02/10/08 - The Way of Wisdom (Ch 2)

2/10/08 - The Way of Wisdom (Ch 2)

Grace Fellowship 2/10/08 The Way of Wisdom Proverbs 2

We often use words that we never really think about simply because we use them so often. They are such familiar terms that they require no thought. In reading Proverbs chapter two, there are three words that are related to each other which we use without hesitation. We never really need to define them, unless we’re preaching a sermon from a text that uses them again and again. Since I am the only person among us who is preaching through Proverbs chapter two, I therefore feel compelled to point these words out to you so that you might see something you may have otherwise overlooked.

First, let’s read the text, then I’ll bring the three words I’m referring to to the forefront, just in case you zone out while I’m reading.

1 My son, if you receive my words, And treasure my commands within you, 2 So that you incline your ear to wisdom, And apply your heart to understanding; 3 Yes, if you cry out for discernment, And lift up your voice for understanding, 4 If you seek her as silver, And search for her as for hidden treasures; 5 Then you will understand the fear of the LORD, And find the knowledge of God. 6 For the LORD gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding; 7 He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk uprightly; 8 He guards the paths of justice, And preserves the way of His saints. 9 Then you will understand righteousness and justice, Equity and every good path.

10 When wisdom enters your heart, And knowledge is pleasant to your soul, 11 Discretion will preserve you; Understanding will keep you, 12 To deliver you from the way of evil, From the man who speaks perverse things, 13 From those who leave the paths of uprightness To walk in the ways of darkness; 14 Who rejoice in doing evil, And delight in the perversity of the wicked; 15 Whose ways are crooked, And who are devious in their paths; 16 To deliver you from the immoral woman, From the seductress who flatters with her words, 17 Who forsakes the companion of her youth, And forgets the covenant of her God. 18 For her house leads down to death, And her paths to the dead; 19 None who go to her return, Nor do they regain the paths of life-- 20 So you may walk in the way of goodness, And keep to the paths of righteousness. 21 For the upright will dwell in the land, And the blameless will remain in it; 22 But the wicked will be cut off from the earth, And the unfaithful will be uprooted from it. (Proverbs 2:1-22, NKJV).

Jesus summed up this entire chapter and much of the rest of the book of Proverbs when He said,

13 "Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. 14 "Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it. (Matthew 7:13-14, NKJV).

A few nights ago, I was talking with someone about the planets. (Imagine that.) I had been watching a DVD named The Privileged Planet which talks about the uniqueness of Earth and its perfect location in our solar system, and in the Milky Way galaxy. According to the video, there are a number of powers or forces in the universe that are constants, such as the strength of gravity, the speed of light, atomic mass, electro-magnetic force, and numerous other things. If any of the values of any of those forces of nature were changed even slightly, human life would be impossible on this planet and everywhere else in the entire universe.

During the course of watching the DVD, there was a simulation of all the planets in our solar system circling the Sun at a very exaggerated speed. When I saw that, the thought entered my mind, what if one of the planets in our solar system, any one of them, broke out of its orbit and started on a trajectory out through space? Just suppose Saturn, for some unknown reason, suddenly but gradually began moving further away from the Sun, and left it’s course in a direction that would send it somewhere further into space? I’m not sure what effect that would have on all the other planets, but I know what would happen here: sheer terror!

Why? It is common knowledge that all the planets run in their courses around the Sun, and all the moons circle their respective planets with such precision that the position of any planet or moon can be determined exactly to the second at any point in the future. All of these measurements are dependent upon the continuing constancy of the movements of the planets. These measurements and calculations are so precise that we can send a rocket from here to Mars, millions of miles away, and hit a target four miles wide. That is like threading a needle from fifteen miles away. But because of the precision with which all the planetary bodies move, we are able to actually do just that.

Suppose one planet broke ranks for some inexplicable reason. Suppose we could no longer depend upon the planets to stay their course in their circuits around the Sun. That would then give us reason to suspect that our own planet would be susceptible to that same wandering and if that were to happen, everything on this planet would quickly die.

God has assigned a particular course for planet Earth, for the Moon, for Saturn and every other heavenly body everywhere in His creation. Each part stays its course, just as it has been created to do. The animal kingdom performs as God has created it. The tectonic plates shift and move as they have been designed to do in order to create a magnetic field around the Earth to protect us from solar radiation. Trees and plants serve their purposes in creation and continue to function just as they were intended. Everything follows the path of its Designer. Except man.

The book of Proverbs presents us with two paths, two ways of conducting ourselves, two ways of living in this world. To follow the one path means life. Seeking the right way and walking in it, the way of wisdom, results in life. That way is the path (or paths) of uprightness, the paths of righteousness, goodness, and life. To break from that path to follow another path is death. This other path is described as dark, crooked, devious, and deadly.

Jesus spoke of two ways or paths of life. One is the way that leads to destruction. The other leads to life. The one is a six-lane highway. The other is a footpath by comparison. Because there are few that find the path that leads to life. It is a narrow way, as opposed to the very broad way. On the broad way, there are multitudes of people. There is lots of camaraderie and superficial fellowship among the many. The other way, the narrow way, the difficult way, may be comparatively lonely, but the fellowship is genuine and sweet and safe.

These are the two ways or paths in which all people live. All of this implies that we are traveling toward something. A way or a path always leads somewhere. Walking in it means we’re moving toward some destination. There are two paths in this life with two destinations. We are not merely a “pale blue dot” floating in the black nothingness of the universe with no particular reason for existing. Rather, we are quite literally on a journey, going somewhere. The place at which we finally arrive is, obviously, determined by which path we choose, kinda like the Robert Frost poem, “Two roads diverged into a wood, and I -- I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.” The analogy breaks down, but the final line is quite biblical. Choosing the road less traveled makes all the difference. The way of the majority is wrong and ends in death.

In chapter one, Solomon warned his son against the temptations of his peers to join them on their path in their pursuit after riches and wealth, at the expense of other people’s lives. That is one way, or one particular path of temptation that is quite tempting for young men. We said that there is a kind of gang mentality among many young people and it seems to have been that way in Solomon’s day as well. Chapter two presents what is probably an even stronger temptation for a young man: lust. The path of the immoral woman and the adulteress.

The path which leads to life leads away from the gang in chapter one, and from the house of the adulteress in chapter two. Solomon is instructing his young son to avoid the temptations of both. In fact, Solomon is telling his son that if he deviates from the orbit, from the path, from the way of righteousness, goodness, and life, he will die. Foolishness will kill him. Either his hoodlum friends will get him killed, or an immoral woman will get him killed. But if he pursues either, the result is the same: departure from the way of life, and a continuation on the broad way that leads to destruction and death and Hell.

I want to talk about this matter of the immoral woman for a moment. Just as the tempters in chapter one take something good and pervert it for evil, so does the adulteress in chapter two. There is nothing wrong, and there are many things right with friendship and fellowship. But the temptation in chapter one is to make evil friends your companions. Notice 1:15.

15 My son, do not walk in the way with them, Keep your foot from their path; 16 For their feet run to evil, And they make haste to shed blood. (Proverbs 1:15-16, NKJV).

The nearly universal response from teenage boys to such counsel from their Dads is, “But they’re my friends!” The problem is not that you have friends, son. It is that you have THESE friends. They are self-destructive. There is nothing wrong with having friends. Just be careful who your friends are! Exercise wisdom, choose godly companions. There are multitudes of kids who prize friendship even with “unsavory” peers so highly that they are willingly blind to the direction of their lives which is the path destruction and death.

The seductress is just as tempting, if not more so. She uses something that is good in itself, the intimacy of a sexual marital relationship, and perverts it into something evil. Notice again verses 16-19.

16 To deliver you from the immoral woman, From the seductress who flatters with her words, 17 Who forsakes the companion of her youth, And forgets the covenant of her God. 18 For her house leads down to death, And her paths to the dead; 19 None who go to her return, Nor do they regain the paths of life-- (Proverbs 2:16-19, NKJV).

This is the second major source of temptation Solomon mentions, and it is powerful. Listen to what Solomon says in chapter six about such women

26 For by means of a harlot A man is reduced to a crust of bread; And an adulteress will prey upon his precious life. (Proverbs 6:26, NKJV).

There are a number of ways to interpret that verse, and all of them are full of terror. It may be that Solomon is saying a harlot will impoverish a man, or that she will diminish him morally to be of no more value than crumbs of bread. That is very great power and it has always been that way. Men have always been stupidly susceptible to ungodly, seductive women. Solomon himself fell into that snare. Both men and women are capable of intense evil.

These are the paths of death and destruction. How does a young man keep himself from all these moral dangers that threaten his soul? What is it that Solomon says will preserve his son’s life from the broad way where the vast majority of people walk through this life: Wisdom. For the one who gets wisdom, look at what wisdom does:

1. The God who gives wisdom will be a shield for the upright (v. 7).
2. He guards the paths of justice (v. 8a).
3. He preserves the way of His saints (v. 8b).
4. Wisdom will deliver you from the way of evil (v. 12a), or as Jesus said, from the broad and easy way.
5. Wisdom will deliver you from the man who speaks perverse things (v. 12b).
6. Wisdom will deliver you from the woman who flatters with her words (v. 16).

Wisdom shields, guards, preserves, and delivers us from evil. Wisdom is like the fine-tuning of th euniverse that keeps everything from self-destruction. It enables us to continue to live well in a place that is not friendly to godliness. That wisdom begins with an understanding of God. According to chapter 1, verse 29, there is a choice to be made which will result in either a life of misery or a life blessed by God. We must choose the fear of the LORD. That is where true wisdom begins and by it, we are protected from destruction.

In my Bible, verses 1 through 4 set the conditions for actually getting this wisdom which we all need so badly. Here’s how I believe Solomon presented it to his son:

1 My son, if you receive my words, And treasure my commands within you, 2 So that you incline your ear to wisdom, And apply your heart to understanding; 3 Yes, if you cry out for discernment, And lift up your voice for understanding, 4 If you seek her as silver, And search for her as for hidden treasures; 5 Then you will understand the fear of the LORD, And find the knowledge of God. (Proverbs 2:1-5, NKJV).

Wisdom is there to be had. It will keep us on the right path, keep us in orbit so we’re not just wandering aimlessly and recklessly and self-destructively through this life. But it must be desired. Solomon says, “If you treasure my commands, if you apply your heart to understanding, if you cry out, if you seek and search for wisdom like hidden treasure, THEN you will understand the fear of the LORD.

But, on the other hand, if you consider wisdom to be of little value, then you will eat the fruit of your own way. If in your mind, wisdom is not worth the effort to get it, you never will. But you will wish you had.

What does your path look like? The ways of wisdom, the paths of discretion and understanding don’t have a lot of travelers on them. Wisdom stands alone much of the time. Wisdom is not popular. Just look at network television. The more foolish the show, the more viewers it has. That is the world in which we live.

So what should be our constant prayer? It should be something like Solomon's. “Lord, grant us Your wisdom to know how to live a godly life in the midst of an ungodly people. Help us recognize the evils around us for what they are. Deliver us from evil people who would lead us to our own destruction. Cause us to walk in the way of goodness and keep to the paths of righteousness. Deliver us from the broad way. Help us to stay on the course for which you have created us.”

In Jesus’ name, we pray these things. Amen