Month: November 2021

Proverbs 18:4 The words of a man’s mouth are as deep waters, and the wellspring of wisdom as a flowing brook.

God promises that the words of a believer (a man who has in him the wellspring of wisdom) will be as refreshing as a flowing brook. Jesus says it this way: “Out of his heart (KJV, belly) will flow rivers of living water [John 7:38].” “This he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive [v. 39].” (The physical location of the spirit seems to be the belly, since this is a more precise translation of the Greek word, “koilos.”) The Spirit of God that resides in our spirit is a wellspring of wisdom. Words that come from there (from Him) are a flowing brook.

The truth of the promise is that the words that a believer speaks, when they come from the Spirit of God, are refreshing, encouraging, uplifting, and life-giving. But when the words come from the sinful flesh they, like deep waters, may be harmful and death-dealing. It is helpful for us to know that we are able to talk the words and wisdom of God from the Spirit; and when we do, it is pleasant like a flowing brook.

How do we do that? By hearing the gospel often enough to abide in the vine and to stay connected to God by faith. Then go about living and conversing, and trust that some of the things you say will bring a blessing.

Proverbs 17:22 A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken heart drieth the bones.

God promises good medicine and healing powers, if you have a merry heart. We know how a positive outlook inside affects the health of the outside, and we are told that a negative spirit brings sickness and impedes healing. There is something real about “psychosomatic” illness. We can make too much of it, but we can also make too little of it. No one truly understands the connections between the body and the soul, but there is something going on there. The sayings about “mind over matter” and “it’s all in your head,” have some truth, but it isn’t really helpful.

We can just take God’s Word as truth, and believe that an optimistic, positive and joyful soul affects the body for good. We can also understand that a negative, depressed spirit negatively affects the body.

But you can’t just tell a sick or hurting person to just “cheer up.” It doesn’t work; it just makes him feel worse. However, you can tell him the Good News of the Gospel in a meaningful way. Anything else is only Law, which beats him down further into guilt, shame, and despair.

Only the gospel has the power to make a merry heart. A heart filled with the life and the love of God can do good like a medicine. Speak gospel words to yourself and others to make the heart merry; then let the merry heart do its work.

Proverbs 17:3 The fining pot is for silver, and the furnace for gold: but the Lord trieth the hearts.

This is not a promise we look forward to, nor something we are happy about: the Lord will try the heart. God will test us. We will go through a refining fire. We don’t want it; we won’t like it; it is painful when God puts us in the furnace and turns up the heat. But the end result is beautiful: a sanctified, beautiful, holy person prepared as a bride, ready to dwell in the eternal Kingdom of God.

We don’t think we need it, for we think we are pretty good people as we are, good enough for God. But we are gravely mistaken. We cannot see how far we are from the glorious holiness of God; and we are so blinded by pride that we cannot see the ugly, horribly evil nature of the sinful self. We don’t see that we need discipline, chastening, and a heated refining furnace of fire. But the Lord sees and knows what we need.

Gold and silver is precious and pretty, but they hold many impurities, which must be refined out. Just like us. We need our loving Lord to put us in the refining fire and turn up the heat. He sees what we don’t. Our refining experiences will be big and bad, and also small and gentle, designed by God to shape and refine. “Our momentary, light afflictions are working for us an eternal weight of glory.” He tries the hearts to make it happen.

We should, but we won’t, love God for this promise and thank Him for the present trials and troubles we are going through. He loves us so much He designs the experiences we undergo as a refining fire to purify and refine. Yes, it is a promise: your Lord will try your heart. He is making something out of nothing, giving beauty for ashes, and making purity out of filth. Thank God!

Proverbs 16:32 He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city.

God promises strength and might for those who are slow to anger and are able to rule their own spirit. True inner strength and the might of a soldier are needed for us to rule our own spirit. Being “slow to anger,” controlling one’s temper, does not come easy for selfish, prideful sinners. It takes more inner strength than most humans naturally possess.

God promises this kind of inner strength to believers, who have His Spirit within. We are strong enough to rule over our own spirit when it rises up because of hurts, pains, troubles, and offenses. We may use the authority of Christ to rule over the “anger” enemy within. In Christ we have more power than an army taking a city. When we are moved by the Spirit to let Him exercise control over our negative emotions He promises to do just that.

Anger, bitterness, sadness, depression, and such feel like strong forces, but they are no match for the power and promise of God in Christ. God’s promises give us power to act.

Proverbs 16:24 Pleasant words are as an honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones.

The promise is that pleasant words will bring sweetness to the soul and health to the bones. This promise would be both for the speaker and the hearer of those pleasant words. Good words are good for both body and soul, the whole man. Pleasant words are like honey: it tastes good and it’s good for you.

Honey and the honeycomb in the Bible is considered to be good and good for you. Look at the “land flowing with milk and honey.” Jonathan found renewed strength and brightened eyes when he dipped his staff into a honeycomb. Psalm 19 says: The Word of God is “sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.”

Pleasant, gracious words have a way of making everybody, including ourselves, feel better. Positive, edifying, encouraging, uplifting words lift the spirit, which affect the soul, which affects the body. Flattery is not necessary, but even that is helpful. Gossip, pessimism, negativity, complaints, mean and harsh words deflate the spirit. Good news beats bad news every day.

But the real good news with pleasant words is The Good News, the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Gospel is always refreshing and life-giving, energizing and invigorating, sweet and healthful. We can never hear it enough, for the gospel is like honey, sweet to the soul and health to the bones. Words have power, words give blessing, words heal and make alive, words lift up. So use and listen to “pleasant words.”

Proverbs 16:22 Understanding is a wellspring of life unto him that hath it: but the instruction of fools is folly.

Proverbs is a book of contrasts, contrasting the two different kinds of people in the world: wise and fools, righteous and wicked, good and evil, godly and worldly, and others, which always means believers and unbelievers. Each of the two is further contrasted by result: promise and threat, reward and punishment, blessing and curse, life and death. In this verse, understanding is wisdom, which comes from faith in God’s Word; the instruction of fools is folly, which comes from the ungodly world and its lies and from our own fallen sinful human understanding and reason with its deceptions.

The “understanding” referred to here is the same as “faith in Jesus.” It is the believer who may lay claim to the promise of a “wellspring of life.” A wellspring is a fountain or a spring of water that never dries up or stops flowing. It is forever. Jesus puts it this way: “The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life [John 4:14],” and, “Whoever believes in me…out of his heart will flow rivers of living water [John 7:38].” Living water is God’s life, which is eternal, which is the Holy Spirit.

We have within us a never-ending source of life, a groundswell of refreshing water that is always available. It may be called upon at any time for any need. We may speak and hear the Gospel and receive life all the time. When we run dry, which happens by living in a world of sin that saps the life out of us, we drink of the gospel by remembering our baptism, returning to the Word of life, and reminding ourselves of the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. We are refreshed and renewed with life. For life and new life we listen to the right Voice.

Proverbs 16:20 He that handleth a matter wisely shall find good: and whoso trusteth in the Lord, happy is he.

Finding good is a good thing; it depends on the condition: handle a matter wisely. Two things are involved in “finding good:” the first is just happening to discover the good; the second is actually looking for the good, when you do you usually find it. Either way, wisdom is the key. Wisdom is gained from “The Book,” and it is given to those who ask. “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God…and it will be given him [James 1:5].” Whenever we don’t know what to do or decide, we may ask our dear Father for the wisdom needed. Acting on that wisdom, we find good things happening.

We also tend to find what we are looking for. If we look for the good in a person or event we can find it. Becoming a “good-finder” is a much happier way to live than being a fault-finder. This is wisdom. This is a promise. Optimistic people can find God and good everywhere.

We can find good and be happy when we “trust in the Lord.” Faith is “the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Trust is the practical application of faith to real life; trust relies on and rests in what we believe. Wisdom knows how to apply knowledge; trust knows how to apply faith. Both wisdom and trust come from God as His gifts.

Faith in Christ brings wisdom and trust. We may use it and apply it daily. Wisdom and trust bring the good and the happy. That’s the promise.

Proverbs 16:7 If a man’s ways please the Lord, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him.

This is a conditional promise: if you please the Lord, then your enemies will be at peace with you. For natural-born sinful, selfish humans it is, of course, impossible to please the Lord. However, The Father is well-pleased with His Son, as He announced: “This is my beloved Son, with him I am well pleased.” Jesus’ righteous life and innocent death pleases God. And when I believe in Jesus I am identified with Him, and my Father is well pleased with me. Wonder of wonders! It is amazing for me to remember that God is well pleased with me. Because of this Gospel truth, the promise comes true: God makes my enemies be at peace with me.

The “enemies” referred to here are not our spiritual enemies (Sin, Death, Satan), for they will never make peace and be reconciled. They are sworn, relentless, and eternal enemies of God and man. The only thing that can be done is to overcome them and eventually throw them into the life of fire. This has been done, and it will be done.

The enemies referred to here are flesh and blood human beings, who become temporary enemies for various sinful reasons. They may be tempted by our spiritual enemies to be at enmity with us from time to time. These “enemies” may be as close as our own family or as far as people we don’t even know, but anyone can become like an enemy for a time of disrupted relationships. St. Paul says in Ephesians: “we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against…the spiritual forces of evil.”

So what do we do with flesh and blood enemies? We make peace with them! Or rather, God makes them be at peace with us. That’s the promise. We apologize and we forgive. “Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.” The Lord helps us do this when we ask according to His promise. You know the old saying: “Get rid of your enemies by making them friends.”

Proverbs 16:6 By mercy and truth iniquity is purged: by the fear of the Lord men depart from evil.

Taken as an unconditional promise Jesus Christ is mercy and truth, and Christ purges us from sin. “The word became flesh…full of grace and truth….grace and truth came through Jesus Christ [John 1:14, 17].” Faith in Christ is the fear of the Lord, and faith justifies, or makes righteous, or causes evil to go away. Because of Christ all sin is purged (there is no need for purgatory), and all evil is departed. “The blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin [1 John 1:7].” This promise is true on account of Christ, given by grace, and received by faith.

If we should take this as a conditional promise the meaning is a little different. If we show mercy and speak truth, then sin will be purged from relationships. “As we forgive those who trespass against us,” and “Love covers a multitude of sins.” If we believe in Jesus (fear the Lord), then we will depart from evil, that is, faith will cause us not to sin so much. We may confidently pray. “Deliver us from evil.” Believe the promise: the evil is separated from us. Of course, we remember that mercy, love, and forgiveness is not some thing can actually do. God loves through us. And fearing God (believing) is not something sinners can actually do either. Faith (fear) itself is a gift of God.

So let us take the promise both ways: unconditional and conditional, spiritually and practically, justification and sanctification, we are forgiven as we forgive. God loves me, and through me He loves others, thereby effectively combatting sin and evil.

Proverbs 16:3 Commit thy works unto the Lord, and thy thoughts shall be established.

If you commit your works unto the Lord, then your thoughts will be established. Commit your works, ways, tasks, hopes, dreams, plans, and every next thing to the Lord, and you will find that He will help you to focus on the job and order your thoughts for the task at hand.

It happens to us so often that we become scattered, we.jump from from one thing to another, and we have too many thoughts intruding on the one thing we are trying to accomplish. It would be helpful if we would pray a bit before we do anything, whether large or small, but it is most helpful for the big jobs, the difficult tasks, and the challenging works we are about to tackle. If a job is committed to the Lord then He is responsible for the successful conclusion of the work.

In truth, this just a way of “praying without ceasing.” We can get used to committing everything and everyone to the Lord. Think what it would mean for our life (both at home and at work). One promise is that He will establish our thoughts, and that helps us concentrate. God will do the work and do it well, but He uses our thoughts, skill, brains, and energy to get it done. He orders and establishes our thoughts. The thoughts of a created human can do amazing things when they are ordered by the Lord. Give it to God. Commit it to God. Trust Him to do it, but through you. This way of living and doing produces great joy and satisfaction.