Wise Up: Part XLVII

Introduction

Walter Knight told of an old Scottish woman who went from home to home across the countryside selling thread, buttons, and shoestrings.

When she came to an unmarked crossroad, she would toss a stick into the air and go in the direction the stick pointed when it landed. 

One day, however, she was seen tossing the stick up several times. "Why do you toss the stick more than once?" someone asked.

"Because," replied the woman, "it keeps pointing to the left, and I want to take the road on the right." She then dutifully kept throwing the stick into the air until it pointed the way she wanted to go! 

When it comes to the will of God for our lives, we can tend to do the same exact thing. We try to make something fit when God’s not in it. John Wesley said,

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“Do not hastily ascribe things to God. Do not easily suppose dreams, voices, impressions, visions or revelations to be from God. They may be from Him. They may be from nature. They may be from the Devil.” -John Wesley

So how can we discern God’s will for our lives? How do we make the right choices?

Tonight we’re going to look at some counsel from Solomon in this area of importance.

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The Orchestration of God’s Plans (v. 1)

The word preparations here means arrangements or plans. It comes from the Hebrew word marak and has the idea of an orderly array. Peter Stevenson said the following:

The word preparations here means arrangements or plans. It comes from the Hebrew word marak and has the idea of an orderly array. Peter Stevenson said the following:

“The verb elsewhere describes troops drawn up for battle. Man may reflect upon an issue, considering and discarding options. When ultimately he has thought it through and given his decision, his ability to express his thoughts is a gift from God.”

God gives us wisdom to know what we should do. What steps we should take. When we find that answer we’re looking for, and God is in it, we understand that the wisdom we gained was not of ourselves, rather it was of God.

But so often, people will try to find guidance in a decision, that comes from their own understanding instead of God and His Word.

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Proverbs 3:5–6 KJV 1900

Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; And lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, And he shall direct thy paths.

So, while God gives us the mental capacity to make preparations and to think through plans, we must recognize that our answer must come from God’s wisdom and not our own. Along those same lines we move on to verse 3.

Proverbs 16:3 KJV 1900

Commit thy works unto the Lord, And thy thoughts shall be established.

It’s interesting as you look at the Hebrew word for “thoughts” in this verse, it comes from the same root word as the word preparations from verse 1. So in essence we see that as we commit our work to the Lord, He will establish those plans and arrangements.

Simply put, as we surrender to the Lord and to His will, He will establish and form His plans for us. God orchestrates His plans as we submit to Him. We must make sure with decisions we make that our plans match up with God’s plans.

If His plan is different than ours, then we need to change ours to fit His. Ironside said:

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“But it must be borne in mind that if I thus commit all to Him, I no longer choose for myself as to what the outcome should be, but say with confidence, ‘Thy will be done.’” -H.A. Ironside

Life is a whole lot simpler when you understand you don’t have to figure things out on your own. All you must do is surrender to God’s will. That doesn’t necessarily mean it’s easier, because waiting on God can be very hard at times, but it gets you out of the equation and gives God full control. Next, we see verse 4.

Proverbs 16:4 KJV 1900

The Lord hath made all things for himself: Yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.

Now, this verse goes away from the theme we’ve set thus far in recognizing God’s plan for our individual lives, but nonetheless it shows that God has control of everything He has created.

The LORD hath made al things for himself: Yeah, even the wicked for the day of evil.

God has a plan even for the wicked. Peter Stevenson said,

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“God allows the wicked to have their day in this world for His own purposes. They serve as a black backdrop against which the righteousness of the righteous shines forth. Further, the wicked serve to test the righteous, and one day they will allow God to show His holiness in judgment.” -Peter Stevenson

God will orchestrate His plan.

Proverbs 16:9 KJV 1900

A man’s heart deviseth his way: But the Lord directeth his steps.

Verse 9 really goes along with verse 1. Verse 1 shows that God gives us a capacity to gain wisdom from Him in our situations, to set forth preparations and plans, yet in the end, it is God who gives the answer.

Now, we find that man’s heart, his core, deviseth his way. Once again, God gives man an understanding of His will, He confirms in His heart the plans and preparations, but God will then direct his steps.

Maybe you’ve been here before, but God places a burden on your heart, and you it’s of God. You know you need to do it, but you don’t necessarily know when. You ever been there?

God directs the steps. He will orchestrate the plan.

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Psalm 37:23 KJV 1900

The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: And he delighteth in his way.

God will put steps to what He’s placed in your heart if it’s His will. That means at times we must wait.

I played the trumpet in band in middle school. We would practice songs every school day and part of being in an orchestra was you had to wait your turn to play.

There were times that you would wait, and wait, and wait, tapping your foot trying to remember how many measures you rested already. But in order for the music to sound right, you had to come in at the right time.

That’s exactly how God’s will is at times. We may not understand why God has placed something on our heart without directing our steps in it. But we must wait on the Lord and allow Him to orchestrate the details.

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Psalm 27:14 KJV 1900

Wait on the Lord: Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: Wait, I say, on the Lord.

“The preparations of the heart are the organized thoughts of a person. The Hebrew word marak has the idea of an orderly array. Stevenson v. 1

The word translated ‘thoughts’ here is translated ‘preparations’ in 16:1. -Phillips v. 3

Ironside v. 3

Stevenson v. 4

Heart refers to mind v. 9

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A False Assessment of Self (v. 2)

With God’s will in mind, and we already alluded to this in the previous point, but sometimes we can have our will supersede God’s will. The reason for that is is because all the ways of man are clean in his own eyes.

Peter Stevenson said,

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“The word ‘clean’ occurs four times in the Pentateuch describing the pure oil or frankincense used in Israel’s worship. The Hebrew word zak also occurs seven times in Job and Proverbs, most often relating to moral purity in one’s actions. Here, it describes one’s moral judgment of his own conduct.” -Peter Stevenson

Jeremiah explains to us that the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked, who can know it? While what we think in our mind is a right, even moral decision, God may think differently.

That’s why we must put our way to the test of God’s weight. Ironside said,

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“Jehovah weigheth the spirits. His balances are exact. His judgment is unerring; and He it is who solemnly declares, ‘Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting!’” -H.A. Ironside

“Jehovah weigheth the spirits. His balances are exact. His judgment is unerring; and He it is who solemnly declares, ‘Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting!’” -H.A. Ironside v. 2

We can’t trust our own gut or instinct, we must look to God for direction. John Phillips noted:

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“The world says, ‘Just let your conscience be your guide,’ but conscience —unmonitored by the Word of God, and unconvicted by the Spirit of God — is a poor guide indeed. It can too easily be deadened, silenced, and seared.”

We need God in making the right decisions. Our assessment of self is often, “Well, I’m right. I know I’m right. I feel I’m right.” But our decisions must be based on God’s Word and not our own assessment of the situation.

We think one way about a situation, but sometimes that doesn’t match up with what God wants.

Proverbs 16:5 KJV 1900

Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord: Though hand join in hand, he shall not be unpunished.

The proud man has a false assessment of self as well. He thinks more highly of himself than he ought to. Peter Stevenson said,

“The word ‘proud’ has the basic meaning of ‘height’ in a physical sense, e.g., a high mountain.” -Peter Stevenson

“The word ‘proud’ has the basic meaning of ‘height’ in a physical sense, e.g., a high mountain.” -Stevenson v. 5

So here in a spiritual sense, it is a person who sees themselves in a higher way than what they really are.

As it says here, the proud man will not go unpunished.

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The phrase “though hand join in hand,” is an idiomatic phrase which means “be sure of this.”

Prophetically this is true in

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Isaiah 2:12 KJV 1900

For the day of the Lord of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, And upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low:

God will keep His word. Those who exalt themselves, will eventually be punished.

As believers, we have no reason to display pride. All pride is melted away when we look at the cross. When we put our lives in the context of Christ’s sacrifice. There is no reason to boast, save only in the cross of Jesus.

So instead of having this false assessment of self, and display pride, we need to grow in humility.

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1 Peter 5:5 KJV 1900

Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.

One thing about clothing is that you see what others are wearing. It is pretty evident right now that I have a purple shirt on with a dark grey suit.

You say, “Pastor where are you going with this?” Humility in your life ought to be as evident as the clothes you are wearing right now. If you are clothed in humility, it will be easily recognizable by others.

May I say, the same is true to the one who displays pride in their life. Others will notice very easily if you exalt yourself or exalt the Lord.

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An Emphasis on Fearing God (v. 6-8)

Mercy and truth are words that embody and describe the character of our Savior Jesus Christ. Through Jesus and His sacrifice on the cross our iniquities are purged.

That word purged means atoned. We are forgiven because of what Jesus did for us. As Solomon and the Old Testament saints put their faith and trust in the coming Savior, their sin was forgiven.

The first work of the Holy Spirit in a human heart is to convict. Conversion and consecration follow, but conviction comes first. -Phillips v. 6

In the last part of verse 6, we see what the response should be of a saved individual, the fear of God. As we learn to fear God, it causes us to depart from evil.

Because when we fear God, we would rather please God than ourselves. So we have to choose whether we are going to live in our sin, or depart from evil.

When we choose to live in sin, mark it down, we are not living in the fear of God.

Proverbs 16:7 KJV 1900

When a man’s ways please the Lord, He maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him.

When we walk in the ways of God, and we fear Him, it will cause us to even have peace with those that despise us. H.A. Ironside put it this way,

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“If a man’s ways are pleasing to the Lord, his enemies will be unable to say one word against his character. They may hate him, but they are compelled to own that God is with him.” -H.A. Ironside

“If a man’s ways are pleasing to the Lord, his enemies will be unable to say one word against his character. They may hate him, but they are compelled to own that God is with him.” Ironside v. 7

One biblical example I think of is Daniel. Daniel had a clean record. No one could grab on to an inconsistency in Daniel’s life, because there wasn’t one. While they hated Daniel, they were unable to say anything against Daniel, except that he prayed to His God.

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“A holy, humble walk must silence even my worst foes.” -H.A. Ironside

You know the best way to silence your critics? Just keep doing what you know is right. Live in the fear of God. Don’t put your attention on those people, put it on the Lord.

Proverbs 16:8 KJV 1900

Better is a little with righteousness Than great revenues without right.

We’ve seen this theme all throughout the book of Proverbs. But it is better to have little materially and be righteous, than to have a bunch of money, but no righteousness.

I think of those who are unsaved. They might have a lot financially, but what shall it profit a man, if he should gain the whole world and lose his own soul?

Ironside said,

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“How poor and mean is the man who piles up his millions, but sacrifices his conscience to do it!” H.A. Ironside

If you have salvation, you have something better than this world could ever offer you.

The first work of the Holy Spirit in a human heart is to convict. Conversion and consecration follow, but conviction comes first. -Phillips v. 6

The Lord’s Morality and the Human’s Accountability v. 4b-7

Conclusion v. 8-9

Conclusion

Once while Francis of Assisi was hoeing his garden, he was asked, "What would you do if you suddenly learned that you were to die at sunset today?" He replied, "I would finish hoeing my garden."

He lived his life with no regrets. I would submit to you that if we follow God’s will for our life, if we grow in humility, and live in the fear of God, then if we were asked the question, “What if you were to die tonight?” We would answer in a way where there would be nothing we would change. Is that your testimony right now?