Proverbs 3

CHAPTER 3The steps of the young man are now steps of responsibility. He has left the home and has moved out into life, out where he is coming in contact with reality. The advice that is given to him is that his steps need to be ordered according to the Word of God. Oh, how important that is! That is the reason a jeweler I know in Dallas, Texas, gave out the Book of Proverbs to thousands of young men. It contains good advice, wonderful advice. “Wisdom” here is depicted to us as a woman. However, wisdom is for us personified in the Lord Jesus Christ. “But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom …” (1Co_1:30). The young man actually needs Christ.

Proverbs 3:1

THE BOY IS TO LISTEN TO GOD’S LAWThis also is directed to “My son.” We are on Jewish ground herewe need to understand that. Nevertheless, it has a great importance and significance for us today. “Let thine heart keep my commandments.” Isn’t that an interesting statement? This is more than simply submitting to duty. I hear so often that it is “our duty” as Christians to do this and to do that. My friend, maybe you won’t like for me to say this, but it is not a duty. It is the loving devotion to the will of God. Remember what the psalmist wrote, “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee” (Psa_119:11, italics mine).

Also we are told regarding a young priest named Ezra: “For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the LORD, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments” (Ezr_7:10, italics mine). There needs to be that preparation of the heart. Then, remember how the Lord Jesus talked to His own there in the Upper Room. He spoke so intimately, so personally, so wonderfully of things that had never been revealed before. He told those men, “… If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him” (Joh_14:23). My friend, do you love Him?

If you do, then He wants to talk to you. Let’s not put it on the basis of duty. A man said to me the other day, “I feel that since you are on the radio, it is your duty to say this.” Brother, just forget the duty part of it. I love the Lord Jesus, and I really am trying to do what I think He wants me to do. He says for me to give out His Word. He’s sowing seed todaythat’s the picture of Himand I’m sowing seed under His direction.

I do it because I love Him. “If a man love me, he will keep my words.” Peter certainly came to understand this. He denied the Lord, and how terrible that was. After the Resurrection, the Lord prepared a breakfast on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. When Simon Peter came into His presence, did the Lord ask him, “What do you mean by denying Me?” Is that what He said? Oh, no! He asked, “… Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? …(Joh_21:17). If you love Him, my friend, it makes life so much brighter and richer and more wonderful.

Proverbs 3:3

“Mercy” is loving-kindness. The law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. What is loving-kindness? It is grace; it is more than kindness. The teacher asked a little girl the difference between kindness and loving-kindness. The little girl answered, “Well, if you go in and ask your mama for a piece of bread with some butter on it, and she gives it to you, that’s kindness. But if she puts a little jam on it without your asking her, that is loving-kindness.” My friend, God puts a little jam on it for usloving-kindness and truth, let not these forsake thee: “bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart.”

Proverbs 3:4

How wonderful this is! Now the next two verses are very familiar.

Proverbs 3:5

In a service where folk are invited to give their favorite verses, these verses are invariably quoted. I’m sure I have heard them given in a thousand meetings. I sometimes wonder if those who say them realize that they come out of such a rich vein of truth. We need to remember that these verses are directed to the man who diligently studies the Word of God, to the young man who listens to God’s law. It is as Paul wrote to Timothy, “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (2Ti_2:15). Having studied the Word of God and knowing something about the loving-kindness, the grace and truth of Godholding on to these things"trust in Jehovah with all thine heart; and lean not on thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” Let’s pause and look at that for a moment. This is a very solemn admonition; yet it offers such wonderful assurance of guidance into a way of peace. What a contrast this is to Pro_28:26: “He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool …” A man was telling me the other day that he was witnessing to some young folks who are in the drug culture. He told a young man, “God loves you, young man.” The fellow answered, “I don’t need God to love me. I love myself. I don’t need to trust in God. I trust in myself.” I wish the man had given him this verse: “He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool.” On the other hand, it is a wonderful thing to trust in Jehovah with all your heart, to be totally committed to Him. Total commitment to Him is sorely needed in our day. I find myself coming back to this again and again: “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart.” I may be in an airport and learn that the time of my flight has been changed or delayed by stormy weather. I just wasn’t built with wings, and I have never cared too much for flying. (By the way, I don’t expect to have wings in eternity either.) I generally go over to a corner of the airport and say, “Lord, I want to trust You with all my heart. Now just help me to sit down here and rest in You.” That’s when I need Him. “Trust in Jehovah with all thine heart; and lean not on thine own understanding.” I go to the window and look at the sky, and I make a prognostication. But He says to me, “Don’t lean on your own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Me, and I shall direct thy paths.” He has led me through life. I must confess to you that I didn’t trust Him like that until I had cancer. I took every day just as it came. Shakespeare, in Act IV of Julius Caesar, said: “There is a tide in the affairs of men, which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune.” That was the way I took life. I don’t take it that way anymore. Every time I come to a new day, I like to go and look up at the sky and say, “Lord, thank You for bringing me to a new day.” It may be a gloomy day or a bright day, whatever the day, I thank Him. “In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” It took me a long time to learn what that meant in life. Remember that the Lord Jesus, in the Sermon on the Mount, said, “… if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light” (Mat_6:22). That is an amazing thing. If you have committed yourself to God and you are going down a certain path, doing a certain thing, it is amazing how everything else drops into place. Then your whole body is full of light. Your whole life is full of light at that time.

Proverbs 3:7

It could be translated this way: “It shall be healing to thy sinew and moistening to thy bones.” I think that it will actually improve your health to trust in the Lord. It is wonderful to rest in Him rather than in yourself. “Fear the LORD, and depart from evil.” The apostle Paul advised young Timothy, “… Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity” (2Ti_2:19). It will get you away from sin, away from those things which corrode not only your spiritual life but your physical life as well.

Proverbs 3:9

MATERIAL BLESSINGS HAVEA SPIRITUAL SIGNIFICANCEThis represents total commitment. Remember that when God told Israel about the land He was giving to them, He said, “The land is Mine; I am giving it to you.” Israel was to bring a tithe (I think they actually brought three tithes to the Lord). At the very beginning of the harvest they brought the firstfruits. That was to acknowledge that God was the owner of it all. It was an evidence of total commitment. Don’t tell me you are totally committed to the Lord until your pocketbook is committed too. The Lord gave you everything. Some folk may say, “I have worked hard. I earned this.” But who gave you the health to work? Who gave you the work to do? Who made it possible for you to make money? My friend, God did all that for you. Acknowledge Him. That is the evidence of total commitment. Someone may complain that this sounds very mercenary. No, this is real spirituality. May I say that genuine spirituality is not the length of the prayer that you pray; it is the amount on the check that you write. That is the way one can determine spirituality. I have learned during my years as a pastor that the person who did the most talking was the one who did the least giving. This is always true. The people who want to run the church don’t do much for the treasury. You may be sure of that. However, God promises His blessing to those who honor Him with their substance.

Proverbs 3:11

THE CHASTENING OF THE LORDGod is going to chasten you as you go along through life if you are His child. Remember that God does not whip the devil’s children, but He certainly does spank His own. That is a good evidence that you belong to Him. In the Book of Job it says, “Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty: For he maketh sore, and bindeth up: he woundeth, and his hands make whole” (Job_5:17-18). Now remember that chastening is not punishing. We have confused punishment with chastisement. The criminal is to be punished; the child is to be corrected. I believe the judges in our land have this thing all mixed up. I have seen a judge take his own little son and slap him across the face when he should have corrected him. Then he turned and let off the criminal whom he should have punished. Criminals are to be punished. Our children are to be chastenedthat is, corrected and disciplined. That is what God does for His own children.

Proverbs 3:13

HAPPINESS IN FINDING WISDOMHappy is the man who findeth ChristHe is wisdom for us in our day.

Proverbs 3:14

Now wisdom is portrayed as having a school. The characterization is feminine because she is in contrast to the stranger woman.

Proverbs 3:15

In the Old Testament God did promise long life for those who served Him.

Proverbs 3:17

It requires study and effort and time to grasp the Word of God. The spirit of God does not open the Word of God to lazy minds, but to those who are alert and want to learn and know the will of God and the Word of God. One of the great problems today is that many people are not willing to make the sacrifice to study God’s Word. A great deal of laziness is covered with pious jargon and pious platitudes. Many folk have developed a neat little vocabulary that sounds good and covers up a woeful ignorance of the Word of God. In these days there is no excuse for being ignorant of the Word of God. It requires work, it is true, but the ways of wisdom are the ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace.

Proverbs 3:19

You and I live in a universe that is tremendously orderly. There are a number of folk who work in the space program who are believers. Many of them listen to our program and support it, and we rejoice in that. It is strange to me that everyone who studies the laws of nature and probes into the secrets of the universe is not brought to the realization that we live in a universe that couldn’t have just happened. If it did just happen, how and when did it happen? Where is the chicken that hatched out the egg?

This universe is so orderly that man can take a rocket, put men in it, send it out through space to the moon, land on the moon and come back. Man thinks he is so smart. But what he has done is to discover the laws of God that keep the entire universe running like a computer. My friend, if this universe just happened by chance, it would not operate so precisely. The reason the space program folk can work that little computer and send the rocket to the right place at the right time is because God has established very precise laws. God by wisdom made them.

I do not mean to be irreverent when I say that our God is no dummy. We need to recognize the intelligence of God. I believe He would appreciate it if we showed more intelligence, more knowledge of Him and His ways. This we can do in His school, the Word of God. That is the only place.

Proverbs 3:21

“Let not them depart from thine eyes"the word them refers to God’s knowledge.

Proverbs 3:22

You see, life and grace come through this wisdom of studying the Word of God.

Proverbs 3:23

Man today has certain fears about life. These fears come to all of us. What is the solution? The Word of God is the answer to all of that. Since we spend most of our time either walking or lying down, the assurance is given that we will walk safely and our sleep shall be sweet. How wonderful it is to discover that the truth of God will hold usit is not that you and I hold the truth, but the truth will hold us.

Proverbs 3:25

These verses have meant a great deal to me because I have a fear of flying. When I sit there in a plane, I wait for the plane to fall! I think the next minute will be it. So these verses have been a great encouragement and help to me. I take them with me when I travel by plane, and I use that mode of transportation a great deal. “Be not afraid of sudden fear"don’t be afraid of the next minute. God is taking care of me at the present moment, and He will take care of me in the next moment. “For the LORD shall be thy confidence, and shall keep thy foot from falling.” I say to the Lord, “This morning when I was in bed, before I got up, I didn’t really need You as much as I do right now. Here I am, 38,000 feet in the air, and I’m just a little frightened. Now this is the test: give me the confidence, the assurance, that You are going to keep my foot from falling.” Now this is a marvelous proverb that we are coming toin fact, there are several of them.

Proverbs 3:27

My dad didn’t like the organized churches and was opposed to them because of a very bitter experience when he was young. But I always felt he had a desire to be obedient to God. Let me give you an example. When I was a boy, we were riding down a west Texas road in a buggy. A gate had come open and a man’s cows had run out. My dad stopped, drove the cows back in, shut the old wire gate, and put the wire over the top to close it. He got back in the buggy and didn’t say anything to anyone. He never mentioned it to the man who owned the cows.

Proverbs 3:28

How many people today say to me, “I’m going to support your program. You can count on mebut I do have to wait until my ship comes in.” Those people have a bank account and could write a check immediately. I use this as an illustration because I hear it so often. But people use this same excuse in all relations of life. They say to others, “I can’t help you right now, but you come back tomorrow"and they have the money in their pocket! We are told in Rom_13:8: “Owe no man any thing, but to love one another …” (italics mine). This kind of love reveals whether a man is a child of God or not. Do you know that when you and I owe money to another person, that money we have is not ours? It belongs to the other man. To use it for our own purposes is actually dishonest. That is what he is saying here.

Proverbs 3:29

In relationship to your neighbor, don’t do things that would be to your advantage and his disadvantage. And don’t try to keep up with the Joneses by undermining the Joneses. How wonderful it is to have a neighbor say to you, “I’m going to be gone for a few days, will you sort of keep an eye on my place?” That gives you an opportunity to reveal your relationship to God in a very practical way.

Proverbs 3:30

Under the Mosaic Law it was a sin to strive with another without adequate grounds. Under grace we are told, “Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord” (Rom_12:19). We leave the pathway of faith and trust in God when we take matters into our own hands. If we have been treated unjustly, we should turn the matter over to God and let God deal with the situation and with the individual involved. I have learned over a period of many years as a minister that if someone does harm you, you should go to God about it; let Him know that you have been hurt. Then turn the one who has hurt you over to God. Tell the Lord, “This is your business, You said that You would take care of it.” I have watched over a period of years, and I can say that God does deal with such people. These proverbs are wonderful and they are true. They are helpful not only for the young man but for the old man and for women and girlsthey apply to the whole human race.

Proverbs 3:31

“The oppressor” is the violent man.

Proverbs 3:32

There are certain people who are actually an abomination to the Lord. In fact, later on in this book we will find some of the things God hates; He mentions them here in Proverbs. We’ll be getting to that.

Proverbs 3:33

“The wicked” are the lawless. This proverb reminds me of King Ahab. The Lord certainly judged the house of Ahab! This proverb fits him like a glove.

Proverbs 3:34

God seems to hate the scorner, the arrogant, and the conceited person.

Proverbs 3:35

This fits quite a few peoplemaybe some that you know. Through the centuries there are many folk that envy the rich. And many have discovered, as did the psalmist, that God judges the rich.