The Ways of the World: The Wisdom of Trust

I really enjoy reading warning labels. And, it’s fun because you always know that there’s an unfortunate story behind each one. These labels prove that nothing is foolproof. Frankel Costume Company produces a superman costume that warns: “This costume does not enable flight or super strength.” And, you know that warning is only given because some guy eating Doritos in his parent’s basement thought: “It’s time for me to finally make something of myself!” Of course, the ones that are most troubling are the ones that we need ourselves. I worked in the seafood department when I was in college, and at the end of the night, I had to clean out all of the ice that we used to store the fish. Nonetheless, my hands were frozen one night, and I got the bright idea to use the shrimp steamer for a quick warmup. And, let me tell you, a dumb warning would’ve really saved my bacon that night.

The funny thing is that every, single one of us has a dumb story of some type. We’ve all made a decision or experienced a blunder that caused us to look back on the other side and seriously question whether or not we should be given a driver’s license. And, this is pointing to something that we are being taught in the book of Proverbs: We are naturally foolish, and life isn’t foolproof. We must be trained in wisdom so that we can learn the ways of the world as God designed them. This morning, we’re going to hear the father continuing to train his son in .

God’s Word

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The Wise Obey God’s Commands Because They Love God’s Commands. (v. 1-4)

v. 1 “My son, do not forget my teaching...” We’ll see introductory thoughts in verses 1-4, the main idea in verses 5-8, and then the application in verses 9-12. First of all, I want us to see that the wise obey God’s commands because they love God’s commands. We see this in the introduction.

The Wise Live in Obedience

The father calls for his son to live in obedience at all times. He wants him to hold so fast to what he has said that he is unable to forget it, unable to let all that has been taught to him to leave him. The father understands that the wise have a conscience that is formed into the shape of wisdom so that it is unable to be set aside, unable to be looked over, unable to be dismissed. It’s a conscience that has been so sanctified by the Lord that it compels you toward obedience to the Lord. The wise live in obedience all the time. Not just when they want to. Not just after a New Year’s resolution. Not just when they’ve suffered for being foolish. The wise desire to live in obedience all of the time.

There are often times in which we want to forget what is wise, isn’t there? There are times in which we want to set aside what is virtuous and godly so that we can have something that we crave and something that we desire. We want to forget about the call to forgive when there’s someone that we like to be angry with and a grudge we want to hold and bitterness that we want to harbor. We want to forget about God’s standard for our sexuality when our impulses and appetites crave someone who is not our husband or wife, when they crave for us to turn on our computer screens one more time. We want to forget about prudent spending when we find a better boat, a newer car, or a nicer house that we feel like we can’t live without. We want to forget about self-control when we want to eat another bit, sleep another hour, take another drink, or say what is on our minds.

Wise People Refuse to Forget

APPLICATION: Wise people people refuse to forget. Wise people refuse to let wisdom leave them. Wise people meditate upon what is true and value wisdom over their impulses. Wise people want a conscience that compels them toward what is godly and that won’t let them off the hook to do what is destructive, no matter how badly they want it. Wise people will not settle for convenient obedience. Foolishness and immaturity are marked by convenient obedience and impulsive pleasure. Wisdom and maturity are marked by perseverance in obedience.

The Wise Love Obedience

v. 1 “let your heart keep my commandments… v. 3 write them on the tablet of your heart” What should stand out most in the first four verses isn’t merely that the wise will be obedient, but that the wise will love obedience. Notice what the father says to his son here. He says, ‘let your heart keep my commandments,’ and ‘write them on the tablet of your heart.’ Using ‘steadfast love and faithfulness’ in verse 3, he’s talking about God’s commitment to his people to uphold his promises and his covenant to them out of his own love and his own passion. And, he’s calling for his son to respond to God’s commitment, God’s devotion in a like-minded way. As God has commited to faithfully uphold his covenant out of love, so should the wise child of God uphold his commitment, his obedience out of love. There’s an obvious emphasis on the heart, encompassing the thoughts, desires, and decisions of the person. We typically relate obedience with outward conformity as a result of outward compulsion. We show up avoid our phones at work because our boss will flip tables if he sees it. It’s not what we want to do; it’s what we have to do. We arrive home by curfew so that we don’t have to face the wrath of our dad. It’s not what we want to do; it’s what we have to do. This is typically how we think of obedience.

A More Beautiful Obedience

The obedience of the wise is profoundly more beautiful than that. The wise obey because they love to obey. The wise obey, not because of outward compulsion, but because of inward compulsion. That is, outward conformity to the wisdom of God is the result of inward conformity to the character of God. The wise do what God would have them to do, they do what is wise to do because now it’s their desire to do it. They love God inwardly; so, they obey God outwardly. Again, here we see the gospel in the book of Proverbs. For it is the gospel that tells us that we don’t obey God so that God will notice us or like us or want us. We obey God as a response of love, as a result of a new nature and a new Spirit given to us. Our obedience is the fruit of our passion.

Wisdom Delivers What Foolishness Promises

v. 2 “for length of days and years of life and peace they will add to you” And, look at the end gain of loving obedience. Wisdom delivers what foolishness promises — a better life. Verse two says that you’ll live longer, and you’ll live fuller. You’ve probably heard of the Hebrew word ‘shalom’ before. That’s the word that’s used for peace in verse two, and it means far more than feeling good. It’s holistic well-being. It’s being content, joyful, and at rest in your soul. It’s being satisfied with your life. Verse 4 elaborates by speaking of humanity’s two fundamental relationships: your relationship with God and with other people, and he says that you’ll find favor and respect in those relationships. That is, your life will fit together. It won’t be perfect. It won’t be easy. But, it will be satisfying.

APPLICATION: Foolishness promises that you’ll just get outside of the fence, if you’ll just climb out the window of your Father’s house, if you’ll just obtain freedom for yourself, then you’ll be content and at peace and finally satisfied. Then, you’ll finally have joy. Foolishness and independence promises you shalom, but foolishness always breaks its promises. Peace finally comes, joy finally comes, satisfaction finally comes when you are in line with God’s design, and your aligned with God’s design as a result of internal passion and external obedience. Wisdom delivers what foolishness promises.

The Wise Trust God and Distrust Themselves. (v. 5-8)

v. 5 “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.” All of that was for the purpose of setting up and giving the proper context for the main point of our passage. It leads us to what is most likely the most famous verse in the book of Proverbs, verse 5. It teaches us that the wise trust God and distrust themselves. To state it clearly: If he wants to obey God because he loves to obey God and enjoy the rewards that avails him, then he must trust God and distrust himself.

Putting to Death Independent Wisdom

v. 5 “do not lean on your own understanding.... v. 7 be not wise in your own eyes...” Paul often describes sanctification, the pursuit of maturity, in the Christian life as a putting to death and a raising to life. It’s putting to death the works and desires of the flesh and raising to life the fruit and desires of the Spirit. We catch a glimpse of that here. First of all, the wise put to death their self-realized wisdom. They must distrust the understanding and thoughts that come to them naturally. There’s an inherent warning here about the pursuit of wisdom. We can begin to thing over a period of time that our pursuit of wisdom has paid off and now we have all of the answers. We can become swollen with knowledge and believe ourselves at a place in which we are invincible to foolishness. But, the wise know that they can’t trust themselves.

This gets to our desire for independence. In eternity past, satan rejected God’s rule because he wanted to be great without God. He wanted independence. In the Garden, Adam and Eve ate the fruit because they wanted God’s knowledge independent of God. And, we want the same things in our own lives. We want our instincts, our impulses, and our intuitions to be our guides so that we can be credited with the wisdom that leads to our success. The greatest obstacle to wisdom is believing yourself already wise or wise enough. It’s being wise in your own eyes. And, it’s that obstacle, that self-belief, that self-trust that must be put to death by you.

Fools are Ruled by Impulse

Fools are ruled by impulses, not wisdom. Impulse overrules obedience. “I’ll buy what I feel like buying, and I’ll save what I feel like saving.” “I’ll speak my mind whenever I feel like speaking my mind, and I’ll hold my tongue whenever I feel like holding my tongue.” “I’ll be angry when I feel like being angry, and I’ll forgive when I feel like forgiving.” “I’ll work when I feel like working.” For the foolish, impulse overrules obedience. Feeling something overrides knowing something. It’s the essence of independent self-rule.

Raising to Life Wisdom

v. 5 “trust in the LORD…in all your ways acknowledge him” The wise aren’t ruled by the desire to be independently wise or independently insightful. The wise are driven by the desire to bring all of their into alignment with God’s desires, regardless of how they feel or what their opinions are. So, the wise not only put to death their desire to be independently wise, but the wise raise to life the wisdom of God in their lives. On one hand, they reject being self-dependent and on the other hand, they fully commit themselves to being God-dependent. They lean away from themselves, and they lean into God. They stop trusting themselves for the sake of fully trusting God.

The Wise Don’t Compartmentalize

‘all your heart...all your ways...all your produce’ The wise do not compartmentalize their lives. That is, they don’t choose to give parts of their lives to God while keeping parts of their lives for themselves. The wise reject self-rule for the sake of being beneath the rule of God in every area of their lives. The father emphasizes the ‘allness’ of wisdom. The wise must trust in the LORD with all of their hearts. They can’t keep one scrap, one corner, one blocked off room for themselves. They can’t give God their children, their wives, and then keep their job and hobbies for themselves. They can’t trust God and his wisdom with their salvation, and then trust themselves and their own wisdom in business decisions and relationships. They can’t entrust their personal paths to the wisdom of God and then entrust their professional paths to themselves. They can’t trust God’s wisdom on money and then deny God’s wisdom on sex. No! The wise understand the connectedness of life, and they realize that a man’s affections can’t truly be compartmentalized that way. For if you try to give God part of your life while keeping part of it for yourself, you have shown that your true allegiance lies within you and your wisdom to properly divide out your life. That is, you have already betrayed any real trust that you have in the wisdom of God at the outset.

Straight Path of Wisdom

v. 6 “and he will make straight your paths....v. 8 it will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones” APPLICATION: And, for those who put death self-rule for the sake of God-rule, for those who lean away from their own wisdom and their wisdom and their understanding into an obedience toward God that says, “God, I trust your ways when I don’t understand them. I will obey you when I don’t feel like it. I will submit to your rule even when my impulses lead the other way, God ‘will make straight your paths.’ This doesn’t mean that your life will always be easy. This doesn’t mean that your life will always be pain-free. But, it does mean that your life will be better. The idea isn’t a life that never experiences setbacks and never faces disappointments. It’s viewing your life from the perspective of God and seeing that regardless of what setbacks you face, regardless of what heartbreaks you experience you will be moving straight toward the glory of God and the will of God. You will be pressing straight into alignment with God’s design for you, and you will always be able to look back in retrospect and see the kindness and protection of God woven throughout the tapestry of his providence.

Wisdom Makes Paths Smoother Now

APPLICATION: But, it’s too much to say that this can’t smooth out your path in the here and now. That’s in view too. How many of the bumps of your life have been the result of you leaning on your own understanding? How many scars do you have because of your desire to be independent and on the throne of your own life? You did what felt right to you, and you spoke when you wanted to speak, you married who you wanted to marry, you slept with who you wanted to sleep with, you spent whenever you wanted to buy, you were angry when you felt like you ought to be angry, and there’s memories in your head that can’t be wiped and repercussions that have made your life a bumpy road down a painful path. You could testify that the wisdom of God makes the paths of life straighter and smoother. Obedience may seem costly, but disobedience is far costlier.

The Wise Desire God More Than They Desire Comfort. (vs. 9-12)

v. 9 “Honor the LORD with your wealth” In verses 9-12, Solomon tells his son how this applies to the real world. And, he uses the two greatest tests of the wise: money and suffering. There are no two things on earth that sift out fools from among the wise like money and suffering. Solomon wants his son to see that the wise desire God more than they desire comfort. The desire God more than they desire maximum wealth and more than they desire maximum leisure.

The Litmus Test of Money

“Honor....then...” First, Solomon gives his son the example of money by which to evaluate the wisdom and willingness of his heart. Perhaps, there is no area of our lives in which we are more tempted compartmentalize our lives than in the area of our money. Money tests our affections and gives us a temperature of our hearts. It’s not uncommon for someone to turn off their minds the very second that money comes up. Why? That’s an area in which they are trusting their wisdom. That’s an area in which they trust their own motives. That’s an area that costs them something tangible and real. That’s an area that cuts to the quick. So, Solomon goes there. How can his son know whether or not he trusts God or trusts himself? What decisions is he making with his money? Is he honoring God with his wealth? Is he willing to take his very first fruits, the very best of his harvest and offer it to the LORD? Is he willing to take the initial harvest, unsure if the rest will come in, and offer it in faith to the LORD?

First, Solomon gives his son the example of money by which to evaluate the wisdom and willingness of his heart. Perhaps, there is no area of our lives in which we are most tempted compartmentalize our lives than in the area of our money. Money truly tests our affections and gives us a temperature of our hearts. It’s not uncommon for someone to turn off their minds the very second that money comes up. Why? That’s an area in which they are trusting their wisdom. That’s an area in which they trust their own motives. That’s an area that costs them something tangible and real. That’s an area that cuts to the quick. So, Solomon goes there. How can his son know whether or not he trusts God or trusts himself? What decisions is he making with his money? Is he honoring God with his wealth? Is he willing to take his very first fruits, the very best of his harvest and offer it to the LORD? Is he willing to take the initial harvest, unsure if the rest will come in, and offer it in faith to the LORD?

APPLICATION: Your wealth is perhaps the greatest litmus test of your faith in the wisdom of God and your obedience to the word of God. Your money requires you to deny what you feel, deny what you want, and trust in the provision of God. It’s no accident that verse 9 says that we must give of our firstfruits, our first income, our most dependable yield, before our barns will be full. The question that our money confronts us with is: Will I trust what is in my hand, or will I trust in the God who gave it? Is my faith in what I have, or is my faith in who gave it? My own understanding says that my security is defined by the number I see in my checking account, but the wisdom of God says that my security is found in my standing as a child of God. What will I believe? Your money is constantly confronting you with a question of faith: Do you desire God, or do you desire money? Do you desire God, or do you desire comfort? Do you desire the independence of your own rule, or do you desire the floodgates of God’s rule?

The Litmus Test of Suffering

v. 11“My son, do not despise the LORD’s discipline” Lastly, Solomon gives his son the example of suffering by which to evaluate the wisdom of his heart. If money is where we are most tempted to compartmentalize our wisdom, suffering is where we are most tempted to distrust the wisdom of God. You’ll notice in verse 11 that he talks of wisdom and reproof. In view is both the grind of self-discipline, training for the purposes of godliness and the painful discipline that God brings into the life of his children because of their disobedience. Solomon is calling for his son to love wisdom and to love godliness more than he loves a convenient and comfortable life. He’s calling for him to have a heart that fully loves God, trusts God, and wants more of God can pray honestly, “Give me more of you, and make me more like you at all costs.”

The wise are willing to pray for patience. Why don’t we want to pray for patience? It’s because we want comfort more than we want God. We fear that if we pray for patience, knowing how impatient we are, that God will have to bring great discipline and hardship into our lives that we might attain patience. And, it doesn’t feel worth it. Even though, God has told us that patience is the fruit of the Spirit. Even though, God has told us that He disciplines those whom He loves. We do not want to pray for patience because we despise God’s reproof. For many Christians, they’d be content with being left alone by God if they could just be left alone by the enemy too. And, it reveals a profound lack of trust and a profound lack of love. We love our comfort more than we love our God.

The wise heart

“God, Will You Love Me Less?”

v. 12 “for the LORD reproves him whom he loves” The reason that we’re given to embrace the painful road of God’s discipline is that God’s discipline is an expression of his love. That is, we aren’t illegitimate children that God leaves on their own to become whatever they can fall into. We are the beloved children of God who He guides toward the end of smoother paths and greater wisdom and fuller intimacy with him. And, the discipline that’s required is often painful in a way like a father disciplining the children he loves so that they might be better off for it. C.S. Lewis once said that when we wish for God to make our lives easier and we wish for God to not discipline us that ‘we are wishing not for more love but for less.’ What does your life say? Does your love of comfort and your love leisure ask God on your behalf: God, will you love me less?