Month: November 2021

Proverbs 24:25 But to them that rebuke him shall be delight, and a good blessing shall come upon them.

God promises delight and a good blessing for those people who rebuke those that call a wicked person righteous (v.24). In other words, we don’t call evil good, nor do we call good evil either. We don’t need to judge or condemn people, but we do need to call out sin when we see it.

A spade is a spade. A sin is a sin. A sinner is not a good person, much less righteous, until he is redeemed by Christ. “Call no man good.” “There is not a righteous man upon earth, that doeth good and sinneth not, no, not one.” The Law is not preached to make a person feel bad, but to make him feel terrible, a poor wretched sinner. A sinner needs to be convinced of his sin in order for the Gospel to do its sweet work. Then the wicked sinner is accounted righteous by faith. He is righteous because of Christ, and not because of any good in him. “Nothing good dwells in me. [Romans 7:18].”

Applying Law and Gospel to yourself is not so easy, for it requires timing. Rebuking is a good thing, but it must be done at the right time, for the right reason, and in the right way. The Law is for the smug; the Gospel for the troubled. For this reason the Lord says that the “rebuker” shall have delight and a good blessing. He doesn’t specify here what that blessing will be, but we know that it will be good.

Proverbs 24:14 So shall the knowledge of wisdom be unto thy soul: when thou hast found it, then there shall be a reward, and thy expectation shall not be cut off.

The knowledge of wisdom is compared to the sweetness of honey. Wisdom will be sweet to the soul. Jesus is the Wisdom of God. The knowledge of wisdom is knowing Jesus, or, believing in Him. Saving faith is the gift of God, granted through the Gospel, and you know when you have it. Jesus found you, picked you up, loved, and saved you. And along with salvation comes the promise of wisdom as sweet as honey to the soul.

God promises a free reward, free for us, but it was earned by Christ. There are many glorious rewards awaiting us, all of them rewards of grace, unmerited on our part but freely given from God’s goodness and mercy. Relying on our own wisdom, what seems right to us, ends up in death. Trusting God’s wisdom leads to ever more abundant life, and sweeter, too.

And the promise includes satisfied expectations. “Your expectation shall not be cut off.” Amazing, really. All your hopes, dreams, desires, wishes, and expectations shall be realized, some in this life, most in the next, but all for sure. During this short life full of sin we experience frustration, disappointment, and cut off expectations, but alongside disappointments comes a certain hope and a positive expectation of a better life. And it will not be cut off.

Proverbs 24:5 A wise man is strong; yea, a man of knowledge increases strength.

God promises spiritual strength, real strength, to those who believe in Christ and His Word. The one who believes in Jesus is a wise man and a man of knowledge. “The fear (faith) of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge,” and wisdom. It is not that it is a wise thing to believe in Jesus (although it is), but it is that the believer in Christ becomes wise and learns to “know” the Lord. I Timothy 3:15: “The sacred writings are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.”

The promise is that the believer who knows the Lord will be strong and will increase in strength. Only a smidgeon of faith, like a seed, is enough faith to save, for it is Jesus who saves you, not your faith that saves you. But that seed of faith can grow up into greater wisdom and deeper knowledge of God, like a tree planted by the waters. And it is that wisdom and knowledge that increases strength.

The promise is not for physical or political strength, but it is for inner spiritual strength. This kind of strength will grow and increase. This kind of mature Christian who has heard the Word of Christ over the years will be strong to overcome any trouble, trial, or testing that comes his way. This is the promise. “Be strong and courageous!” “The joy of the Lord is your strength.”

Proverbs 22:17-18 Bow down thine ear, and hear the words of the wise, and apply thy heart unto my knowledge. For it is a pleasant thing if thou keep them within thee; they shall be fitted in thy lips.

If you hear the Word of God, ”the words of the wise and wisdom’s knowledge,” then it will be a pleasant thing, and His words shall be fit for your speaking. The words of the wise and the practical application of the knowledge of God and keeping it in your heart is equivalent to believing in Jesus and doing what He says. Simply put: believing God is a pleasant way to live!

We would live a sweet and pleasant life, a good and happy life, if we could keep the Law of God. But we can’t, because we are sinners. Then we hear and believe the Gospel, which forgives our sin and grants the desire and the power to keep the Law better. The result of repentance and faith in the Gospel is a pleasant life. That is what we believe and ask for when we pray the Lord’s Prayer. We become better people living a pleasant life. God answers that prayer, for that is His will: He wants us to live a pleasant and happy life.

“Goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” It is our sin, pride, stubbornness, and selfishness that keeps us from enjoying a really pleasant life. The key is daily repentance and faith that opens up the promise of Wisdom. And surrender to the kingdom rule of God yields the good life. We pray, “Thy kingdom come.”

Proverbs 22:9 He that hath a bountiful eye shall be blessed; for he giveth of his bread to the poor.

A bountiful eye is a person who is always looking about for poor people and needy causes with whom he can share some of his earthly blessings. He loves God and people so much that he even gives some of his own bread, daily bread being all that is necessary to survive and keep this life going.

A bountiful man isn’t necessarily rich, but he acts like he’s rich because he is so generous. Indeed, a generous person who gives liberally is far richer than a tight rich man who saves his goods up for himself. One reason a bountiful person has money is because God keeps giving him more as long as he keeps giving it away. God gives to the generous so that can keep being generous.

At any rate, God promises to bless the bountiful man who gives generously. This blessing will include both earthly and heavenly riches. Then the man with the bountiful eye is far richer than the rich man with only earthly wealth.

Remember: God’s math doesn’t work like man’s math. We naturally see that what we give away is a loss. God sees it as a gain. Go figure.

Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

This oft-used promise is hard to believe according to our witnessed experience in real life, because we see adults departing from the way they were trained as children. We think. But we don’t know all the facts, and we don’t know time frame of “when he is old.” However, if we believe God’s Word and promises, then it must be true and we can rely on it. We trust God instead of what we see. “We walk by faith, not by sight.”

If the Word is true and will not lead us astray, then there are two things a parent will do: 1) train up the children in the Law and Gospel of the Word, and 2) trust the promise that they will not leave that way, or at least that they will come back to it. Believing and claiming that promise the parent will pray in faith for their children and their families as long as they are alive.

The promise encourages us to be intentional about “training up.” And we are encouraged not to give up praying and believing for our adult children, even if it seems to us like they have strayed for a time.

“Train up” is better than just “teach,” for it involves learning by experience and leading by example. It involves behavior as well as knowing facts. “Hear and do” is what Jesus says. It’s hard, and for this reason parents pray for the wisdom and ability to train up.

Proverbs 22:5 Thorns and snares are in the way of the froward: he that doth keep his soul shall be far from them.

If you keep your soul, then you shall be kept from thorns and snares. “Keeping the soul” is the condition for the promise of a life free from the evil that would harm us eternally. “Keeping the soul” is the same as abiding in the NT faith of Christ. It is the opposite of the “froward,” the crooked, which is the unbeliever. There only two kinds of people, believers and unbelievers.

”Thorns and snares” are in the world and in our way as a result of the Fall. They will always be around us as long the earth remains, as part of the curse. Thorns remain as long as sin remains. They are “in the way” of the unbeliever.

They are in the way of the believer, too, but they do not bring him into unbelief in God and loss of life with God. The curse of Sin was placed on Jesus’ head in the “crown of thorns.” Jesus took our sin, the pain of sin, the curse of sin, and the death of sin upon Himself. By doing so Jesus kept our soul, and thus the promise comes true for those who believe in Him: thorns and snares are kept far from him.

Oh yes, the thorns remain, like the snakes in the wilderness remain, but the effects of sin are put on the cross. And the thorns and snares will be far from us. Because of Christ we can pray with confidence: Deliver us from evil! Deliver us from the eternal evil of bad things, like thorns and snares. Thorns are bothersome and nettlesome, but their sting does not last forever for those who keep the soul.

Proverbs 22:4 By humility and the fear of the Lord are riches, and honour, and life.

God promises riches, honor, and life to those who are humble and God-fearing. It is not a cop-out to understand these promises as spiritual: spiritual riches may be invisible, but they are more valuable and last longer than fleeting, earthly money; honor from God is worth more than short-lived honor from earthlings; spiritual and eternal life is not even worth comparing with temporal, earthly life.

These promises and blessings come by humility and fear of the Lord. Humility = repentance. Fear = faith. “Repent and believe the gospel.” Genuine humility comes not by our own effort and intentionally trying to be humble; humility comes from responding in faith to the convictions of the Law of God. When the Law truly reveals my sinful condition I am humbled and penitent. True fear of God comes not by our own decision and reasoning: faith (fear) comes from responding to the sweet message of the Gospel. When the Gospel truly reveals what Jesus did for me I fear, love, and trust God.

Jesus brings this promise to us: we through His poverty have become rich; we through His shame are honored; we through His death have eternal life.

Proverbs 21:23 Whoso keepeth his mouth and his tongue keepeth his soul from troubles.

If you control your tongue, then you will stay away from evil. Many conditional promises are based on the condition of guarding your words. Watch what you say, and how you say it, so that you may avoid various kinds of troubles. The tongue is a gateway to evil. Ask the Lord to set an angel at the door of your mouth so that you don’t say things that cause trouble.

The troubles from the tongue come back to the soul, that is, the self, made up of mind, will, and emotions. Others may suffer from what we say, but the troubles come back upon our selves also. Therefore, we believe the promise that if we keep our tongue then we will keep our soul.

After we do get our souls into troubles, we need to ask the Lord to deliver us from the evil of the troubles we got ourselves unto: Deliver us from evil. It turns out we probably need to pray this every day, since the tongue gets us into lots of trouble. He daily and richly forgives all sins, thereby keeping our soul from troubles and delivering us from evil. Thank God, He is in the business of cleaning up our mess, fixing what’s broken, finding what’s lost, and restoring what we ruined.

Our God will save the soul from troubles, bind up the fragmented soul, repair broken relationships, and restore us to full fellowship with God. Meanwhile, we ask Jesus to keep the tongue.

Proverbs 21:21 He that followeth after righteousness and mercy findeth life, righteousness, and honor.

If you follow after righteousness (Law) and mercy (Gospel), then you will find life, righteousness, and honor. You tend to find what you are looking for. If you look for Law and Gospel in the Scripture, you will find Law and Gospel.

The Law promises righteousness and life, but if you look for righteousness and life in yourself you will never find it, and you end up only dead and hating God. The Law cannot give it, so the Law becomes a dire threat. The Gospel promises righteousness and life, and the Gospel gives it, for if you look for righteousness and life in God you will find it. The Gospel gives it, you have the righteousness of God and the life of God by faith, so the Gospel becomes a wonderful promise.

Therefore, we look for everything we need, all that pertains to life and godliness, in Christ. “Seek ye first (and last, and always, and only) the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.” Follow, by hearing the Law and repenting, and by hearing the Gospel and believing. Hear it in your head and in public assembly as often as you can. Then the promise of righteousness, life, and honor is yours, it’s real, and it’s alive. Enjoy it.