Proverbs 30

In chapter 30 of Proverbs we see a different author other than Solomon. King Hezekiah was the one that collected these Proverbs and organized them into a book and we see he also collected proverbs from another man named Agur. It is uncertain who this man is other than he was son of Jakeh. We can look at this Probverb in 2 sections, the first being the relationship between man and God (2-17) and then the relationship between man and nature (18-31). As I was reading this chapter, verses 5-6 were ones that my attention was focused upon.

Every Word

Every word that we have in Scripture is from God and it is flawless. Proverbs 30:5 says, “Every word of God proves true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him. We know what 2nd Timothy 3:16-17 says, “All scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work. God’s word was written by men but inspired by God and with that we know that every word of God proves true. If you think about all the prophecies concerning Christ’s life on earth have come to pass. The Bible shows that Israel would be taken captive by Babylon and it happened. If those words came true, would not the same be said of those talking about Christ and even what will happen during the tribulation? It is true.

God has given us His word to point us to the cross which is a shield and a refuge to us because it is Christ who died and rose from the dead. God’s word is valuable to us as we read in Psalm 119. Here are some good verses, “The law of your mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver pieces (119:72). “How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth (119:103). We know that Hebrews 4:12 says, “The word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing through to the divisions of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” Take God’s word and realize it proves true. We should value God’s word, we should believe and hope in God’s Word to be true. I encourage you to read the Bible every day. Have some quiet time with you and the Father and see how he communicates to you through his word.

Proverbs 28

The first verse says, “The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are bold as a lion.” I thought about this verse for a little bit and realized how true this statement is that Solomon said. The wicked do flee even when no one pursues. Think about it, someone that is guilty will always be looking over their shoulder, trying to cover their tracks. When one is not right before God we run. Look at Adam and Eve, because of their guilt and shame they hid from God in the garden and covered themselves with leaves (Genesis 3:7-8). When one is guilty before the judge they want to hide. I remember when I was little and would do something wrong and I knew I was going to get into trouble I would hide from my parents. We see that the wicked person not hides but flees when no one is pursuing. There is no confidence before God because of sin.

The contrast of the wicked person who hides is the righteous who stands as a bold as a lion. I love this because it shows both states of a Christian. The person before Christ flees from the presence of God but the one who has Christ as his covering can stand boldly in the presence of God because of the LION of Judah, Christ. Lions are fierce beast in the animal kingdom, most people would think a lion would be very intimidating if you were starring one down. Solomon is saying though, a person who is righteous does not need to look over their shoulder or have guilt of doing something wrong because they did not. They have confidence that they are not guilty or wrong. Do you have confidence in Christ? If so, then be bold, make a difference in the kingdom of God. Be bold like a lion. 2nd Corinthians 3:4 says, “Such is our confidence that we have through Christ toward God.” Paul was bold for the kingdom, and his confidence was in Christ. We can stand before our accuser and say, I am free in Christ. My guilt is gone, and I am redeemed through Christ.

In this chapter we can break it down with friendships and how to handle them and what to expect from a friend. I would like to look at verse 7 not as one with friends and the words of friends but being content all together with everything we have, friends, materials, life, etc.

Are You Content

Verse 7 says, “One who is full loathes honey, but to the one who is hungry everything bitter is sweet.” As this verse talks about the one who is full despises honey. He is one that has honey all the time. He is not satisfied with the sweetness of honey or the goodness it is but instead is turned off from it. He is tired of it. It reminds me of the children of Israel when they were in the wilderness and they complained about not having food so God provided manna from heaven. It was sweet and wonderful but as the Israelites had it everyday, they started to complain about it because they took it for granted (Numbers 11:6). As we read in this proverb that there is also the one who is hungry and even the bitterest thing is sweet to him because he is hungry. He would just long for the honey but is happy with the vinegar. This reminds me of the prodigal son in Luke 15 who was so hungry he ate the pigs food as that was food.

We do not know completely how to be content until we are in a situation where we need to be. When I was in college I had the opportunity to go to Cambodia. I thought I was a pretty content guy with what I had but when I got to Cambodia I realized how dependent I was on my comforts in this life. Not just food, or shelter, but even bathrooms and beds to name brands. Do they mark you? Do you have to have the latest thing, with the latest label? Do you have to have the nicest everything? You will not realize how much something means to you until it is taken away. I need to ask myself that question all the time. How would I react if I lost my computer, ipod, phone, car, t.v., etc? Would it ruin my life or could I become content in the Lord. How is one truly content, placing their life completely in the hands of the savior who died for you and me?

If I could close with this verse from Habakkuk which shows how our perspective needs to be. Habakkuk 3:17-19 says, “Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet, I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in God of my salvation. God, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer’s; he makes me tread on my high places.”  Even if we lost everything in this world, we need to know that true contentment is in the Lord. Even when our savings is dried up, the cupboards are bare, are gas tanks are empty; we rejoice in the Lord because his love has no bounds, Christ died for us and that is what should get us through the tough trials in life. May we say, all I need is you Lord, all I need is you!

We see in this chapter that Solomon wrote these proverbs but it was King Hezekiah who copied them so that we could have them in writing. King Hezekiah ruled 250 years after Solomon.

In this proverb I would like to look at the last verse of the chapter, verse 28 which says, “A man without self-control is like a city broken and left without walls.”

Self-Control

We may hear and talk about self-control, which can be defined as controlling or restraining one self. The more I try to control myself, the harder it actually is. We are told to have self control in different areas of our lives. One can be anger and controlling our temper. I will be honest, I have a temper and I do not like it. Sometimes I wonder how my temper can get the best of me and actually starts to control me. It controls what comes out of my mouth, my attitude, my thoughts, and my day. When I was younger, I would blow up at the smallest things. As I have grown in the Lord and asked him to take control of my life, I still have a temper but that temper does not blow up at the small things like it used to. I need to seek the Lord all the time because my temper is still there.

As the proverb says, “A man without self control is like a city broken and left without walls.” I do not want to be like a vulnerable city that is defenseless. As James tells us in 1:19-Be slow to speak, quick to listen and slow to anger. It seems that we can let anger get the best of us. I always need to be aware of my weaknesses and one is my temper. How we can control our temper is by making sure that we are protecting ourselves with the armor of the Lord. Ephesians 6:14-18 says, “Stand therefore having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication.  Guard yourself in the Spirit and know your weaknesses, Satan will attack those areas and you need to be ready all the time. I thank the Lord that I am new creation in Christ (2nd Corinthians 5:17). I need to have Christ control all of me and even the things that are hard for me to let go of. How is your temper?

Proverbs 20

Dictionary.com defines integrity as adherence to moral and ethical principles; soundness of moral character; honesty. It goes on to say, “sound, unimpaired, or perfect condition.” I heard integrity defined as what you do when no one is looking. Are you honest, and show Christ’s completeness when you are alone? I would like to look at one verse out of chapter 20, verse 7 which says, “The godly walk with integrity ; blessed are their children who follow them.”

Walk Worthy

We who call ourselves Christians should walk in integrity. I mean the definition of integrity should be a Christian. I know that is not true because there are some bad examples of a Christian out there, but we should walk worthy as a follower of Christ and that means having integrity. What you do in private and public should be that of integrity, honest, pure, and Christ centered. Is there anything that is a contradiction in your life? Are you one way with others than when you are alone? Are you one way at church and different outside of church? Does your life reflect that as one who has met Christ? If so, you are not walking with integrity. Colossians 1:10 says, “Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better.” We should not want to get as close as we can to sin and still ask if it is ok if we do this or not, we should ask how far can I get from sin so I can please God. That is integrity, living for God all that matters in this life is pleasing Him. When you seek to please God you will be honest, you will be pure, and you will be an example, one of integrity.

Is Passed on

The second part of verse 7 says that the children of the godly will be blessed by their parents walking in integrity. By the parents example of being honest, not stealing or cheating on taxes, showing what it means to walk as one who seeks to please the Lord then the children will follow. As a parent I need to not only walk in integrity because God demands it but also I want to show Adah a good example. It is so important for me to walk the way God wants me to walk and not to swerve to the left or the right but just to the Lord and for my family to see that. Yeah, it may be harder and could be more costly but the truth is, I did it for the Lord and it pleases him. My family needs to see that as being the leader. Proverbs 4:27 says, “Don’t get sidetracked; keep your feet from following evil.” Start practicing walking with integrity now!

Again there is not just one theme in this chapter but different applicable points that Solomon wants to pass on to his son. One point I would like to focus on is friendships.

Friends (vs 1, 22, 24)

The first point we see is friends. Verse 1 says, “Whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire; he breaks out against all sound judgment.” We know we are not meant to be alone.

There are a couple things that I do not like doing alone, one of those is going to the movies. For some reason I will never go to the movies alone, which is funny because it is not like I can have a deep and meaningful conversation during a movie. I also do not like going out to eat alone. Eating is a social thing, you are able to enjoy food with someone and have a great conversation all at the same time.

God wants us to be social with other humans. Jesus is the example of being social, he went to people and met their needs. We can not meet others spiritual needs if all we do is hang out with ourselves. Also, when someone seeks his own self and isolates himself, he can not have the feedback from others. We should seek counsel from other godly men and women. We see a contrast to being a loner to what a true friend is in verse 24 which says, “A man of many companions may come to ruin but there is a friend that sticks closer than a brother.” In verse one we see the too little or no friends and now we see too many of friends. It is interesting but it is true, if you have too many you will come to ruin, what do you think this means? True friendship is based on a giving of oneself. To be a good friend, you must be self sacrificing. You can not do this with everyone you will run out of giving. You can only be like this with your true friends.

The last means of friendship is marriage. In verse 22 it says, “He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the Lord.” I must say it is true, my wife is my best friend. She knows me better than any other person or friend I have. She knows things that I have only shared with her. Your spouse should be your close companion.

What kind of friendships do you have? Are your friends encouraging you in the ways of the Lord? Are you a friend who is giving of themselves to others or are you only taking? Your relationship that you should put more effort in is your relationship with God then your family then your friends. The sad thing is the priorities of friendships are not this but usually friends, then family, then God. Start with God then family then friends and you will see the true blessings of friendships.

As we continue to read through Proverbs we can see the different themes that are brought up, some are ones repeated such as not being lazy, watching our mouths, and listening to wisdom. In verse 4 we read, “Where there are no oxen, the manger is clean, but abundant crops come by the strength of the oxen.” This verse caught my attention because it is different than the other ones and also it was funny to think about.  When there is no oxen in the manger to mess it up of course it will be clean but if you do not have the oxen you can not plow the field and make money.

We in America of the take it easy approach and want the get rich quick idea. The thought of hard work has gone out the window. It is a mere thought in some traditional people. What Solomon was saying was that in order for you to make it, you need to be willing to have a little “pasture patties” or “Buffalo Chip” or scrape your elbow, take a chance in this life. Work hard and you will see the fruit of the work.

Do Something for God

Looking at this, we need to look at it in a spiritual way, we can not be afraid to step out and do something for the Lord. If we are too worried about failing we are n0t trusting the Holy Spirit. When D.L. Moody was first starting out in ministry he was doing something that no one else was doing in Chicago. He was going to the poor parts of the city that no one else would go to and would invest in the lives of the kids. He would hold Sunday school every week and encourage them to grow in their faith. He was ridiculed for it, people told him he was wasting his time, or that he was crazy. The truth was God was behind it every step of the way and D.L. Moody took a step of faith and trusted in the Lord. He wanted to serve God and do ministry. He did not wait for ministry to come to him. It is the small things that matter.  He did not care that his manger was clean because he needed the oxen to harvest the field. The same good have been said about David as he faced Goliath or Gideon and his 300 men.

We need to take a step of faith. That is what we see with these men and women in the Bible. They worked hard, did not take the easy rode and God used them mightily for his kingdom. Sure it was not always easy, it was tough but you can not fear getting dirty. Instead we should be motivated to work harder for the kingdom of God as God will show himself in a mighty way. People will not always understand but when you are seeking God and obeying him, that is all that matters. When you live like this you are not afraid to try something new, you are not afraid to speak boldly, and you seek Christ in all.

The saying, “Sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never hurt” is not really true, words do hurt and so do sticks and stones. Have you ever heard this one, “I am rubber and you are glue, whatever you say bounces off me and sticks to you.” Yeah, still not true. We can say something and it ruins someones day. We can be so hurtful with our words and can leave a scar forever. As this chapter has many other practical points besides holding our tongue, I would like to look at verse 3 which says, “Whoever guards his mouth preserves his life; he who opens wide his lips come to ruin.”

Guard Your Mouth

Psalm 141:3 says, “Set a guard O Lord , over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips! We should really take a look at this passage and take it to heart. Why would whoever guards his mouth preserve his life? Is it because if we just talk we could end up in trouble with the wrong person? Is it because we waste time and energy when we talk? Solomon was speaking about just making sure you speak what is good and what is true. James 1:9 encourages us to be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to get angry.  James 3 talks about how destructive our tongues can be just like a small spark can set a whole forest on fire.

The opposite can happen too, we can make someones day by what we say. I like how David watched what he said, in Psalm 39:1 it says, “A Psalm of David. I said, “I will guard my ways, that I may not sin with my tongue; I will guard my mouth with a muzzle, so long as the wicked are in my presence.” We should watch what we say so we do not sin against God with our mouths. We sin against God with our mouths by cursing, gossip, hate, anger, deception etc. Do you watch what you say? Do you guard your mouth so that you do not sin against God? How you can do that is by asking God to help you watch what you say. Start by being conscious of what comes out of your mouth. What is it, is it good or bad? Also take your parents advice, “If you don’t have anything good to say, don’t say anything.” So, learn to be a quiet person. President Calvin Coolidge was known as “Silent Cal” and when he was asked why he spoke so little he said, “I never have regretted anything I didn’t say.” Take that advice!

And lastly, instead of bad coming out of your mouth try filling it with praise. We should have constant praise out of our mouths. Just like Paul told the Ephesian church in Ephesians 5:19-20 which says, “Addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with all your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.”

As we see that these Proverbs are phrases that can be themed together. Today I would like to look at one verse, the first one. It says, “Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but whoever hates reproof is stupid.”

Do you Love Discipline?

I think this is a hard thing to do, to love discipline. I mean usually when one gets disciplined it is to be corrected of a fault. That means your pride has to be swallowed and you have to allow yourself to be corrected. That also means you have to admit you are not perfect and were wrong. When I was a teenager, I hated being disciplined. I thought it was the worst thing in the world. But you know it is love being shown when one is disciplined. Hebrews 12:6 says, “For the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes those he accepts as his children. Just like God who disciplines us spiritually our parents are commanded to discipline us because they love us. My parents disciplined me because they love me not because they wanted to make my life miserable.

Adah is now 7 months old and she is starting to roll over a lot. It has become a little problem when we try to change her on her changing table. The reason is because she could roll off and get hurt. We do not want her to get hurt because we love her. We have to teach her not to roll over when we are changing her. She does not like that very much. The reason why we do it is because we love her. The same is with the Father. He disciplines us spiritually (allowing us to get caught in sin) because he wants us to be a better Christian. Parents discipline you so you could be a better person.

Proverbs 13:24 says, “Whoever spars the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him.” When we get into trouble and are disciplined it is love being shown in a way that we may not quite understand at that moment. When I was 13, I did not quite see the love being displayed as I was disciplined but now being 26 I can totally see it. I challenge you to learn to love discipline. Know your parents do it because they love, if they did not love you they would not care about what you did. Be thankful for the discipline and love it.

People are a little bit more careful with how they spend their money today than they were in the past. Some try to look at what to invest in, how much to save, and what is really worth spending money on. I love the book of Proverbs because it not only talks about money but brings into focus what is really important.

What is Worth All

In verse 4 we see what really matters in this life. It says, “Riches do not profit in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death.”  Verse 28 also says, “Whoever trusts in his riches will fall but the righteous will flourish like a green leaf.” What matters in this life is if we have Christ. We are righteous because of Christ. Romans 6:23 we see that we deserve death but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Wealth in this life will fade away. Treasures in this life will one day burn or perish. Jesus said in Matthew 6:19-21 “Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where they can be eaten by moths and get rusty, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where they will never become moth-eaten or rusty and where they will be safe from thieves. Wherever your treasure is, there your heart and thoughts will also be.” We see that if we desire the things of this world, that shows our heart If we desire the things of the Lord, that is our heart. What matters is the eternal things in Christ. What is valuable? It is our salvation in Christ. What is priceless? Jesus death and resurrection which saves. When we are judged before God, he will not look at the amount left in our bank account, how many cars we have, or how big our house was. What he will look at is our spiritual bank account, does it have Christ’s name written on it?