Proverbs 24

Proverbs 24:1-34

Be not envious of evil men,

nor desire to be with them,

for their hearts devise violence,

and their lips talk of trouble.

• This is a tough one.  Our society is absolutely drawn to evil people.  We see it in the news all the time.  In fact, when we see someone so far out there, away from Truth, we are envious of their sheer “rebellion”.  Why?  That’s the enemy saying, “Eat the apple.  You know better than God.  Come on, what are you chicken?”
• The desire to do evil things explodes exponentially when we choose to be with evil people.  The pressure to do as they do is immense.  So, we must avoid.
• Does this mean we should never be around evil people?  No.  They need US.  They need our influence.  This is why we are called to live in this world, but to live as “aliens”.  We are called to live, speak, act out Truth so that others may see God through us. 

By wisdom a house is built,

and by understanding it is established;

by knowledge the rooms are filled

with all precious and pleasant riches.

• This is God’s pattern for His beautiful design for marriage:  wisdom, understanding and knowledge.
• Wisdom = seeing with discernment.  We must see clearly the big picture and not just the pretty details.  
• Establish = setting something upright that has fallen, or putting in order something that is cluttered.  You must respond to what you see with insight, with understanding.  Bad things will happen.  There will be low points.  But understanding it from God’s perspective means you understand that it’s all part of the plan (even if you don’t understand at the time).
• Knowledge = perception.  As we grow in knowledge of our spouse, we grow in sympathy that comes with learning.  
• We don’t need things.  We need God’s riches filling our rooms.  
• “By wisdom it can be restored.  By understanding it can be set right.  By knowledge those rooms can have those qualities that will never burn up or rot or be eaten away by moths.  

A wise man is full of strength,

and a man of knowledge enhances his might,

for by wise guidance you can wage your war,

and in abundance of counselors there is victory.

• What “war” is this talking about?  Any war against what is wrong, or fight for what is right.  It’s the battle of our tendency toward sin.  
• We must increase our strength – our spiritual strength.  
• “Love the Lord your God with all of your heart, all of your soul, and all of your mind …”  How do you do this?  By continually working out your heart, your soul and your mind.  By constantly learning, absorbing and exercising your spiritual life.  
• This is wise … and a wise person knows that they battle is intense, and the Devil WILL NOT stop.  In fact, he will increase the heat.  We MUST prepare for the battles ahead, because they ARE coming, and we must be ready. 
• You must seek guidance from God mostly, but also from those who know God’s Word and Truth.  You must surround yourself with those who will sharpen you (as iron sharpens iron) and strengthen you and challenge you.  

Wisdom is too high for a fool;

in the gate he does not open his mouth.

• A fool is incapable of wisdom.  It goes right over his head.  It’s out of his reach.
• Because of this, no one trusts him to be wise in the public arena.
• Fools hate instruction based on wisdom.  "The way of a fool is right in his own eyes.”  He likes the way he thinks and doesn’t want to hear it.
• The fool must fear God (understand that what He says trumps all else, even our own opinions), he must then listen to God, and he must humble himself and take the advise.  But he won’t because he thinks he “knows better”.
• This fool will never become a leader in the community due to his foolishness.  
• This can also mean that when the fool stands in the “gate” to be judged, he will have nothing to say in his defense.  He may say something, but it will have no weight.  He has no defense for his foolishness.

Whoever plans to do evil

will be called a schemer.

The devising of folly is sin,

and the scoffer is an abomination to mankind.

• A “Schemer”.  Someone cooking up evil, misleading plans to get what he wants.  Think: politician.  Our president is a master at it, but he’s not alone.  There are schemers on the other side of the isle, too.
• Even thinking of evil plans is sin.  We must control our minds, blocking thoughts of how we can make things better for ourselves just because we can.  God gave us free will, but hopes will all hope that we will choose his way, not the way of evil.
• And the scoffer … I meet these guys daily.  “You believe that?” and “Why are you wasting your time helping these dregs of society?”  They scoff because they can’t grasp living a life focused on others and not on themselves, giving up control to God.  They think we’re crazy.
• They have chosen the other way – the way God hopes we don’t go.  But we must choose Him.  We can’t be forced – that wouldn’t be a relationship with Him.  They are an abomination.

If you faint in the day of adversity,

your strength is small.

Rescue those who are being taken away to death;

hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter.

• Are you standing strong in your faith?  Do you flinch at the tiniest of pushback, or do you hold tight?  If you can’t stand firm when someone challenges your faith, how will you fair when you face REAL adversity?
• I pray often for God’s strength to stand firm … that I will not faint in the day of adversity.  And His strength sustains.  I can not do it alone, but I don’t have to.  I have His strength.
• What are we to do with those who don’t have God as a basis of their lives?  Be “tolerant” and avoid ruffling feathers, while they walk further and further toward the cliff’s edge?
• THAT is unloving.  That is apathetic.  We are called to love our neighbors as ourselves.  If someone knew truth that could save you from death but they didn’t bother to tell us, even though they KNEW we didn’t know, how cruel would that be.  So why do WE hesitate?  
• Do not hold back.  Even if they initially react adversely.  They will eventually appreciate the love they are showing for them once they see the Light.

If you say, “Behold, we did not know this,”

does not he who weighs the heart perceive it?

• God understands the difference between someone who sins (think: doesn’t do God’s will) but didn’t know better and someone who knows better and sins the same.  And He weighs that – He takes note.  Those who know better and do it anyway are far more guilty than a person who doesn’t know better yet.

Does not he who keeps watch over your soul know it,

and will he not repay man according to his work?

• While we will undoubtedly be saved by faith in Christ alone, we will receive our rewards in heaven according to our works.  
• I REPEAT, you can not and will not lose your salvation.  Once you’ve accepted Christ, you’ve accepted Christ.  That’s it – end of story.
• BUT, God instructs us to live the life HE has planned for us.  To make disciples, to help those who cross our path who we have the power to help, to glorify Him in all things.  
• And depending on how we execute on His instructions will drive our rewards IN heaven (once we’re there).   

My son, eat honey, for it is good,

and the drippings of the honeycomb are sweet to your taste.

Know that wisdom is such to your soul;

if you find it, there will be a future,

and your hope will not be cut off.

• Put simply, wisdom is like honey for the soul.  It brings joy, comfort, peace.  It’s nurishing and sweet to the taste.
• And God’s wisdom brings hope that will not disappoint.  It will not come up empty.  He WILL deliver.

Lie not in wait as a wicked man against the dwelling of the righteous;

do no violence to his home;

for the righteous falls seven times and rises again,

but the wicked stumble in times of calamity.

• A man who attacks a righteous man finds that he is opposing God Himself.  Don’t mess with a man after God’s own heart.  BE a man (or woman) after God’s own heart.
• "The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling but in rising every time we fall.” — Nelson Mandela
• If we rest on our own power, especially during times of hardship, we will fail.  What reason do we have to get back up?  Where is our hope without God and His promise?

Do not rejoice when your enemy falls,

and let not your heart be glad when he stumbles,

lest the Lord see it and be displeased,

and turn away his anger from him.

• Ouch.  I am so guilty of this one.  When I hear that the bully who picked on me in middle school is now in prison, or the popular guy in high school is now that high school’s janitor, or the guy I didn’t vote for is failing in his office … I rejoice a little inside.  I find JOY in their PAIN.  Again, ouch.  This is so displeasing to God, and it is so wrong.  
• We are to LOVE our enemies.  It does not say in scripture to simply SHOW love to our enemies, but to actually LOVE them.  This includes putting a governor on our joy when they fail.  
• How would we feel if we new that others were having a little party in their heads when we stumbled and fell? 
• The two greatest commandments, according to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, after “Love the Lord they God …”, we have, “love your neighbor as [just like you love] yourself.”  That includes our enemies.

Fret not yourself because of evildoers,

and be not envious of the wicked,

for the evil man has no future;

the lamp of the wicked will be put out.

• The lamp of the wicked WILL be put out.  That is one heck of a promise.  And it takes a lot of weight off of our shoulders, too.  All those feelings of revenge or envy or hatred can dissolve because God – in the end – will not let wrongdoing pass.  He is a good and righteous judge.
• That is, unless they accept Jesus into their lives and truly repent of their sinful, evil ways.  And – if that happens – we can rejoice, because now we have another brother or sister in Christ.  And we can forgive them for their transgressions just like God forgave us ours.

My son, fear the Lord and the king,

and do not join with those who do otherwise,

for disaster will arise suddenly from them,

and who knows the ruin that will come from them both?

• Fear = have true reverence/respect for.  We are called to love unconditionally AND to respect unconditionally.  The latter is VERY difficult given we live in a world that says, “He has to earn my respect” or “He’s totally lost my respect”.  God thinks differently on this matter, and we have to rest in His wisdom over ours.
• Fearing the Lord – that one is easy.  He created everything (the vastness of space, the microscopic, and everything in between), he sent His son through a virgin, etc.
• Fearing/respecting our leaders – that is a hard one.  Especially who we have now.  But God clearly says to show them respect and reverence.  This doesn’t mean we have to agree with them or vote for them for the next term, but we should show our unconditionally respect and love, as representatives of our God and Savior.

Partiality in judging is not good.

Whoever says to the wicked, “You are in the right,”

will be cursed by peoples, abhorred by nations,

but those who rebuke the wicked will have delight,

and a good blessing will come upon them.

• Put yourself in the situation:  Your best friend and your worst enemy come to you with a disagreement.  What do you do?  The world and your gut will tell you, “Support your friend.”  But what if your enemy is clearly in the right and your friend is clearly in the wrong, especially when discerning based on God’s Word?
• God says partiality is bad, so rest on this truth and do what is right … and not what FEELS right.

Whoever says to the wicked, “You are in the right,”

will be cursed by peoples, abhorred by nations,

but those who rebuke the wicked will have delight,

and a good blessing will come upon them.

• Lifting up something wicked as “right” is so wrong.  But that is what we’re starting to do in our society.  In fact, it started back during the hippie generation, but we thought it was just a fad I guess and did not fully stand up against it.  It has festered and grown and we are now facing the repercussions of not standing up for Truth.  We have some work to do to move the needle back and recalibrate the American engine.  It will not happen quickly, so we must be patient.  In God’s time we will be made right again … one way or another.

Whoever gives an honest answer

kisses the lips.

• An honest answer is a sign of true friendship and is loving (even if it stings the recipient at the time).

Prepare your work outside;

get everything ready for yourself in the field,

and after that build your house.

• We need to focus on necessities before worrying about conveniences.  If we do the opposite, we’ll take on debt, etc. and/or we’ll go hungry (in a manner of speaking).  
• So prioritize from need to want.  
• Side note:  Start with what you owe to God (your tithe) to show acknowledge that all blessings (financial or otherwise) come from God, even if you think, “I don’t have enough to give.”  Once you give to God what is His, start with getting your needs covered.

Be not a witness against your neighbor without cause,

and do not deceive with your lips.

• Many times people simply believe what they’re told.  That is the downfall of our society, in fact.  It starts with an Kant-esc or Niche-esc approach … if you get away with a lie, it’s okay as long as you got what you wanted.  Problem with this is, the lies turn into people truly believing the lies that were told.  So, by deceiving with your lips, you are tipping the first domino.
• You do not get away with lies.  You just don’t.  And they never solve a problem – they simply delay a problem at best.

Do not say, “I will do to him as he has done to me;

I will pay the man back for what he has done.”

• This parallels Jesus’ command to turn the other cheek.  My take, what does “paying them back” do except escalate the conflict?  Do you think he/she will leave it alone once you do something to them?  That’s just logic.
• Instead, do as Jesus taught us.  Do not pay them back.  Do not take revenge.  Instead, communicate your hurt, certainly but then forgive the transgression.  Not because they deserve it, but because God forgave us for OUR transgressions.

I passed by the field of a sluggard,

by the vineyard of a man lacking sense,

and behold, it was all overgrown with thorns;

the ground was covered with nettles,

and its stone wall was broken down.

Then I saw and considered it;

I looked and received instruction.

A little sleep, a little slumber,

a little folding of the hands to rest,

and poverty will come upon you like a robber,

and want like an armed man.

• “Lazy people want much, but get little, but those who work hard will prosper.”  Proverbs 13:4  
• We – especially – are greatly blessed.  We live in the right time, in the right country, born to the right family who raised us well, etc.  To be lazy in the midst of all of this blessing?  What an insult to the Blesser.  It’s the parable of the Talents.  What are you doing with your blessings?  Are you “folding your hands and resting”?  Or are you optimizing, maximizing your blessings?  Making the most of it?  
• Forget the repercussions of being lazy.  The bigger shame is to know your talents, your blessings and the opportunity He places in front of you and do less than you could have. 
• “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters,” Colossians 3:23
• Work hard to glorify His name.