things for
himself, he has lavished a measure of love upon us, it says in the ages to come we’re still going be learning about that.’ It softens the second half of the verse
if we try to figure out what the second half of the verse means, “yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.”
(verse 4b) What is that talking about? First
of all, I’ll say this, whenever you don’t understand what the Lord’s doing,
fall back on what you do know. ‘I’m not sure why this is going on in my
life, I’m not sure why the Lord’s letting this happen, but I do know this, he
loves me, he’s been faithful to me, he saved me.’ Whatever we don’t know, fall back on what you
do know. What does this expressly
mean? I can’t give you a coined answer
here, “The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea,
even the wicked” now
look, “for the day of evil.” One of the things I’m appreciating in
moving through the Proverbs, this time more than I ever have, it’s the
prophetic sense of these things. It
tells us this in the Book of Daniel, it talks about Daniel’s describing to
Nebuchadnezzar why God raises us one and another, and he says ‘It’s
to the intent that the living may know that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom
of men, and he giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over them
even the basest of men.’ The
prophet Habakkuk said, ‘LORD, what are you doing? You’re using the Babylonians who are wicked,
a wicked king, you’re using them to judge us? They’re more wicked than we are.’ And the LORD ended up saying ‘If I
told you what I was doing, you wouldn’t understand it anyway.’ And Nebuchadnezzar, I believe, by the time the
LORD was done with him, he ends up becoming saved, I believe we’re going see
Nebuchadnezzar in glory. But God raised
him up as a rod of chastisement on the nation of Israel [actually the nation,
kingdom of Judah, Israel had already been taken into captivity for similar
reasons 150 years ealier] because of their idolatry,
and God finally said ‘You want idols? I’m going to take you to the land of idols, you can have idols until you’re sick of idols.’ And in that context, Nebuchadnezzar was evil,
he was wicked, but on the prophetic sense, God was accomplishing. And look at what’s going on in the world now,
and I think, ‘None of this takes the LORD by surprise.’ He says in the last days there would be wars,
rumours of wars, famines, pestilences, infectious diseases, earthquakes in
divers places, we’re seeing all of these things. So “The LORD hath made all things for himself:” the wonderful part about that is you and I, we are his
pleasure, we’re his children, his Bride, he says “yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.” (verse 4b) And I will leave what I don’t
know about that with him. [Comment: And I will pick up where you left off Pastor
Joe. I admire your honesty in saying you
don’t have a proper interpretation for the second half of this verse instead of
trying to explain it away. There is an
interpretation which comes from the Sabbath-keeping Churches of God which may
help explain this one. For one, when all
recorded history of mankind going back 6,000 years to present is taken into
account, maybe 98 to 99 percent of all mankind has never accepted Jesus Christ
into their lives, becoming saved, before their deaths. So, for following the logic according to the
Catholic everburning hellfire doctrine that all who die in their normal lifetimes having not accepted Jesus Christ into their lives go
into some kind of everburning hellfire. According to the Sabbath-keeping Churches of God, this is a false
doctrine which has been introduced into the Christian churches by the Roman
Catholic church, and thus is false. The Bible speaks of two large resurrections,
the first being to glory and eternal life (Revelation 20:4-6; 1st Corinthians 15:49-54), and the second resurrection is for all of unsaved
mankind at the end of the Millennium (Revelation 20:5b,11-13). The Bible in the Old Testament also describes
this resurrection, where every living “unsaved human” is resurrected back to
life and given an opportunity and choice to accept Jesus at that time,
receiving God’s Holy Spirit if they so desire (see Ezekiel 37:1-14). This doctrinal interpretation says that God
has not been calling the vast majority of human beings during their normal
lifetimes. It is these people who come
into the classification of “yea, even
the wicked for the day of evil.” These folk, resurrected back to physical life, having lived painfully in
Satan’s world during their first lifetimes, having never been called to
salvation, are now given that opportunity. Mankind, living under Satan’s evil influence, with a history filled with
wars, famines, pestilences, pain, suffering and death, has been learning about
life, as Pastor Joe even has said, experientially, learning the hard way. God has to give these folk the same chance
that has been offered to us. Now this is
the doctrinal interpretation of the Sabbath-keeping Churches of God, which you
do not have to accept, but I do believe it sheds some light on what might be
the proper interpretation for Proverbs 16:4b. see http://www.unityinchrist.com/E-Mails/June%2014/FallHolyDays-short.htm and http://www.unityinchrist.com/plaintruth/battle.htm for a thorough review of these doctrines.)]
One For Everyone Who Is
Proud In Heart
“Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD: though hand join in hand,
he shall not be unpunished.” (verse 5) the
idea is ‘though they gather together, the proud, hand joined in hand, he shall
not go unpunished.’ You know,
very interesting, Paul says in 2nd Corinthians, look, ‘Don’t
make yourself among the number of those who compare themselves among
themselves.’ You know, you can
go to the sanctuary on Sunday and look at somebody and say ‘Well at least I’m not like that sap over there.’ That means you don’t understand God’s
grace. You’re only here by the 100
percent pure grace of God, you’re no more deserving
than any other sinner that sits here. Paul says ‘Don’t make yourself among the number of those
who compare themselves among themselves.’ Remember Isaiah when he saw the LORD, he said ‘I fell down and said Woe is me,
I’m a man of unclean lips,’ or Daniel saying, ‘My comeliness was turned to
ashes,’ or John falling down like a dead man. So one who is doing this, proud in heart,
judging others, is someone who hasn’t seen the Lord. And I don’t mean with a physical eye. I believe there are tongues, in my
experience, over the years, when I really have been in his presence. I’ve seen with an eyeball, was unable to see,
and what I saw was this, ‘Lord, I am such
a sinful man.’ And his love and his
grace was crushing me to the point where I could
hardly breathe. And when you really come
into the presence of God, there’s no room for pride and there’s no room for
judging anyone else. ‘Everyone
who is proud in their heart is an abomination to the LORD, and though hand join hand,
it’s not to go unpunished.’ (verse 5)
Without Truth Mercy Is Senseless, Without Mercy
Truth Is Cruel
I
like this, “By mercy and truth iniquity
is purged: and by the fear of the LORD men depart from evil.” (verse 6) Certainly as Solomon put the quill to the
page “By mercy and truth” was this,
you came to the altar, you brought a lamb, and the lamb was inspected to make
sure it was without spot or blemish. The
worshipper was never inspected, it was a forgone
conclusion that the worshipper had spot and blemish, that’s why he was bringing
an innocent substitute. And it wasn’t
just that you brought it to the priest and walked away, you then put your hand
on the head of that animal, and the priest then put the knife in your hand, and
with your hand he guided it, and you cut the throat of that lamb. And you stood there with your hand feeling
that animal begins to quiver as it bled out, as the priest gathered the blood
in a golden bowl. And you had all of the
impression of a spotless, blemishless innocent substitute dying in your place,
and that was mercy and truth all in one. It was mercy and truth on the cross, that’s what we saw in the
crucifixion. It says “By mercy and truth iniquity is
purged.” Without truth mercy
produces nothing, and truth without mercy is cruel. ‘By mercy and truth, iniquity, the twisted
part of man is purged, cleaned.’ “and by the fear of the LORD men depart from evil.”
There’s More Profit Spending Time Pleasing The LORD Than Pleasing
Man
“When a man’s
ways please the LORD,
he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him.” (verse 7) Take note there, you should probably expend
your time and energy trying to please the Lord, and not please men, because if
you spend your time and energy trying to please men [or women], you’re still going to have
trouble with your enemies. But if you
please the Lord, you’re not going to have trouble with your enemies. “When
a man’s ways please the LORD,
he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him.” (verse 7) and of course there’s
exceptions, if somebody’s cutting your head off or something, this is a general
observation by Solomon here, but led by the Spirit.
Better A Little With God, Than Everything Without God
Here’s
one of the better proverbs, “Better is a little with righteousness than
great revenues without right.” (verse 8) “without right, without justice.” “Better
a little with righteousness,” there’s something that sits right about that,
than somebody whose filthy rich and there’s no justice, what they’re doing is wrong, it’s perverted, taking advantage, that eats at us. ‘I’d rather be the poorest saint in heaven
than the richest man in hell,’ is what it’s saying.
For A Believer, ‘We Make Our Plans, God Guides Our
Steps’
Verse 9, it kind of harks back to verse
1, about God’s sovereignty, “A man’s
heart diviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps.” Very interesting the way the Hebrew presents
it. In a man’s heart, in your own heart,
it says, you devise your way, you’re mediating, you’re thinking, not just your
head, desire is involved, something emotional, visceral about it, ‘Should I go here, should I do this, should
I do that, Lord?’ I find I am always a rooky. [comment: by appearance, this verse applies to
believers, not non-believers, who would never be questioning with the Lord in
mind. And the LORD would not be so specifically
guiding, directing the steps of a non-believer, whereas verse 1, 4b, and 33
point to the issues of “free will” verses “predestination.” So this is a believer verse, a verse for
believers, God’s in your life, you’re devising your way, but he’s intimately
involved, directing your steps. I have
seen this proven out throughout my life as a believer.] I was a rooky years ago, I’m still a rooky. Every time I
learn something I have to move onto the thing I haven’t learned yet. Interesting, it says here, “A man’s heart may devise his way,” look, here’s what removes the pressure, it
says “but the LORD directeth his steps.” (verse 9b) the smallest increments of his
way are his steps. And if the LORD is overseeing each step, it
says the LORD is directing the increments of that pilgrimage
that you’re on. He cares that much, he’s
directing your steps. I like that.
About Kings And Divine
Right Of Kings
“A divine
sentence is in the lips of the
king: his mouth transgresseth not in
judgment.” (verse 10) Now by the way, this is the ideal. When we get over a little further in the
chapter we’re going to hear about kings a number of times, and the way they
should behave. But the idea is, the king
is by divine, it’s a divine appointment, a divine sentence is in the lips of
the king, “his mouth,” this is the
ideal, “transgresseth not in judgment.” Look, it comes from Deuteronomy chapter 17,
as they’re approaching the Land and God is reiterating the Law, and God says to
them, ‘When you come into the land, what you’re going to want, is you’re
going to want a king like the nations around you. What you’re supposed to be is a theocracy,
what you’re supposed to be is a nation ruled by and from the Tabernacle, ruled
by me, ruled by my Word, ruled by the priests and the prophets, you’re supposed
to be a nation under Divine guidance. But what you’re gonna do is when you come into the land I give you, then
you’re gonna look around and say ‘We want a king like all the other nations
around us, because it’s more tangible.’ He says, ‘And these are going to be the rules, if you have a king, you can’t
choose a foreigner, somebody else, he says he’s supposed to be one of your own
brethren,’ it says, ‘you may not set a stranger over you,’ and then he says this, ‘He shall not multiply horses to himself,
nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he should multiply
horses, for as much as the LORD has said unto you, you shall
henceforth return no more that way. Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not
away, neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold. It shall be when he sitteth upon the throne
of his kingdom, that he shall write himself a copy of this Law in a book, out
of which is before the priests and Levites, and it shall be with him, and he
shall read therein all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the LORD his God, and to keep all the
words of the Law and these statutes to do them, that his heart be not lifted up
above his brethren, and that he turn not aside from the Commandments to the
right hand or to the left hand, to the end that he may prolong his days in his
kingdom, and he and his children in the midst of Israel.’ So, remarkably, Solomon is only the third
king, Saul, David, Solomon in the reign, the list of Israel’s kings, and
Solomon is the one who ends up violating all of the things here that God
says. The ideal is, “A divine sentence is in the
lips of the king.” He’s supposed to
be speaking on God’s behalf, “and his
mouth transgresseth not in judgment.” But Solomon returned to Egypt for horses, specifically what the LORD said not to do. Moses when he came out of Egypt said, ‘The
horse and rider were thrown in the sea, we’re going to trust in the LORD our God, he’s the one who gave
us the victory.’ Solomon went back to Egypt for horses. It says not to multiply gold and silver, and
there was so much gold in Jerusalem in the days of Solomon that silver was
considered as stones. Kiddow in his
history of Solomon says that Solomon had six guards and they all had to be over
six feet tall, and they all wore white silk, and they all had to have raven
black hair, and every morning they ground fresh gold dust to sprinkle it in
their hair, and they ran next to his chariot with their spears and their
swords, and they were all incredible warriors. It doesn’t sound like Solomon was trusting in the LORD. He multiplied gold and silver. And it says you shall not multiply wives, he
might have thought he was adding. When
you get to 700 wives and 300 concubines you need to at least think about the
verse a little bit, because they will lure your heart away, it’s exactly what
they did. And look, listen to me, the
danger in ministry, the danger in serving the Lord, has not changed, lust of
the flesh, lust of the eyes, the pride of life is still there, passion, position,
possession, pride, women, money, hasn’t changed, through the centuries. You see somebody taken down, you see them
mishandling money, trying to get into everybody’s wallets, you see how many are
taken down, we bury them in Kibroth Hatavah, the
graves of lust along the way. How many
taken down with just pride and arrogance, not depending on the Lord anymore,
they’ve just got a machine going. It’s
interesting, Solomon’s only the third king, the wisest man that ever lived, and
he violates all of these things in his reign. Certainly there is warning in that for all of us.
The LORD Minds Your Business
Verse 11 says this, “A just weight and balance are the LORD’s: all the weights of the bag are his work.” In other words, you may tell somebody else ‘Mind your own business,’ it says here ‘he
minds your business.’ OK? You can’t tell the LORD ‘Mind your own business,’ it says very specifically he’s minding
your business. Just weights and
balances, they didn’t have coinage, so gold and silver were weighed out, and
then you had stones in your purse that produced the equivalent amount, and it
says ‘even
the stones in your bag, it says, are his work.’
More About Kings
Now
look, verse 12, kings, verse 13 it talks about the delight of kings, in verse
14 it talks about the wrath of a king, and in verse 15 it talks about the light
of the king’s countenance. Now these
next few verses tell us very specifically, “It is an abomination to kings to commit
wickedness: for the throne is
established by righteousness.” (verse 12) “Righteous
lips are the delight of kings; and
they love him that speaketh right.” (verse 13) “and” it’s adding. A
righteous king doesn’t like to be surrounded by “yes men.” “Righteous
lips are the delight of kings; and
they love him that speaketh right.” (verse13) Now, the wrath of a king. So we have an abomination, to kings, of
kings, right king, so verse 14, “The
wrath of a king is as messengers of
death:” it goes without saying, “but
a wise man will pacify it.” Somebody
in wisdom adds to the king’s counsel, and there’s
wisdom in a multitude of counsellors, the king knew that, so a wise man
pacifies that, so the king doesn’t act out wrongly. And “In
the light of the king’s countenance is life; and his favour is as a cloud of
the latter rain.” (verse 15) Now by the way, look, let’s think about our
King. Ok? Our King. It’s an abomination for kings to commit
wickedness, God is never doing anything wicked in your life. It says it right here. It’s an abomination for kings to commit wickedness, “for the throne is established by
righteousness.” (verse 12b) Our God is a righteous King, and his reign is
a righteous reign, and his throne is a righteous throne. “Righteous
lips are the delight of kings;” it’s the same with our King, isn’t it? “and they love him
that speaketh right.” (verse 13) it delights the LORD when he hears his children
speaking wisely, speaking truth. “The wrath of a king is as messengers of death:” and certainly that is true with the
LORD of lords and the King of kings, “but a
wise man will pacify it.” (verse 14) you know,
sometimes we say ‘Lord, be merciful to
this person.’ How many times do we
pray for the “unsaved”? ‘Save them, don’t let them come under your
wrath and be lost.’ “The light of the king’s countenance is life;” I love this, when God is
smiling on us, that’s what I want, “and
his favour is as a cloud of the
latter rain.” (verse 15) The latter rain came in the Spring, former rain, latter rain was in the Spring, and the
latter rains in the Spring were the last rains before the harvest season all
the way through the summer. And the
latter rains were a blessing. And it
says that God’s favour in our life, it’s life-giving, it does something in us
that enables us for long seasons in our lives to produce fruit. When God shows us his favour, it’s like the
latter rain, it nourishes, it gives moisture to our being, it invigorates us. Sometimes you can’t
describe it. Look, I find it with
[spiritual] warfare. I can’t describe
it, sometimes I’m just miserable, because things are crazy. Now, I thrive in craziness. My life is crazy, crazy good. And I could never describe the recent things
in my life, but sometimes it gets crazy-crazy, its beyond crazy, it’s insane-insanity. And then my wife is saying ‘You’re
so crabby!’ I say ‘I AM NOT!’ [laughter] And then I think, ‘What am I so crabby about?’ And I can’t put my finger on any specific thing, and I say ‘Wait a minute, this is warfare, the enemy is messing with me here.’ Because God’s favour is the opposite, it adds
moisture to my life, it invigorates me, I can’t help it, I notice that the sun
is shining, ‘Oh wow, that’s beautiful,’ it’s raining, ‘That’s really cool, it’s
like his Word coming down from heaven,’ it’s just so different. So it says “his favour is as a cloud of
the latter rain.” (verse 15b) it produces fruit in
our lives, it’s a good thing. I can’t
explain that to somebody, but I know the sense of it, I know the sense of
it. I know what it’s like to sit alone
with him, and feel his favour, and what it does in my
soul and my spirit is what rain does to the ground when it’s dry, it wets me
down, with divine love and grace.
‘Wisdom Is Better Than Gold And Silver’
He
says “How much better is it to get wisdom than gold! and to get understanding rather to be chosen than silver!” (verse 16) good question, right? exclamation mark, exclamation mark, these two things are said hammer slamming down,
exclamation mark. “How much better is it to get
wisdom than gold boom! and to get understanding rather to be chosen than
silver Boom!” It’s very interesting, look, because, it
doesn’t say, it doesn’t tell you, you have to think about it, many times in
Proverbs it told us that if we exercise wisdom, that prosperity is part of
that. So wisdom and gold often follow on
the same pathway, wisdom and silver often go together. It doesn’t preclude one or the other, it doesn’t say if you’re wise that you shouldn’t have
prosperity in your life. In fact the
Book of Proverbs has been teaching us the opposite. What it’s saying is
this, you may be traveling along a path, exercising wisdom, doing things right,
and God is blessing that and prospering. And all of a sudden you come to a fork in the road, and you know that
the Lord wants you to turn in a certain direction there, and logic is telling
you ‘I like the gold trail, if I make
this one right here, I don’t think gold’s making a right with me here.’ What it’s saying is,
when push comes to shove, and you have to make that decision, then you ask
yourself ‘How much better to wisdom than gold? How much better is it to get understanding than silver?’ Because the truth is, you’re a wise human
being, you exercise God’s wisdom, there is a
prosperity that’s attached to that. But
there are times in our lives, and in the lives of lots of Christians all around
the world when they have to make a choice, and they know ‘If I make this choice, I could lose my job, if I take a stand right
now for wisdom, for understanding, for what’s right, it’s gonna cost me.’ And the question is, at that crossroads, when
that comes, how do we decide? [Comment: If you check out the
About the Author section of this site, you will see that I came and come from
the Sabbath-keeping Church of God side of the Body of Christ. There were times when I had to make a choice
between keeping the 7th day Sabbath, which begins at sundown Friday
evenings, or keeping my job, where keeping the Sabbath
by not working on it actually cost me several jobs. But within two weeks of losing my job, having
been faithful, God gave me a better one, with better pay.] And it’s an exhortation. ‘How much better is wisdom than gold, and how much better is it to get understanding rather
than choice silver?’ Verse 17 plays into it, “The highway of the upright is to depart from evil: he that keepeth his way preserveth his soul.” The Hebrew is this, “The highway of the upright is to
turn aside from evil.” it puts a little more of an onus on you, ‘The highway of the upright is you know when you come into
that intersection, or you come into that experience where there’s evil, the
highway of the upright is to turn aside from it.’ ‘I’m making a right here, I’m not hanging
here, I’m turning away from this.’ “The
highway of the upright is turn aside
from evil: he that keepeth or guardeth” that’s the idea here, “his way preserveth his soul.” it
preserves his own life. It’s up to you
to guard your way. Guard it. Look, we know the end, “an inheritance that’s
incorruptible, undefiled, that fades not away,” and glory is set aside
for us, this is a temporary pilgrimage, it’s up to you to guard your way, and
it says the person that guards their way preserves their own life, preserves
their own life. And it says ‘The
highway of the upright is to turn aside from things that are evil.’ Here’s the contrast in verse 18, “Pride goeth before
destruction, and an haughty spirit before a
fall.” The Hebrew reads “Pride
goeth before ruin” and in fact it’s very short the way it’s written, it
says “Ruin
before pride.” “Pride goeth before ruin, and a haughty spirit before stumbling.” You just pray for them, because if you watch, they’re going to
stumble, they’re going to fall. Contrasting verse 18, “Better it is to be of an
humble spirit with the lowly than to divide the spoil with the proud.” (verse 19) ‘Better it is to be of a humble spirit with
the lowly, the humble, than to divide the spoil with the proud.’
Pleasant Words Promote Instruction
“He that handleth
a matter wisely shall find good: and
whoso trusteth in the LORD,
happy is he.” (verse 20) happy
person, there’s a contentment. “The wise in heart shall be called
prudent: and the sweetness of the lips
increaseth learning.” (verse 21) somebody whose
wise in heart, they’re going to be called prudent, they make good
decisions. “sweetness of lips increaseth learning” I think the NIV says “Pleasant
words promote instruction,” the idea is, when you’re teaching your
kids, you can always come down on them, you can always be slamming them, or you
can get under them and build them up. It
says the wise in heart, they’re going to be called prudent, they make good
decisions, and sweetness of the lips increases learning. Pleasant words promote instruction, people
are going to hear things more easily, you know, when Jesus came, it says the
common people heard him gladly, it says ‘No one has spoken such gracious words,’ he sat with tax gatherers, sinners, prostitutes, they didn’t run from him
because he was holier than thou, he instructed them, he corrected them, he
spoke right to their emptiness, and it says their response was ‘We’ve
never heard such gracious words.’ Charles Spurgeon said “When you preach the Word, you never preach down
at people, you preach under them and lift them up.” And you know, we’ve all
been in legalistic churches where you get a good beating, you come out on
Sundays [or especially Saturdays, out of a Sabbath-keeping Church of God, I
know] ‘Now that was a good one, I’m
bleeding, I really got a beating today, that was great.’ Well you can only put up with that for a
certain number of years, and then you can’t get back to go in any more you got
so beat up. The idea is, pleasant words promote instruction. “Understanding is a wellspring of life unto him that
hath it: but the instruction of fools is folly.” (verse 22) it’s just wonderful to understand what’s going on. “but the instruction of fools is folly.” to try to
instruction a fool, and look, “fool” in the Bible again, in the Old Testament, “the fool hath said in his heart there is
no God.” [i.e.
the Bible definition of a fool is defined as being someone who is an
atheist.] Look at our culture, look at
the media, look at the entertainment industry, look at what’s going on around
us, look at the morality that’s being produced, look at the way Christians are
being mocked, look at the way they’re making fun of marriage between a man and
a woman. Look at everything good in our
world is being torn down, that’s because the instruction of fools is folly, ‘because
a fool has said in his heart there is no God.’ And I look at the trouble in our country, the
trouble around the world, there’s all kinds of
practical solutions, and many of them should be put in place. But if the hearts of men and women are not
converted, there’s no instruction that ever lasts. Just, very interesting here, our culture
embraces insanity because it says there’s no God, and then there’s no fear of
God, “the instruction of fools is folly.” On the other hand, “The heart of the wise teacheth his mouth, and addeth learning to his
lips.” (verse 23) “the heart of the wise” on the other hand,
not the brain, the heart, not the IQ, “the
heart of the wise teacheth his mouth, and addeth learning to his lips.” No one here is forbidden to enjoy the
benefits of wisdom, because it’s not talking about IQ, it’s talking about the
heart, the wise at heart. And what it’s
logging here, lifting up before us, is those who apply, it’s the application of
understanding. Wisdom is the application
of knowledge (and understanding) not just knowing, but being able to apply it,
that’s wisdom. You know, Solomon said ‘Cut the baby in half,’ knowing that the
real mom is going to say ‘No, give it to
her.’ So none of
us are precluded from being a part of this wisdom club that’s constantly being
exhorted here in the Book of Proverbs. It’s not IQ, it’s heart. [I have developed a certain understanding
about a certain person in my life, what exactly they are, and this helps me
understand why certain negative things have happened to me resulting from a
relationship with this person. But I have
not yet learned how to use this knowledge and understanding of what this person
is, graciously, without hurting this person with this knowledge of what they
are. Sometimes you can have knowledge,
but not know how to apply it. I’m still
taking this one to the Lord, asking for the wisdom of how to apply this
knowledge in the most gracious manner possible.] “Pleasant
words are as an honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones.” (verse 24) again, important to remember, as we raise kids.
Ask Yourself ‘Where’s This Path I’m On Going?’
“There is a way
that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” (verse 25) this is the second time we’ve read this. That’s always the question, where’s it going? How are you on the journey, where’s it going,
the destination? [That Rock’n Roll song
comes to mind which Pastor Joe would know too, ‘Highway To Hell!’] “There
is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” (We’re gonna finish this chapter, thought
I was going to finish 17.)
If You Don’t Work, You Don’t Eat
Look, “He that laboureth laboureth for
himself; for his mouth craveth it of him.” (verse 26) What it’s saying there is, if you don’t work,
you don’t eat. We heard Paul say that in
the Book of Thessalonians. Hunger is not
the only reason that people work, but it probably is the most universal reason
on the planet that people labour. And
sadly, we don’t know it here, but there are places around the world where
people each day didn’t get enough food for themselves for that particular
day. It’s interesting, I was watching an
interview with Benny Pakio, and if you don’t know who he is I’ll pray for
you. But I was watching an interview
with Benny Pakio, and he said when he was little he started fighting, there’s a
fight this weekend, the largest prize fight money-wise in the history of
boxing. But they have pictures of him
when he was a little kid, and he said, “We
didn’t know when we were going to eat, we’d pick through trash and garbage
every day, we didn’t know if we were going to get enough food,” and he
said, “When I was very young, I fought
and I won enough money to feed the whole family for that day.” And he said, “That was it for me, I was a fighter. If I could make enough money to feed my whole family for one day in one
fight, I was gonna fight.” And he
just talked about his beginnings, and you would never imagine the level of
poverty and the things that, and God no doubt used those things in his
life. But “He that laboureth laboureth for himself; for his mouth craveth it of
him.” (verse 26) Look, there are some people who labour because of greed, and it
already told us about the sluggard, he’s even too lazy to take his hand out and
put it to his mouth, there’s some people even though they’re hungry they don’t
work. But it says here, look, you’re the
beneficiary of it, the person that’s working, they’re labouring, look, it
benefits yourself, and even your mouth craves that of you.
Ungodly People
Ah
verses 27, 28 and 29 tell us about the ungodly man, the proud man, froward man,
and the violent man. It says “An ungodly man diggeth up evil: and in his lips there is as a burning fire.” (verse 27) here it might say “a man of belial,” “unsaved man,” “an evil man, diggeth up evil,”
that’s what he does. He digs it up, he’s
gotta get his hands on it, “and in his
lips there is as a burning fire.” (verse 27b) So
someone who doesn’t believe, they’re lost, in darkness, the ungodly man, they
dig for evil, in his lips there’s like a burning fire there, if you listen to
them. Put your fingers in your
ears. “A froward man, a proud man, an
arrogant man soweth strife: and a whisperer separateth chief friends.” (verse 28) “he soweth strife” because he’s ambitious, he only cares about himself [or
herself], “and a whisperer separateth
chief friends.” (verse 28b) you know, they
slander, something God looks down on, somebody who sows discord between
brethren God says is an abomination. “A violent man enticeth his neighbour, and
leadeth him into the way that is not
good.” (verse 29) A violent man working on his neighbour, then it tells us this about the
violent man in verse 30, “He shutteth
his eyes to devise froward things: moving his lips he bringeth evil to pass.” “he shutteth his
eyes” now remember, “he winks with
his eyes,” we talked about this a couple weeks ago. All scholars say “We have no exact idea what winking meant when Solomon wrote this, but
we know it was no good.” It’s not
like your grandpa winking at his granddaughter, that’s not what it’s talking
about. It’s saying here, ‘he’s
giving some eye-signal to devise proud things, he moves his lips to bring evil
to pass, it’s the violent man.’
‘The Hoary Head Is A Crown Of Glory’
Now,
finally I get in here. “The hoary head is a crown of glory, if it be found in the way of righteousness.” (verse 31) now by the way, a
hoary head is like hoar frost that lay there in the morning, so it’s like
frost, it could be gray, it can be white. Don’t think if you get your hair frosted you fit into this category, you
have to earn your white hair. Ok? you have to earn
it. Don’t die it away, either, it says
here it’s a crown of glory. Ah, “The hoary head is a crown of glory, if it be found in the way of righteousness.” “if” it says “it be found in the way of
righteousness.” Someone whose been around that long, someone, you know, you get
around an older person and they’re in the path of righteousness, they love the
Lord, how sweet it is sometimes, to be around someone like that. I mean, A.E. Wildersmith, when he was here,
and I got to spend five days with him, he’s one of the twelve brightest guys on
the planet they said, three earned PhD’s, Temple heard he was here, they had
him come lecture, the University of Pennsylvania heard he was here, had him
come lecture, but I got to hang out with him, and we went walking in the park
together, laughing and talking. He said “You see that tree?” He said “If you take those leaves it will help bones
heal faster.” A duck went by, he
said “You see the way a duck walks, they
walk like this?” He said “You’ll notice if a chicken goes by, they
walk vertically like this, a duck walks horizontally, that because of the way
the cerebellum is shaped,” he’s telling this whole thing, his wife is
there, they’ve been married sixty-seven years…but in all of that he talked
about God’s creation and God’s genius, he had three PhD’s and the more he
learned, the more amazed he was with God. It was so sweet to be around him, it
was so remarkable. I think about it now,
because the kids were little, I didn’t really understand who he was, I’d become
a fan, of course he’s gone on to be with the Lord a number of years ago. If you go to our app under scientists,
there’s like 33 studies by Wildersmith in there, they will blow your mind. And I think, I got
to hang out with him for a couple days. In fact I was sitting in Friendly’s with him, we’re eating ice cream, I said “Isn’t this
amazing?” he said “What?” thick British accent, I
said, “Here you are, one of the smartest
guys on the planet, and here I am, an ex-druggie from Philadelphia, and we’re
sitting here eating an ice cream together, isn’t that amazing?” he said, “Yesss, it is amazing.” Of course he said it to be funny, with his
British accent. But,
how sweet, you know, the hoary head. Chuck Smith, this would take in no-hair also, white hair, gray hair, no
hair, you know, some wisdom in ages show that way. I think of the times sitting with Chuck, and
those were highlights of my life, I got a chance to spend five days with him in
Colorado a couple years ago before he died, it was Greg and Laurel and Mike
MacIntosh and Greg Laurie, and Skip Heitzig and Don and I, there were seven of
us together, for five days we sat, we laughed, like crazy people, we talked. I’ll never forget that. Henry Morris before he died, I got a chance
to meet him. He forgot more Scripture
than I’m ever going to remember. He was
just amazing. So, ‘the hoary head, it’s a crown of
glory, if it be found in the way of righteousness.’
It’s All About Patience
“He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he that
ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city.” (verse 32) You can control your anger. The idea is here, look, cities are taken and
lost, kingdoms are taken and lost, if you have patience, it’s never taken away
because it’s an internal quality that’s the very thing that stands up to
somebody whose trying to take it away. Cities can be taken and then lost again. Kingdoms can be taken and lost. If the work of Almighty God in your life has produced a
patience and a self-control, you can’t take that away, because it’s the
very thing that makes you unable to lose it. So, “He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city.”
(verse 32) and again, you know you can control
it. You can be screaming at your wife
[or vice versa], the phone can ring and you pick it up and say [in a very nice
tone] ‘Hello.’ You know, there’s blood on the floor, your
eyeball’s over in the corner, ‘Hey, how
are you?’
What Casting Of Lots
Meant In The Old Testament
“The lot is cast
into the lap; but the whole disposing thereof is of the LORD.”
(verse 33) We get the idea of allotment from this, what
fell out to in an allotment. In the
ancient cultures sometimes it was bones, one side was painted, one side wasn’t,
sometimes they were flattened sticks, one side was painted, one side wasn’t, the priest had the urim and the thumin. When Israel divided up the Land it was by the
casting of lots. That was so respected
that even in the Book of Acts we hear that’s still being practiced. Now, look, understand this, to a Jew, casting
of lots was not throwing dice. Understand? To the Jew, it says
right here, ‘the casting of the lot, the LORD is the one whose in charge of the disposing.’ They knew, before they cast the lot, that
they had brought their hearts before the LORD, they wanted a decision, they were going to trust him the way it fell out. Wonderfully, you go to Genesis chapter 49,
50, you read about Jacob’s death, he props himself up on his deathbed…[tape ran out, sorry folks]
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