Proverbs 12:28 (NKJV) 

²⁸In the way of righteousness is life, And in its pathway there is no death. 

Paul writes in Romans 8:29 that God has predestined His people to be conformed to the image of His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. The Proverbs assist us in that process, directing us in the way of wisdom and teaching us what it is to imitate our Lord’s character. Today we are instructed to walk in the way of righteousness.

What is the good life? And who has the capacity to define it? Is it a can of Michelob beer on a camping trip? Is it a good cigar? Is it fast cars and fast women? Massive biceps? A full head of hair? Smoking dope? The cheer of the crowd? What is the good life?

Among no class of men are these questions more urgently and ardently asked than among those who are young. Children and young adults are gifted by God with an appetite to have their questions answered, a desire to find and secure the good life. As they gaze out over the future, they want to know, “What will bring me joy and pleasure in the course of my life? What is the pathway to life?”

Unfortunately, at no time in history have the brokers of the good life been more prolific and skilled in their marketing, leading generations of men and women in the way of death. Professing to be wise, we have become fools, exchanging the glory of God for idols made in the likeness of men. Hence, though we go on one craze after another, we finite creatures are unable to identify what is genuinely good for us. How do we know, infallibly, that some trend we have jumped on today will bring joy and happiness tomorrow? As Solomon reminds us elsewhere,“There is a way which seems right to a man, but in the end it is the way of death.” We are not omniscient and so we are unable, as humans, to identify the good life. 

The most that we can identify on our own is what brings momentary happiness or pleasure. But we can never be sure that these momentary pleasures won’t bring devastating consequences in the future. One thinks of the radical reversal that has come in the last century over smoking cigarretes. Once admired as the mark of the debutant, the rich and famous, the discovery of its ill effects has relegated it to the down and out. So how do you know that that microwave popcorn you’ve been sneaking after the kids go to bed won’t prove your undoing? 

Do we then have no hope in the world? Must we live our lives in constant uncertainty, blown about by every scheme for the good life? Are you youth unable to answer the questions which you most hunger to know? Are we left without a sure foundation? May it never be! For God has defined the good life for us: “In the way of righteousness is life, and in its pathway there is no death.” And because our Lord is omniscient, He knows all the end roads, all the results of various actions. He knows that homosexuality is destructive; knows that sexual immorality saps one of character and strength; knows that life is more than the multitude of one’s possessions; knows that humans can have no greater pleasure than when we find our satisfaction in Him. And the glorious thing is that He has revealed all of this to us in His Word. We can know what the good life is – for the Creator of all has revealed it to us and makes life understandable and meaningful as a result.

Despite the clarity of God’s revelation, however, we often spurn His revelation. Attempting to run our lives on our own sense of what is good and right, we find ourselves repeating the sin of our First Mother who, judging for herself, saw that the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was pleasant to the eyes and desireable to make one wise. She spurned God’s Word in favor of her own judgment. So what of you? Are you walking in the way of righteousness and reveling in the abundant life that Jesus gives? Or are you walking in your own way and careening toward death or perhaps tasting it even now?

Reminded of our failure to walk in the way of righteousness and our tendency to trust in our own wisdom and wit rather than God’s Word, let us confess our sins together. And as we confess, let us kneel before the Lord.

Proverbs 10:15 (NKJV)

15 The rich man’s wealth is his strong city; The destruction of the poor is their poverty.

In the text before us today, Solomon highlights the blessing of wealth and the danger of poverty. On the one hand, we have the blessing of wealth. The rich man’s wealth is his strong city… In the ancient world, a strong city was a place of refuge and protection from the ravages of war. Walled cities, or strong cities as Solomon calls them, were havens of security in an insecure world. Like the walls of these strong cities is the wealth of the rich man. His wealth enables him to hide himself, his family, and his friends in times of hardship or difficulty. His wealth is a source of security and protection. It is a blessing from God.

On the other hand, we have the danger of poverty. The destruction of the poor is their poverty. Whereas marauders, thieves, and foreign armies often left strong cities alone, they frequently laid waste small villages and unwalled cities, plundering property, slaying the populace, and devastating the surrounding countryside. These unwalled cities were constantly exposed to danger and oppression. Likewise, the poor man. When hardship arrives, the poor man has no resources to protect himself or his family. His poverty is his destruction.

Solomon’s words remind us, first, of the blessings of material wealth. Living hand to mouth is sometimes necessary but rarely wise. It is always better to save for a rainy day and to build one’s wealth so that in times of hardship you have a strong city to which you can flee. In Scripture, it is commendable to acquire wealth. While it is sinful to have a lust for wealth, or to use your wealth to promote wickedness, or to steal from others to gain wealth, it is not sinful to acquire wealth. The rich man’s wealth is his strong city… and is, therefore, a blessing from God.

Solomon’s words also remind us, second, of the blessings of spiritual wealth. It is the man or woman who knows the character and promises of God who will be able to endure times of hardship and suffering in faith. And this type of wealth, spiritual wealth, is a wealth that any child of God can acquire whether he be materially rich or poor. So Paul writes of the rich: “Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy. Let them do good, that they may be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share, storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life” (1 Tim 6:17-19). And James writes of the poor, “Listen, my beloved brethren: Has God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him?” (2:5) Spiritual wealth is a strong city which any child of God may acquire by the grace of God.

So what of you? On the one hand, are you endeavoring to store up material wealth in order that you may have a strong city in times of trouble? Are you avoiding debt and endeavoring to save or are you perpetually living hand to mouth? On the other hand, are you endeavoring to store up spiritual wealth? Are you growing in your knowledge of God’s character and promises so that you may be able to weather the tribulations that will come your way in this life? Remember the words of Solomon: “The rich man’s wealth is his strong city; The destruction of the poor is their poverty.”

Reminded of our calling to think of tomorrow and to store up wealth for times of trouble, let us acknowledge that we often fail to do so. And as we confess, let us kneel before the Lord.

Proverbs 12:27 (NKJV) 

²⁷ The lazy man does not roast what he took in hunting, But diligence is man’s precious possession. 

Paul writes in Romans 8:29 that God has predestined His people to be conformed to the image of His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. The Proverbs assist us in that process, directing us in the way of wisdom and teaching us what it is to imitate our Lord’s character. Today we are instructed once again to be diligent not lazy.

A few weeks ago we considered Solomon’s adage, “The hand of the diligent will rule, But the lazy man will be put to forced labor” (12:24). So important is diligence that Solomon reiterates it in our text today, “The lazy man does not roast what he took in hunting, But diligence is a man’s precious possession.” So let us expand what we learned last time about diligence.

Webster defines “diligent” as “steady in application to business; constant in effort or exertion to accomplish what is undertaken; assiduous; attentive; industrious; not idle or negligent…” The man of diligence is not afraid of hard work and exertion. He remembers that God created man to work. We were designed to fill the earth and subdue it and to exercise dominion over it (Gen 1:28). God did not put mankind in the garden so that he would sit back and eat grapes all week; God put mankind in the garden to work. Adam was to take the order of the garden and extend it to the rest of creation. And though the Fall introduced toil into the world, often causing our work to be frustrating or foiled, work itself remains good and noble and right, a holy calling. Consequently, the righteous man is diligent. Such diligence is his precious possession, more valuable than wealth itself because diligence is the pathway to wealth.

The lazy man, on the other hand, does not roast what he took in hunting. He fails to complete his tasks. Oh, he sets out industriously. He grabs his gun, heads out in the woods, and takes a deer. But having done all this work, having pushed himself this far, he gives up. He can’t bring himself to roast the deer for dinner. The result? He starves or steals from others.

Solomon’s words remind us that diligence is characterized by perseverance. We all grow tired in our work. We set out with great ambitions and desires and goals. We are going to change the world. But we didn’t think that changing the world entailed changing quite that many diapers or correcting quite that many papers or writing quite that many reports or stocking quite that many shelves or plumbing quite that many buildings or forgiving quite that many sins. You get the idea. We grow tired. The grass looks greener on the other side of the fence. So we scrap our work and set out for something new – not because that new opportunity is truly better; rather because we are lazy and don’t want to finish the work that God has given us to do.

So what of you? Are you diligent or lazy? When you are given a task, do you complete it? Or do you regularly leave things half done? Do you start jobs and rarely finish them? Start reading your Bible but rarely follow through with your plan? Start cleaning your room but leave that mess in the closet? Start praying with your family but cease after a week? Start your homework but give excuses to your teacher for why it’s not finished? Are you diligent or are you lazy?

Reminded that we are called to be diligent men and women and children who are “steady in application to business, constant in effort or exertion,” let us acknowledge that we are often lazy, that we often leave jobs half done and make excuses for our laziness. And as we confess our sin to the Lord and seek His forgiveness through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, let us kneel as we are able.

Proverbs 12:25 

²⁵Anxiety in the heart of man causes depression, But a good word makes it glad. 

Paul writes in Romans 8:29 that God has predestined His people to be conformed to the image of His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. The Proverbs assist us in that process, directing us in the way of wisdom and teaching us what it is to imitate our Lord’s character. Today we are instructed to relieve others’ anxiety and depression through good words.

Anxiety is a common temptation for us as fallen creatures. Satan takes advantage of our finitude and our inability to control the circumstances of our lives to move us to anxiety. Webster defines anxiety as “concern or solicitude respecting some event, future or uncertain, which disturbs the mind, and keeps it in a state of painful uneasiness.” So we can be anxious about the weather, anxious about our appearance, anxious about our health, anxious about a strained relationship, anxious about some gossip that we have heard, anxious about the political situation, anxious about how we will provide for our family or solve a problem or complete all our assignments or shepherd our children. In short, we can become anxious about just about anything.

This anxiety in the heart, Proverbs tells us, causes depression. If we do not cut this anxiety out of our lives and entrust ourselves to the loving care of Almighty God who controls all the uncertainties of life and has promised to cause all things to work together for the good of those who love Him, then it will cause our heart to be cast down and overwhelmed. 

In such times, when we are anxious and cast down, how helpful it is to hear a good word from another: “But a good word makes [the heart] glad.” God uses good words, true words, encouraging words, to break our anxieties and relieve our heaviness of heart. So Isaiah exhorts us:

³Strengthen the weak hands, And make firm the feeble knees. ⁴Say to those who are fearful-hearted, “Be strong, do not fear! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, With the recompense of God; He will come and save you.” 

Isaiah urges us not to be distant from those who are anxious and fearful-hearted but to remind them of the truth: God is good and He promises to do good for all those who are in Christ Jesus. He will not abandon us to our fears. So do not grow weary, do not grow faint, God shall rescue you just at the breaking of the dawn.

So what of you? Is your heart full of anxiety today? Are you downcast and depressed? Then hear today a good word. God our Creator is the Lord of heaven and earth. He has so loved us that He sent His Son to bear our burdens that through faith in Him we might know that God loves us and is on our side. So our Lord Jesus reminds us:

²⁵“Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? ²⁶Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? (Mt 6:25-26)

You are of much more value than the birds of the air. So do not be anxious. Your heavenly Father will care for you.

Reminded that we are often tempted to anxiety and depression and that we often neglect to speak good words to one another so as to relieve anxiety and instead feed others’ anxieties with negative and fearful words, let us confess our lack of faith to our Father in heaven. And as we confess, let us kneel as we are able.

Proverbs 12:24 

²⁴The hand of the diligent will rule, But the lazy man will be put to forced labor. 

Paul writes in Romans 8:29 that God has predestined His people to be conformed to the image of His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. The Proverbs assist us in that process, directing us in the way of wisdom and teaching us what it is to imitate our Lord’s character. Today we are instructed to be diligent not lazy.

Webster defines “diligent” as “steady in application to business; constant in effort or exertion to accomplish what is undertaken; assiduous; attentive; industrious; not idle or negligent…” The man of diligence is not afraid of hard work and exertion. He remembers that God created man to work. We were designed to fill the earth and subdue it and to exercise dominion over it (Gen 1:28). God did not put mankind in the garden so that he would sit back and eat grapes all week; God put mankind in the garden to work. Adam was to take the order of the garden and extend it to the rest of creation. And though the Fall introduced toil into the world, often causing our work to be frustrating or foiled, work itself is good and noble and right, a holy calling. Consequently, the righteous man is diligent. And God’s promise to the diligent man is that “he will rule” – this often proves true in this life and shall certainly prove true in the next. For Christ has died and risen again and given us the hope of a new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwell; hence, “our labor is not in vain in the Lord” (1 Cor 15:58). 

The lazy man, on the other hand, will be put to forced labor. Unwilling to compel himself to work, he will be compelled to work by others. So who is the lazy man? Let us reverse engineer Webster’s definition of diligence. Lazy means “unsteady in application to business; inconstant in effort or exertion to accomplish what is undertaken; inattentive; idle or negligent…” The lazy man is full of excuses. Solomon writes, “The way of the lazy man is like a hedge of thorns, But the way of the upright is a highway” (Pr 15:19). In other words, whereas the diligent man clears away excuses and accomplishes the task given to him, the lazy man is full of excuses. There is always a reason the work can’t get done, the project can’t get finished, the job can’t be accomplished.

So what of you? Are you diligent or lazy? When you are given a task, does your parent or your boss or your spouse have to remind you to complete it? Children – is your room a pig stie or do you pick it up? Do you do your homework willingly or do you need constant reminders? Are your chores routinely accomplished or just as routinely neglected? Young men – are you wasting an inordinate amount of time on video games or your phone or entertainment rather than gaining skills that you can use to rule a family? Adults – are you redeeming the time because the days are evil? Are you growing in faithfulness? Diligent in your vocation? Devoted to reading the Word of God and deepening your knowledge of God? Or is there always an excuse?

Reminded that we are to be diligent men and women and children who are attentive and industrious, let us acknowledge that we are often lazy, that we often make excuses when we should accept responsibility. And as we confess our sin to the Lord and seek His forgiveness through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, let us kneel as we are able. 

Proverbs 12:23 

²³A prudent man conceals knowledge, But the heart of fools proclaims foolishness. 

Paul writes in Romans 8:29 that God has predestined His people to be conformed to the image of His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. The Proverbs assist us in that process, directing us in the way of wisdom and teaching us what it is to imitate our Lord’s character. Today we are instructed to be prudent not foolish.

Webster defines “prudent” as “cautious; circumspect; practically wise; careful of the consequences of enterprises, measures or actions; cautious not to act when the [outcome] is of doubtful utility, or probably impracticable.” The man of prudence thinks before he speaks or acts. Solomon tells us later that, “The wisdom of the prudent is to understand his way, but the folly of fools is deceit” (14:8). In other words, whereas the prudent man considers carefully what the consequences of his actions will be, the fool charges ahead and relies on deceitfulness to make his foolish decisions succeed. And even as the prudent man considers the consequences of his actions, so he weighs dangers appropriately, “A prudent man foresees evil and hides himself” (Pr 22:3a). Hence, Solomon tells us today that “a prudent man conceals knowledge.” He doesn’t reveal all that he knows. He chooses carefully to whom to entrust the knowledge that God has given him, knowing that knowledge is a precious treasure.

Whereas the prudent man doesn’t reveal all that he knows, the fool reveals all that he doesn’t know, “the heart of fools proclaims foolishness.”  The fool speaks glibly and frequently gets himself in trouble. Like Nabal, he curses a David and has to be rescued by the prudence of his wife. Like Esau, he sells his birthright for a pot of stew, believing he’ll be able to deceive his brother Jacob in the end. Like Ananias and Sapphira, he lies to the Holy Spirit and imagines that his lies will never be found out. But “the complacency of fools shall destroy them” (1:32) and “shame shall be the legacy of fools” (3:35). A “prating fool will fall” (10:10) and “die for lack of wisdom” (10:21). “A whip for the horse, a bridle for the donkey, and a rod for the fool’s back” (26:3).

So what of you? Are you a prudent man or are you a fool? Do you think before you act? Do you weigh your words before you speak? That gossip that you spoke to a friend. That insult that you offered your sibling. That curse that you flung at your boss. That slur that you uttered against your co-worker. Do you think before you speak? Indeed, do you weigh carefully if the knowledge you are thinking of sharing needs to be shared? That anxiety that you revealed to your wife, does she need to be burdened with it? That rumor that you heard about your friend, does he need to know it? A prudent man conceals knowledge, but the heart of fools proclaims foolishness.

Reminded that we are to be prudent men and women and children who are circumspect and practically wise, let us acknowledge that we are often foolish, that we often speak when we should be silent, act when we should wait, reveal when we should conceal. And as we confess our sin to the Lord and seek His forgiveness through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, let us kneel as we are able.

Proverbs 12:17–22 

¹⁷He who speaks truth declares righteousness, But a false witness, deceit. ¹⁸There is one who speaks like the piercings of a sword, But the tongue of the wise promotes health. ¹⁹The truthful lip shall be established forever, But a lying tongue is but for a moment. ²⁰Deceit is in the heart of those who devise evil, But counselors of peace have joy. ²¹No grave trouble will overtake the righteous, But the wicked shall be filled with evil. ²²Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, But those who deal truthfully are His delight. 

Paul writes in Romans 8:29 that God has predestined His people to be conformed to the image of His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. The Proverbs assist us in that process, directing us in the way of wisdom and teaching us what it is to imitate our Lord’s character. Today we return to Proverbs 12 and are instructed to speak truth with our lips.

Our paragraph begins and ends with the reminder to speak truth, not lies. Solomon begins, “He who speaks truth declares righteousness, But a false witness, deceit” (17). When called upon to bear witness, we are to speak “the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.” He then concludes, “Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, but those who deal truthfully are His delight” (22). Our Lord despises those who speak lies; however, He delights in those who speak truth, who describe accurately the nature of the world, the substance of a conversation, or the actions of a neighbor. The Lord loves the man or woman who cultivates a listening ear and an observant eye so that he can be a faithful witness.

The verses that lie between these opening summaries further explain why the Lord hates a lying tongue. Lies, we learn, are an instrument of war – they are like the piercings of a sword (18a) – while the truth is an instrument of peace – it promotes health (18b), counsels peace (20), and brings joy (20). Solomon’s words remind us of Jesus’ teaching that the devil “is a liar and the father of lies” (Jn 8:44) whereas Jesus, the Son of God our Savior, is “the way, the truth, and the life” (Jn 14:6). Hence, the one who perpetuates lies follows the devil in his rebellion against God and becomes more and more filled with evil (21). But, because God is Lord of all and not the devil; and because the devil will be destroyed along with all his children, the lying tongue is but for a moment (19). Lies do not succeed in the end. Though they may prevail for a time, God will make everything plain.

So what of you? Do you deal truthfully, speak truthfully, counsel truthfully? Children, do you hate lies? When your parents ask you what happened, do you speak the truth? When you do your homework, do you do it honestly and shun cheating? Do you abhor deceitfulness? Adults, when the truth is unpopular, do you say it anyway? Lovingly, graciously – of course. But is your first loyalty to God and the truth? When the truth will hurt, exposing another’s sin or hypocrisy or selfishness, do you speak it anyway? Lovingly, graciously – of course. But is your first loyalty to God and the truth? When the truth will cost you, when you’ve made a promise, given your word, and things have gotten hard, do you practice the truth anyway? Or do you make excuses, look for escape clauses, and avoid fulfilling your word?

Reminded that our Lord loves truthful lips and abhors the deceitful tongue, let us confess that we often fall prey to the devil and deceive others with our lips; that we twist the truth to favor ourselves or our team; that we cover the truth to avoid accountability; that we lie to get what we want. And as we confess our sin to the Lord and seek His forgiveness through Jesus Christ, let us kneel as we are able.