Month: October 2021

Ptoverbs 11:28 He that trusteth in his riches shall fall: but thr righteous shall flourish as a branch.

The contrast throughout proverbs is often between the “righteous” and the “wicked.” These terms are used for believers and unbelievers. There is a sharp, clear and vast difference between those who believe in Christ and those who don’t in both their earthly and eternal lives. The believer is accounted righteous by faith in Jesus, while the unbeliever remains in sin as a wicked sinner. “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him [John 3:36].”

The difference is black and white, simple, sharp, and clear-cut from God’s point of view, but we cannot see the difference in this life. And we are commanded not to judge the heart anyway. All will be sharply revealed on the Judgment Day. Until then, we have only the revealed Word of God to point us to Christ and show the Way.

The promise here says the one will fall and the other will flourish. This refers to the spiritual life, to spiritual wealth and poverty. It is not measured in worldly terms of money and possessions. “A man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” For if one trusts in them he will fall.

The righteous, on other hand, will flourish as a branch. Jesus picks up on this term when He gives this promise: “I am the vine; you are the branches; he who abides in me and I in him will bear much fruit.” Therefore, we may believe, confess, and affirm about ourselves that we are rich, flourishing, and bearing fruit. So we daily reaffirm our faith in the Gospel, and we enjoy a flourishing life.

Proverbs 11:27 He that diligently seeketh good procureth favour: but he that seeketh mischief, it shall come unto him.

This conditional promise is more than the aphoristic truism, “You find what you’re looking for.” If you seek good, then you will find favor. If you are looking for good things you will most likely find good things.

Being a “good finder” has positive benefits. Years ago a study was conducted comparing good-finders and fault-finders. The result was that “good-finders” were much happier by every measure than fault-finders. The word “good-finder” was a made up word used for this study, for no other word contrasted with fault-finder. It’s easy to find fault in a sinful world, and blaming others is easy to do. The problem is that it brings you down and you feel worse. Finding the good in others makes you (and those around you) feel better.

But it demands a conscious effort before it becomes a habit. For this reason God gave us this promise: you will obtain favor with God and man. You will have a blessed life. Who could not want that? So seek good and find favor. Seek the Lord and find the All-Good. Seek the Kingdom and all these things will be added unto you.

Pray for God’s blessing, goodness and favor for you, your loved ones, your friends and communities. Pray for yourself and those around you for God’s name, kingdom, will, bread, forgiveness, guidance, and protection. That is seeking good and gaining favor.

In contrast, those who seek mischief will not only find it and feel worse, but they will also bring mischief back upon themselves. Therefore, we repent of fault finding, mischief making, blaming, criticizing, and such. We look to Jesus for forgiveness and a better way of living.

Proverbs 11:24, 25 There is that scattered, and yet increaseth; and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty. The liberal soul shall be made fat: and he that watereth shall be watered also himself.

This conditional promise regarding generosity and giving is a little cryptic, but clear enough to be understood. But when understood, it is a little hard to believe. It says that if you are generous and give liberally, then you yourself will not lose what you gave away but gain more for yourself and grow your own soul.

The one who scatters is one who gives money away to the Lord’s work and those in need. Somehow, almost as if by magic, it increases more for the generous giver. “One gives freely, yet grows all the richer,” renders the ESV. The liberal soul is the person that brings a blessing by giving with his substance; his soul will be made fat, which is a Biblical way of saying that he will grow richer and bigger in the things that matter. This one also waters, that is, he feeds, nourishes, grows, and lifts up others, and in doing so he waters himself; he grows and enriches his own soul.

It is as they say, “You can’t outgive God.” God is a generous giver, and when he finds a giving spirit He keeps giving him more so that he can give even more. When we become a lively channel for giving, then the Lord pours more into that channel.

The warning is the obverse of the promise: the one who withholds what he should give tends to become poorer and suffer want. The more selfish and miserly you are with your money the more it diminishes and seems to get smaller. God has promises for the big-hearted, but not for the tight-fisted.

Proverbs 11:18 The wicked worketh a deceitful work: but to him that soweth righteousness shall be a sure reward.

The promise of a sure reward is consequent to the sowing of righteousness. If you sow righteousness, then there will be a sure reward for you. We “sow righteousness” when we live out in real life the righteousness that is already in us by grace, that is, when we do the good works for which we were created in Christ, when we are kind, loving, merciful, forgiving, etc.

The promise of reward is for our encouragement to continue doing good. Every good deed, every kind act, every word of blessing has an eternal reward. And the Lord is keeping track. Jesus says, for example: “Whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward. [Matthew 10:42]”

We don’t do good works for the rewards, but we do have the promise that a reward is coming. No kind word or deed is wasted in God’s accounting. Therefore we “sow righteousness” whether we see a reaping right away or not. Just as God has created us in Christ Jesus for good works, so we can be sure that He will use us to sow a little bit of God’s life into the world for the blessing of others.

We do these acts of kindness because He first loved us, and the added blessing is that there is a sure reward for each one. Who knows how many and how great are the rewards stored up for us in eternity? The greatest reward, of course, is the forgiveness of sins, eternal life, and salvation. And along with it comes innumerable sure rewards. But remember, these are rewards of grace. Our work does not earn a reward, but God’s work grants it.

Proverbs 11:17 The merciful man doeth good to his own soul: but he that is cruel troubleth his own flesh.

We need to believe this promise that when we are merciful to others we are actually doing something good for ourselves. The principal is this: mercy makes everybody feel better, both the one who shows mercy and the one who receives mercy. Goodness and mercy has a way of multiplying among everyone around. It grows.

We need to know this promise so that we may more inclined to show mercy and extend forgiveness in every situation. We need to be aware that being merciful does good to our own soul, our mind and emotions. It helps our motivation to be merciful and kind when we see that doing so helps our own self. What’s in it for me? You will feel better.

This must be believed, because our natural tendency is to get even, to get revenge, or to get justice. We tend to think we will feel better when the offender gets paid back, or gets what he deserves. But God says: You will feel better when you are merciful, forgiving and kind. Thus Jesus tells us to prayer like this: “Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against.” Pray like this because you will do good to the soul.

Jesus repeats this promise this way: “Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.” Mind you, God does give not mercy because you are merciful, but because He is merciful. He is encouraging us by reminding us that when you show mercy you do not lose, but you gain.

On the other hand, being cruel and unkind proliferates trouble, and it comes back on yourself and makes you feel worse.

Proverbs 11:6, 8 The righteousness of the upright shall deliver them: but transgressors shall be taken in their own naughtiness. The righteous is delivered out of trouble, and the wicked cometh in his stead.

”Deliver us from evil.” So we pray, and so God promises to do. The upright and the righteous are the believers in Christ, who are righteous by faith. Because of Christ, the Lord delivers us from: death, evil, the devil, sin, the world, hell, and trouble of all kinds. Sin causes trouble, our own sins and the sins and trespasses of others. Jesus delivers from all these troubles.

In simple terms, “to deliver” means to transfer, bear, carry, transport, bring something from one place to another. The Bible pictures deliverance from hell to heaven, from death to life, from darkness to light, from sorrow to joy, from strife to peace, from despair to hope, from demons to liberation, from bondage in Egypt to the Promised Land, and on and on. Generally, the promise is deliverance from a bad place to a good place.

From whatever “trouble” we find ourselves in God delivers. He delivers from the evil of the bad thing, and brings to the good. Count on it.

Proverbs 11:5 The righteousness of the perfect shall direct his way: but the wicked shall fall by his own wickedness.

The Lord promises to direct each of His children in all their ways with many and various promises throughout Scripture. These promises of direction are conditional upon how closely we listen and pay attention to the Word of God. If we could know and actually keep the Law of God perfectly that kind of perfect righteousness will naturally guide us along the narrow path of God’s good and and gracious will, for then we would always be doing the right thing.

But we we are not able to do, nor do we even want to keep, the laws and commandments of God, because we are by nature sinful and unclean, stubborn and rebellious, selfish and our love has turned in upon the self. Therefore, we have nothing close to righteous perfection, and so can’t claim the promise of the Lord that He will direct our way. And that’s where the Gospel comes in. Jesus Christ has earned for us and given to the righteousness of God. Then He gives the Holy Spirit in us to believe in Christ and receive God’s righteous perfection. This perfection will direct our way. So we can pray confidently, “Thy will be done on earth” in my life for my way.

Proverbs 11:4 Riches profit not in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivereth from death.

The “day of wrath” is the Judgment Day, when the holy justice of God makes everything square ours all to rights. In that day, wealth and riches will not do anybody any good. Money won’t last forever and it won’t buy a place in the eternal heaven with God. Seeking riches, or just desiring enough money to buy things, will do you no good in the end. It all goes “poof.” There is no profit in profit.

But there is a promise for the righteous: they will be delivered from death. All the money in the world won’t stave off death, and it will not keep us from the eternal death of wrath and punishment that our sins have deserved. Eternal death is a total separation from God and all that is good forever. From this kind of death God will deliver us with His righteousness. The physical death we are certain of becomes a transition from death to life, life that never ends, unconditional love, abounding joy, and abiding peace. “Father, deliver us from evil. Take us to yourself.” He will.

The righteousness that delivers from eternal death is the righteousness of God freely granted to those for whom Jesus died. Believers have received the “alien” gift of righteousness. That righteousness delivers from death, and we come through the “day of wrath” into the glorious riches of God’s Kingdom.

Proverbs 10:28 The hope of the righteous shall be gladness; but the expectation of the wicked shall perish.

The sharp, black-and-white, contrast between the righteous (the believers) and the wicked (the unbelievers) regards the eternal future of each group. The hope of the one will be gladness; the expectation of the other will perish. All people have at least some kind of glimmer of hope that the future will be brighter and better than the present. That hope will either be fulfilled or be dashed.

One cannot overemphasize the huge gulf between eternal life and eternal death. Earthly experiences cannot come close to describing the difference. The best description of the difference is in Jesus’ words in Matthew 25: “Enter thou into the joy of the Lord,” and “Come, inherit the kingdom prepared for you,” over against “Outer darkness, there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth,” and “Depart from me into everlasting fire prepared for the devil.” And finally Jesus says, “And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into eternal life.”

The promise of hope realized becomes even more wonderful when we see the difference between that and expectations crushed. A part of that realized hope will be eternal joy and gladness.

So no matter how dark the present may feel or how bleak the future may appear, nothing and no one can take away the hope of the righteous, which is gladness.

Proverbs 10:24 The fear of the wicked, it shall come upon him; but the desire of the righteous shall be granted.

The emphasis in this promise is the contrast between fear and desire. What the unbeliever fears most will happen to him, while the desire of the believer will granted to him. All people, in some degree, fear death, and we know for sure it will come to them all. However, the believers desire life, and we know that this desire has been granted to them. He who believes in the Son is declared righteous and now has eternal life. After temporal death, eternal life continues on. This is the wonderful promise of the Gospel: believe in Christ and live forever. The desire of every created human being is to live. “Though he die, yet shall he live.”

The desire to live is planted in every human heart. Ecclesiastes 3:11: “He has put eternity into man’s heart.” Every person knows there is more to life than just this life, unless he consciously denies God and Eternity (that man is called a fool). But this implanted yearning is not satisfied until the Gospel reveals it.

The desire of the righteous is granted by God because our desires change. When we come to faith our desires change. This is the key. God grants our desire because we now desire what God desires, instead of sinful, selfish, worldly, material desires. We seek first the kingdom of God, we set our minds on things above, and we desire holy, godly, spiritual, desires. We pray, “Thy will be done in my life, Your kingdom come to me.” Psalm 37:4: “Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.”

Trust the Lord to shape, form, and change your desires to be like His desires for you. Get to know Him, His mind, His heart, and His desire. He will grant it.