Then you will discern righteousness and justice And equity and every good course. Proverbs 2:9

How do you know when you are doing the right thing or going in the right direction in life?  Here is a question that everyone would love to be able to answer.  The fact is that God says that we can know this.  The way that we know it though is definitely outside of the mainstream of ideas that exist today.  Let's take a look today at how we can know whether we are on course or not.

Solomon tells us here that there is a time when we will be able to discern some very important things.  The first in his fourfold list is righteousness.  Before we jump into those four things, we should see that discernment is involved.  The word discern means that we are able to look at things and distinguish between them.  We see differences between two or more things - and use that knowledge to understand them from God's vantage point.  Here is our first very important lesson - things differ - and you can tell the difference.  Most would agree with you on this truth - until you begin stating what you can distinguish between.  The last thing we should address before we go into our list is that Solomon is stating what he does in verse 9 as a conclusion to all he has said before.  What is it that allows us to have this discernment?  It is the Word of God.  All through this chapter he is calling for us to receive the Word, store up the Word in our hearts, cry out for God's work in teaching it to us, and to seek for the Word as one would buried treasure.  The discernment of which we speak here is a discernment that comes only because of the way the Word works in our hearts.

As I said earlier, the first in his fourold list if righteousness.  We will be able to discern when something is right or not.  Now is the moment when the postmodern among us throw up their red flags.  They assert someone might know right and wrong for themselves - but consider it the height of arrogance to think or state that anyone might be able to discern right and wrong for everyone.  But that is exactly what Proverbs asserts here - and more by the time we finish with the four things Solomon says can be discerned.

The second in our list of four is justice.  Our society cries out for justice - but unfortunately the justice they want ignores the Word of God.  It ignores what God calls just in many cases - and completely ignores the problem of how we can be just before Him.  Whereas the world cries for social justice - God offers absolute justice.  These are not always opposed to one another - but - God ultimately wants us to be able to stand before Him just and righteous - and that requires the person and the work of Jesus Christ to happen.

The third thing we will be able to discern is equity.  Here, my friends is a loaded word.  "Meysar" is the word the Hebrews used to describe equity.  It means rightness, correctness, and fairness.  The word meant something smooth and level.  Communism is man's way of trying to make everything equitable.  Pure communism takes from everyone and then redistributes it so everyone gets an equal share.  It does not take into account work ethic or whether someone has truly earned their share with hard work.  And since pure communism would require pure hearts to work - we see that in practical communism - the ruling class takes and redistributes so everyone is equally as poor - while they live in the lap of luxury and take care of those who most honor and support their rule.  When God speaks of equity He is speaking of how a state should judge fairly and honorably.  He is speaking of how His promises are available to all.  To "discern" equity we need to see things as God does - for fairness and correctness begins with what is fair and right in God's eyes.  When we bring God into this equation - we have serious trouble for mankind.  Man is sinful and rebellious - and what is fair for him is God's wrath and judgment.  What we should find amazing about God's equity is that He chose to pay the price of equity for us - and instead of giving us what is fair, He gave us grace instead.

Finally, through the Word, we can discern every good course.  We will know the right ways to walk - and God will indicate to us wrongs ones as well.  This right and wrong will correspond to what He says in His Word.  Thus we have the ultimate aggravation to the modernist.  We assert that through God's Word we have an "absolute standard" upon which all things in life is to be measured.  If actions and choices and lifestyles do not measure up to what God calls good, right, just, and equitable - they are wrong.  And thus begins the clash of worldviews.  True Judaism and Christianity will always find themselves at odds with the rest of the worldviews that come from men.  They end up at odds because they have the audacity of claiming that God's Word is a revelation of THE truth.  For those who reject this claim - the world is a mish-mash of conflicting morals and ideas.  We all get along by ultimately stating that both everything is right, as well as everything is wrong.  It might be right for us while at the same time being wrong for others.  The resulting public moral quicksand creates a world in which all things are to be tolerated except the arrogance of Judaism and Christianity who assert that their worldview is absolute.  That view - that view that states that there is absolute truth and it is found in God's Word - is the one that absolutely cannot be tolerated.  Too bad though - because it is the only worldview that creates the stability of actually knowing whether the path you are taking will ultimately lead to blessing or destruction. 

Keep your way far from her And do not go near the door of her house, Proverbs 5:8

For many, the reason that they fail and fail again in conquering sexual sin is because they are trying to walk as close as they can to the line rather than walking miles from seeing it.  Let me explain as we look at today's "little bit of wisdom." 

Solomon is giving his son great advice here concerning the immoral woman.  He is told to keep his way FAR from her!  He tells his son not to go near to the door of her house!  What great wisdom he offers here - and yet it is as simple as a child learning their first letters.  The problem is that too many ignore this advice - and do so to their own demise. 

FAR - there is the definitive word that we need to remember when it comes to avoiding sexual sin.  What usually happens is that a young man wants to go as close as he can to sin - without actually stepping into it.  He walks the line between sin and righteousness like someone walks a tight rope.  The result of this choice on his part is that he sins - and does so fairly regularly. 

Here is a truth and wisdom you need to remember when it comes to sexual sin - and hanging around the wrong kind of women or men.  If you want to walk as close as you can to sin - you will sin.  You are destined to fall if your goal is to stay close to the edge of sin.  David knew this when he instructed Solomon in this very same information.  David understood this all too well. 

David should have never been in Jerusalem when he committed adultery with Bathsheba.  The Scriptures tell us that when kings went to war . . . David chose to stay home.  This presents a very dangerous situation for David.  First of all, David is not where he should be - fighting for Israel and engaging the Lord's enemies.  So our first lesson is this - if sin is our enemy, why would we want to get as close to it as we can?  If David would have been where God wanted him to be - he would have never faced temptation in the first place. 

David's actions had consequences.  Now he was a man in a city filled with women whose husbands were away at war.  Where there would have been a natural protection afforded to David by the presence of Bathsheba's husband - that was not the case. 

When David was walking on the roof of his house and saw Bathsheba bathing - he could have walked away and gone back into his palace.  Instead he chose to look - and to note that she was a beautiful woman.  Each time David decided to walk on the edge of where God wanted him to be - and what God wanted him to do - David was ensuring that he was going to eventually fall off that edge headlong into sin.  Eventually, David succumbed to the desires that were raging in his heard.  Even though he had a palace filled with wives - and probably by this time concubines - he had to have this woman.  The rest is a sad and sordid history.

But enough about David - how about us?  Where are we walking in these matters?  Are we steering clear of sin - especially sexual sin.  I know of men who have stumbled again and again into pornography and other sexual sin - who grieve over their failures.  But they are unwilling to get a filter - unwilling to submit to accountability - and many think they can continue to get as close to sin as possible rather than run from it. 

If you want to know the answer to all this - it is to follow Solomon's counsel here - and keep away from the immoral woman - or wherever you are seeing her image or pictures.  If anything our heart's desire needs to be a desire to get as close to JESUS as we can!  That is what needs to drive us in our hearts.  We need to have a heart that says - not only do I want to keep away from her and steer clear of the door of her house.  I want to do just the opposite - to keep as close as I can to Christ - and to often go near Him. 

If you want to avoid sexual sin - then AVOID IT!  But in avoiding it, don't think inches or millimeters.  Think miles and miles!  By staying away from the source of temptation - we will find our hearts wonderfully protected as we instead draw near to our Lord Jesus Christ!

Give strong drink to him who is perishing, And wine to him whose life is bitter. 7 Let him drink and forget his poverty And remember his trouble no more. Proverbs 31:6-7

Is the Bible encouraging drunkenness here?  When I read this - at first glance I come away with the thought that the Bible is encouraging us, if we know someone who is struggling with poverty and bitterness, to encourage them to knock back a few - and they will forget all their troubles.  Is that what the Bible is saying here?  If it is - then this contradicts badly the passages that warn us against the harm that over indulgence in alcohol can do in our lives.  

To understand this Proverb we once again need to understand it based upon what it says in context.  God just moved on Bathsheba to instruct her son NOT to drink wine or strong drink.  Her reasoning is that such an action would lead her son to forget the Law.  With his thinking and reasoning impaired - he might pervert the rights of those who are afflicted.  So, two things we know here are that drunkenness is out of the question in what is being said - and - that Bathsheba is interested in how her son, as king, deals with the afflicted within his kingdom.

Her admonition to her son, next, is to give wine and strong drink to the one who is perishing.  This word means to perish, to be lost, or destroyed.  It was understood by the Jewish rabbis as dealing with two primary situations.  The first is when someone is suffering greatly with sickness - especially when that sickness is terminal.  It was a custom due to this admonition to medicate the dying with strong drink so that they would drink and forget the pain of their dying.  We do this today with terminal patients through morphine.  It is not evil to do so - it is merciful.  It is giving them something to help with the throes of dying.  The second instance where this was used was with those given to a death sentence - especially crucifixion.  We know this because Jesus was offered wine mixed with gall when He was on the cross.  This was a pain killing mixture that was given by godly women to those who faced the death penalty.  Jesus refused this because He needed to embrace all that the cross meant for sin.  But to offer some merciful pain killing substance to someone in the midst of horrific pain is something God counsels us to do. 

These admonitions are given for those "perishing" and also for those who are "bitter of soul."  Here is where things get a little bit more dicey.  For the one who is perishing - it is easy to see that we are easing their suffering as they draw near to death.  But what about the bitter of soul?  What is going on here?  Again, context is so important to remember.  We are in a section of Scripture where a mother has just warned her son against alcohol abuse - and how it clouds judgment and could lead to her son disregarding the Law in a moment of drunkenness.  Therefore, we can be assured that when it comes to those who are "bitter of soul" she is not advocating drunkenness to alleviate their problems.  This passage cannot be used therefore to justify men or women drowning their sorrows in whiskey or beer. 

What we do see though is that there is a benefit for the bitter of soul in having a drink.  The Bible itself says that "wine makes man's heart glad," in Psalm 104:15.  That verse is in the midst of a list of things that God Himself provides, including oil for the skin and the food that sustains a man with strength.  Wine was used in the feasts of Israel as well - and even offered up to God as a sacrifice.  Our problems with alcohol come from living in a society where drinking is too often done for the sake of partying - and with a view to getting drunk.  But God knows that drinking in moderation (let me stress here that this means NEVER getting drunk - and it also means drinking apart from the party scene, which in itself has more sins than just the drinking) can lift someone's spirits.  Wine does make a man's heart glad - and can lift someone's spirits.  Thus, Solomon was advised to give it to those who are bitter in soul to help them be lifted temporarily and cheered. 

I'm going to venture into an area where there is much disagreement and where I can be heavily criticized.  But in light of this passage, I feel the need to go there regardless of the dangers.  There are believers who struggle with periods of depression.  You could call these periods of time being bitter in soul.  Often a psychologist, psychiatrist, or a doctor encourages them to take something for a while to help them with their depression.  When this happens there is a cry from some that this is wicked, sinful - and it is only because the person does not trust God.  Yet here we have counsel given to the king that he should give wine or strong drink to someone who is too struggling with being bitter in soul.  Verse 7 in this section speaks of having him forget his poverty and trouble no more.  Poverty speaks of a lack - something is missing here - and it is further described as a man's "trouble."  This second word means a troublesome time - a time of labor and toil - and was used of the difficulties and hardships of life that lead to sorrow in a man's heart.  These times can be very difficult to handle - and I've actually watched brothers and sisters helped for a period of time by a medicine - something that lifts their spirits as they walk through a very difficult time.  Needless to say - or maybe it is better to say, Needful to say - God is not advocating drunkenness and the proverbial drowning of our sorrows in beer or hard liquor - but I do think what is advocated is something that would temporarily lift ones spirit and soul through a very difficult time.

Here is where I offer what I hope to be the other side of wisdom on this issue.  Although I do see a situation and a period of time where this might be profitable - I do not see it as "the answer" for depression and for times when we are bitter of soul.  Psalm 4:7 tells me that God puts, "gladness in my heart, more than when their grain and new wine abound."  A period of time may require this verse to be applied (if it does not refer solely to the perishing - and the bitter of soul is just another way of saying someone who is perishing) but we need to see God ultimately as our source of joy and as the ultimate One who can lift us out of any funk in which we find ourselves in life.  The one who turns to wine, strong drink, or even modern medicines as a permanent solution to their difficulties - and who does not turn to the Lord with them - is placing themselves in danger of looking to something rather than looking to Somone - as the answer to their problems.

Remember this - as we close today's look at Proverbs.  There is a mountain of Scripture dealing with the abuse of alcohol - of wine, new wine, and strong drink.  The Bible is overflowing with examples of how people lost their reason and their discernment with these things and wound up in grevious sin.  So as we see the wisdom of using wine and strong drink in the ways specified here - we need to do so with extreme caution and with God's wisdom guiding our every move in this area.  Too many, thinking they were just needing a little lift - have turned to alcohol and found it to be worse than their original problem in the end.  Wisdom, dear saints, should always color our use of such things.  May God give us grace and wisdom to do just as His counsel suggests here - and not find ourselves falling into sin by abusing something meant for a temporary benefit.  In the end, He is and always will be our source of comfort and of encouragment in difficult times - even in death. 
 

Thorns and snares are in the way of the perverse; He who guards himself will be far from them. Proverbs 22:5

Perversity . . . why is it wise to avoid being someone who is perverse?  That is the subject of today's proverb of the day.  The perverse man is the crooked man.  This word is used to describe someone who is morally, religiously, and socially given to perversion.  We read elsewhere in Proverbs 11:20 that God hates the perverse.  So this kind of lifestyle is one that we want to avoid at all costs. 

God says that thorns and snares are in the way of the perverse.  It is interesting that the perverse man thinks that everything is fine with him and with his lifestyle.  He may even feel that he will get ahead if he twists a few things here and there.  But the truth is that he is navigating a way that is full of thorns and snares.  We see this best when a banker or businessman is finally caught after being morally bankrupt.  The day comes when he is eventually caught in one of the snares.  The day comes when he faces the cost of walking through thorns.  The scrapes begin to add up and the scars make his skin ugly over time.  The snare that catches him trips him up all at once - and usually comes with a humiliating set of consequences. 

What are we to do about these things?  Scripture tells us that we need to "guard" ourselves from them.  The word "guard" here is our old friend "shamar" and means to be watchful and careful.  It means to set up a watch like a bodyguard over our lives.  We should have signs set up in our lives that say, "beware, perversity is near" and then avoid those paths and choices like we would the plague itself!  This is the wise and circumspect choice.  This is the way to avoid thorns and snares.  This is the way to walk a life that will be blessed with protection here and now - and great reward in the end.

Do not move the ancient boundary Or go into the fields of the fatherless, 11 For their Redeemer is strong; He will plead their case against you.   Proverbs 23:10-11

There is something about the orphan, the fatherless in this world that moves God's heart.  Those who seek to bless the widow and the orphan God pronounces as blessed - while here we receive a warning - a dire warning against doing things that harm them.

The first thing we read is not move the ancient boundary.  What is this about?  In biblical times these were markings that helped people know where their fields ended and where others began.  People would move boundary stones when plowing their fields - so that they could steal land from their neighbors by doing so.  Here this is equated with going into the fields of the orphan - stealing from orphans for your own greed.  God reserved some of His strongest language for those who would do such things.  The heaviest curses were reserved for this kind of sin.  We are warned that the One who is the Redeemer for these orphans is strong - in this case strong enough to be considered omnipotent.  Only a fool would take on Someone with omnipotence.  This Strong One, Jehovah Himself, will take up the case of the orphan and will plead their case against your greed and godlessness.  The best wisdom from the Word of God is not to mess with orphans - unless you either are going to bless them - or face a fate that is sure and deadly.

But back to this boundary stone - how can we move boundary stones in our day?  With current technology involving GPS systems - that kind of sin is just about obsolete in our day.  But there are many kinds of boundary stones in life.  There are those related to land and agriculture.  But there are also boundary markers when it comes to morals and to theological matters.  Pity the man or men who decide they want to move things morally or theologically away from where God Himself has set those markers.  This is not really a new sin - because men have been doing it for years.  They also have been paying a horrible price for it as well.  Back in 1973 we, as a nation, decided to move an ancient boundary marker and declare open season on the unborn.  In 1967 we decided to move the boundary marker concerning prayer and bible reading in our schools.  The results have been disastrous.  In our current day our government is decided to remove the marker altogether concerning immorality, sexuality, and marriage.  It is truly unwise to move that boundary - as unwise as messing with orphans.  Yet men continue to do so - to their own destruction and the destruction of entire nations.  Just as a fool is the only one who would take on an omnipotent God in messing with orphans - so also it is only a fool who decides to stand against God Himself by moving the moral boundaries that God Himself has set.  We've done it . . . but then again we continue to pay for it every day.  The God of those boundaries is truly strong - and for every boundary we seek to push backward - there will be a price.  Are we willing to continue to pay it?