If you seek her as silver And search for her as for hidden treasures; Then you will discern the fear of the LORD And discover the knowledge of God. Proverbs 2:4-5
Solomon is relating to us an exhortation he gave to his own children. It dealt with the search and the quest to know God. There is no greater quest for anyone in this life than to know the God of creation and the God of salvation. The search is worth all the effort that we can muster - and the rewards will eventually dwarf any cost or effort we put into it. Solomon tells his son to seek after God like one seeks for silver. The search for silver takes a man under ground. There are dangers in this search, but when you run across a vein of silver there is abundant wealth in the finding. The famous "Comstock Lode" in the Nevada region started just as a smaller vein of silver that was discovered. Yet when the search continued to areas adjacent to that area - a lode of silver of phenomenal proportions was discovered. This is how a search for silver goes. You research and study an area and search at great length to discover even a small vein of silver in the earth. But as you follow that vein there is the possiblity that you will find the "mother lode" which refers to the largest portion of the valuable silver ore. This parallels the search for the knowledge and wisdom of God. As you search the Scriptures - and seek for God Himself - He will allow you to find Him. The search may be long and arduous - but the finding is so glorious that all the hard work will seem as nothing. This search is also compared to searching for hidden treasures. There are those who know of sunken ships that contain great treasures. Those who search for them scan documents that give clues in locating the sunken vessels. They take these clues and follow them in their search. They may search for weeks and months and even years - but they know that finding the treasure will make it all worthwhile. Solomon told his son to search the Scriptures the same way so that he would know the God of his fathers. This search will yield great treasure. But our treasure is not measured in silver and gold. It is measured in discerning what is means to fear God. It is measured in what we find when we discover and know God Himself. We search the Word and the wisdom of God so that we can discern what it is to fear God. The fear of God is not a terribly popular thing in today's society - but for those who study the Scriptures the fear of God is a treasure trove full of diamonds and rubies. We've already learned in Proverbs that one doesn't even begin the trek toward wisdom until he or she learns the fear of God. As one searches the Scriptures he learns about God Himself. He learns of God's judgments and His mighty acts. Can you imagine being present as Mt. Sinai rumbled beneath a cap of smoke and fire? My guess is that those who viewed such a thing didn't respond with warm and fuzzy feelings. They looked and experienced great fear and trembling. Consider the mighty works of the Lord through the ages. Consider Sodom and Gomorrah being rained upon with sulphurous fire - consider Dathan and Abiram with their families falling into the gaping crevice that God opened in the earth to swallow them alive. Think about what it must have looked like to watch the Egyptian army crushed by millions of gallons of water as the Red Sea poured upon them - even while Israel walked on dry land with a wall of water on either side. Imagine the enemies of Joshua being crushed with huge stones that God was casting from the heavens - even as the sun was standing still in the midst of the sky. What do these things inspire? They inspire wonder and awe and fear! They should help us discern that our response to such a mighty God is to fear and honor Him. There is more though. Through this kind of search we also "discover the knowledge of God." The word here is "daath" and it speaks of a knowing by experience, by relationship, and by encounter. This is what I love about the study of Scripture. We are not just looking into what is written in a book. We are not just studying so we can add to our "head-knowledge." We are studying and examining things so that we can KNOW GOD! There is a very real relationship and encounter awaiting us. God is real - in fact He Himself is ultimate reality. We search and seek so that in the end we may experience Him. This is the incredible promise that is made to us in Proverbs chapter 2. All the listening, the crying out, the seeking and searching is so that we can know the living God in a living relationship. This is NOT just religion or a set of values that will make our lives better. We are searching and seeking for THE God of the universe - Who literally made all that we see. He reveals Himself through Scripture - so that we may know Him as we walk through our every day lives. He is here - and He is knowable! That is why we search - that is why we seek - that is why with every fiber of our being we reach out to Him. We do so because He IS there - and He is drawing us into a vital, glorious, wonderful relationship with Himself. Oh the treasure that awaits us at the end of our search. Oh the ultimate mother lode that rewards us for digging and mining in His Word. Do not ever underestimate what awaits you when you seek God. Not even the first billionth could ever be comprehended of His imeasurable wealth and riches. So search . . . search with all your heart . . . search for the ultmiate treasure which is God Himself.
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He who walks in his uprightness fears the LORD, But he who is devious in his ways despises Him. Proverbs 14:2
Do you fear God? There is a test that will determine whether you do or you do not fear God. This test is whether you walk in uprightness or not. To be "upright" means to be one who walks striaght in an ethical sense. It refers to the path that we choose to live in - or how we interact with others. When we walk in an upright manner we are not walking in crookedness. Of course when you speak of uprightness - you are defining this standard and this way of walking by what God says in His Word. We are warned by God in Proverbs chatper 2:13 to stay on the straight path of God's ways, and not to stray into the crooked path which would ignore God's Word and life as we want - or as the world dictates we should. When we do not choose to walk in this way - it indicates that we do not respect God. We don't think that there will be any kind of retribution for our ungodly actions and words. We simple think God does not act according to what His Word says. The second half of this proverb states things rather bluntly. The one who is devious in his ways despises God. This deviousness simply means that we do not walk in truth. We will try to do things and be deceitful and turn aside from the ways of the Lord. We are crooked and perverse - and according to this word's Hebrew definition we trust in our deviousness to get us through life. Thus we have adopted a lifestyle of doing what we think is necessary to get us what we want. When a man lives like this Scripture says that this man despises the Lord. He holds God in contempt - disdains him - and has no respect for the Lord or for His ways. It is important for us to get this. To choose deviousness indicates we hate God - and that we have no real respect for what His Word says and how it warns us against God's judgment and discipline. When we choose however to live as God desires - and choose that which is upright and true - that which is by God's design and desire - we are choosing to give God the respect and honor He deserves. A truly wise man does not despise God - He chooses to give God the glory that He deserves. There are six things which the Lord hates, Yes, seven which are an abomination to Him: Proverbs 6:16
God hates things? This seems so strange to some people who do not know God's holiness and justice. Their view of God is of a loving, tolerant, indulgent father who would never do anything mean - and certainly does not hate anyone or anything - except maybe what they hate. The Bible teaches differently than this. Note here that Jehovah speaks of six "things" which He hates. The word for hate here is "sane" which means to hate, detest, to dislike or be hostile to something or someone - to loathe. Wow, that's a strong word isn't it. The thought that God actually hates and loathes something may be new to you - but let's go on to see just what it is that He loathes and hates. Next we read that there are not just six - but seven things which are an abomination to Him. Abomination is "toebah" and means something patently offensive - something which God loathes and dislikes to the extreme. In the Old Testament this word applies to such things like idolatry, child sacrifice, intermarriage by Israel with the wicked nations around them, the false religious activities of the wicked, and homosexuality. God is holy and is completely separate from sin and wickedness. We must grasp His essential nature of holiness or such passages as these will not make any sense to us. More than this they will tend to offend us - if we do not grasp the truth of God's nature and that things sinful are offensive to Him. Wisdom is realizing that though God is love - He is also a holy God who hates sin. Those who fail to consider God's holiness and hold fast only to a nature of love wind up justifying and accepting sin in the end. I know that it is difficult to consider and think of God in this way - as a God Who is angry - to the point of hate and considering things an abomination. Yet doing this can be very helpful to us. It will help us in the area of seeing sin as utterly sinful - and seeing outright rebellion and perversion of what God desires as very dangerous. Remember that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. It is a good thing to look at certain sins and just simply be scared of committing them - because we know our holy God hates them intensely. The eyes of the Lord are in every place, Watching the evil and the good. Proverbs 15:3
As a pastor, I have the fun task of informing people that God sees and hears everything. This is usually after someone learns that I am a pastor - and immediately apologizes for saying something crass or ungodly. I appreciate their graciousness in apologizing, but I also want to inform them that God hears and knows everything. There are some who do not believe this - but kind of believe that I'm mic-ed by God for surveilance of anyone near me. Soooo . . . when they speak within the range of my mic - God hears them - but when I'm out of range - well, everything is go for ungodly behavior. Proverbs lets us know - the eyes of Jehovah are in every place. God has an attribute called "omnipresence" which means that God is everywhere at all times. That is one reason God sees all things. There is a second attribute of God called "omniscience" which means that God knows all things at all times. Therefore we see that God not only sees all things - He knows what is said - the motives behind what is said - and He even knows what was not said but merely thought. This is information that is unnerving to say the least to those who are walking contrary to God's ways. I think it is one reason why some are so adamantly atheistic in their views of God. They cannot tolerate a God who konws all things they have done - and more importantly, One to whom they are accountable for these things as well. Therfore they just choose to deny Him instead. Of course this is as ridiculous as someone who denys the sun exists - yet still receives the light and warmth of the sun - even though he denies its existance. God does see - in every place - and He watches the evil and the good that is going on everywhere at all times. There is nothing He does NOT see or know. To be perfectly honest - this is unnerving to me! It is unnerving because there are times even I don't live like God sees and knows everything. It is unnerving because God does see all I do - and knows every motive that I have and every thought that passes through my head. If I did not know of the blood of Jesus and the grace of God - I might find myself mentally unstable due to this knowledge - but peace reigns in my heart because I do know such things. What a respect and fear of God comes to us when we grasp the attributes of God. It is a good thing to know this - because the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. It is when we grasp such things that we realize that a life lived for our own desires and lusts is a foolish life indeed. It moves us to wisdom because we grasp that life is to be FOR God - for His purposes and plans. It moves us to wisdom because such a knowledge leads us to a life lived THROUGH God Who alone is capable of giving us what we need to live a life acceptable to Him. So, next time you are tempted to trust self - live according to self - please self - and think that no one but you matters . . . think again. The eyes of God are in every place - seeing the good and the evil. And . . . He is the One with Whom we will have to deal in the day of judgment. The one who despises the word will be in debt to it, But the one who fears the commandment will be rewarded. Proverbs 13:13
How you view and deal with God's Word will determine in great measure what kind of life you live and in the end, what kind of reward you receive. There have been those throughout history who have despised God's Word. They hold it in contempt. They scorn and disrespect what God has said. They scoff at its commands and laugh at the worldview it presents. For at least two thousand years they have tried to tear it down and make their own words powerful. After two thousand years of this one would think the Word of God would have been beaten to dust. Yet the Word of God still stands - still speaks - still works in the hearts of those who receive it as the Word of God. Not only this, but it still is THE STANDARD by which we shall be judged before God. The man who despises God's Word will still be in debt to it. The grass withers, the flower falls off - but the Word of the Lord shall stand. Every man will have to stand before God on the day of judgment and give account for the deeds which he has done in the flesh. Every man is in debt to the commandments of God - especially those which he has broken. The call out to the living God for judgment and are tied about the neck of those who have broken them like an eternal albatross. Though they rebel against them and mock them, they will be tied to them as surely as Samson was chained to the grinding wheel for his sin. Man may shout and insult the Word of God, but man will also stand accountable to it. The debt mounts day by day - and that debt must be paid. The one who fears and respects the Word of God - who sees the commandment and trembles - that man will be rewarded. It is only as we approach the commandments of God and fear that we will receive wisdom and understanding. What is interesting is what the commandment will teach us who fear and respect it. God's commands require obedience. Our problem is that we cannot offer it - not in the manner God requires. We fall short of God's glory in the commandments and become guilty of sin. By the commandments of God no man will become righteous - for by these very commandments we become aware of our sin and accountability to Him. But the reward that comes from knowing this is that we come instead to a knowledge of our need - of a salvation that is apart from works. This salvation comes through Jesus Christ - Who alone is the reward for those who learn from the Law. As Galatians says - the law is given to us as a school teacher that we might be justified by faith. We tire of our own efforts at reform and restoration and instead turn to the only means of salvation - Jesus Christ. Despising the Word of God is a sport fit for fools. Yet those who learn from the Word - who listen to the Teacher - run to Christ and find in Him a reward greater than any we could have ever fathomed! The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. Proverbs 9:10
There are many who say that they have wisdom for us - that their counsel will help us. There are even those who say that we can get wisdom from people who do not know the Lord and even from some who deny Him. Now, we might be able to get a little "temporary insight" on how to live here and now from such people, but wisdom - never. Let me explain from this passage why this is true. Wisdom lasts. There is a statement that we need to grab hold of in this life. The "temporary insight" that some have will not last. It may hold promise for tomorrow and even for a year from now - but true wisdom holds promise for eternity. Here we read the familiar statement that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. If we do not fear God - if we do not hold Him in highest regard with respect and honor - we are fools! We don't even start into the path of wisdom until we get this one down. Here's why this is true. If we are supposedly wise - yet all our wisdom passes away the moment we die - is that wisdom? If we are one of the truly insightful, yet we walk into judgment completely unprepared, I think it is not a stretch to say that insight of that kind is blindness. We need to acknowledge God - and honor and glorify Him as God - and then we will begin on the path of wisdom. Until we do this - we are blind, foolish, and stupid. Whereas the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord - the continuance from wisdom to understanding is knowing God. Solomon tells us that the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. We won't have a lick of understanding and discernment into this life and the next without knowing God. Lacking that is lacking what is most precious. If we don't know God - we won't be able to understand and discern what is right. There are those who want to divorce wisdom from knowing God - saying that we can gain wisdom in a way that doesn't know God. They point to the so-called wise men and gurus of this world and say that they have wisdom. Whatever wisdom they have is only because they have stumbled across Biblical principles. But if they were wise, they would turn from their false religions and run to the Lord. Because they do not - not only do they themselves act with penultimate foolishness - but they lead others to do as well. They themselves will end their lives in eternal agony as they burn in the lake of fire with the smoke of their torment going up forever and ever. They will suffer more from the reality that they have also led countless others into the same fate with their foolish advice. The wisdom of this world is foolishness before God. We would do well to remember that - and cling to the wisdom that leads us to fear and know God. That and that alone is wisdom indeed. "The fear of the Lord is to hate evil; Pride and arrogance and the evil way And the perverted mouth, I hate. Proverbs 8:13
Hate . . . most people believe that Christians should not hate at all. They believe that hate is a bad thing. Yet here in Proverbs, the book of wisdom from God, we have a command to hate! Let's take a look and see how God calls us to be a hater . . . of sin and evil. "The fear of the LORD is to hate evil . . . here is where it all starts. It starts with a respect and honor for God Himself. We will never be wise until we understand that God is great - greater than all others and penultimate! That respect, honor, and yes fear will move us toward wisdom - because what is penultimate in our lives is what will eventually govern us. That honor and respect also means that we will hate evil. Hate . . . This Hebrew word means to hate, to despise, to dislike something or someone and thus to be hostile toward it and loathe it. The statement, God doesn't hate anyone is not theologically sound. According to Psalm 11:5, God hates those who love violence. We learn in Hosea 9:15 and Amos 6:8 that God detests and hates those who turn to evil and choose it instead of Him. Psalm 5:5 makes is clear that God hates all those who love evil. Rather than try to do an exhaustive study on this - let's realize at this point that God hates certain things - and yes - He hates certain people. Here is the fact of this passage - if we honor and respect God - we will hate evil. We will loathe and despise it with everything within us. The proverb goes on to say, we hate several things specifically. Pride . . . we hate pride. Pride has an interesting root word that instructs us greatly. The root word means to rise up, to lift up, and thus to exalt. There is only One Who sould be lifted up and raised up and exalted. God is that One and His interests and desires should always reign supreme in our lives. Problem is that they don't - and we lift ourselves up and exalt ourselves as the authority in our lives. We decide we know best - and we are adequate for life and for everything. This is the root of pride - when we choose to exalt self above God. This we should HATE! Arrogance . . . this is pride in action. Pride indicates the attitude that a person has that is independent of God - the one who thinks they can live apart from Him. Arrogance is when a person acts upon that pride and lives in a way that no longer exalts and honors God. We act arrogantly when we lift up our own thinking and reasoning above that of God. That kind of action we should HATE! The Evil Way . . . the word way is the often used word "derek" and it again refers to a lifestyle - a way a person walks and lives their lives. Note here we've moved from the attitude of pride - to the acting out of that pride in arrogance - and now we see the fruition of many acts of arrogance in an evil lifestyle and way of living. When we choose not to honor or lift up God, but rather lift up ourselves over and over again - we develop an entire lifestyle. God hates a lifestyle that ignores and dishonors Him - and we should HATE it too. The Perverted Mouth . . . This is a mouth that deviates and distorts the Lord's ways and turns from Him. It is corrupt and deceptive speech - a distortion of what is straight and right. When a prideful lifestyle and arrogant actions prevail in our lives - we will then justify them by speaking what is perverted. We will justify our lives - and as we do - we will distort God's ways - and deviate from them in what we say. Romans 1 says that the wicked not only live the way they do - knowing it is not God's way - but they also heartily encourage others to do the same thing. God does hate certain things - and He lists them here for us to learn and to avoid. The wise man learns these things - and realizes that one of the most foolish things in life to do is to anger and enrage the living God and embrace what He hates. My son, fear the Lord and the king; Do not associate with those who are given to change, 22 For their calamity will rise suddenly, And who knows the ruin that comes from both of them? Proverbs 24:21-22
Change! We need change! There is the byword of our society lately. Yet, there are some things that do not change, and should not be subject to quick changes. What is fascinating to me is the two areas where this is mentioned. Fear the Lord - that I can understand. At least in the context of change. Those who think that they can do better with God - who think that they know better than His Word are not wise people. An example are those who think that God should change His views on morals to parallel those of a changing society. They are given to change, and do so every time the society decides to loosen their morals beyond what is written in the Word. As it says in verse 22 - their calamity is going to come - it will rise suddenly. And the ruin that comes from such "change" is massive. With God's Word that is easy to see. But that is not where this passage stops. Fear the king . . . that is the second part of this statement made by the wise man. Government? We should fear the government? That is what God's Word tells us. But we need to remember what kind of government they had. Their king was to spend time writing out a personal copy of God's Word so that he would be careful not to overstep what it said. But before we make this statement only apply to a biblical theocracy, we need to remember that Paul urged first century Christians to submit to the government of Rome - or to any under which they lived. We are to pray for those in authority so that we can live peaceful lives in all godliness. Stability in government is actually a good thing. As long as we can live within it for Christ - we should be grateful for whatever form of government we have. The people describes as the ones given to change are those who are desirous of changing the government - which in that day meant an overthrow or a revolution. Hang around with these people long enough - and both you and they will find yourselves at odds with the king. An interesting historical parallel to this is the French Revolution. There were those who were given to change - and who decided to overthrow the monarchy. These revolutionaries soon decided to overthrow one another. Before long - blood ran in the streets as one faction turned on another. The end of all this was the dictatorship of Napoleon and the wars that ensued. France was in shambles due to it all. Associating with those "given to change" led to many being beheaded . . . yep, sounds like calamity to me. The best thing is to fear God - and fear the ones in government to whom He has placed the sword of its power. Romans tells us as much. Historically, being a Christian has rarely meant working for government change. I know in the United States such statements are foreign to us, but biblically the focus of God's people has been building a kingdom that cannot be seen - one that will last forever. So, follow the counsel of Scripture . . . fear God and the king. Work in your life to live under both - but ultimately with a view to standing before the Lord, Who ultimately is the One Who governs our lives. Do not let your heart envy sinners, But live in the fear of the Lord always. 18 Surely there is a future, And your hope will not be cut off. Proverbs 23:17-18
Ever look at the prosperity of sinners and the ungodly with the wrong set of eyes? Here's what I mean . . . it is difficult to miss the the wicked and ungodly are many times prosperous in this present world. It is also difficult to see sinners experiencing instant gratification for their sinning. Too often Christians want to keep this a secret - and not acknowledge such things. But the fact is that these things exist - and that we will have to see them as we walk through this world. The problem comes not with their existence, but rather with those times when we look at them with the wrong set of eyes. The proverb begins, "Do not let your heart envy sinners . . . " This command would not be given to us if there were not a danger of us doing just that, envying sinners. The whole reason for celebrity magazines is to help mankind to envy sinners. The reason for the old show - "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous" is to have us envy those who live that way. But the Word of God warns us - don't envy them. What is the counsel we receive from God's Word? Don't envy sinners - don't let your heart be drawn to love what they love - but live in the fear of Jehovah always! Our lives are to be lived in the fear of Jehovah - in the fear of the Lord. How do we do this? We do it by learning wisdom from God's Word - and then allowing the Word to be the primary influence on our desires and direction in life. That Word warns us about the transitory nature of riches - as well as the fact that to whom much is given, much is required. We are warned about sexual immorality in precept and in example. The Word tells us to guard our hearts against the harlot - then gives us a front row seat to the destruction of the strongest man in history by the fleeting lies of free sex - or sex without responsibility. We watch David as he turns from the Word to his own fleshly desires. What seems tantalizing at first becomes a nightmare of lies, deception, and cover-ups later. Then the real price is paid - several times over and literally thousands of times more than his brief pleasure - as daughters are raped, sons die, and an entire nation is thrown into disarray. Yeah - think after watching several episodes of "The Lives of the Judged and Jaded," I think I've been convinced that living in the fear of the Lord always is the better choice! But before we are left with only His judgments to learn from (which actually should be sufficient for us to learn wisdom) we are given a wonderful promise from the Lord Whom we are to fear. When we live in the fear of the Lord - surely there is a future! The word future is so instructive! The word for "future" is "acharith" and it means, "the after-part or the latter end." The Lord is saying to us, "Look at the end of these things! Note and learn from the end of the matter." We are not to focus on the immediate moment when making a decision. Honestly, that is what often gets us in trouble. We look at the chocolate chip cookie sitting on the cookie sheet - wafting out its promise of a "toll-house" moment of pleasure - not realizing the "toll" is higher than we think until we step on the scales. (I know this routine all too well - those cookies call to me like the Sirens of Odysseus) Wisdom is seeing the end from the beginning - to see the consequences ahead of time. When we see them in our mind's eye and heart - we avoid choices that will leave us shipwrecked and without a future. That in the promise - we will have a future - a desired latter-end in life. We'll make choices that may hurt now - but in the end we will be blessed! When we do this we will see that our hope will not be cut off. This is the problem with envying sinners and allowing their short-termed blessing to guide us into making a choice like theirs. We learn only later that the short-termed blessings of sin leave us with long-term problems. There is no long-term hope in sinful actions. There is no future in sin - ask anyone in hell. One last encouragement . . . when sinners flaunt their envious position in the present moment . . . when they try to entice you to join them, don't do it. Don't envy their short-lived adventagious position. They are standing on a fault line of judgment. Sooner or later there is going to be an earthquake from which they cannot escape. Their ground is shifting sand and their house is going to fall. In that moment of temptation remind them of their latter end - man . . . remind yourself of your own latter end if you follow their example. There is a future - a hope. Go to the last book and read of "The Lifestyles of the Happy and Heaven-bound." |
Proverb a DayEach day, we'll take a look at a verse from the chapter of Proverbs for the day. Our hope is to gain wisdom each day - and from that wisdom - to have understanding to make godly decisions in the throes of everyday life. Thank you for visiting our website! Everything on this site is offered for free. If, however, you would like to make a donation to help pay for its continued presence on the internet, you can do that by clicking here. The only thing we ask is that you give first to the local church you attend. Thank you!
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