Five Promises: The Third Fatherly Address

INTRODUCTION

If you look up the word “promises” in the dictionary, you will find something like this:

A declaration or assurance made to another person with respect to the future stating that one will do or refrain from some specified act, or that one will give or bestow some specified thing, usually in a good sense implying something to the advantage or pleasure of the person concerned.

Oxford English Dictionary

We are familiar with the concept.

Who has not made a promise or been promised something?

Who hasn’t been a part of the sacred covenant known as a “Pinky Promise?”

If you were a young lady who went to a youth group in the late 90’s, maybe you had a True Love Waits “Promise Ring?”

A more theological definition of “promise” might be what you’ll find in the Holman Bible Dictionary:

A divine declaration or assurance.

Holman Bible Dictionary

In speaking of the promises of God, Charles Spurgeon said that they are:

An inexhaustible mine of wealth

A storehouse of food

The Magna Carta of Christian liberty

A pharmacy filled with all manner of restorations and elixirs

Ointments for every wound

In the Scriptures we find two types of promises:

Conditional

Unconditional

To understand these we can put it in terms of parenting:

Conditional: IF you eat your dinner, THEN I will give you a cookie.

Unconditional: I will give you a cookie

As Christians, we recognize that God’s love toward us is the latter—it is unconditional.

God unconditionally loves His people in Christ. People He has set His love on from before time, not because of anything they would do or not do.

As He told Israel in Deuteronomy 7— I chose you because I love you.

He loves us in Christ with an unconditional, electing love.

And by faith, all of the promises of God belong to us in and through Christ.

They find their YES and AMEN in Him.

And yet, underneath that umbrella of His unconditional love, there are a host of conditional promises.

Tonight we see five of them in Proverbs 3:1-10.

A WORD ABOUT CONDITIONAL PROMISES

The idea of conditional promises existing in our relationship with God might unsettle us.

It might seem like we are being told we must earn the favor of God.

But we know that we cannot earn God’s blessings in the ultimate sense.

We do not earn blessings from God the way that an employee earns from an employer.

Instead, what the conditional promises in our relationship with Him show us is that we should never expect to see God’s promises fulfilled if we ignore His commands.

As God gives Himself to us in promises, we must give ourselves to Him in duties.

John Calvin

If we ignore the duty, we shouldn’t be surprised if God withholds the grace of His promises, in order to show us that life apart from Him is fruitless.

But this doesn’t mean He doesn’t love us.

In fact, it is His unconditional love that would lead Him to discipline us in this way as a Good Father.

GENERAL PRINCIPLES

We also should not read this passage tonight and think that it is teaching us that God is some sort of slot machine, where if we put our money of obedience in and pull His promise lever, we will automatically get all of the material blessings promised in this passage.

That is really just the old Prosperity Gospel that we reject, if we are properly holding to the Word.

We cannot expect that every believer will experience all of the blessings mentioned in this passage in this life.

Instead, these conditional promises represent general principles.

Derek Kidner said that these verses show us the rewards that are generally received for a life of thoroughgoing godliness.

But we can expect is that every believer will experience these promises ultimately.

So that will be how we tackle these Five Promises tonight.

For each one, we will look at:

The Condition

The Promise

The Ultimate Fulfillment in Christ

THE TEXT

Proverbs 3:1–10 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.

PROMISE #1: LIFE AND JOY AND PEACE

We begin tonight with the first promise: Life and Peace and Joy

CONDITION (v. 1)

The condition has both a negative and a positive aspect to it:

If we do not forget the wise teaching of Proverbs (negative), but we keep the commands of Scripture (positive)...

This condition represents the Christian responsibility to the revealed truth of God.

God is Other. He is Transcendent. He is holy beyond our understanding.

And yet, He condescends to us and reveals Himself.

He does this in nature.

He does this in His Word.

He does this in His Son—Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh.

And if we want to know Jesus, we can meet with Him and learn from Him any time we wish.

He waits for us in the shade of the Word, where He will meet with us and talk with us.

So we cannot forget the Word.

How do we not forget?

We don’t just hear and read the Word.

We mark what we learn.

We internalize it.

We apply it to our hearts.

And we do this because we know this is how the commandments of God will ultimately be kept.

We will never live out what we have not kept in.

We will never take action on what we have not applied.

This is crucial because of the positive side of the condition—we must keep the commands of the Bible.

John 14:21 ESV

Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.”

So that is the condition.

Do not forget the teaching of wisdom.

Keep the commandments of God’s Word.

PROMISE (v. 2)

That leads us to the promise in verse 2: Length of days and years of life and peace.

This idea of obedience leading to long life is found throughout Proverbs.

Proverbs 3:16 ESV

Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor.

Proverbs 4:10 ESV

Hear, my son, and accept my words, that the years of your life may be many.

Proverbs 9:11 ESV

For by me your days will be multiplied, and years will be added to your life.

Furthermore, there will be joy and peace in that life.

When Solomon says “years of life,” the Hebrew word there can also translate to “joy of life.”

Peace is shalom.

Wholeness and prosperity for the soul due to a reconciled relationship with God.

A long life of joy and peace will be added to those who do not forget and keep God’s commandments.

That does not mean a life free from trouble.

But it means that regardless of circumstances, there will be a river of joy and peace that continues to run over and through the rocks of turmoil.

It is very similar to what is promised in Joshua 1:8

Joshua 1:8 ESV

This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.

ULTIMATE FULFILLMENT IN CHRIST

Now clearly, not every Christian lives to a ripe old age.

I think about Henry VIII’s son, Edward.

Edward was a fiery Protestant king—even when he ascended the throne at 8 years old.

He brought all sorts of reform to England that dragged it away from Catholicism and back to right belief and right practice.

And yet, the boy didn’t make it out of his teenage years.

Or we can look to Stephen in the Bible, who was a godly deacon of the early church, and yet died as a seemingly younger man, at the hands of Jewish persecution.

But for all Christians, we know that in the end, there will be the length of days and years of life and peace in the eternal home of heaven.

John 14:2–3 ESV

In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.

We go to no uncertain home. It is the family mansion, eternally ordained and prepared for the dwelling of the saints.

Octavius Winslow

And we can say that even before we receive the inheritance of heaven in full, we taste the previews on a daily basis here on earth.

This is the spiritual life the Good Shepherd has come to provide for how ever many years we have:

John 10:10 ESV

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

PROMISE #2: FAVOR AND SUCCESS (v. 3-4)

So that is Promise #1—Life and Peace and Joy.

Now we look at Promise #2—Favor and Success

CONDITION

Once again, we have a condition with a negative and positive.

Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you (negative); Bind them around your beck and write them on your heart.

Steadfast love is the Hebrew word hesed.

But I don’t believe Solomon is speaking of God’s steadfast love for us here.

Hesed is certainly the type of love that God has for us—this is the covenant, unconditional love He has for His people that we talked about from the very start tonight.

But that love will not forsake us.

It would make no sense for Solomon to command his son to not let God’s love forsake him.

Instead, it makes more sense in the context that Solomon is speaking of the way we show God’s steadfast love to our neighbors.

We are to take the steadfast love that God has shown us and pour it out on the people who are around us.

If we have really been loved by God, that love will come out of us as kindness toward others.

Faithfulness goes hand in hand with steadfast love.

To act faithfully is to act true.

To do what is right.

We see exactly what this looks like at the end of this chapter:

Proverbs 3:27–30 ESV

Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it. Do not say to your neighbor, “Go, and come again, tomorrow I will give it”—when you have it with you. Do not plan evil against your neighbor, who dwells trustingly beside you. Do not contend with a man for no reason, when he has done you no harm.

This sort of loving and faithful living must be worn on our neck the way that a woman would wear a beautiful necklace.

It must be etched into our hearts the way a tattoo is etched into skin.

PROMISE

You will find favor and good success in the sight of God and man.

Favor = Good reputation with God and man

Success = Flourishing in God and man’s eyes

An example of someone who had favor and success in the sight of God and man would be King Josiah.

He was King of Judah after a horrific time of rampant idolatry

He reformed the nation after seeking God and rediscovering the book of the Law

He tore down idols and got rid of unholy priests and saw to the repair of the Temple

He had steadfast love and faithfulness bound around his neck and tattooed on his heart

2 King 22 says he “did what was right in the eyes of the Lord.”

The author of 2 Kings said there was no King like him before or after in Judah

Some Christians say they don’t care what others think about them.

This is ludicrous. It is unbiblical silliness.

Proverbs 22:1 ESV

A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, and favor is better than silver or gold.

Romans 14:16–18 ESV

So do not let what you regard as good be spoken of as evil. For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Whoever thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men.

We can even look at the life of Jesus and see that as He grew in wisdom, He also grew in stature and w/ God and man:

Luke 2:52 ESV

And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.

ULTIMATE FULFILLMENT IN CHRIST

Sometimes in this life, though we are living in steadfast love and faithfulness, people say unfair things about us.

They make accusations against us.

They seek to cripple us with their words behind our backs.

But even if that is the case, we know that when Christ delivers on His promise of a New Earth, which will be our eternal home, there will be no bad reputations there.

Any slander that has come our way will be eradicated and burnt up with the Devil in the Lake of Fire.

Any mark on our record from moments of foolishness that have stained us in the eyes of others, will be removed forever.

There will be no shame regarding reputation and our history.

In heaven, the righteousness of Christ will be our only reputation.

And in heaven, the moral record of Christ will be our only history.

PROMISE #3: STRAIGHT PATHS (v. 5-6)

The third promise in this passage come from one of the most famous sets of verses in all of Scripture.

These verses have definitely been bumper-sticker and coffee mug material.

These are verses that many have memorized and hidden in their hearts.

And yet undoubtedly, they have been misconstrued over the years, as people have thought that they mean, “Trust in the Lord and there will be no problems.”

But that is not the case.

Let’s dive in deeper to see what the promise of “Straight Paths,” is all about.

CONDITION

The condition is this:

Trust in the Lord with all your heart…Do not lean on your own understanding…acknowledge the Lord in all your ways.

There are three parts to the condition.

Part 1: Trust in the Lord with all your heart.

Sincerely and wholeheartedly have faith in God.

John 14:1 ESV

“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.

Part 2: Correct the mistake of leaning on your own wisdom—your own competency.

This is crucial.

Many people in our culture say things like, “Trust your gut,” or, “Go with your heart.”

But we cannot do that because of what the Bible says about our hearts.

Jeremiah 17:5–9 ESV

Thus says the Lord: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the Lord. He is like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see any good come. He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land. “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.” The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?

Our hearts are fickle and fallen.

We cannot trust ourselves. We cannot go with the heart.

We must go with the Lord and His wisdom.

Part 3: In everything acknowledge the Lord

This means that we do not split our ways.

We do not acknowledge Him in some things, but not in others.

We cannot be half-way obedient and only acknowledge God in that which is convenient.

Our acknowledgement of Him but be as wide in our lives.

If there is something you are doing that you cannot acknowledge Him in, you must stop.

PROMISE

And the promise is that if we take the three-part condition seriously, then God will make straight our paths.

The ESV is a little confusing on this, if we are honest.

What exactly does it mean to make straight our paths?

This is where the King James is more helpful.

King James Version Chapter 3

In all thy ways acknowledge him,

And he shall direct thy paths.

I love the poetic way it is put in the ESV, but it is not straightforward.

Direct thy paths is very straightforward.

When we are fully surrendered to God, demonstrated by our trust in Him, our refusal to trust in ourselves and our acknowledgement of Him in all things, we will find that God directs our paths.

So the promise is not that life will be trouble free.

Instead, the promise is that it will be straightforward.

Whether we are in trouble or in ease, we will understand right and wrong. We will be able to discern between wisdom and foolishness.

Speaking of the life of following Him, Jesus said this:

Matthew 7:13–14 ESV

“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.

He will keep the tires of our life from going off-road morally speaking, even if things are rocky and difficult on the narrow way.

He will direct our path to stay on His path.

ULTIMATE FULFILLMENT IN CHRIST

This promise, like the rest, finds its ultimate fulfillment in Jesus. It is only through Him that the narrow path is even found.

John 14:6 ESV

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

When we trust in Christ with all of our hearts, we will walk on the narrow way, all the way to heaven.

PROMISE #4: HEALING AND REFRESHMENT (v. 7-8)

The fourth promise—which is regarding healing and refreshment, also has a three-part condition.

Part 1: Be not wise in your own eyes

To be wise in your own eyes is to be prideful.

Only the prideful say, “I don’t need to hear from anyone else. I have all the wisdom I need right between my two ears.”

It takes humility to admit that you don’t know everything—or even very much at all.

The Psalmist of Psalm 131 shows this sort of humility when he says:

Psalm 131:1 ESV

O Lord, my heart is not lifted up; my eyes are not raised too high; I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me.

You see the opposite of this if you read the book of Judges. Throughout the period of the Judges, there is a brutal cycle, where people return to the Lord and then reject Him again to do whatever they feel.

The refrain of Judges at the end of these cycles is this:

Judges 21:25 ESV

In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

This is pure pride, which is by nature, rebellion against God.

Part 2: Fear the Lord

As Proverbs 1:7 has taught us—this is where wisdom starts.

John Calvin said this is the origin and root of all righteousness.

To fear the Lord is to know:

Who God is

Acknowledge for who He has revealed Himself to be as the Triune Maker of Heaven and Earth and Savior of mankind

He is always there

There is nothing you do that is out of the sight of the Lord

To live otherwise is to live in denial

Our obligation to Him

The Lord’s love meets those who are fully yielded to Him in Spirit and in truth

When you know who He is, that He is always watching and you have reverence for your obligation to Him as the Lord of all—you are in the place where wisdom starts.

You are fearing the Lord.

Part 3: Turn away from evil

This is repentance.

Admitting to God that He is right about your sin and you are wrong.

Confessing it to Him.

And then despising it for the damage and the shame it has caused.

This is what it means to turn away from evil.

Repenting with the intention to sin no more.

Repentance should be a daily act for believers.

Knowing God exposes my lingering depravity. And therefore, knowing God requires repentance.

Kelly Needham

There is no way to carry on a relationship with God without carrying on in repentance

PROMISE

Be not wise in your own eyes, fear the Lord and turn away from evil...

If we do these things, the promise is that it will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones (v. 8).

The KJV is once again helpful here:

King James Version (Chapter 3)

It shall be health to thy navel,

And marrow to thy bones.

In other words, health to the body and strength to the bones.

What this promise conveys to us is that obedience to God is not just good for the soul, but also to the body.

1 Timothy 4:8 ESV

for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.

It is of value in every way—body and soul.

In 2019, Pew Research reported that:

Faith is positively associated with mental health in 56% of the relevant studies on the topic,

And with lower rates of coronary heart disease in 63% of studies

Ohio State University found that people who attend church regularly tend to live four years longer than those who do not

Now—again—as we have stated—these are general principles.

Plenty of Christians get diseases and die young

Plenty will pass away tragically in car accidents

Plenty will have a major health crisis and never fully recover

But even these studies show that there is a connection between the health of the body and the health of the soul

ULTIMATE FULFILLMENT IN CHRIST

But ultimately, whether we die young, middle-aged or in old age, we know that this promise finds an ultimate fulfillment in Christ—specifically in the promise of resurrection.

When we receive our new bodies, in the likeness of the resurrected 2nd Adam, these perishable bodies will be gone forever and we will put on the imperishable.

1 Corinthians 15:47–49 ESV

The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.

PROMISE #5: WEALTH AND ABUNDANCE (v. 9-10)

And now we arrive at the fifth promise, which is focused on wealth and abundance.

CONDITION

Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce (v. 9)...

Under the Old Covenant, there were a number of ways in which an Israelite would give to the Lord.

We see the call for a tenth or a tithe to be brought into the storehouse in Malachi.

And God promises that He will show His generosity to the faithful givers of Israel.

Malachi 3:10 ESV

Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.

However, in truth, the Old Covenant believer gave much more than a tenth under the ceremonial law because there were three different tithes.

There was a tithe to support the ministry of the Levites—the support of the priests.

There was the annual festival tithe prescribed in Deuteronomy 16:16

Deuteronomy 16:16 ESV

“Three times a year all your males shall appear before the Lord your God at the place that he will choose: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, at the Feast of Weeks, and at the Feast of Booths. They shall not appear before the Lord empty-handed.

And there was a tithe to help care for the poor

Deuteronomy 14:28–29 ESV

“At the end of every three years you shall bring out all the tithe of your produce in the same year and lay it up within your towns. And the Levite, because he has no portion or inheritance with you, and the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, who are within your towns, shall come and eat and be filled, that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands that you do.

When you add all of these up, some say the Old Covenant believer gave close to 33% of their income to the Lord

Under the New Covenant, things are not quite so exact.

Instead of specific calls for a tenth, we see more about the attitude of the heart and the nature of the giving itself.

The heart is to be cheerful and willing.

The gift is to be sacrificial and bountiful.

2 Corinthians 9:6–7 ESV

The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

A tenth is certainly a great place to start though.

My good friend Kenny D’Auria was once asked by a church member, “Am I required to give a tenth?”

He responded and said, “Oh dear sister, you are always free to give more than that!”

PROMISE

The promise attached to honoring the Lord with wealth and firstfruits is found in v. 10:

Your barns will be filled with plenty...

Your vats will be bursting with wine...

Full barns and bursting vats are symbols of wealth and abundance.

The idea reflects what we see in Malachi 3—generosity toward God will be met with generosity from God.

Prosperity teachers loves to take these verses and twist them, but once more we have to remember that this is a general principle in this conditional promise—not a formula for riches.

In fact, if you are the sort of person who would give only to get, you have forsaken the entire heart that is supposed to lie behind our giving and you should expect God to honor it anymore than He would honor no giving at all.

We do not give to get, but simply to give.

Because God is that worthy.

We give to honor.

And we give our firstfruits in order to demonstrate that He is more important than anyone else in existence.

Nothing created shall be exalted above the Creator.

ULTIMATE FULFILLMENT IN CHRIST

The final conditional promise in this passage, much like the rest of them find its absolute fulfillment in Jesus, the Son.

Jesus’ own words promise that we will give up nothing that we will not get in return.

Mark 10:29–30 ESV

Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life.

Jesus promises exactly what Proverbs 3 says—there are blessings in this life that will come because of our sacrificial living toward Him.

But He also promises that the full barns and bursting vats will be ours a hundred times over in the age to come.

We are not just the followers of Christ, but according to the New Testament, we are co-heirs.

Romans 8:16–17 ESV

The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

His inheritance is nothing short of creation itself.

Psalm 2:7–8 ESV

I will tell of the decree: The Lord said to me, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession.

Giving up a tenth now with the right heart is nothing compared to gaining the whole world as a co-heir with Christ.

Let us be cheerful givers who trust in God’s promises.

CONCLUSION

In the classic Peter Pan movie, Hook, Peter grows up and becomes a businessman in the regular world. He forgets all about Neverland and his boyhood adventures.

He has kids, but he isn’t much of a father to them.

He breaks promises.

Later in the movie, Peter’s son, Jack, is taking out his built up anger at the urging of Captain Hook and before he smashes a clock he says, “This is for making promises and never keeping them.”

Jack had lost all faith in the word of his father. He lost all faith in his promises.

At the end of the day, promises are only worth as much as the people who make them.

Well here is what the Bible says about our God:

Numbers 23:19 ESV

God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?

God is not like an earthly father who gets too busy or forgets what he has assured.

He is not a man that he should lie.

He loves us in Christ without condition.

And all of His promises will come true.

He will keep His conditional promises.

And He will see to all of His promises coming true in His Son unconditionally.

And those who live a life of wisdom, will take that to the bank.