|
Proverbs
26:1-28
“As
snow in summer, and as rain in harvest, so honour is not seemly to a fool. 2 As
the bird by wandering, as the swallow by flying, so the curse causeless shall
not come. 3 A whip for the horse,
a bridle for the ass, and a rod for the fool’s back. 4 Answer
not a fool according to his folly, lest thou also be like unto him. 5 Answer
a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own conceit. 6 He
that sendeth a message by the hand of a fool cutteth off the feet, and drinketh damage. 7 The
legs of the lame are not equal: so is a parable in the mouth of fools. 8 As
he that bindeth a stone in a sling, so is he that giveth honour to a fool. 9 As a thorn goeth up into the hand
of a drunkard, so is a parable in the
mouth of fools. 10 The great God that formed all things both rewardeth the fool, and rewardeth transgressors. 11 As a dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool returneth to his folly. 12 Seest thou a man wise in his own
conceit? there is more hope of a fool
than of him. 13 The slothful man saith, There is a lion in the way; a lion is in the streets. 14 As the door turneth upon his
hinges, so doth the slothful upon his
bed. 15 The slothful hideth his hand in his bosom; it grieveth him to bring it
again to his mouth. 16 The sluggard is wiser in his own conceit than seven
men that can render a reason. 17 He that passeth by, and meddleth with strife belonging not to him, is like one that taketh a dog by the
ears. 18 As a mad man who casteth firebrands, arrows, and death, 19 so is the man that deceiveth
his neighbour, and saith, Am not I in sport? 20 Where no wood is, there the fire goeth out: so where there
is no talebearer, the strife ceaseth. 21 As coals are to burning coals, and wood to fire;
so is a contentious man to kindle
strife. 22 The words of a
talebearer [gossip] are as wounds, and they go down into the
innermost parts of the belly. 23 Burning lips and a
wicked heart are like a potsherd
covered with silver dross. 24 He that hateth
dissembleth with his lips, and layeth up deceit within him; 25 when he speaketh fair, believe
him not: for there are seven abominations in his heart. 26 Whose hatred is covered
by deceit, his wickedness shall be shewed before the whole congregation. 27 Whoso diggeth a pit
shall fall therein: and he that rolleth
a stone, it will return upon him. 28 A lying tongue hateth those that are afflicted by it; and a
flattering mouth worketh ruin.”
Introduction: About Fools, The Lazy, And The Damaging Use
Of The Tongue
“Now, chapter 26, ah,
13 verses of comparisons, we’re going to hear about the fool, hear about the
tongue, some of them very interesting here. It says “Snow in summer, and as
rain in harvest, so honour is not seemly for a fool.” (verse 1) by the way
(snow in the summer) doesn’t happen… ‘as snow in summer, rain in harvest, so
honour is not seemly, it’s not fitting, it’s not suitable for a fool.’ There are certain blessings, in the wrong
season and the wrong place, which are unsuitable. And it says ‘snow in summer,’ you
don’t want that, ‘rain in harvest,’ rain is wonderful, to have the crops come
forth, but when it rains in harvest, some crops will rot, some crops are not
gathered in, ‘so, in the same way, that things are not timely, are not seasonable,
they’re not fitting, so honour is that way, for a fool.’
Curses
Don’t Come Without Cause
“As
the bird by wandering, as the swallow by flying, so the curse causeless shall
not come.” (verse 2) by
the way, there are people that are tortured by this, the idea that somebody can
put a curse on them, the idea that some witch or some, you know, your
ancestors, ancestral sin because your grandma was a voodoo priestess and it
passed to your mom, and you inherited the cuckoo clock and you’re going to go cuckoo
too. The Bible knows none of that,
Ezekiel 18 throws all of that out the window, I would take the time to read
that on your own if you’re concerned about ancestral sin. There’s no superstition here, there’s no such
thing as a curse that comes causeless. God talks about certain judgments, chastisements that certainly
come. But it says you look at a bird
flitting about, flying, a sparrow, even a swallow, the idea is, as you just
watch that, the same thing, there’s no curse that just goes around like that
and lands on you. It doesn’t come, it
says, causeless. So, just watch those
things, walking under a ladder, I walk under ladders all the time, in fact if I
see a ladder I walk under it deliberately just to prove this is a bunch of
nonsense. Friday the 13th, my
wife was born on Friday the 13th. So some days I believe the verse, some day I don’t [loud laughter]. Friday the 13th, in the Jewish
calendar, was the 14th of Nisan, which begins at sundown, when the
angel of death went through the camp of Egypt and slaughtered all the
firstborn, and Friday the 13th was born out of that in antiquity,
which was a wonderous day for us, it’s a picture of the Saviour, ain’t no bad
luck in that. Is there? In fact, the cause of a curse coming with
reason, if you need to think about it this evening, if you don’t know Christ as
your Saviour, if you reject the Gospel, and you reject the forgiveness that God
wants to offer you through his Son Jesus Christ, the curse will come with
cause, and justifiably. So there is a
curse that comes that way. But it never
comes causeless. There isn’t any reason
for anybody in this room tonight to suffer eternally, to be cast into outer
darkness, come under the eternal curse of God’s wrath, no reason for anybody
here, because Christ paid the price in full on the cross 2,000 years ago, yea,
yours, yea you haven’t gone further than the blood of Jesus. You know Saul of Tarsus, Paul the Apostle
murdered the Church, he made people blaspheme the name of Jesus at the point of
a sword. Who would have hired him? You know, here’s a resume for a pastoral
position or apostle, murdered Christians, made them blaspheme the name of
Jesus, ah, whose gonna hire this guy? Really, you know, look. David
Burkowitz wrote to me years ago, someone in the prison ministry heard the
Bible, got to him, and all the women he had killed. But he had come to faith, he said ‘I deserve to be here for the rest of my
life,’ he said ‘I helped the chaplain
with the mentally challenged patients,’ and he said, ‘I’m going to see Jesus one day, I know my sins are forgiven.’ I guarantee you there are moms and dads, many
of them, that haven’t forgiven that man. But Christ has forgiven him. [Get
this logic, Christ had to forgive him, because Jesus said in John
6:44 ‘that no man can come to me unless the Father draws him to me.’ So if God the Father has drawn David
Burkowitz to Jesus, Jesus has to forgive him, according to that logic alone.] And the eternal curse of God will not come on
his life, because Christ paid for all those sins 2,000 years ago on the
cross. The curse will not come
causeless, but it will come certainly on those who refuse God’s forgiveness
through his Son Jesus Christ.
Fools
Are Just Not Fit For Service In The Kingdom Of God
“A
whip for the horse, a bridle for the ass, and a rod for the fool’s back.”
(verse 3) and
I know in our culture the bridle is for the horse, and the whip is for the ass
(donkey), but it was a different culture, and some of their beasts of burden
were beautiful, they were intelligent, and often ridden, so it fits in our
picture here, for those of you who are horse people and you’re completely
confused here. I just don’t want you to
get brain-freeze here in verse 3, we have to get through the rest of the
chapter, so all of you equestrians calm down. Ah, ‘the whip for the horse, the bridle for the ass, and a rod for the
fool’s back.’ Sometimes only
chastisement brings the proper response, as it has in my lifetime. Ah, I love these verses, “Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest thou also be like unto
him.” (verse 4) “Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own
conceit.” (verse 5) ‘See That’s
why you can’t trust the Bible, there are contradictions in the Bible!’ people want to do that to you. There’s
no contradiction here. “Answer not a fool according to his folly,
lest thou also be like unto him.” (verse 4) you don’t want to jump in,
don’t put the gloves on, don’t get in the ring, because you don’t want to end
up like him. So don’t answer him
according to his folly, in regards to winning an argument. But you want to answer him according to his
folly, lest he’s wise in his own conceit, and what he has to say is injurious
to others. The Talmud says, verse 4
refers to foolish comments that can be ignored, and verse 5 refers to erroneous
ideas that must be corrected. So, verse
4, foolish things that can be ignored, verse 5, foolish things that must be
corrected. And they’re in contrast to
one another that way. “He that sendeth a message by the hand of a
fool cutteth off the feet, and drinketh
damage.” (verse 6) We’re going to
talk about now for a number of verses about the fool. Look, here’s the interesting thing with the
Book of Proverbs, it says in a number of places, ‘This book is written to give
wisdom to young men, in particular, to give wisdom, that we should study this
book to receive wisdom, because it’s going to set the wise man and the fool in
contrast throughout the Book, and it says a fool is just not fit for service in
God’s Kingdom.’ The fool says in his
heart there is no God, the fool can receive no instruction, the fool is not
fit for service to the King, in his Kingdom.’ But, the idea of the Book is, we can give
ourselves to study these things, to study the wisdom of God, and be made fit
for his service, as we bring our lives in line with these things. So, to send a message by the hand of a fool,
it says a fool is not fit to be a messenger, it’s like cutting off the feet,
it’s like drinking damage (poison). “The legs of the lame are not equal: so is a parable in the mouth of fools.” (verse 7) a fool speaking a parable is
never going to accomplish what it’s supposed to do, like feet that are, legs
that are not equal in length. “As he that bindeth a stone in a sling, so is he that giveth honour to a fool.”
(verse 8) The point is, the sling
meant, it was their ICBM in those days, it was their long bow, it was meant to
sling, a hundred yards, you sling that stone around and you release one side,
the stone is in the pouch and it’s released and it immediately goes to its
target. If you bind it in the pouch, it
doesn’t make any sense, somebody who binds or sows a stone in a sling, that’s
like somebody who gives honour to a fool. It doesn’t serve any purpose, it doesn’t accomplish anything, it’s
useless, that’s what he’s saying. [Also,
the sling with the stone sown into the pouch may come around and whack the guy
whirling it in the face.] You watch the
Oscar’s on television, you see a lot of honour given to fools. As you scratch your heads, looking at it, think
of Proverbs, learn a lesson. “As a
thorn goeth up into the hand of a drunkard, so is a parable in the mouth of fools.” (verse 9) you’ll see “as”
and “so.” ‘As a drunkard leans down on a
thorn, his senses are dulled, he doesn’t realize it, so is a parable in the
mouth of a fool.’ It’s
self-injurious, it doesn’t accomplish anything, the senses are deadened, so a
parable in the mouth of a fool doesn’t mean anything, because that fool is not
taking heart to the very thing he might say that might be beneficial to someone
else, it’s like a drunk getting a thorn in his hand, because he’s drunk he
doesn’t even sense what’s really going on, and it becomes injurious [probably
to the ones listening to him].
Fools
And Transgressors Have A Reward Coming
Verse 10 is
remarkable, I’ll read it in my translation, and if there’s six different
translations here tonight they’re probably all different. “The great God that formed
all things both rewardeth the fool,
and rewardeth transgressors.” (verse 10) It is the most obscure sentence in the Book of
Proverbs, of all the Proverbs it’s the most obscure. The Hebrew, you read it, it literally doesn’t
make any sense. Most of your translations
say “the Archer” there, because it’s very close for the Hebrew
word that can mean God or Master, it’s very close to Ya in some ways. So if you translate it “Archer” you’re
talking about it in the sense of being “a Commander.” Ah, you read the targums, and it talks about
somebody going to the other side of the sea, it’s even more confusing than
anything Kyle and Delage, respected Hebrew scholars say, they like the idea
that it says “the Creator” here or “the Great God.” They think very much that the best you can do
with the verse is, “The Great God that formed all things, that one day he’ll recompense
both the fool and transgressors.” You know, you don’t have to spend, as you read through these verses, an excess
amount of time worrying about injustice in regards to fools and
transgressors. I probably like John
Nelson Darby’s translation, now if you’re a pre-tribulationist in regards to
the Rapture, you hear all of this nonsense about John Nelson Darby and Margaret
McDonald. John Nelson Darby wrote down
his eschatology before Margaret McDonald ever opened her mouth. And the people that are reformed in their
theology, are brothers, wonderful people, but don’t have our same prophetic
belief [that we do in the Calvary Chapels], they will when the Trumpet
blows. [see http://www.unityinchrist.com/Prophets_Prophecy.html] They kind of make fun of John Nelson Darby
like he’s a hick or something. He was a
genius. And he translated the New
Testament from the Greek and the five different languages, from the Greek into languages
he was translating into, and he translated the entire Bible, Hebrew and Greek,
into French, German and English. He was
a genius. His translation of this verse
is “A
master roughly worketh everyone, he hireth the fool and he hireth the
passerby.” Does that clear
everything up? The idea is, God’s the
Master, he can roughly work anybody whose under his hand, whether it’s the fool
or the person whose passing by. He tries
to give the idea, that’s why they translate it this way in the King James, “The great God who formed all things both rewardeth the fool, and rewardeth transgressors.” (verse 10) you know, he’s like a rough employer, he can
properly pay anybody, payback, justly what he wants to. I don’t know if I felt anybody in this room
or listening to the tape, coming up with different ideas got this, just go back
to the first idea, this is the most obscure verse in the Book of Proverbs. And Solomon should have made it easier for
us, seeing how wise he was. “As a dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool returneth to his folly.”
(verse 11) [Pastor Joe missed this
one, or he ignored it on purpose, not sure which. But obviously this applies to fools as well. Fools just can’t stop being fools, not
without God’s help.]
There’s
Somebody Worse Than A Fool
“Seest
thou a man wise in his own conceit? there is more hope of a fool than of
him.” (verse 12) So, eleven verses about fools and what’s wrong with fools, and he ends
this section in verse 12 by saying, ‘but there’s somebody worse than a fool.’ “Seest
thou a man whose wise in his own conceit? there is more hope of a fool
than of him.” Somebody who encastles
himself, Bridges says, he encastles himself in his own knowledge, his own
opinion, truth abides with him, that
kind of person is always right, they’re never wrong, they never lose an
argument, if anybody accuses them, says anything about them, they’re all wrong,
that kind of person, a man whose wise in his own conceit, in his own mind, so
the idea is, his own conceit, because it’s his own thoughts, there’s more hope
for a fool. All those verses we just went
through about a fool, there’s more hope for a fool than there is for that man. Interesting verse.
The
Slothful, Lazy Person
“The
slothful man saith, There is a lion in the way; a lion is in the streets.” (verse 13) ‘There’s
a lion in the streets,’ the idea is, ‘I can’t go to work, I can’t go
out, I saw on the news, there’s a lion in the streets,’no, the lions
were in the wilderness, they weren’t walking down the street. ‘There’s a lion in the street, I can’t go,
there’s a tornado coming, what if I go out and I get sucked up? There’s an electrical storm, what if I get
hit on the head with lightning?’ The sluggard’s always looking for an excuse, ‘They sighted UFOs, I’m not going out.’ ‘The slothful man says there’s a lion in the
way,’ or ‘There’s a lion in the street.’ “As a door turneth upon his hinges, so doth the slothful upon his bed.” (verse
14) He’s like a door, turning on its
hinges, lots of motion, no progress, ‘like a door turning on its hinges, so doth
the slothful man upon his bed.’ And you know when you roll over in the morning, the bed’s going squeak, hopefully remind you of the
hinges, make you get out of bed. As the
door turning on its hinges, lots of motion, no progress, is the slothful man.
He’s so bad, now, I can be slothful sometimes, but me and the slothful man part
ways here, “The slothful hideth his hand
in his bosom; it grieveth him to
bring it again to his mouth.” (verse 15) it’s too difficult for him to
bring it out and bring it to his mouth, he’s so lazy he doesn’t even want to
pick up the burger and eat. We part ways
there, no matter how lazy I am, I’m picking up the burger, you know, I’m
putting it to my mouth, is where we part ways. This is really bad, this is a lazy guy. No wonder he’s got a brawling wife. “The sluggard is wiser in his own conceit than seven
men that can render a reason.” (verse 16) he’s always got a reason, ‘I
try to get to work on time, I tried to do this,’ ‘the sluggard is wiser in his own conceit than seven men can render up
a reason.’
Meddling
With Strife Not Belonging To You Is Dangerous
I like verse 17, “He that passeth by, and meddleth with strife belonging not to him, is like one that taketh a dog by the
ears.” now just don’t ever meddle. Look it up in the dictionary if you’re not sure. “He
that passeth by, and meddleth with
strife belonging not to him, is like one that taketh a dog by the ears.” If you’re not sure of what this Proverb
means, next time you see a fairly large, strange dog, grab him by his ears, and
pull like this [laughter], and this proverbs will come to life. You’re gonna get bit. And it says somebody that meddles with, you
stick your nose in somebody else’s business, somebody whose passing by, then
gets involved with strife, meddles with it, and that’s a strife that doesn’t
belong to him, it’s like someone taking hold of a dog by the ears. Ah, look, we’re going to go down to verse 28,
about the tongue now. This is not saying
this, if you see someone in trouble, in a problem, it’s not saying we should
always step aside and never involve yourself. Jesus said ‘Blessed are the peacemakers.’ If you see a brother overtaken in a fault, in the spirit of meekness,
restore such a one. And again, restoring
a broken bone takes six to eight weeks. What this is saying, if you see someone, something going on, don’t be a
busybody, don’t stick your nose into a bad situation, it might get broke, by
the way. If you’re meddling with
something that doesn’t involve you, step back, and think ‘You’re taking a dog by the ears, you’re gonna get bit.’ Sometimes even when you see someone in a
situation, and you want to be the peacemaker, to involve yourself immediately
is like putting fuel in the fire, sometimes you got to step back and say, ‘I’m gonna wait a couple weeks, I’m gonna
wait till next Spring till all of this settles down, then my desire to salvage
the situation or to bring peace, it’s gonna work easier than it’s gonna work
right now when everybody’s emotions are flying,’ step away from that. Again, Chuck Smith, my pastor one time when I
asked him, it turned into a sermon, I said “Chuck,
what’s the difference, you’ve been in ministry for over 50 years now, between
your attitude now and 50 years ago when you were a young pastor.” He said, “You
know, when I was a young pastor,” he
said, “I got to the scene of the accident
as the arresting officer, I was the policeman. I measured the skid marks, I wanted to see everybody’s license, owners
cards, I wanted to determine whose fault it was.” He said, “After 50 years in ministry, I get to the scene as the paramedic, I
just want to preserve life. I don’t care
anymore whose fault it was. How can we
save life?” So sometimes we get to a
situation like that, and if it is really your heart’s desire to preserve, to
save life, to salvage, then it’s a question of being wise as serpents,
sometimes just because of the emotion and the heat of the moment, it’s better
to step away, let it blow up, let it burn out, and then you get in there, and
you can be productive sometimes. But if
it’s just something that doesn’t involve you, it’s insanity, it’s stupid stuff,
don’t put the gloves on, don’t get in the ring, don’t meddle with it, don’t
find the dog, don’t pull his ears.
Damaging
Use Of The Tongue
Verses
18-19 say, “As a
mad man who casteth firebrands, arrows,
and death, so is the man that deceiveth his neighbour, and saith,
Am not I in sport?” This is an insane person, somebody crazy with a weapon,
so is the man that deceiveth his neighbour and then says ‘Oh, I was just kidding.’ You appreciate a neighbour that does that to you. Right? They mess with you, they lie to you, they gossip, they do something, and
then their excuse is ‘Oh, you heard
that? I was just kidding, I was just
messing with you,’ you were messing with me and I don’t appreciate it. When
you think about that person, “Where no
wood is, there the fire goeth
out: so where there is no talebearer, the strife ceaseth.” (verse 20) you know what a talebearer is, that’s not the
dog with the ears, it’s a different kind of tale being borne. ‘Where there is no talebearer, no gossip,
big mouth, strife ceases.’ It’s
telling us here, look, somebody who does this, and understand in your own life,
if you’re not in sexual sin, and I can talk to pastors and leaders, if you’re
not doing anything to disqualify you from ministry, outside of the pulpit, you
want to serve the Lord, you’re living upright, you’re doing your best. If Satan can’t find an angle on you because
you’re living the way you’re supposed to live, the way he’s going to come is
this way, through the tongue [and boy am I experiencing that right now]. The tongue is set on fire of hell, James
tells us, and it’s going to come through accusations. They [the religious leaders of his day] said
Jesus was a glutton and a drunkard. Ok? We know this, if you were
perfect, they’d crucify you. So if
you’re not compromising, the way the enemy comes is through the tongue, it’s
just going to happen. So, it says a
talebearer, that kind of person is incendiary, they start fires, they’re not
good for anybody. Don’t hang around with
them, don’t mess with them, pray for them, love them, don’t pull their ears,
stay away from them. Because there’s
people, they just won’t let something alone. Now it says, “As coals are to burning coals, and wood to fire; so is a contentious man [or woman] to kindle strife.” (verse 21) we’re still burning here. Now this is a different man [or woman], “so is a contentious man to kindle strife.” So the first man [or woman] is a talebearer,
may not be discovered [i.e. you don’t know whose doing it, it’s behind your
back], the second man is contentious, his mischief is more open, it’s out in
the open to be seen, but he also it says, is like coals, burning coals,
stirring up coals or wood to the fire, so is a contentious man. Some people, their favorite indoor sport is
to find a good argument. Verse 22 then says, “The words of a talebearer are as wounds, and they go down into the
innermost parts of the belly.” Now,
the words of the talebearer, coming back, which are the most hurtful, it’s
being specific now, “The words of a
talebearer are as wounds, and they go
down into the innermost parts of the belly.” It isn’t just the LORD wants to deal with the talebearer, the LORD has a great heart. He says if ‘you
cause one of these little ones to stumble, it is better to have a millstone
tied around your neck and to be thrown into the deepest part of the ocean.’ Because things are said to children as they’re
growing up, that will ride on their backs for the rest of their lives,
sometimes. What comes out of our mouths,
as adults about other adults, can be very painful. I can react the wrong way. Sometimes I look at the pastoral setting, you
know we’re pastors, but you know what, we’re still human beings. I’m a husband, I’m a father, a grandfather, I
have feelings, I’m a man like every other man. But there’s a gift and calling in my life, but I have feelings, and
sometimes through the years, it’s been this, I look at Cathy and say “I don’t know if I want to do this for 15
more years.” I’m not quitting, don’t
everybody…I’m in there, I’m in, I’m all in, I may have a bloody mouth and
bloody nose, but I’m in, don’t worry about it, I’m in. But the idea is, those things can hurt so
deeply. And when God writes this, it’s
not just his concern for the person whose in error, the talebearer, I think
there’s great concern God has for his own children. And for us to realize, the pain that can be
caused, you know these wounds, the words of a talebearer, they are as wounds,
they leave scars, and they can go down to the deepest part, the belly, those
visceral, the deepest part of the human being. Verse
23, more about the tongue, “Burning
lips and a wicked heart are like a
potsherd covered with silver dross.” Burning lips, sounds like a Country Western song to me, Burnin’
Lips. Now, “burning lips and a wicked heart,” what it’s saying is, it seems to
be saying, ‘smooth talk is coming out of the mouth, but there’s a wicked heart
underneath, because what it’s like is pottery that is silver-coated.’ The silver-coating is the mouth, the pottery
underneath is the heart that’s not genuine. Look, burning lips, smooth talk, complementary, people that are
buttering you up, and a wicked heart, that combination of things, he says, is
like a potsherd, piece of broken pottery that’s covered with silver dross, it’s
deceiving, the outside looks much different than what it really is. We are told in chapter 10, it tells us this, “The
tongue of the just is as choice silver,’ the tongue of the just, it’s not
pottery underneath, it’s not deceptive like a piece of broken pottery covered
with silver made to look like something it’s not. The tongue of the just, it says, is like
choice silver, it’s healthy, it does good things. Here, burning lips in the sense of flattery,
smooth talk, and underneath of that a wicked heart, that’s like a piece of
broken pottery that’s covered with silver, it gives an impression that really
isn’t there. “He that hateth dissembleth with his lips, and layeth up deceit with
him;” so here’s the recommendation, “when he speaketh fair, believe him not: for there are seven
abominations in his heart.” (verses 24-25) when he’s saying nice things, fair, he’s complementing you, “believe him not: for there
are seven abominations in his heart.” His tongue may be silver-coated, but something’s cooking
underneath. It describes him now, “Whose hatred is covered by deceit, his wickedness shall be shewed before the whole congregation.” (verse 26) It all comes out in the end. And of course, look, the problem for a liar
and deceiver is this, you have to remember every lie and every deceptive thing
you say, because then somebody else is going to say ‘I thought you said this,’ and you say ‘No, no, I didn’t say that.’ ‘ya you did,’ ‘no I didn’t say that, I meant this,’ and
once you start lying, you have to remember every single lie you’ve ever told to
try to stay above board and float. If
you just tell the truth, like me, you can be fat, dumb and happy, and you don’t
have to remember nothing. If you just
tell him the truth you’ve got nothing to hide, people are going to get you
anyway, but on your side you’ve got nothing to cover up, which is a wonderful
thing. But he says look out for this
person, silver-tongued, he’s like, underneath his heart isn’t right, he’s like
a broken piece of pottery covered with silver, he hateth, he’s going to reveal
himself with his lips, he’s laying in deceit, so when he speaks fair words,
don’t believe him, he’s buttering you up, he’s using you for some reason for something
he wants, for there are seven abominations in his heart, “Whose hatred is covered by
deceit, his wickedness shall be shewed before the whole congregation.” (verse 26) God is going to deal, God is gracious, and he’ll even be gracious to
that person more than any of us would, and God will deal with it [cf. Proverbs
24:29b he’ll administer perfect justice, so that mercy may come to that person
in the end]. “Whoso diggeth a pit shall fall therein: and he that rolleth a stone, it will return
upon him.” (verse 27) which is a reflection of what he said in the verse
before. Look, we have the story of
Balaam, trying to curse the children of Israel, he fell into his own pit, we
have Haman hung on his own gallows, we have the story of Daniel, and the men
trying under Darius, trying to catch Daniel praying and then Daniel ends up of
course, thrown in the lion’s den, and it ends up that the men then that accused
him are thrown in the next day, and they are, their bones are broken before
they hit the ground. He who digs a pit,
the idea is, to destroy others, he himself is going to fall in it, he that
rolls a stone it will return upon him. “A lying tongue hateth those that are afflicted by it; and a flattering mouth worketh
ruin.” (verse 28) Pretty serious, “A lying tongue hateth those that are afflicted by it; and a flattering mouth worketh
ruin.” a flattering mouth worketh ruin, that’s the old serpent, that’s the
old serpent. ‘Hath not God said, he knows in
the day you eat thereof, you shall be like God.’ It’s saying now, be careful, there is
somebody behind the scene, whose an adversary, an invisible enemy who works,
and it says in front of that, the flattering mouth, it works ruin.
|
