Proverbs 29:1-14

He who is often reproved, yet stiffens his neck,
will suddenly be broken beyond healing.

Proverbs 29:1

This proverb brings to mind the Exodus. God sends Moses to tell Pharaoh to release the people of Israel from slavery, but Pharaoh repeatedly refuses, despite devastating plagues. Again and again he hardens his heart — or stiffens his neck — until the firstborn sons of all the Egyptians are killed in the first Passover. Then he finally relents and lets the people go, only to again harden his heart and chase them to the Red Sea, where the Lord parts the waters and lets the Israelites pass through on dry ground. Pharaoh’s army gives chase, but the Lord brings the waters back onto Pharaoh’s army, drowning the whole army in the sea — suddenly broken beyond healing. (See Exodus 1-14.)

But Pharaoh is not the only example from the Exodus; so are the people of Israel. They also repeatedly show themselves to be stiff-necked. They complain against God and quickly turn away from Him, worshipping the golden calf while Moses is on Mount Sinai receiving the Ten Commandments. The Lord responds with repeated reproofs, but they go on to faithlessly refuse to enter the Promised Land, and so God makes them wander in the wilderness for forty years until that entire generation (except faithful Joshua and Caleb) die out — broken beyond healing.

Let’s not be so stiff-necked. Let’s listen to reproof and learn from our (and others’) mistakes. Let’s walk with the Lord and not against Him. Let’s not be broken beyond healing. (See Psalm 95.)

Proverbs 28:15-28

Whoever works his land will have plenty of bread,
but he who follows worthless pursuits will have plenty of poverty.
A faithful man will abound with blessings,
but whoever hastens to be rich will not go unpunished.

Proverbs 28:19-20

The truth of these proverbs should be reasonably plain to all. Faithful, diligent hard work over time is a much more reliable producer of wealth than get-rich-quick schemes. And yet foolishness persists, fed in large measure by government policy. The prime example of that is state-sponsored lotteries. Proper government should encourage wise behavior, but instead our government actively entices the populace toward “easy” money. We justify the lottery with promises to use the proceeds of all those ticket sales to fund education, but that is just an accounting gimmick that thoroughly ignores all the additional welfare costs resulting from the poverty induced by the lottery itself. Foolishness.

The welfare system reflects similar folly. Through higher tax rates, we punish those who work hard and build wealth, and we reward those inclined to accept “free” money. Yes, some basic safety net is appropriate to guard against short-term crisis situations, but it is counterproductive to promote ever-increasing entitlement programs that do nothing to encourage people to get off those programs. After decades of such programs in this country, it should be clear that they do not actually work, yet they are continually promoted under the guise of compassion. Compassion for the poor may motivate welfare programs on the surface, but the truth is that it is far from compassionate to entice the poor into dependence and away from productivity.

Scripture repeatedly tells us to care for the poor. The question is how. As we can see in these proverbs, the path out of poverty is ongoing productivity, and productivity is the result of faithful, diligent work. We ourselves need to work diligently, and we should encourage that same diligence in others, both through individual interactions and through government policy.

Handouts are not the path out of poverty. Diligent work is. We would do well to listen to the Proverbs.

Proverbs 28:1-14

Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper,
but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.

Proverbs 28:13

This proverb presents a core truth of Christianity. The first real step in receiving mercy is to recognize our own sin and to repent. We cannot stand on our own righteousness.

Yet it is a truth that we seem to forget constantly. So we all come to church each week wearing masks, pretending that we’ve got it all together. Sure, we say “The General Confession” along with everyone else in the service, but when asked individually, “How are you?” we say, “Fine” or we mention some physical malady. We practically never respond with a confession of sin. No. We’re in good shape.

And so, our tendency to conceal transgressions grows, and it extends to the congregation as a whole. Soon it encompasses great swaths of the institutional Church. We see whole denominations covering up scandalous behavior, like sexual misconduct on the part of clergy or other leadership. All this from an institution where only sinners are allowed in to begin with! No wonder the world calls us hypocrites!

That’s one thing I love about Freedom Road. The masks come off, and we admit our powerlessness over sin and our utter dependence on the Lord. And in that confession we find not only mercy but freedom — the freedom that the entire Church should enjoy, if only we would take off the masks.

Proverbs 27:15-27

Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied,
and never satisfied are the eyes of man.

Proverbs 27:20

Madison Avenue survives and thrives on the truth of this proverb. The advertising industry not only recognizes our tendency to always want more, but feeds that tendency, promising us satisfaction if only we’ll buy what they’re selling — knowing full well that the satisfaction we crave will never come. And we fall for it, over and over.

Our trouble, of course, is that our eyes — and hearts — are set on the wrong things. We are looking for satisfaction from things that cannot ultimately satisfy. We need to lay them all aside and come to the only One Who is the true Object of all our desires, the One Who is Himself our only full Satisfaction, our Life.

If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ Who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

Colossians 3:1-4

Nothing Madison Avenue offers can compare with Him.

Proverbs 27:1-14

Better is open rebuke
than hidden love.
Faithful are the wounds of a friend;
profuse are the kisses of an enemy.

Proverbs 27:5-6

How well do you take constructive criticism? How about open rebuke? Do you honestly evaluate critical words to see whether they have merit, whether there is any truth in them? Or do you tend to reject reproofs outright? How we respond to reproof says a lot about our inner condition, whether we find our identity in Christ or whether we are driven by fear and insecurity.

I think it is safe to say that most of us prefer kisses over wounds, but how good are we at interpreting them? Do we recognize the love and faithfulness behind words warning against sin or foolishness? Or do we just hear condemnation? Are we wooed by flattery? Or do we anchor ourselves to truth?

Of course, there is also the other side of relationships; that is, are you that friend who might dare to wound? Or are you an enemy providing kisses? Or do you simply offer hidden love?

It takes courage to speak up against folly or unrighteousness, knowing that your words might sting a friend. And it takes courage and humility to hear that truth. But that is what we are called to do, both to speak the truth, and to hear the truth, especially when it hurts.

Proverbs 26:13-28

For lack of wood the fire goes out,
and where there is no whisperer, quarreling ceases.
As charcoal to hot embers and wood to fire,
so is a quarrelsome man for kindling strife.

Proverbs 26:20-21

Have you been setting — or fueling — any fires lately?

So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! (James 3:5)

Proverbs 26:1-12

Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes?
There is more hope for a fool than for him.

Proverbs 26:12

Most of the proverbs in today’s reading disparage fools in one way or another. It is easy to nod our heads in agreement. We can all point to examples of people who have acted foolishly, and we can see how these proverbs fit all those fools.

But then we come to verse 12. If you are anything like me, your first inclination is to keep nodding in agreement. “Yep,” we say, “that’s right.” And all the while we are, of course, thinking of ourselves as wise — at the very least, wiser than all those fools — and so we are in danger of being this one that is worse than a fool.

Frankly, this strikes me as a bit of a Catch-22. If you are wise, then you naturally recognize wisdom in yourself, but any attempt to deny your own wisdom (i.e., to not be wise in your own eyes) would be foolish, so you must recognize your own wisdom, but that is bad, so… Gotcha!

Clearly, that “Catch-22” interpretation of this verse is off-target. By the “Catch-22” logic, the author would even be condemning himself, because he clearly considers himself to be wise as he dispenses these proverbs. We are consistently called to be wise and to exercise wisdom. And part of wisdom is to recognize wisdom wherever one finds it, even in oneself. So simply recognizing wisdom within oneself cannot be what the author means by “wise in his own eyes”.

So what does he mean? This verse is a stern warning against pride, against thinking too highly of ourselves and our own judgment and not highly enough of others. That does not mean that we should always favor someone else’s opinion over our own, but we must lay aside our own biases and search for truth. In the end, we must always understand that the ultimate source of wisdom is God Himself, and we must surrender to Him.

Proverbs 25:15-28

If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat,
and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink,
for you will heap burning coals on his head,
and the LORD will reward you.

Proverbs 25:21-22

I once encountered some teaching that tried to explain away the “burning coals” part of this proverb by saying that it was really a nice blessing and not serious injury. The teaching was that in ancient days starting a fire was difficult, so rather than rubbing sticks together each day, folks would maintain a fire and carry coals around — often in a pot on their heads. And so, heaping burning coals on his head, would be doing the guy a big favor by saving him a lot of labor, something just as nice as giving him food and water. Hogwash! It means what you thought it meant the first time you read it; it means roasting your enemy’s head under a pile of hot burning coals!

This proverb has always intrigued me for two reasons. The first reason is that the first half sounds like the kindly “love your enemies” (Mt. 5:24; Lk 6:26,35) message that we say we want to hear from Jesus, but the second half seems a bit Machiavellian — that the ultimate goal is to really stick it to the enemy after all. And that makes us uncomfortable, partly because we don’t really want to hear “love your enemies” (because that is hard and goes against our nature), and partly because we really do want to stick it to our enemies (in keeping with our nature), but that seems contrary to what we think we understand about “love your enemies”. And so we try to make excuses for the verse (and for God), like what we started with above. In the end, I must conclude that there is still a lot that I don’t understand, and so I must simply trust and obey — and let the Lord work things out.

The second reason this proverb intrigues me is that Paul quotes it in Romans 12:20. So let’s hear what the Apostle has to say:

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Romans 12:14-21

So maybe that notion of letting the Lord work things out isn’t so far off after all.

That said, the next time you think I am being nice to you, beware! 🙂

Proverbs 25:1-14

Do not put yourself forward in the king’s presence
or stand in the place of the great,
for it is better to be told, “Come up here,”
than to be put lower in the presence of a noble.

Proverbs 25:6-7

That sounds an awful lot like what Jesus says in Luke 14:7-11, which Ben just preached on last week. We are told repeatedly in Scripture that humility is a good thing, and that pride and self promotion will ultimately fail. Yet we seem to continually miss the point. Our culture is filled with people always jockeying for position, grasping for recognition and social status. But it is a futile effort. Instead, we need to walk in humility, which Ben defines as “proper self-awareness before the Lord.” Since I can’t say it any better than Ben, you might want to watch his sermon yourself.

For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted. (Luke 14:11)

Proverbs 24:23-34

Partiality in judging is not good.
Whoever says to the wicked, “You are in the right,”
will be cursed by peoples, abhorred by nations,
but those who rebuke the wicked will have delight,
and a good blessing will come upon them.

Proverbs 24:23b-25

As I have said before, I believe we all have an innate sense of justice, and we look for justice to be done. We watch movies and cheer for the “good guys” and expect the “bad guys” to get their just deserts. But in the real world our own sinfulness corrupts that sense of justice, and we allow our own desires or fears to bias our judgments. So we often see the rich and powerful getting preferential treatment, with serious charges magically dropped or otherwise minimized in exceptionally sweet plea deals. Or to go the other way, we end up with misguided policies like “no-cash bail” in places like New York and California, where serious criminals are released right after arrest, only to see them commit further crimes. Such misjudgments (or “disjudgments”, to coin a term) create new problems and new resentments. In the end no one is satisfied when the wicked are simply let off the hook.

So what about God’s dealings with us? We know that He is a God of justice, yet we receive His mercy. We, who are certainly not righteous in ourselves, are forgiven. So is God to be similarly held in contempt for a perversion of justice? No! God’s grace, mercy, and forgiveness are not a simple “get out of jail free pass”, and if we think they are, then we have missed the Gospel entirely. God never says to the wicked, “You are in the right.” Instead, He fully accounts for wickedness and nails it to the Cross, where we are called to come and die with Christ.