Untitled Sermon (7)

Proverbs 25:2-3

Well let me read our passage and I’m going to read verse 1 also because it helps us with the context of our passage.

Read verses 1-3

intro: Has anyone ever heard of the movie “Allan Quatermain and the lost city of Gold”. It was a adventure type movie. Now i believe there may have been some earlier versions of this film in the earlier 1900s but the one i saw was the 1987 one. This movie in particular was actually a sequel to the 1985 film King Solomons Mines.

Now my Uncle Thomas my mom oldest brother introduced me to this film. My Uncle Thomas loved these types of movies along with cowboy/westerns film, staring guys like Clint Eastwood and John Wayne then also adventure type films like Indiana jones and Allan quatermain. And when i’d go visit him he would often be watching these types of movies even up until his dying days he’d be watching these movies. He loved these kinds of movies. Now i remember the “ lost city of Gold” movie in particular because he sent me home one day in my teens with this film. He really wanted me to get into these films. Both movies starred Richard Chamberlain and Sharon Stone. These films were essentially about a explorer allan quatermain who would go on these expeditions looking for people who were lost and also hidden treasure. In King Solomons Mines they searched and found Sharon stones lost father who was explorer who was captured in his pursuit to find the treasure of King Solomons Mines which was a place full of raw diamonds and others priceless treasure. In second film the lost city of Gold they set out to find Quatermains lost brother and also a lost city of Gold, whIch was just as it names says a place with a abundant amount of Gold. And of course even though in both films on their journey they faced opposition like any other good adventure film but they overcame the opposition and found both of these treasures.

Well in our passage today King Hezekiah we’ll see sought out something more valuable than the riches quatermain and his friends sought. King Hezekiah sought out wisdom so that he could be a Godly king. He sought out wisdom found in these proverbs so that he too like Solomon be a wise and Godly King. Wisdom is something far more precious than earthly riches. In proverbs 16:16 we read “ How much better to get wisdom than Gold! To get understanding is to be chosen rather silver.

Ultimately this wisdom of Solomon we find in these proverbs is God’s wisdom and its ultimately from him that one can be made wise.

Well I would like to submit to you the reason Hezekiah pursued this wisdom was because he wanted to walk in the way of Godliness.

Hezekiah didn’t just want to be a good king, he didn’t just want to be a wise king, I believe Hezekiah wanted to be a Godly King.

Define Godlinesses

GODLINESS Respect for God that affects the way a person lives.

Strong, T. (2003). Godliness. In C. Brand, C. Draper, A. England, S. Bond, E. R. Clendenen, & T. C. Butler (Eds.), Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary (p. 662). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.

Verse 1

Well in order to understand what’s being taught in verses 2 -3 I read verse 1 first. Verse one immediately lets us know about the verses to follow. It lets us know that our passage is apart of a larger collection of proverbs. In fact chapters 25-29 are all a collection King Hezekiah had in his possession. And by the direction of the Holy Spirit these were copied and included in this book of proverbs we have now in our posession. Now we know that King Solomon had over 3,000 proverbs but only what is contained in this book is was God chose to be preserved for our learning and direction. We know Solomon lived some 200 years before King Hezekiah and God used Hezekiah to add these proverbs to the book of proverbs. This helps us to see that God is in control of what goes in the Bible. God sovereignly used King Hezekiah some 200 years later to copy these proverbs dig up these proverbs, dig up these treasures and had them added to this book we come to know.

So why did King Hezekiah chose these proverbs? Well I believe King Hezekiah because of his fear of the Lord he desired to be a king God wants. And in order to be this godly King he needed instruction from his word. He used these proverbs to help him as he served God’s people during his reign as King of Judah. And what we see in 2 Kings was that he was a good king, one who did what was right in the sight of Lord. He came into power at a time the people of Israel were caught up in idolatry, a time where they had shrines of false gods being worshipped, a time where they were not following the commandments of God. Hezekiah’s father King Ahaz was one the most wicked kings of Judah who introduced many of these wicked practices to the people of Israel. But Hezekiah didn’t follow in his wicked fathers steps, he followed after God and during his reign we see him cleaning things up, he gets rid of these wicked practices and destroys these idols and false gods. He helps bring revival and restores worship of the true and living God in Judah. So Hezekiah sought wisdom and in these verses we see some of the things he learned.

Rich had been using this Belcher summary on the purpose of proverbs and that is he says is to impart wisdom to the teachable. And wisdom is skill in the art of godly living, that it starts with fear of God, and it springs from a new heart. Well Solomon desired to know wisdom and to impart wisdom to his son and to anyone who desires to know wisdom letting them know it starts with a fear of the Lord. So King Hezekiah desired this wisdom and benefited greatly from this instruction from God. So that’s the background and now we come to our verses. The first verse reads.

Verse2 (Read)

So immediately in my reading of this passage we see a contrast between God and the King. Well before we look at that contrast, notice what I believe is no coincidence the very first proverb chosen by Hezekiah. The very first part of this proverb is a God centered focus. The very first thing this proverb highlights for us is the awesomeness of God, the uniqueness of God, the Glorious splendor of God, It shows us that God is not like the King. I believe this helps us to see even more that Hezekiah understands what foundation his walk must be built upon, And that is almighty God.

Well now looking at the contrast.

We read first that it is the Glory of God to conceal things. So what does that mean God conceals things? What is God concealing? Well first we must define conceal. And using the Consise Oxford English Dictionary it means to not allow to be seen, to hide, to keep secret, to keep from being made known. Well I believe there are two ways we see God doing this concealing. The first way is in his conceal of things he doesn’t want us to know, he puts this concealment outside of our knowledge, outside of our grasp. Another way God conceals things which I believe is more of the focus of this concealing is that God conceals things he desires for us to search out, or other words he desires us to seek him so that we can know what it is He wants to show us or give us to direct us in our walk. God unlike the King gets glory in his concealment of things. There isn’t anything God doest know, he doesn’t need to search out things like we have to in order to find things out, For God is all knowing, there isn’t a thing that God doesn’t know. And the first part of the passage helps us to see this contrast. I thinks help us to recognize how much greater God is than us. This should deepen our awe of God, this help us to see the uniqueness of God . The fact that God isn’t easy to figure out is what separates him from us. If we knew everything about God then we probably wouldn’t honor him in way we should. He would be just like one of us, but he isn’t, PRAISE GOD! There something about the mystery of God in things he conceals that raises our view of God which helps us to see God is not like us. So the first way God conceals things Is for his reasons alone things that he does not want us to know and he also conceals things that he wants us to find out. Well we know many things that we just don’t know, things that are just outside our grasp. And we have as humans have many questions about why God did this and how God did this and why God allowed this, but yet the Bible doesn’t tell us. Things in creation how did God do this or how Lucifer fell or why God allowed satan in the garden, how exactly does the trinity work, how exactly is Jesus both God and man and many more things right we could go on and on, but what scripture does tell us is that everything God does is good, it is right and it is perfect. And we must be content in understanding that there are certain things we just won’t know that God has conceal, now in heaven will God reveal everything completely I’m not sure. But for now he doesn’t reveal certain things and he has his own good reasons for not doing so. And they hidden things belong to him. (Kid’s questions)

Well on the flip side not only is there this concealment of things we just won’t know there is things that have been concealed that God wants us to know. And these things have been concealed in his law/word. For God wants us to seek him and his word in order to reveal the things he has concealed. It is through his word we find that God has revealed himself in many different ways. Through creation, through our hearts/concicences and ultimately through the person and work of Christ. There is enough of what God reveals that is suffienct for us and for our instruction.

We read this passage in deuteromony that supports this thought

Deut 29:29 tells us “ The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law”

And that exactly what we’ve just communicated, there are secret things that belong to God, they belong to him and he doesn’t have to tell us those things. But then there are things that he has revealed to us that he has given us and they are for us and they belong us.

King Hezekiah rightly understood that in order to lead in a way that was right and wise in the sight of God he needed instruction from God which was revealed to him through God’s law and these proverbs God inspired Solomon to write.

Hezekiah desired to be a godly King, he didn’t want to rule in a evil way like his father before him, he wanted to please God. He wanted to be Godly. So we see him putting the later part of this verse on display. “But the glory of kings is to search things out”

Here is the where kings gets glory, when they search things out. God doesn’t need to search things out, because God knows all things, he’s all knowing, he’s omniscient, but glory for kings come when they search things out.

He recognized Godly kings search things out, and that this brings glory to them, this brings honor to them. The marks of a good king is one who seeks out instruction from the Lord not one who relies upon his own strength or his own knowledge. Well in Deuteronomy God gave Moses instructions on how he wanted his Kings to do act when they came on the throne. God wanted Godly Kings, ones who followed his instructions, ones who feared him. We read

Deut 17:18,19 Instructions for Kings

And when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself in a book a copy of this law, approved by” the Levitical priests. And it shall be with him, and he shall read it all the days of his life, that he may fear the Lord his God by keeping all the words of this law and these statues, and doing them.

You see this is what God wanted. Kings who copied his law for their possession, and also read this law daily all their life, Kings who feared the Lord keeping his law and doing them. Not just keeping these things in their possession but actually putting in practice what God has instructed. So that they might live a life of Godliness. So that they might be a Godly King.

Well if we just a quickly read through the books of 1 &2 kings we would see a huge difference between Godly Kings and Evil kings. Evil kings sought their own ways, their own knowledge and pridefully rejected instruction from God and they made bad decision after another and faced ruin . Godly kings such as Hezekiah and Solomon sought the Lord for instruction and when they did they received blessing and the people prospered.

So what Solomon is teaching here in this proverb is very wise and this would be something that a King who desired to be a good/wise king would want to know. He would want to heed these proverbs. This proverbs is telling them, you want to govern in a way that brings glory? You want to rule righteously? In a way that brings honor? It says search things out. Inquire knowledge. Seek out Gods instruction. Those kings we see in scripture who lead well were those who had a ability to figure things out. As a king one is tasked with responsibility of making decisions concerning the people in which he governs whether that’s whether or not to go to war, strategies when engage in war, judgements concerning matters of the people, and many other decisions that fell in his lap. There was great responsibility in the hands of the King and what showed whether or not he was wise was the decisions that he made. Did he search out things, did he seek instruction from God or did he act hastily and rely on his own council or other wicked men.

So just a quick example of a Godly King putting this on display, let’s look at King Solomon the author of this proverb. I won’t read the whole story but try to summarize what happened.

1 Kings 3 we find that Solomon loved the Lord and was walking according to the statues of his father David and one night during a dream the Lord appeared to him and told him to ask what the Lord should give him. And Solomon didn’t ask for long life or riches, he asked and ill will read this verse, verse 9 “ Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this your great people”

And God was pleased with what Solomon asked and he gave him this wisdom he sought and added even more blessings on top of that. But after this encounter with God Solomon in the very next chapter is faced with a decision. Two women came before King Solomon for him make a decision on a matter. And essentially these two women who lived in the same house, both of them had baby days apart and one of the women in the middle of night rolled over on her baby while sleeping and killed him. She then arose and while the other women was sleep switched the dead baby with the women’s living baby and when they arose the women who had the living baby woke up seen to a dead baby and after examining the baby recognized this baby didn’t belong to her, and that the other woman had taken her baby. So you have these two women before the King both claiming to be the mother of this living child. (Pause) Ask: Could you imagine having to make this decision? How possibly could a mere man make a decision like this especially during those times when they didn’t have the technology like we have today to do blood test and dna testing. Mankind isn’t all knowing. What does verse 1 tell us, Kings need to search things out to make decisions. But verse one also shows us that God is all knowing, he doesn’t need to search out things, he is the one who gives wisdom to those who seek him. And I read this was Solomons request before this incident, he asked God for wisdom so that he could make good decisions, so that he could discern good from evil. And guess what God gave him this wisdom and we see it being used in this story.

So Solomon has this decision to make and he says well bring me a sword so that I may cut the baby in half and each one of you can have a piece. One woman says great that’ll work divide him but the other woman who son it really was says who’s heart yearned for her child says no way give him to the other woman. And Salomon because he received wisdom from God saw her love for her child and gave the child to whom he belonged to. And the scriptures all of Israel stood in awe when they heard the judgement Solomon gave and they understood that the wisdom of God was in Solomon to judge rightly. You see Solomon was only able to display this type of wisdom because he inquired of it from God, And I believe King Solomon rightly understood the task of governing God’s people was impossible apart from the wisdom and instruction of the Lord.

The job could not be done in his own power, and further more in any mans own power. Man needs help, making difficult decisions like these and many others was something he recognized could not be done in his own strength.

So there you have a king who because he sought this wisdom, because he recognized wisdom comes from God, the wisdom of God through the work of the spirit helped him to make that statement about cutting the baby in two knowing the true mother would come forth. And that kind of wisdom only could come fro God. We see something in that story that was concealed being revealed all because Solomon sought God’s wisdom in his governing. And because he chose this wisdom, because he wanted to walk in Godliness, who else benefited? The people. The people in which he governed. People who seek justice they benefit. Those who seek righteous judgement benefit. You see this type of king one coming into power should desire to be. And Hezekiah knew of the wisdom of Solomon and he too sought out to be a Godly King like Solomon.

Verse3

In the next verse we read “ As the heavens for height, and the earth depth, so the heart kings is unsearchable”

And in this verse we see the unsearchableness of the Kings heart and it is compared the height of the heavens and the depth of the earth. And what its essentially saying is just as no one can comprehend the height of heaven and the depth of earth, you know those this are immeasurable, no way we can measure either those well neither can you comprehend all the is going on in a Kings heart or his mind. We can’t measure them, its impossible for us to know those measurements of the height of the heavens or the depth of earth, those things are out of our grasp to understand

, above our pay grade. . Well the same is true for us knowing the kings heart. We can’t know what’s in the kings heart or his mind and why he has made this decision or that decision. This verse is speaking in relation to the people under the kings authority, his subjects. Those under the king can often wonder about the things done by the king and why he choses to do this or that. Many times believing they would have done things differently. You know if I was king I would have done this or done that. But for those underneath the King on the outside looking in they don’t know what all the king is looking at, what all he is thinking through when he makes his decisions. The information the King has isn’t asssesible to them. Now had all the info he had and insight given to him as King maybe they might understand why he choses to do a thing. How often do we give judgements on things without having all the facts. Then later find out more information and we must apologize for our mis judgement. We all have these tendencies

So that’s the idea, we can’t know whats in his heart because we haven’t been given that position.

Well how does this verse connect with that in verse 2 well we see that God is truly unsearchable for he conceals things that we can’t know unless he reveals them to us and the King gets glory when he searches out things, when he obtains wisdom from God. And for those on the outside his subjects underneath the authority of King benefit when a King receives wisdom from, when the king walks in a godly way. . As those on the outside they can’t know what’s in the heart of the king. And if that is true, wouldn’t they want a king who receives wisdom from God. Just as the people in Israel after they seen Solomons wisdom on display they stood in awe because they knew God was with him. The people under the direction of a God fearing wisdom seeking King could be at rest and experience comfort even though they don’t know what’s in the Kings heart. They know they can rest in the fact that ultimately good wise decisions will be made because their leader is seeking the Lord for direction.

But what I think is also helpful for us to understand is the fact that even though we can’t see what’s in the kings heart or any individuals heart for that matter guess who can? God can

A few weeks ago Zach taught on proverbs 21:1 which tells “ The Kings heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; he turns it wherever he will. And How God is sovereign over the kings heart, and he can turn it whichever way he pleases.

This shows us also God is not like us, for what is unsearchable to us, is in the hand of God., he is in control. Not only is his heart in his hand exposed for him to see, God can turn that heart wherever he wants.

Also we read

Proverbs 15:3 “The eyes of the Lord are in every place, Keeping watch on the evil and the good”

God eyes are in every place, there is nothing hidden from him. Not even the Kings heart.

Hebrews 4: 13 “And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

So the encouragement to the subjects to those under the King would be not for them to worry what’s in the Kings heart so much but rather seek the one who can search the Kings heart, the one who can turn the kings heart, the one who can instruct the King in how to govern his people.

Well Hezekiah’s reign as King was marked by his faithfulness to God, and he walked in the way of Godliness.

20 Thus Hezekiah did throughout all Judah, and he did what was good and right and faithful before the Lord his God. 21 And every work that he undertook in the service of the house of God and in accordance with the law and the commandments, seeking his God, he did with all his heart, and prospered.

(2 Ch 31:20–21).

That is a Godly life. Well what does that mean for us and now.

Well what is true for Kings needing Godly wisdom is also true for us. We all need to be people who seek after Godly wisdom so that we also may walk in the way of Godliness. We just like the king are not all knowing, only God can claim that. We need instruction from God’s word also so we can know how to discern right from wrong and do what is pleasing in God’s sight. Remember Solomon is not only writing to his son but Also the teachable. And we all can learn from these truths. Well seeking God’s word so that we may walk in the way of Godliness is something we find in the New Testament as well.

the New Testament repeats these same truths showing us like verse one says God’s wisdom and knowledge is so much higher than ours, and that we can’t fully comprehend his ways. There are many things he conceals. We read

“Oh the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God!

How unsearchable are his judgements and how inscrutable his ways!

Rom 11:33

Well God does conceal things that we can’t know, but God has revealed many things he does want us to know, but we must seek and search out these things through his word. We read

“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”

‭‭2 Timothy‬ ‭3:16-17‬ ‭

Paul writing to Timothy reminding him that the scriptures have all that one needs to be equipped for the Godly life, the scriptures correct, train and teach us. And this word comes from God. Scripture will help us to be wise, to discern what’s right, to make good choices. This tells us God’s word has all we need. And even though Timothy and those during this time may not have had the complete cannon what they had was sufficient for them to be trained in every area of life. How much more so us with the completed cannon. What God has revealed to us in this Bible gives us all that we need.

We also read

“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.”

‭‭1 Timothy‬ ‭4:8‬ ‭ESV

Just as there are benefits to working out And training our bodies, There is even greater benefit to Godliness, it helps us in every area of our lives, it helps us in our present life and eternally. ‬‬

Well I think it’s clear that God wants us to seek him in his word so that we may live a life of Godliness but I would like to answer what should be the motivation behind it. And you’ve probably already guess it, the motivation is Jesus! We’ve been talking about Godliness and the pursuit of it and how God reveals to us what we need for it, but Paul in the book of 1 Tim explains to us something that Hezekiah and Solomon had concealed to them at there time. They as Old Testament believers look forward to the one to come but for us as believers on this side of the cross, God has revealed to us Jesus.

in the book of 1 Tim Chapter 3 the Apostle Paul writes to his son in Gospel, one who would continue to lead God’s people after Paul just as Solomon wrote to his son and kings after him.

Paul is teaching Timothy in this chapter what it takes to be a good leader. And after giving all the qualifications of for one who desires to lead. He tells Timothy the reason for giving him all these instructions in the second half of verse 15 and verse 16.

“But I am writing these things to you so that, if I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth.

Then he says this:

Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness:

He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory.

Example for believers.Timothy and any other Godly leader are to be examples for those they serve. So what is good for Timothy is good for all believers. Just as what is good for Solomon and Hezekiah is good for all those who desire to live Godly

Well how can we seek out God’s wisdom and instruction for our lives. The same way God instructed King’s to seek wisdom. We need to seek his word. There are many things God wants to reveal to us through his word.

So why should we seek to be godly. Why should seek instruction from God in the way we live. Why should we learn from the proverbs ? Well surely these proverbs can help us to live in wise ways. Applying these proverbs to our lives will definatly benefit us greater. But they would also benefit anyone who applies some of these proverbs to their lives. There is great wisdom God has given in these proverbs. But we don’t apply these proverbs and God’s word just so we can live godly lives. Or just so others can benefit from the way we live. Or so that we can make good decisions and choices. i believe Paul gives us the motivation to why we are to live Godly. HE says the mystery of Godliness is JESUS!!!

Jesus is our motivation. He’s the why! He’s the reason why we do what we do. The apostle Paul makes a declaration of what is at the source of our Godliness.

And he quotes a hymn from the early church that express these truths of Jesus.

He (Jesus) was manifested in the flesh = which speaks of God the son taking on human flesh, the incarnation of Jesus

Then he says vindicated by the Spirit= and this speaks of his resurrection, he was vindicated (clear of blamed) by the spirit by his resurrection

Seen by angels = it was angels who reported to the women after his resurrection the Jesus had indeed risen and they also continue to see him after he has ascended into heaven

Proclaimed among the nations= The Gospel of Jesus Christ was claimed to not only the jews but among the nations ( That good news for us by the way)

Believed on in the world= when the good news was preached, many people believed!

And finally taken up in glory= this speaks of his assension back to heaven.

This is the Gospel. Jesus came in the flesh he died, he was resurrected and he ascended back into heaven.

Applications/Closing

Believers

Pray for your leaders, both earthly rulers and spiritual ones. Pray to the one who has all knowledge, to the only sovereign one who can work in the hearts of men.

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, 2 for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.

(1 Ti 2:1–2).

Search the scriptures, seek out God’s truth. God,s holy word is able to make us wise and equip for our walk in Godliness.Let Jesus be your motivation, don’t just study to be smart, or just to know all the answers. Don’t strive to walk Godly so you can look set apart. Just so you can check the box. But seek the Lord and walk in his ways because you love Jesus and you’re appreciative of God revealing him to you and you’ve recognized his finished work has made your relationship and walk with God possible. Let Jesus be the reason you do what you do.

Unbeliever :

It is quite possible for you to follow many of these proverbs and start to make better choices.

Applying many of this wise teachings to your life can very well bring benefit to you

But using This wisdom while denying the God who revealed this wisdom would be foolish and will lead you to destruction.