Proverbs chapter 3, verses 13 to 35.
Blessed is the one who finds wisdom, and the one who gets understanding.
For the gain from her is better than gain from silver, and her profit better than gold.
She is more precious than jewels, and nothing you desire can compare with her.
Long life is in her right hand. In her left hand are riches and honor.
Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace.
She is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her.
Those who hold her fast are called blessed.
The Lord, by wisdom, founded the earth.
By understanding, he established the heavens.
By his knowledge, the deeps broke open, and the clouds dropped down the dew.
My son, do not lose sight of these.
Keep sound wisdom and discretion, and they will be life for your soul and adornment for your neck.
Then you will walk on your way securely, and your foot will not stumble.
If you lie down, you will not be afraid.
When you lie down, your sleep will be sweet.
Do not be afraid of sudden terror, or of the ruin of the wicked when it comes.
For the Lord will be your confidence, and will keep your foot from being caught.
Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it.
Do not say to your neighbor, go and come again.
Tomorrow I will give it, when you have it with you.
Do not plan evil against your neighbor, who dwells trustingly beside you.
Do not contend with a man for no reason, when he has done you no harm.
Do not envy a man of violence, and do not choose any of his ways.
For the devious person is an abomination to the Lord, but the upright are in his confidence.
The Lord's curse is on the house of the wicked, but he blesses the dwelling of the righteous.
Toward the scorners he is scornful, but to the humble he gives favor.
The wise will inherit honor, but fools get disgrace.
This is God's holy and authoritative word.
The main point of this passage, as I unpack it, you'll see is that we should humbly confide in God's grace,
rather than pridefully contend for self-advancement among our neighbors.
It's about cultivating trust in God that enables us to live as good neighbors, doing good works in our world.
First, in verses 13 to 26, it talks about the value of wisdom.
And then in the following verses, verses 27 to 35, it talks about the virtues of wisdom.
Why wisdom is necessary, and what wisdom looks like.
That's the first, the division of this passage.
Let's look at the value of wisdom to begin.
Verses 13 to 16 really is, well, 13 to 26 actually is an introduction to the lesson that comes in verses 27 to 35.
And here he talks about the value of wisdom to tell us to treasure it.
And it's further subdivided into three parts, so you can see it.
Verses 13 to 18, it tells us about the value of wisdom to man.
Verse 13 begins, blessed is the one who finds wisdom.
That's literally, blessed is the man who finds wisdom.
The Hebrew word for man that's used here is Adam.
That's where we get the name Adam.
Then verses 19 to 20 tell us about the value of wisdom to God.
Verse 19 says, the Lord by wisdom founded the earth.
Value of wisdom to man, value of wisdom to God.
And then finally in verses 21 to 26, it tells us about the value of wisdom to us.
It exhorts us to value wisdom and to cherish it and to keep it.
It says in verse 21, my son, do not lose sight of these.
Keep sound wisdom and discretion.
It's using the figure of the son to refer to all of God's people.
So first, it tells us the value of wisdom to man.
Verses 13 to 18.
This subsection begins and ends with the word blessed, as you can see.
Verse 13 says, blessed is the one who finds wisdom and the one who gets understanding.
And then verse 18 ends that subsection by saying, those who hold her fast are called blessed.
Those who walk in wisdom are blessed.
The word blessed means happy in Hebrew.
Those who walk according to the wisdom of God are happy.
Sometimes Christians say this kind of thing.
God wants you to be holy, not happy.
God's design for your marriage is holiness, not happiness.
How many of you guys have heard that?
It's a common phrase.
It's partly true, but it could be misleading.
Because yes, God wants you to be holy, but only a holy life is truly a happy life.
The 17th century English pastor, Thomas Brooks, wrote a book entitled, Holiness, The Only Way to Happiness.
And in it, he writes, quote, holiness differs nothing from happiness but in name.
Holiness is happiness in the bud, and happiness is holiness at the full.
Happiness is nothing but the quintessence of holiness.
That's the case because happiness, as defined not by the fleeting pleasures of this world,
but true happiness in the Lord, that comes from holiness.
God doesn't want your life to be a drudgery, to be boring, to be burdensome.
God wants you to be truly happy in him.
And if we believe that, then we would pursue holiness.
I think we'd be a little more excited and zealous in our pursuit of holiness,
because that's where we find true fulfillment.
That's when we are experiencing life to the full, when we're living optimally.
It's when we seek God and pursue his holiness, set apart for him.
Verses 14 to 15 tell us why the wise life is the happy life.
For the gain from her is better than gain from silver,
and her profit better than gold.
She is more precious than jewels, and nothing you desire can compare with her.
The word gain refers to profitability,
and the word precious refers to rarity, to scarcity.
The wisdom of God is something that should be prized above all else,
because it's profitable and rare.
Whatever it is that you desire,
maybe your dream car, or a dream house,
or a dream job, or a dream spouse,
or a dream vacation,
nothing you desire can compare with God's wisdom.
Wisdom is better riches than having billions of dollars.
Wisdom is a rarer treasure than the rarest diamonds.
And that's why we should be consumed with finding it,
and keeping it.
Verses 16 to 17 continue this reason,
Long life is in her right hand,
in her left hand are riches and honor.
Her ways are ways of pleasantness,
and all her paths are peace.
We should seek wisdom because it grants long life on the one hand,
and riches and honor on the other.
It's important to note that this is the reward of wisdom.
It's the byproduct of living wisely.
It's not the goal of life.
It's not the end.
When Solomon, the primary author of Proverbs,
first became a king of Israel,
God asked him in 1 Kings 3, verses 5 to 14,
he appeared to Solomon in a dream,
and God asked him,
What do you want?
Ask me what I shall give you.
And then Solomon replied this way,
He said,
Give your servant an understanding mind
to govern your people,
that I may discern between good and evil,
for who is able to govern this,
your great people.
It pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this,
and God said to him,
Because you have asked this,
and have not asked for yourself long life,
or riches,
or the life of your enemies,
but have asked for yourself understanding
to discern what is right,
behold, I now do according to your word.
Behold, I give you a wise and discerning mind.
I give you also what you have not asked,
both riches and honor.
And if you will walk in my ways,
keeping my statutes and my commandments,
as your father David walked,
then I will lengthen your days.
You guys see the parallel there.
Solomon is the author,
the principal author of Proverbs,
and he is writing about how
living according to God's will,
his wisdom grants long life,
and riches,
and honor.
But this is the general code
that God has embedded into our universe.
It generally produces long life,
riches, and honor,
as opposed to living a life of sin,
and crime,
and foolishness.
But Proverbs does admit exceptions,
because we live in a broken,
sinful, upside-down world
that frequently subverts
God's good purposes.
But this is the general promise.
But it's not something
that you should live for.
You shouldn't live to get rich.
You shouldn't live merely
for the sake of living longer.
That's foolishness.
And the Bible explicitly
challenges desiring to be rich.
1 Timothy 6, 9-10
tells us not to desire to be rich,
because that leads us
to ruin and destruction.
Rather, the long life
and the riches and honor
that's promised here
is the byproduct.
It's the reward of living wisely,
which is what we should seek,
regardless of the outcome.
But this wisdom of God
promises more than just health
and wealth in this life.
Verse 18 says,
She is a tree of life
to those who lay hold of her.
Those who hold her fast
are called blessed.
The tree of life
is a symbol of vitality and healing.
It's even a symbol
of eternal life in Scripture.
In Genesis 3,
verse 22-24,
after Adam and Eve
sin against God
and by taking from
the tree of knowledge
of good and evil,
God expels them
from the Garden of Eden.
Lest they, it says,
take also of the tree of life
and eat and live forever.
And so,
in light of that,
the promise of long life
and riches and honor
in the Old Testament,
it gets transposed
to a higher key
in the New Testament.
It's the same song,
but it's in a new key
because the promise
of long life
gets transposed
to the promise
of eternal life
and the promise of riches
is transposed
to our heavenly riches
because those were,
in fact,
the ultimate realities
that our temporal blessings
like long life
and riches
were supposed to point to.
I'll elaborate on that,
how God promises
those things,
eternal life
and eternal heavenly riches
later.
But for now,
we see in verses 13-18,
this is why the wisdom
of God is valuable.
It's valuable to man.
It's valuable to humanity.
Next, in verses 19-20,
we see the value of wisdom
to God.
It says,
The Lord,
by wisdom,
founded the earth.
By understanding,
He established the heavens.
By His knowledge,
the deeps broke open
and the clouds
dropped down the dew.
We see two pairs
of merisms here.
Merism is a literary device
where you refer to
two extremities
of a spectrum
in order to refer
to the whole thing,
the whole range.
So, for example,
when we say,
Go search high and low,
we don't mean
just search the high places
and low places
and ignore everything
in the middle.
We mean search everything,
right?
Search high and low.
Similarly,
when we say,
everyone,
when we invite people
and say,
you know,
young and old
are both welcome,
we don't mean
only the old people
and children can come.
We mean everyone can come,
right?
That's Samarism.
So here,
it talks about that.
It says,
The Lord,
by wisdom,
founded the earth.
By understanding,
He established the heavens.
That means He created everything,
all of creation.
He created,
by what?
By this wisdom
that He is holding out
to us,
this wisdom of God.
Similarly,
when it's,
the next one
is also a kind of
merism,
because it says,
By His knowledge,
the deeps broke open
and the clouds
dropped down the dew.
The deeps
is a reference
to the primordial waters
that were there
at the beginning
of God's creation
when it was still,
the world was still
formless and empty.
Genesis 1, 2
describes it this way.
It says that
earth was without
form and void
and darkness
was over the face
of the deep
and the Spirit of God
was hovering over
the face of the waters.
This is before
He divides,
before He forms
and fills
the world,
there's this
watery chaos
that He's created.
And then,
now from that,
later in Genesis 1,
verse 68,
He separates the waters,
separating,
creating an expanse
with water above,
the clouds
and the water below,
the oceans.
He breaks open
the deep.
He separates it.
So that's kind of
what's in view.
How did God do that?
The water below,
water above,
all of it He established,
found it,
separated,
formed by His wisdom.
This wisdom
that the author
of Proverbs
is offering to us.
Physicists, right,
dream about
what it would be like
to pick the brains
of Isaac Newton
or Albert Einstein
if you could have
coffee with them.
Right?
People who study literature
dream about
getting coffee
with Shakespeare.
What would it be like
if I could talk to him?
But that's nothing
compared to
the glimpse
that we're getting here
into God's wisdom.
What if you could have
access
to the divine wisdom
by which God
founded the earth,
established the heavens,
and broke open
the deeps?
If we want to know
how we ought to live,
should we not learn
from the author
of life itself,
the source of all wisdom?
That's the value
of wisdom for God.
All the more
than we should recognize
the value of wisdom
for ourselves.
Verses 21 to 22
exhort us,
my son,
do not lose sight
of these.
Keep sound wisdom
and discretion
and they will be
life for your soul
and adornment
for your neck.
There is an escalation
or a progression
in the verbs
that I use
to describe
the urgent value
of wisdom.
So if you look
at verse 13,
it begins by using
verbs of discovery.
It says,
we ought to find wisdom
and get understanding.
Verse 18 uses verbs
of acquisition,
grabbing hold,
saying that we ought
to lay hold
of wisdom
and hold fast to it.
And now verse 21
uses verbs
of retention.
The phrase,
do not lose sight
in Hebrew
is literally,
keep wisdom
from departing
from your eyes.
It means,
keep it in front of you.
Don't lose sight of it.
Guard it and watch it
and hold on to it.
It's matched by the verb
keep.
Keep sound wisdom
and discretion.
The progression,
that's how we are
to seek and guard wisdom.
There is no passivity
in any stage.
Those who lack wisdom
should seek it earnestly.
Those who have found wisdom
should lay hold of it eagerly.
And those who have wisdom
should keep it jealously.
You don't find
precious jewels
just rolling about
on the street.
When you have
a precious jewel,
you don't wrap it
with a piece of use
napkin.
Keep it on the countertop.
You don't get lost
or stolen.
It doesn't just stay there.
Likewise,
the precious wisdom
must be found,
grasped,
and guarded
as we live our lives.
And when we do that,
it says in verse 22,
wisdom and discretion
will be life
for your soul
and adornment
for your neck.
The Hebrew word
that's translated here
as soul
also means neck.
It's a different word
for neck
than the one that's used
in the next phrase.
But it's,
nevertheless,
means neck.
The reason why
soul and neck
get kind of used
in the same way
is because
a lot of people,
the way commonly
you perceive it
is that there's life,
there's breath
in your neck,
in your throat.
If someone chokes,
they die.
And so,
that's why
that word is used,
neck is used figurative
to refer to soul.
And so,
with that in mind,
there's a tight parallelism
in that verse,
verse 22.
Wisdom and discretion
will be life
for your soul
and adornment
for your neck.
Wisdom both preserves
the life
inside your neck
and adorns
the outside
of your neck.
In chapter 1,
verse 9,
we are told
that the father's
instruction
and mother's teaching
are pendants
of your neck.
The adornment
of the neck
is often connected
in the ancient world
to status,
to investing
of authority.
It refers
to a position.
honor.
And so,
then,
wisdom being
life for our necks
and adornment
for our necks
is another way
of phrasing
verse 16,
which said,
long life
is in her right hand
and in her left hand
are riches
and honor.
These two things
come to those
who cherish wisdom.
If we find,
grasp,
and guard wisdom,
it will preserve
and adorn
our lives.
Then,
verses 23 to 24
continue,
you will walk
on your way
securely
and your foot
will not stumble.
If you lie down,
you will not be afraid.
When you lie down,
your sleep
will be sweet.
When you walk
and when you lie down
is another
merism.
It means whether
you are working
or resting,
whether you are
out and about
or you're staying
at home,
there will be
no need for you
to fear anything
because God's wisdom
will secure you,
keep you safe.
you can think
about it this way.
It's the people
who run red lights
that are always
nervously looking around
to make sure
there's no police
officers.
It's the people
who slander
or gossip
their friends
and neighbors
that are always
suspecting
their own friends
and neighbors
thinking,
oh man,
I think this person
is going to
backstab me
or talk about
me behind my back.
It's the people
who lie
and promote
a false image
of themselves
that are always
insecure
about themselves.
They live in fear
of being exposed.
Only people
who have integrity
live without fear.
Only people
with integrity
live fearlessly
and freely.
Only people
who walk in wisdom
live securely,
knowing that
their foot
will not stumble.
Only they
can lie down
and not be afraid
and sleep soundly
without fear
and worry.
Similar to what
God says,
what the psalmist
says in Psalm 4
verse 8,
In peace
I will both
lie down
and sleep
for you alone,
oh Lord,
make me dwell
in safety.
The wise
walk securely
and sleep
soundly.
Verses 25
to 26
continue this theme.
Do not be afraid
of sudden terror
or of the ruin
of the wicked
when it comes.
For the Lord
will be your confidence
and will keep
your foot
from being caught.
Do not be afraid.
This is a command.
God commands
that we not be afraid
of a sudden terror
or of the ruin
of the wicked
thinking that,
oh man,
that's going to happen
to me too.
Why?
Because it says
God will be
your confidence.
Literally that phrase
is God will be
at your loin.
God will be
at your side
to keep your foot
from being caught.
The command
not to be afraid
is the flip side
of the command
to trust the Lord
in verse 5
earlier in this chapter
because if you live
according to the wisdom
of God,
then God is walking
by your side.
He has your back.
It's in some ways
insulting to his power
and authority
for us to be afraid.
My younger daughter
is terrified of dogs.
So when we're walking
through Twin City Plaza,
the park,
the Gold Star Mothers Park,
on our way to
our church meeting space,
there's almost always dogs.
And there's almost
always dogs
that are not leashed,
not following
the time guidelines
that are there.
And so what happens
when a dog
that's not well trained
and starts to approach
as is,
she will usually
grab hold of my leg
and hide behind me.
And usually I will
let her climb up
onto me
and I'll hold her
and I'll tell her,
you don't have to be afraid
because I'm with you.
Unless it's a really big dog
and I'm afraid.
That's essentially
what God our Father
does with us.
Do not be afraid.
Don't be afraid
of sudden terror
because it's not
sudden to me.
God is sovereign.
He sees everything.
Time is in His hands.
Do not be afraid.
Not a single person
in the universe
dies outside
of God's sovereign rule.
Even in the middle
of a pandemic.
And not a single Christian
should fear death
because it's a portal
to eternal life
at our Father's land.
in our home.
If we live
with faith in God,
we don't need to fear
ultimate,
eternal destruction
that will face
every wicked,
every wicked person
who rebels against God
without putting
their faith in Jesus.
We'll be saved
from that.
We'll not be met
with the faith
of the wicked.
So then are you
humbly
confiding in God?
Are you walking
in faith?
Are you trusting Him?
Or is your life
characterized by fear
and anxiety,
restlessness,
disturbed sleep?
Do you trust
in the Lord
or are you
leaning
on your own
understanding?
We should humbly
confide in God's grace,
His protection,
rather than
pridefully contending
for our
self-advancement,
for self-protection,
self-righteousness.
that's the value
of wisdom.
Having taught us
about the value
of wisdom,
the author transitions
to extolling the virtues
of wisdom in verses
27 to 35.
This is what wisdom
looks like.
And it looks like,
not at all surprisingly,
it looks like obeying
the greatest commandment.
The greatest commandment
Jesus gave in Matthew 22
verses 37 to 40.
You shall love the Lord
your God with all your heart
and with all your soul
and with all your mind.
This is the great
and first commandment.
And the second is like it.
You shall love your neighbor
as yourself.
On these two commandments
depend all the law
and the prophets.
In the first 12 verses
of this chapter,
the sage exhorted us
to trust in the Lord
with all of our heart.
That's what it looks like
to love the Lord,
to pledge allegiance
to the Lord
with all of our heart.
And in the second half
of this chapter,
the sage exhorts us
to love our neighbor
as ourselves.
Our love for God
flows into our love
for neighbors.
Our trust in God
produces good works
toward our neighbors.
The two are
inseparably intertwined
because if we don't trust God
to attend to our good,
we will selfishly protect
and secure our own good
at the expense
of our neighbors.
It says in verses 27 to 28,
Do not withhold good
from those to whom
it is due
when it is in your power
to do it.
Do not say to your neighbor,
Go and come again tomorrow.
I will give it tomorrow.
When you have it with you.
Depending on which
English translation
of the Bible you are using,
you may or may not
have a footnote
at the end of the first clause
in verse 27.
In the ESV,
the English Standard Version,
there's a footnote
that says,
Hebrew,
Do not withhold good
from its owners.
That's the literal meaning
of the clause.
Do not withhold good
from those to whom
it is due.
This verse is speaking
of some kind of tangible good
that is owned by a person,
another person,
or due to that person.
You are not to withhold
such things from them.
So what exactly does that mean,
to withhold good
from its owners?
Why do I have it
if it's theirs?
Yes.
This prohibition
is a classic example.
It's the most common example
used to refer to
oppression or injustice,
social injustice in Scripture.
It's when you withhold wage
from a day laborer.
So for example,
in Leviticus chapter 19
verses 9 to 18,
which is the original context
in which this command
to love your neighbor
as yourself is given,
it gives you a list
of illustrations or examples
of how that should play out.
What your love
for your neighbor
should look like.
And one of those illustrations
is in verse 18
of Leviticus chapter 19.
It says,
You shall not oppress
your neighbor
or rob him.
The wages of a hired worker
shall not remain with you
all night
until the morning.
The same issue
that James talks about
in the New Testament.
In the ancient world,
day laborers
were very common.
They belonged to
some of the poorest
class of people.
And what would they do?
They would get hired
for just the day of labor
to go and work the field
for the landowner.
And at the end of the day,
they will be compensated
for the work
that they did that day.
And for many of these people,
because they were poor,
that day's wage
was their daily bread.
They didn't get it.
They don't eat that day.
But they were also easy
to take advantage of.
It's easy for the landowner
to say,
Oh, well,
I don't think you did the work
in a satisfactory way.
I saw you taking a break
a little too many times.
Because they didn't pay it up front.
It was easy for the landowner
to say,
Well, you know,
I'm not sure where
I placed the money.
I will have this money
for you tomorrow.
hoping that maybe
they won't come back.
That's kind of how
rebates work, isn't it?
They bait you in saying,
Oh, here,
we'll give you this rebate
if you buy this thing.
Hope, knowing fully
that the vast majority of people
will never claim the rebate.
But that was very oppressive
because even if they have
these poor day laborers,
even if they had legal recourse,
that would come days later.
They go hungry.
And God harped on that,
said,
Don't ever withhold
the wage of a day laborer.
Give it to him.
And so don't say,
Go and come again.
Tomorrow I will give it.
He's talking about
that kind of thing.
So he's saying,
basically in general,
the principle is this.
Treat people fairly.
Don't defraud people.
Give people what is due to them.
What is owed to them.
Don't withhold good from them
if it is in your power to do it.
And I think this classic case,
because it is, I think,
representative of the kind of love
that we are to show to our neighbor.
And Jesus further illustrates that
in his command to love your neighbor
as yourself
with the parable of the Good Samaritan
that he tells us in Luke 10, 29 to 37.
And there he tells us that a neighbor
is whomever we come across
in our day-to-day life,
whomever we come across
that has a need
that we can meet.
Don't withhold that from that person.
Do you see someone with a stalled car?
Do you have the tools
and the skills to help?
Then do it.
Do you see someone who is hungry?
Do you have the means
to get food for that person?
Then do it.
Do you see someone who is cold?
Do you have clothes
with which you can clothe that person?
Then do it.
Does your neighbor need emergency child care?
Then take their child into your home.
Do you provide it for them?
Does your neighbor need to borrow a car?
Lend it.
Whomever you come across,
if they have a need
that you can meet,
meet it.
Do not withhold good
from those to whom it is due
when it is in your power
to do it.
The Bible never demands
that we give
what we do not have.
But if we are able
to meet a need today,
don't deny your neighbor
or defer for tomorrow.
Meet it.
Do it today.
Be ready for every good work.
Verses 29 to 30
continue this lesson.
Do not plan evil
against your neighbor
who dwells trustingly
beside you.
Do not contend
with the man
for no reason
when he has done you
no harm.
The phrase
is fascinating.
Literally,
do not plan evil
is literally
do not plow evil
against your neighbor
because plowing
is preparation
for sowing.
So it's used
figuratively
to refer to
any kind of preparation
or planning
that you do.
So he's not saying,
you know,
I mean,
because we may do
all kinds of accidental evil
to our neighbors.
I've done plenty of them,
for example,
by flooding my toilet
and getting water
down into my neighbor's ceiling
and ruining
the neighbor's ceiling.
Thankfully,
there's insurance
for those things.
But you might do
all kinds of accidental evil
to your neighbor,
but that's not what
this is talking about.
He's saying,
don't premeditate evil
against your neighbor.
Don't plan it.
Don't plot it.
Your neighbor
is dwelling trustingly
beside you.
What has he done to you?
Do not contend
with a man for no reason
when he has done you no harm.
The word contend
means to accuse.
For example,
when you file a complaint
about your neighbor
who has done
nothing wrong to you
or when you sue
your neighbor
for some monetary gain
or to gain some kind
of territorial advantage
or whatever it might be.
We are not to take advantage
of our neighbors.
The word evil
in verse 29
and the word harm
in verse 30
are the same words
in Hebrew.
So this demonstrates
the biblical principle
of eye for eye.
Your neighbor
hasn't done anything
evil to you
so don't plot evil
against him.
Don't plan to harm
your harmless neighbor.
Leviticus 24
19-21
codifies this principle.
It says,
If anyone injures
his neighbor
as he has done it
shall be done to him.
Fracture for fracture,
eye for eye,
tooth for tooth,
whatever injury
he has given a person
shall be given to him.
Whatever kills
an animal
shall make it good
and whoever kills
a person
shall be put to death.
In the New Testament,
this command
gets transmuted
to do not resist
the one who is evil,
Jesus says
in Matthew 5-38-42,
but if anyone
slaps you
on the right cheek,
turn to him
the other also.
The reason why
this gets transformed
in the New Testament
is because Jesus
dies as a suffering servant
for the sins
of the people
he's going to save.
He is killed,
he suffers
at the hands
of the people
he came to save
and so throughout
scripture in 1 Peter,
for example,
he tells believers,
you are to suffer
even when people
oppress you
and do evil to you
for the sake
of witnessing
to that person
about your suffering Savior
so that you might
have the opportunity
to love and serve
that person
in spite of the oppression
and evil
that you endure
for the sake
of that person's salvation.
That's why
in the New Testament
this gets transformed
but even in that context
refers to
non-retaliation
as a personal ethic.
It's not saying
there should be
non-retaliation
in the legal system,
in justice system.
In the justice system,
in the institutional justice,
eye for eye
is still the best
legal principle
for society
because what it means
is essentially
the severity
of the punishment
should match
the gravity
of the crime.
That's justice.
When someone
pokes your eye,
you don't go out
claiming,
calling for it,
off with his head.
That's unjust.
We have to be
just to our neighbors.
Verse 31 warns us,
Do not envy
a man of violence
and do not choose
any of his ways.
This is where
this Proverbs,
the author of Proverbs
anticipates
that there are
exceptions to this
because the landowner
who deprives
the day laborer
of their fair wages
might get richer,
might get greater honor.
The person
that falsely
accuses his neighbor
might successfully
smear his neighbor
and advance
his monetary
and social standing.
An evildoer
might fad himself
and live a long life.
But even then,
it says,
Do not envy
a man of violence
and do not
choose any of his ways.
Verses 32 to 35
give us a series
of reasons.
Four.
The devious person
is an abomination
to the Lord,
but the upright
are in his confidence.
The Lord's curse
is on the house
of the wicked,
but he blesses
the dwelling
of the righteous.
Toward the scorners,
he is scornful,
but to the humble,
he gives favor.
The wise will inherit honor,
but fool
gets disgrace.
The reason why
we ought to do that
is theological.
If man is all
there is in the world,
then injustice
makes perfect sense.
Injustice
is by far
the most successful
policy.
But man is not autonomous.
Man is not all
there is in the world.
There is a God.
And it says,
it invokes the name
of God,
the Lord,
three times
in verse 32,
33, and 35,
all to tell us
to live as a wise person.
A devious person
is an abomination
to the Lord.
Causes visceral offense
to God.
It turns his stomach
to see someone
defraud somebody else.
It's repulsive to him.
But the upright
are in his confidence
or in his most
intimate counsel.
It's repelled
by the devious,
but God draws near
the righteous
to his counsel.
The Lord curses
the house of the wicked,
but blesses
the dwelling
of the righteous.
The house represents
all that belongs
to the wicked person
as well.
Verses 34 to 35
fittingly conclude
this section this way.
Toward the scorners,
he is scornful,
but to the humble,
he gives favor.
The wise will inherit honor,
but fools get disgrace.
For this reason,
we should humbly confide
in God's grace
rather than prightfully
contending for self-advancement
among our neighbors.
Notice the contrast
of verbs in verse 35.
The wise will inherit honor,
but fools get disgrace.
The word get
is literally
exalt oneself.
To overreach.
To stretch out
in order to grab something
that doesn't belong to you.
Exalt yourself.
That's what the word means.
The fools get disgrace.
They overreach
for disgrace.
They exalt themselves
for disgrace.
The wise receive honor
as an inheritance,
not by reaching
and grasping for it,
fighting tooth and nail
for it,
but receiving it
from God
because they belong
to God as His children.
It is their rightful inheritance.
We receive that
freely from God.
In contrast,
the wicked,
they're always
providing for themselves,
securing for themselves,
grasping and fending
for themselves,
and in the end,
what they acquire
from themselves
is not riches and honor,
it's disgrace.
This is the principle
of salvation as well.
God opposes the proud
but gives grace
to the humble.
That's a quotation
in James 4, 6-8
and 1 Peter 5, 5-10
from this verse.
Proverbs 3, 3.
James and Peter
both refer to it
in order to tell us
to humble ourselves
before God
instead of seeking
to live in autonomy,
instead of seeking
to save ourselves,
instead of seeking
to fight this spiritual battle
in our own strength,
humble yourselves,
trust in God
instead of contending
for yourself.
The word favor
in verse 34
is a word that often
gets translated
as grace.
unmerited favor,
a bestowed gift.
That's what
ultimately salvation is.
That's what
eternal life is.
That's what
reconciliation
with God is.
It's not something
that we earn
but something
that we receive
from God
as a gift.
And how does God
give it to us?
Verses 18-19
promised us
wisdom is a tree
of life
to those who
lay hold of her.
Those who hold her fast
are called blessed.
The Lord by wisdom
founded the earth
by understanding
he established
the heavens.
Colossians 1-16
tell us
by what exactly
God founded the earth
and he tells us
that by Christ
all things
were created
in heaven
and earth.
Jesus Christ
is the word
of God.
Jesus Christ
is the wisdom
of God.
1 Corinthians 1
says that.
God the Father
founded the earth,
established the heavens,
and broke open
the deep
by Christ.
He is the wisdom
of God
and so he is
the tree of life
that imparts
eternal blessing,
eternal life.
Remember once again
Adam and Eve
how they sought
wisdom and understanding.
They did seek
wisdom and understanding.
Remember what the
tree that they were
not supposed to touch
was called.
It's the tree
of knowledge
of good and evil.
Doesn't that sound
like something
that you should know?
Something you should have?
Sounds like something
that a wise person
would eat from
and follow?
They were commanded
not to eat from it
because God
wanted them to know
they are not to be
morally autonomous,
independent,
sovereign beings
deciding for themselves
what is right and good
but rather they were
to take from God's word
from what he says
this is right
and this is wrong.
They were to cultivate
trust in him,
depend on him
and live with that
kind of faith in him.
That's what God
envisioned for people
but instead
Adam and Eve
overreach.
They exalt themselves
and they grasp hold
of the fruit of the tree
of knowledge of good
and evil,
eat it
and through that
they are cut off
from the garden of Eden
which possesses
the tree of life.
and so God sends Jesus
from paradise
to our wilderness
so that Jesus
might die on the cross
to pay the penalty
of our sins
that he might make way
for us
back to God
that he might teach us
how to humble ourselves
before God again.
He pays for our sins
on the cross
and he says
all who would believe
in me
all who would repent
of their sins
and believe in me
would be granted
eternal life
that they shall not perish
but live forever.
Revelation chapter 2
verse 7
says
to the one who conquers
I will grant
to eat the tree of life
which is in the paradise
of God.
And how do you conquer?
How do you conquer evil?
How do you conquer Satan?
How do you conquer sin and death?
Revelation chapter 12
tells us in verses 10 to 12
by the blood of the Lamb
and by the word
of their testimony.
It is the blood of the Lamb
blood of Jesus Christ
and our persevering
faith in Him
and witness to Him
that enable us
to eat of the tree of life
and live forever.
Because we were sinners
cut off from God
this is the only way
for us
to return to God
and we must receive
receive that freely
as our heavenly inheritance
rather than
overreaching for it
trying to get
righteousness of our own
self-righteousness
trying to make ourselves
good enough
in God's eyes
instead we humbly
confide in God
and receive His grace.
It's only by doing that
that we become
good neighbors
because we trust Him
that we don't need
to fight and fend
for ourselves
against our neighbors.
Take a moment
to reflect on that truth
for some time
or just a few moments.
more.
Thank you.