PROVERBS Chapter 3
Introduction
Proverbs chapter 3 continues with more wisdom. It is not as specific in regards to sin as chapter 1 and chapter 2 (which are linked to murder and prostitution). Chapter 3 gives us more general forms of wisdom.
Table of Contents
Proverbs 3:1-26 - The Benefits of Using Wisdom
- Proverbs 3:1-10
- What are the commands and their rewards listed in verses 1-10
| Command | Reward |
|---|
| v.1 Don't forget God's law, keep commandments | v.2 Long life and peace |
| v.3 Don't forsake mercy and truth | v.4 Favor and esteem with God and man |
| v.5 Trust in the Lord and not understanding | v.6 Direction from God |
| v.7 Don't be wise in your own eyes | v.8 Good health |
| v.9 Honor the Lord with first fruits | v.10 Overflow with blessing |
- Prov 3:1-2 "... don't forget law, keep commandments, don't forsake mercy and truth, bind them, write them on your heart ..."
- Why does Proverbs keep stressing that we are to hold on to wisdom? It's like a broken record.
- Use it or loose it.
- Deut 4:23-24 "Take heed to keep the covenant, for the Lord is a consuming fire ... "
- Deut 6:1-24 "The command to teach the law"
- Deut 7:1-6 "Drive out the inhabitants, lest they grow strong and overtake you"
- It is also good for us.
- Ps 1:1-3 "... he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers ..."
- 2Ti 3:16-17 "All Scripture ... is profitable for doctrine, ... reproof, ... correction, ... instruction ... that the man of God may be complete ..."
- Prov 3:3 "... Let not mercy (loving kindness) and truth ..."
- What does mercy (loving kindness) have to do with wisdom?
- 1Cor 13:1-8 Wisdom without love is useless.
- IF you want wisdom, pray for love first.
- The world exercises wisdom from their head (they think it out). And there is nothing wrong with that except it is limited.
- True wisdom from God comes from the heart and is rooted in love and faith in God.
- Jas 3:13-18 Wisdom of the world vs. Wisdom from God.
- Prov 3:4 "... you will find favor and esteem with God and man ..."
- How hard is it to find favor in man?
- Easy:
- Give him a hundred bucks
- Agree with everything he says
- Do everything he says.
- How hard is it to find favor in both God and man?
- Not easy: Look at John 15:18-19 "... the world hates you because it hates Me"
- Doing the right thing will bug people bent on doing the wrong thing. But many times those same people will call you when they need responsible advice. Also, deep down inside they may respect your love and wisdom and wish they had the same.
- Prov 3:5-6
- If you could live 'Prov 3:5-6' perfectly, then: you would never be anxious, you would never lack faith, you would never fear, you would have a tremendous prayer life, and you would probably not sin (or at least not be controlled by it),
- "Trust in the Lord with all your heart ..."
- How do we do this? (Walking in faith to what the Lord has revealed to us)
- Psalm 37:1-11 Rest in the Lord and He will bless you.
- Jer 9:23-24 "Let not the man glory in his wisdom, but in the fact that he knows Me".
- "... lean not on your understanding ..."
- Why not? Is 'understanding' evil? Isn't this a contradiction to what we learned?
- Is this verse advocating 'turning off your brain' and leaping into blind faith?
- Is 55:8-9 "My thoughts are not your thoughts, My ways not your ways ..."
- Is 40:28 "There is no searching of His understanding"
- Rom 11:33 "... How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past us ..."
- Understanding is not bad, but we need to remember that is it limited by how much we know. (Compared to God's knowledge, we hardly know anything). Therefore, trusting in God has great power because God has great power of understanding.
- Also, God wants us to understand. It's not like God is playing a game were He doles out small amounts of knowledge just to see how faithful we can be. It's that the majority of things that happen in this world are impossible for us to fully understand.
- The big question is: How do you react when you don't understand?
- Example: John 6:22-66 Jesus says His body and blood are equal to bread and drink, and many leave him.
- What is the problem with the people of John 6?
- They where following God for the wrong reasons (i.e. to get stuff).
- Is it wrong to desire blessing?
- It's wrong when your only goal in life is to be blessed.
- When they didn't understand, they left.
- What is the price of humility? Pride
- You must have a humble open mind and a humble open heart.
- "... In all your ways acknowledge Him ..."
- What does it mean to acknowledge God? It means to be mindful of Him and to serve Him with a willing heart.
- 1Chron 28:9 "... serve Him with a loyal heart and a willing mind; ..."
- God is not interested in religiosity. Remember 1Sam15, Psalm51
- Hos 6:6 "... I desire mercy and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings"
- Hos 4:1-2 "... there is no ... knowledge of God in the land ..."
- If you don't acknowledge God, eventually you will lose knowledge of God.
- Joshua 9:11-19 They didn't consult with God and where deceived.
- "... and he shall direct you paths"
- What do you want out of life? Comfort and pleasure?
- In everything you do, keep in mind that you will be required to give an account.
- Keep perspective on life; if you knew that Jesus would be returning in one hour, what would you think or do different. Nothing? Everything? (this is a good self test)
- What does God want out of your life?
- Lets try to get to know the Lord. When you do, it will make it easier to believe and live out these verses:
- John 10:10 "... I have come to give life and that more abundantly"
- Is 54:4-8,11-15 This is a good example of what the Lord wants to do for us. We need to have the wisdom and strength to humble ourselves and allow Him to work in our lives.
- Prov 3:7-8
- "Do not be wise in your own eyes, ..." Let look at some examples:
- JUDGING GOD
- "I don't accept the Bible because it condones slavery"
- JUDGING OTHERS
- "I am sure my non-Christian neighbor is going to heaven, because he is loving and giving and just a real nice guy"
- "It doesn't matter what lifestyle my neighbor decides to live, so long as it doesn't hurt anyone."
- "I am sure if someone is truly sincere in his or her religion and search for God, then they will go to heaven".
- RATIONALIZING
- "I know that God says, 'you shall not commit adultery', probably because it creates a lot of illegitimate and unloved children; but I am sterile, so it's OK if I sleep with my girl friend."
- Prov 26:12 "... see a man wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool"
- This is because a man who is wise in his own eyes will not learn.
- "Fear the Lord and depart from evil"
- I think the reason people become wise in their own eyes is;
- Pride: Always remember Job38:2 "Who is this who darkens counsel by words without knowledge ..."
- Fear of change: You are much better off fearing the Lord, for the Lord will only require the truth. The truth is much easier to carry than a lie. (Especially if you are not being true to yourself) - Matt 11:28-30
- "It will be health for your flesh, and strength for your bones."
- Once again, this is a good proof of Matt 11:28-30.
- Prov 3:9-10
- "Honor the Lord with all you possessions" How can we do that?
- A good attitude self-test is to ask yourself the following questions:
- How would you react if something or yours was stolen?
- How would you react if a friend accidently broke something of yours?
- How gracious are you when you loan things?
- How responsible are you when you borrow things?
- "Honor the Lord with the first fruits of all your increase"
- Many times we are afraid to give tithes and offerings because we are barely getting by as it is. Tithing however is what will deliver us from this fear.
- Set high goals for giving and you will be blessed. You will feel a lot better standing before God guilty of giving too much than giving too little.
- Mal 3:10 "Prove Me in giving, that I will not pour out great blessings on you."
- "Your barns and vats will be full and overflowing"
- I am really starting to experience the benefits of years of giving. Not so much in what I have, but in peace. (Deliverance from the fear of going broke)
- Proverbs 3:11-12 CHASTENING OF THE LORD
- "... despise ... detest ..."
- Despise: Literally reject or take lightly
- Detest: Literally loath or abhor
- How does God's discipline and wisdom go hand in hand?
- How would we know if we are doing something wrong unless we are corrected?
- Wisdom is the skill of living life. Without correction, we will never grow in our ability to live life better.
- What are some aspects of God's discipline for His Children?
- Job 5:17-19 "Happy is the man whom God corrects."
- Psalm 38:1-22 "O Lord, do not rebuke me in Your wrath ..."
- Psalm 119:71 "It is good that for me that I have been afflicted, ..."
- 1Cor 11:27-32 "When we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord ..."
- 2Cor 12:7-10 "... The Lord said, "My grace is sufficient for you, ..."
- Hebrew 12:5-10 "... If you are chastened, God deals with you as a son ..."
- Concepts:
- Correction never feels good. This is because correction is a force to change an incorrect thing in our life. Therefore, it goes against our flow. A humble and mature man changes direction with less force. (The Potter and the Clay Concept)
- The Lord does not chasten us because we tick Him off. He chastens us in love so that we will out grow sin. "For whom the Lord loves He corrects" (v.12)
- Once again, the greatest aspect of learning wisdom is humility.
- Proverbs 3:13-18
- "Happy is the man who finds wisdom ..."
- Do you find joy in wisdom?
- What is the biggest drag of learning the Proverbs? (conviction, discipline)
- What will all this hard work in learning, conviction, and discipline produce?
- Peace, Strength of Wisdom
- Let's look at some situations:
- King Solomon is faced with two women claiming to be the mother of one child. What does he say? "Cut the baby in two". The real mother said, "please no", and forfeited the baby. Therefore, Solomon in his wisdom awarded the real mom the baby.
- Your friend is a single mom with a 2-month-old baby. She is behind in her rent and the Manager is going to kick her out. The friend has promised the manager the rent in 4 weeks when she gets her first check from work, but he won't accept it. What do you do?
- You have these two friends that are a married couple. She is 5 months pregnant. She gets into a car accident and for all intents and purposes is dead. However, they have her on life support and the baby is still alive. The doctors say that they can save the baby if they keep the mom on life support for another 2-3 months and do a C-Section. The father is grieved over the fact that his wife is gone and he does not want to use her body to harvest a baby. Yet, he knows the child is a human being and doesn't want to kill it arbitrarily. He comes to you and asks what he should do. What do you say?
- All this hard work gives us the strength and skill to deal with the tough situations that come along.
- Let's look at how Habakkuk used wisdom:
- Hab 1:1-4 Habakkuk sees Judah's sin and asks God why He doesn't intervene.
- Hab 1:5-11 The Lord says He will judge in a way that Habakkuk won't even believe. The Lord then explains that He will use the Chaldeans to judge them.
- Hab 1:17 - 2:1 Habakkuk can't believe it and asks how can God use a even more un-righteous nation to judge them. Notice his humility in verse 2:1
- Hab 2:2-20 The Lord replies and gives Habakkuk an accurate picture of their sin and what the issue really is.
- Hab 3:1-19 Habakkuk praises God and His great power. Notice the great trust and humility in verses 18-19.
- Habakkuk was faced with a great trial. But his strength of wisdom and humility got him through. Would we be able to react to this situation in faith?
- Hab 2:4 "... the just shall live by his faith."
- Proverbs 3:19-26 HOW WISDOM CAN HELP US
- "The Lord by wisdom founded the earth ..."
- What did the Lord use to found the earth? Wisdom and understanding.
- There is great strength and power in wisdom.
- If God can use wisdom, how much more can we?
- Keep wisdom "... and you will not be afraid" How does that work?
- Lets say you live in fear of being attacked, how can wisdom protect you from this fear?
- Your confidence of protection will be in the Lord. (Josh 1:5) Do these promises mean you will never be hurt? No
- However, you know when you die that you will go to heaven. (2Cor 5:4-8)
- However, you know that God is greater than all. (John 10:27-30)
- However, you know that the Lord reigns. (Ps 47:8-10, Is 2:10-21)
Proverbs 3:27-35 - Be Good to Others
- Proverbs 3:27-35
- v.27-28 "Do not withhold good ..."
- Withholding something good is a form or steeling. (Mal 3:8)
- I believe this culture is most guilty of withholding good in regards to time.
- Ignoring your kids when you could go out and play with them.
- Telling people in need that you would love to talk, but have plans.
- We need to remember the example of the Good Samaritan. (Luke 10:29-37)
- v.29-30 "Do not devise evil against you neighbor ..."
- Most people will agree with these verses 100%, unless they have a neighbor who is evil or a real jerk, then they rationalize.
- Rom 12:14-21 "Do not repay evil with evil ... do not be overcome with evil, but overcome evil with good".
- "Do not strive with a man without a cause ..." also causes people to rationalize their case. A good mind set is: "There is no good cause to strive, and if I am caught in strife, then I am caught in sin"
- v.31-35 God gives grace to the humble
- How do we get humility? What is the price tag of humility? PRIDE
- v.32 "... His secret counsel is with the upright"
- Ps 25:14 The secret of the Lord is with those who fear Him.
- James 4:1-10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord.
- Let us look at a good example of God scorning the scornful. (2Kings 18:13 - 19:37)
- Notice the contrast of Rabshakeh's scorn and Hezekiah's humility.
- v. 19:22 Who did Rabshakeh blaspheme? The Lord! (oops)
- v. 35-37 The Lord delivered Judah from this mighty enemy (and for God, it really was not that hard).
- Lets look at a good example of God's grace in the light of humility. (2 Chronicles 33)
- v.1-9 Manasseh is exceedingly wicked.
- v.10-11 The Lord used the Assyrians to conquer Manasseh.
- v.12-13 Through great suffering Manasseh repented and God was gracious.
- v.14-20 Manasseh's continued repentance.
