Proverbs 3

Introduction

Proverbs 3:1–12 ESV

My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments, for length of days and years of life and peace they will add to you. Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you; bind them around your neck; write them on the tablet of your heart. So you will find favor and good success in the sight of God and man. Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil. It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones. Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce; then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine. My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline or be weary of his reproof, for the Lord reproves him whom he loves, as a father the son in whom he delights.

Explanation

Proverbs 3:1-2 “My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments, for length of days and years of life and peace they will add to you.”

At Crossings this week, I spent some time with Mike Wolfzorn. He shared with me a game that has no rules. Kids don’t actually like it at all.

God gave us His Word so that we could flourish.

He is gracious, kind, and good in all of his statutes.

Does obeying God’s commandments always lead to a long life? If not, is this passage true.

Proverbs are general rules for life.

The more you follow the rules of your parents, the longer you will live.

Proverbs 3:3-4 “Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you; bind them around your neck; write them on the tablet of your heart. So you will find favor and good success in the sight of God and man.”

Never forget to be faithful to the Lord. Never forget love.

We are being reminded of the Shema. Love the Lord with all your heart, mind, and strength.

Have you ever met those people who are just really winsome for the Lord? They exude his presence and love and grace.

Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.”

We trust God with everything that we have.

Has there ever been a time that you had to trust the Lord in a very dependent way?

Brennan Manning once said, “The most urgent need in your life is to trust what you have received.” Because God is good in our salvation, He is good in everything.

“The way of trust is a movement into obscurity, into the undefined, into ambiguity, not into some predetermined, clearly delineated plan for the future. The next steps discloses itself only out of a discernment of God acting in the desert of the present moment. The reality of naked trust is the life of a pilgrim who leaves what is nailed down, obvious, and secure, and walks into the unknown without any rational explanation to justify the decision or guarantee the future. Why? because God has signaled the movement and offered it his presence and promise.

We trust that way can lean on God.

Do you ever have a tendency to lean on your own understanding?

In everything, we know that God has the potential to move in ways we cannot explain.

Proverbs 3:7-8 “Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil. It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones.”

We want to have a perpetual belief that we don’t know it all.

It is easy to get secure in what we think we know.

I find that this happens in our knowledge of the word.

We learn and learn and learn, and that knowledge puffs us up.

We must always fear the Lord and turn toward Him realizing that all wisdom comes from Him.

Proverbs 3:9-10 “Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce; then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine.”

We give firstly to the Lord and trust him with the rest.

Vaughn Galloway // Mayor of Pearl // Couldn’t make his ends meet. // Began to tithe.

Proverbs 3:11-12 “My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline or be weary of his reproof, for the Lord reproves him whom he loves, as a father the son in whom he delights.”

God’s Words are good, even when they hurt.

We follow Him.

Invitation