Proverbs 4
A Tree of Life Proverbs 1-9 • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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During the last school holidays, while Hannah was out, I watched Empire Strikes back with my boys. They hadn’t seen it before. I was sort of reliving a moment from my own childhood, where every school hoildays I would watch the orginal three. In Empire, Luke trains to be a Jedi under the wise Yoda, and there is this moment where Yoda is teaching Luke about the force and the good and dark side.
YODA A Jedi's strength flows from the Force. But beware of the dark side. Anger... fear... aggression. The dark side of the Force are they. Easily they flow, quick to join you in a fight. If once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny, consume you it will, as it did Obi-Wan's apprentice.
LUKE Vader. Is the dark side stronger?
YODA No... no... no. Quicker, easier, more seductive.
LUKE But how am I to know the good side from the bad?
YODA You will know. When you are calm, at peace. Passive. A Jedi uses the Force for knowledge and defense, never for attack.
In the theology of Star Wars there is much that is wrong with it, but this image of the dark side being a path, one that is quciker and more seductive is a similar image in Proverbs. As we have seen so far, there are two paths. One is more seductive, but it will destroy you in the end.
And the quesiton Luke asks, “how do you know the good side from the bad”, is a key one. How are we to know if we are walking down the wrong path? What temptations from family and society are drawing us away from the good side of things?
In Proverbs 4 there are three poems, each starting with reference to “my son”. In this chater we have encoundered some of the ideas before, but here, the tone seems to be more urgency in its pleading, and there is a new
Proverbs Bridging Contexts
emphasis on guarding (4:13), especially guarding the heart (4:23)
And this is super important for us today. For if we can not guard our heart, our whole body, our whole life will be affected.
Each short poem in this chapter has it’s own image for wisdom. Wisdom is a bride, a path and a guard.
The insturctions are to get wisdom, choose the right path and to guard your heart. And is this our break up for today.
Get Wisdom v1-9
Get Wisdom v1-9
In the first poem we have the grandfathers instuctions.
Listen, my sons, to a father’s instruction;
pay attention and gain understanding.
I give you sound learning,
so do not forsake my teaching.
For I too was a son to my father,
still tender, and cherished by my mother.
Then he taught me, and he said to me,
“Take hold of my words with all your heart;
keep my commands, and you will live.
In one Bible Study group last week, we were reading the bit in 1 Kings 2, where David tells his son Solomon to do what the Lord requires, to walk in obedience to Him and to keep His commands.
Here in Proverbs, we have Solomon passing down wisdom from his Dad David. The father tells the son, that he too was a son to his father, and his father told Him about going after wisdom.
Today, in areas of maths, english, science, art etc… we have outsourced much of our teachings to the schools. But that is not to say that parents do not pass down any instructions to their kids. Parents do this all the time, mostly passavly by incidental conversations and behaviour.
Every family has traditions and things that they do. I always find it interesting to ask people what their family does for Easter and Christmas. Who gets to decide who visits who, and what rutines they do every year?
G. K. Chesterston said that
“Tradition means giving votes to the most obscure of all classes, our ancestors. It is the democracy of the dead.”
I am Anglican so I do like a little bit of tradition. I like that in our service, we say creeds. These are traditional words, about the faith that have passed down through many centeruites. This lets us know that we are not making things up, we stand in a long line of beleivers in unity, believing that same things they did for centuaries.
This grandfathers insturction passed down from the father to now the son, isn’t just for it’s own sake. It is not simply about keep some strong sense of family idenity, it is for gaining wisdom, because wisdom gives life.
And we can be on about this passing down today. The faith that is entrusted to us all is to be passed down to the next generation. We can do this a parents to our kids, and we can do this as being part of the church. Our whole goal is to help invite more people to be children of God, to be part of God’s family.
The Grandfathers instuctions goes on:
Get wisdom, get understanding;
do not forget my words or turn away from them.
Do not forsake wisdom, and she will protect you;
love her, and she will watch over you.
The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom.
Though it cost all you have, get understanding.
Cherish her, and she will exalt you;
embrace her, and she will honor you.
She will give you a garland to grace your head
and present you with a glorious crown.”
The son, and by extension us, are told to go after wisdom. Wisom is a loving life long parneter. Wisdom will protect. Wisdom will will watch over you, love wisdom and she will love you back.
And we are told how to begin. We do this by sentence 7
The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom.
Though it cost all you have, get understanding.
This may seem a little unhelpful, maybe a little bit of a tautology. The beginning of wisom is to get it, but it seems that
Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs (5) The Fourth Exhortation: A Father’s Plea (4:1–27)
the first step in the pursuit of wisdom is to determine to obtain her
It is a decision to go that way, and then it is a continuing decision to keep going that wat. Like a relationship. You don’t just arrive at a relationship, you have to continue in it. You don’t forsake your friends or family, you stick with them, you love them, which is an ongoing thing, as you cherish them.
In all three images of wisdom in this chapter
Proverbs Contemporary Significance
are symbols of lifelong commitments that direct everyday choices
And going after wisdom will cost. Going after wisdom will mean you will be going against the crowd, it will mean having different ideas on how life is supposed to work.
As one preacher said:
Proverbs—Wisdom that Works How to Get Going
Every day we are being told that, if we want to live, we need to be young, thin, tanned, sexually active, rich, and smart-mouthed. There is our cultural ideal, the wisdom of our age. Just one question. Is it working?
There is the worlds wisdom, which we can look around and see how that is playing out and then there is God’s wisdom, which we are told
Proverbs—Wisdom that Works How to Get Going
will make you alive (v. 4), his wisdom will protect you and watch over you (v. 6), his wisdom will “exalt” you and “honor” you and crown you with beauty (vv. 8, 9).
That seems worth going for. So listen to the tried and tested ancient ways. Go after wisdom, again and again, seek after it, for it will protect and give you life.
Choose the right path v10-19
Choose the right path v10-19
The next image is how wisdom is like a clear path
Listen, my son, accept what I say,
and the years of your life will be many.
I instruct you in the way of wisdom
and lead you along straight paths.
When you walk, your steps will not be hampered;
when you run, you will not stumble.
Hold on to instruction, do not let it go;
guard it well, for it is your life.
Do not set foot on the path of the wicked
or walk in the way of evildoers.
Avoid it, do not travel on it;
turn from it and go on your way.
For they cannot rest until they do evil;
they are robbed of sleep till they make someone stumble.
They eat the bread of wickedness
and drink the wine of violence.
The path of the righteous is like the morning sun,
shining ever brighter till the full light of day.
But the way of the wicked is like deep darkness;
they do not know what makes them stumble.
This path analogy is used a bit in Proverbs. We have seen it before. The way of wisdom is a straight path. On it you will not stumble. It is well lit and gets brighter and brigther like the mid day sun.
And by contrast, their is a strong warning not to go on the other way. Just in sentences 14 and 15 there are
Proverbs Paths of Righteousness and Wickedness (4:10–19)
six different ways of saying, “Don’t go there” (four in v. 15 alone!)
Don’t set foot on that path, avoid it, do not travel on it, turn from it. Avoid it, go as far away as you can.
That path is evil, those on that path are addicted, they can not rest till they do harm. They want to cause others to stumble, but in the end, their path will be dark and they will stumble themselves.
Like with Star Wars, there is a light and a dark path. When framed in such a stark contrast it is clear which way is the best way. But sometimes you may not feel like it. It is hard sometimes to walk the straight path. Somtimes that is the narrow way, where few choose to go, where you will power might be test. But consider the end goal. It is life, it is light.
Jesus conqored sin and death and rules over everything. And while looking around the world today it may not seem like such a victory has been achived. But we can trust Him who has died and risen again, that in Him is life. We have a glorious hope in Him. So keep your eyes fixed on Him and keep walking with Him. Do not go the other way, it is only darkness and death.
Proverbs—Wisdom that Works How to Keep Going
There might be only a glimmer of light on your horizon right now. But the sun is rising, the darkness cannot stop it, and Christ will bring his good work in you to noon-day brilliance: “He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ” (
Guard your heart v20-27
Guard your heart v20-27
And in our last image, we see that wisdom is like a healthy body that needs to be guarded
My son, pay attention to what I say;
turn your ear to my words.
Do not let them out of your sight,
keep them within your heart;
for they are life to those who find them
and health to one’s whole body.
Above all else, guard your heart,
for everything you do flows from it.
Keep your mouth free of perversity;
keep corrupt talk far from your lips.
Let your eyes look straight ahead;
fix your gaze directly before you.
Give careful thought to the paths for your feet
and be steadfast in all your ways.
Do not turn to the right or the left;
keep your foot from evil.
Notice all the body parts mentioned here. The ear, body, eyes, feet and heart. Of all these parts we are told in sentence 23
Above all else, guard your heart,
for everything you do flows from it.
Proverbs: Everyday Wisdom for Everyone C. He Appeals to the Basic Principles of Wisdom (vv. 20–27)
Only the continual beating of the heart enables the rest of the organs and parts to function.
Today we think the heart is the part that drives our emotions where as the mind is the logical part of our body. Back then, the heart was both. The heart is
Proverbs: Everyday Wisdom for Everyone C. He Appeals to the Basic Principles of Wisdom (vv. 20–27)
the core of our being: mind, emotions and will.
It was like the control room of everything in the body.
Today, we sometimes say things like: “Do what your heart is telling you”; and Proverbs would say we already do that, but what we need is to guard it, to protect it, so when it tells us to do something, it is wise, because it affects the rest of what we do.
In ancient China, the people wanted security from the barbaric hordes to the north. So they built the Great Wall of China. 28,000kms of it. It was too high to climb over, too thick to break down, and too long to go around.
The only problem was that during the first hundred years of the wall’s existence, China was invaded three times. But not once did the barbaric hordes climb over the wall, break it down, or go around it.
They got in by bribing a gatekeeper and then marched right in through a gate.
As someone noted: The fatal flaw in the Chinese defense was placing too much reliance on a wall and not putting enough effort into building character into the gatekeeper.
We are to guard our heart, we are to put effort into building our character to watch what we are putting in and watch what we are letting out.
There is like a feedback loop, for what we put in affects our heart, but also what goes our of our body shows and reinforces our heart.
We are to be carful with what we are saying, to not let any currupt talk from our mouth. From the overflow of our heart comes what we say. The rest of Proverbs has much to say about our speech, here are just two:
Those who guard their lips preserve their lives,
but those who speak rashly will come to ruin.
The hearts of the wise make their mouths prudent,
and their lips promote instruction.
And later Jesus would say:
For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him.
Not only are we to watch our words, we are to watch what we watch. Our eyes are to look straight ahead, so that we can walk the stright path in front of us. With so much access to screens, a wise person today would consider what they are consuming and how that is affecting their heart.
Jesus said:
“The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
What are we watching? What are we speaking? The wise knows what they put in affects their heart and their heart affects what comes out of them.
We are to do what setence 4 says:
“Take hold of my words with all your heart;
keep my commands, and you will live.
We are to fill our heart with instructions and commands from God.
Now, we may feel like we don’t measure up. My eyes look in the wrong places; in conversations I gossip; in the heat of the moment I say some things that are not thoughtful.
You might feel like another proverb:
Who can say, “I have kept my heart pure;
I am clean and without sin”?
If I am honest, I can’t say that. We all need wisdom, we all need to guard our hearts. We all need help with this.
Near the end of the Old Testament God made new promises that His people would get a new heart. That His ways would not be written on tablets of stone, but on hearts.
God promised that He would do a spirtual heart transplate for His people, He will clean and replace it, so that they could live in a right way.
In Jesus, that promise came true. By His death and resurrection, He took on our sin, cleaned our hearts. And the Holy Spirit came and dwelled in us, so that we can live for Him.
Now we can offere our bodies as a living sacrafice back to God.
We have two choices in Proverbs, we have two paths - and how are we to know the differences? By our hearts, how we live and what we go after.
One path is to go our own way. To do our own thing and trust in our own heart; the other is to turn to Jesus, let God change our hearts so that we can worship Him. Both ways will cost us, both ways affect your whole body.
But listen to the grandfather, go after wisdom. Put it in your heart. It will give you life. Walk on the good path and it will bring you into the light.
Think about your body, your arms and your feet. (This may be strang and I dont do things like this much) Look at them now, hold out your arms if you want to, or look down at them. What are they capbalite off? How many years of use do you have left in them? What good things could they be used for? Today, dedicate your body for Jesus. He died for you, to redeem all of you - your heart and your body. Today you can be be a living scrafice for him, and in the end, all of you, your heart and body will be redeemed in the new creation.
Proverbs—Wisdom that Works How Not to Get Lost along the Way
Consecrate your body and everything you are, to Christ and his wisdom. If you, go after wisdom like a life long partner, if you walk along His ways and gurard your heart for His sake, Christ will fill you with his springs of life. With a heart filled by Christ, you will not lose your way.
Heavenly Father,
Help us to prize wisdom, and to go after it above all else.
Keep our steps from the path of darkness, and help us to coninue to walk in your ways towards light and life.
Guard our hearts about all things, let our eyes look straight and our mouths speak good news, untill we come into our eternal home , bright as day.
Thought Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
