Dr Greg Bahnsen - Proverbs: Proverbs 2 (Wisdom Guards Us) (Part 5)

Good morning to Proverbs the second chapter, where we'll take as our text the entire chapter and consider the subject. Wisdom guards us. Proverbs, chapter 2. Hear Now God's word, my son. If thou wilt receive my words and lay up my commandments with thee, so as to incline thine ear unto wisdom and apply thy heart to understanding. Yea, if thou cry after discernment, and lift up thy voice for understanding, if thou seek her as silver and search for her as for hid treasures, then shalt thou understand the fear of Jehovah, and find the knowledge of God. For Jehovah giveth wisdom. Out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding he layeth up sound wisdom. Who forsake the paths of uprightness to walk in the ways of darkness, who rejoice to do evil and delight in the perverseness of evil, who are crooked in their ways and wayward in their paths, to deliver thee from the strange woman, even from the foreigner that flattereth with her lips, that forsaketh the friend of her youth, and forgetteth the covenant of her God, for her house inclineth unto death and her paths unto the dead, none that go unto her return again, neither do they attain unto the paths of life, that thou mayest walk in the way of good men, and keep the paths of the righteous. For the upright shall dwell in the land, and the perfect shall remain in it. But the wicked shall be cut off from the land, and the treacherous shall be rooted out of it. Thus far, the reading of God's Word we speak of people who are cautious, people who are guarded, people as wise. The impetuous person is the one who jumps into things without thinking. The impetuous person is the fool who gets involved with problems that are none of his business, or gets involved in doing things which lead to trouble because he hasn't thought through what he's doing. The impetuous is unguarded, he is unsafe, he is foolish. On the other hand, we think of people who are cautious, who are guarded in their behavior as wise people. Well, the word of God goes a step better than that. It's not just that wise men are guarded men, but the Bible teaches that wisdom guards men. It isn't just in a guarded attitude toward life that we show wisdom, and but in showing wisdom we gain the guarding of God that he becomes our shield, he becomes our support, he becomes our defense. Wisdom looks after us when we diligently follow it. At the end of chapter one, the author of Proverbs has ended on the note of promised security for those who heed the call and listen to the rebukes of wisdom. Notice verse 33 of chapter 1. But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell securely and shall be quiet without fear of evil. Those who listen to wisdom, those who are teachable, those who are willing to have the word of God come in and correct and reform their lives. As painful, as embarrassing as that may be, such people who show wisdom, those who hearken unto wisdom, will dwell securely. Now, if you look at the end of chapter two, you notice that that same theme is brought back up. And so we have something of a bracketing device joining all of chapter two into one overall theme and topic. At the end of chapter two, we read, for the upright shall dwell in the land, and the perfect shall remain in it. Chapters 2, 3, and 4, as a matter of fact, expand upon the ending of chapter one, promising security to those who follow wisdom. Chapters two, three, and four all expand on that promise. And if you look at the fourth chapter, the 18th verse, you'll get an idea of the general theme that is found in these three chapters we read there. The path of the righteous is as the dawning light that shineth more and more unto the perfect day. The way of the wicked is as darkness. They know not at what they stumble. The path of the righteous and the path of the wicked. These are not simply enduring themes throughout the Bible, not simply a contrast that we find in biblical literature, but these have become part and parcel of Western literature. The idea of two the high road and the low road, or the road going this way, the road going that, and the choice that must be made as to which way of life you will have, what course you will follow, what path you're going to walk. Proverbs tells us that the way of the righteous is kind of like the dawning of the day. Now, I know there are a lot of sleepyheads in this congregation. Many of you I talk to enjoy sleeping in. And as I get older and more decrepit, I'm enjoying sleeping in more and more myself. But for those of you who are up at dawn from time to time, or as a regular habit, those of you who have been out on the road, say, traveling toward the east as the, the dawn comes, it's a beautiful experience, especially if you get a rosy fingered dawn, as the poet says, the sun begins to rise, you see just the glimmers of light coming over the horizon, and then it gets brighter and brighter until finally, at the perfect day, or what means the fullness of day, we have the sun just bathing us in light and heat. And the path of the righteous is like that. You begin to go down that path and you begin to see the glory that it involves, the. The joy that it holds, the warmth and the beauty of living in God's presence as someone who understands him and fears him and walks in obedience to him. And it just gets brighter and brighter and brighter. I guess this is supposed to be something of the Old Testament analogy of progressive sanctification. You see, it says, though the day begins to dawn to the perfect day, and we have the full sun there, but the path of the wicked, just the opposite. They not only walk in darkness, but they stumble over things. And they are in such a miserable estate, they have things so badly that they don't even know what they're stumbling over. They don't understand life, they don't understand the source of their problems, and they're in the pitch darkness. Proverbs 2, 3, 4 is going to be teaching us that. And this morning, we look at chapter 2, chapters 2, 3, and 4 all begin the same way. If you look in your Bibles, you'll see that for yourself. Now, the reason I'm going over this is I'm trying to teach you how to read the Bible, how to look for certain things that are structuring devices, things that will help you organize the Bible. And it won't be just a bunch of random statements, you know, thrown into a shoebox and stirred up. And then we pull them out and paste them down on a page and say, oh, yeah, well, all this is true, but there's no order to it. There is an order to God's word, and it will help you to understand it, to see it. So, so how do chapters 2, 3, and 4 begin? All in the same way, My son, my son and sons, the same general idea. We have the exhortation to a son, and it goes on. Then what we call chapter three begins, another exhortation, and my son. And then chapter four, another. In fact, you'll find more than one in chapter four. And so here we have Wisdom, the wise teacher, teaching us as children. Remember that the teacher has a paternal authority and a paternal care according to the Bible. That's why the prophets can be called fathers in the Old Testament. That's why teachers in the church are styled fathers. We refer to those who teach us. If we think of them in a biblical way as our parents, we show them the same deference and honor. And so here the teacher of wisdom says, my son. And then what we have is an extended if then format. In fact, it's one of the longest I've ever seen in the Bible. An if then format. You need to think in terms of what we call hypotheticals. The hypothetical gives a precondition or a prerequisite. Conditions are laid down. And if those conditions come about, it is said, certain results follow. If this, then that. If something takes place, then something else follows. And the statement of the prerequisite conditions, the if statement, if you will. The if part of that hypothetical runs from verses one to four here. If this and if this, and if this, if these things are taken care of, then verses five and following tell us then, then, then. In fact, notice five begins, then shalt thou. Verse nine begins, then shalt thou. And so this entire chapter is structured as one of the exhortations to a son, my son, hear me. If this, then you can count on that. And that's what we're going to look at today. The if, then of Proverbs, chapter 2, and the promise of security that God gives, that wisdom is not only a characteristic of man, that he is guarded in what he does, but wisdom will guard us in what we do. But first, let's look at the if. There are a lot of ifs here. Verses 1 to 4. My son, if thou wilt receive my words and lay up my commandments with thee, so as to incline thine ear unto wisdom and apply thy heart to understanding. Yes. If thou cry after discernment and lift up thy voice for understanding, if thou seek her as silver and search for her as hid treasures. But we're waiting and waiting and waiting. That's part of the point, of course, is to really have us on the edge of our seats. Yes, yes. If, if, if, if, if what will happen? Then the following will take place. Verse 1. If you will receive my words and lay up my commandments with thee. Wisdom is not just passing advice for a momentary situation, you know. And part of our problem is that's what we want. We're Americans, we're pragmatists. We take care of problems as they come up. We like instant solutions. This happens to me over and over again as a pastor. I know it happens in your life, too. You either see it in yourself or see it in others. But people come to me or call me often. That is the height of the sadness that sometimes people will be in just the worst spiritual condition, having some terrible social problem. And then they'll call and say, what's the answer to this? It's kind of like if you'll read me a Bible verse, then I can have this answer, kind of like an instant Excedrin to take away my spiritual headache. But you know, wisdom doesn't teach that way. My son, if you will receive my words and lay up my commandments with thee. Wisdom isn't passing advice for a momentary situation. It's something that you lay up in store. It's something that you pack away. It's something that's there as a reserve of strength and guidance when you need it. My son, listen to my commandments. And you know, you children, you need to hear this in particular. Now, there are some grown up children around here who need to hear it too, including your pastor. But children, think about this. How often do your parents tell you what, go do something or don't do that, they give you a commandment and then, you know, an hour later they say it again and the next day they say it again, and the next week they say it again. You see, it's the mark of a child to hear the command of the parent as well. For right now, that's what I'm supposed to do. But my son, if you receive my words and lay up my commandments with you, that is, listen to what your parents teach your children and say, you know, this is something, something I should remember. I should lay it in store. I shouldn't have to be told how to deal with this kind of problem or situation in my life. Again, keep it in mind, lay it in store for you. And verse two says, so if you will incline thine ear unto wisdom and apply thy heart to understanding, we see another step in the gaining of wisdom. Because wisdom is more than hearing with the outward earth. That too breaks a pastor's heart. When I counsel people and it's obvious not only are they looking for some momentary relief from their problem, just a quick fix, as it were, but also people who are just going through motions, you see, it's not sinking in. It's not coming to their heart. It's not gaining an internal renovation, a reorientation toward life, a new way of thinking and evaluating, a new attitude. We are fools when we only change our outward behavior. Momentarily the command comes to say, okay, well then I'll go do this. But then we forget it and we don't let it change our lives. Wisdom is for those that have it sink in, that go down deep into their hearts. There must be an inward understanding. Apply thy heart to understanding. Notice the two ways you gain wisdom. With the ear and with the heart. You cannot have it in the heart if it doesn't go through the ear, but if it only gets as far as the ear, it's not going to give you wisdom. Apply your heart to understanding. And in verse three, yes, if you cry after discernment and lift up your voice for understanding. How many of us have done that? If we were to stand outside your house, listen at the window, would we hear you crying out, God, take my foolishness away. Give me wisdom. Make me a person like Solomon who wants not riches, not honor, not glory, but wisdom. Do we cry out for that? Do we whisper for it? Let's forget the crying out right now. Are you at the whispering point for wisdom yet? No, probably not. You probably don't walk around the house going, God, give me wisdom. Well, do you pray for wisdom? Forget the whispering. Do you just privately and quietly pray for it diligently, constantly, eagerly, sincerely, devotedly saying, God, I don't want to go another day without wisdom. No, we aren't diligent, are we? We are quick fix fools. I am too. And this is a sermon that has to be preached to me before it's preached to you. But all of us are like that. We just aren't diligent. We think we're going to fall into wisdom like we fall into love. And you know, the results are the same. Disaster. People don't fall in love. I know that doesn't sound romantic and it may be bursting a few bubbles, but let me tell you something about love. No one has a good marriage that they just fell into. No one. I used to think, well, you know, some people, they get lucky. Providential, right? And they just kind of hit it off. But you see, if we're good Calvinists, we know people don't just hit it off. They don't. Sinners don't just hit it off. What they usually do is hit. Sinners don't get along with one another. They argue and complain and they get grumpy and they're unloving and they're impatient and they don't do what, what is supportive and positive and kind to the other person. They don't do it consistently. People don't harmonize off the bat. But you know, people can learn to love. Yes, they can. And there are some gloriously good Christian marriages around and it's possible for all of us to have that, but it takes work. One does not fall in love. Now, on the other hand, I don't want to be misunderstood. I do believe that some people, there is a love at first glance sort of thing, right? But I Don't think anybody who begins to love at first sight continues to love and makes a good marriage just out of I loved you at first sight. It takes work, thoughtfulness and diligence. Now wisdom is the same way. We don't fall into wisdom and yet we act like we will. We go through life saying, you know, one day I'm going to wake up and I'll bet I'll just be wise. One of these days I'm going to stop being a fool. Yeah, I see all the bad things I've done, I see all the mistakes I've made. And boy, I bet one of these days it's going to stop. No, it's not going to stop. By doing that thinking, I'm just going to fall into wisdom someday. One doesn't fall into wisdom. Wisdom is hard coming, just like a good marriage is hard coming. It's like love. It takes diligence and work and thoughtfulness to be wise. Now, I've been preaching to you for months about wisdom. I wonder how many of you have gone home and have given yourself 10 minutes. Well, I'm going to be simple here. I should be asking for 10 days, 10 minutes of thought, saying, now what do I need to do to drive out this foolishness, impetuousness and hard heartedness in me? My immaturity? What do I need to do to show myself more diligent in righteousness? How can I catch myself being impatient? Have we done that? 10 minutes of thought? Have we cried out for wisdom? No, we thought we'd just fall into it and we just felt bad because we were fools from week to week hearing these sermons that we get wise. Well, you won't. We've got to cry out for it. Desire it. You need to desire it so much that you're willing to speak out loud, implore God, give me wisdom, show me the way. And look at the next verse. The search for understanding is likened to the search for precious silver. Boy, it's easy to make this point. How many people do you know that just stumbled across the silver that made them rich? No, silver is a scarce metal and wisdom is a scarce characteristic. And silver is not gained easily. It's difficult to extract. Now, I've seen silver mines from outside and I've been in a functioning gold mine. And gold, I understand, is even a little bit easier because it's a soft metal. But nevertheless, the principles are the same. And it's amazing what people have to go through. The people who became very wealthy in the silver mines of Nevada, for instance, did not become wealthy by just saying, oh, isn't that nice? There's some silver over there. Let's go pick it up. No, you've got to dig down into this shaft and you've got to risk your life and you've got to make sure you. You blow up the right part of the mountain and you've got to refine this and bring it out. Wisdom is the same way. Wisdom's like silver. You've got to go after it with some diligence, with some fortitude, with some sincerity. It won't come by casual observation or wishfulness. Well, my son, if you then will lay up my commandments in your heart, if you will hear with the inward ear and apply with the heart, if you will cry out for this and not think, you're just going to fall, fall into wisdom, if you'll extract it like silver from a mine, if you'll go for it like that, then here's what's going to happen. Then shalt thou understand the fear of Jehovah and find the knowledge of God. Verse 5 really is a repeat of the motto of the whole book. Proverbs 1:7. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. If you cry out for wisdom and seek it in this way, the first thing you're going to know is the fear of the Lord. You see, that's the first step in gaining understanding. That's the first step in spiritual maturity, is learning to bow the neck, to bow the heart, to come low before God and fear him and say, I need to get outside of myself. I need to receive from you. Verse 6 tells us wisdom comes from God. Jehovah gives wisdom. Verse 6 also tells us out of his mouth comes knowledge and understanding. That's a great, great verse for philosophers. You know what a philosopher is, don't you? Philosopher means a lover of wisdom, from philosophy in Greek, meaning friend or lover, and sophos, which means wisdom. A philosopher is supposed to love wisdom. The Bible tells us out of God's mouth comes knowledge and understanding. Proverbs tells us that if you're going to know anything, you have to begin with God. He must be your presupposition. He must be your foundation. He must be your ultimate commitment and your final authority. He must be your starting point. And then you'll have knowledge. And if you don't have these things, you're not really a philosopher. You're not really a lover of wisdom. I would love nothing better but to have a congregation of true philosophers. And I don't mean by that people have gone to the university, have learned about Plato and Aristotle. I mean, that may be nice if we all knew about Plato and Aristotle too, but that really is quite peripheral. To be a true philosopher is to see that everything begins with the fear of the Lord. That all the knowledge, all the understanding, all of the discretion that we have begins with him. And then verse seven tells us in particular that he lays up sound wisdom for the upright. He is a shield to them that walk in integrity, that he may guard the paths. Justice, wisdom will provide for us. Security, it will guard us in many ways. And I want you to see as we go through this chapter, the many ways in which wisdom guards us, in which wisdom becomes for us a shield for those who walk in integrity. Verse 8. That he may guard the paths of justice and preserve the way of his saints. You know, both justice and sainthood are misunderstood in our day, badly misunderstood in our day. Judgment or justice is not simply telling somebody you're wrong. It isn't just something that takes place when you go to court. You know, we see this on tv, right? People go to court and there's a plaintiff, and here's the person who is being accused, and they present their case and somebody gets judged. Judgment is standing for the way of justice. And that comes at some points in the law court by bringing accusation against people. But it also has to do with the way you relate to your neighbor, whether you promote justice and integrity with your neighbor. Sainthood is also misunderstood in our day. You know, we think of saints as plaster figurines, don't we? And of course, you'd have to be plastered to be a saint in our day, because you'd have to be totally without thought, without eyes, without any kind of desire, without any kind of behavior in this world. It seems like to be a real saint. The Bible never presents sainthood as somehow in another dimension, in another realm above this world. You know, people don't get exalted into sainthood. They. They live as saints in the midst of this world. When Jesus prayed in his high priestly prayer In John the 17th chapter, he says, I do not pray that you would take them from the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. That's what a saint is. A person who lives in the midst of the world as a member of another world. A person who lives in this world as a member of the kingdom of God. A person who is called out from the world and its ways, called out from the thought patterns and desires and attitudes and behavior of those roundabout and lives. A different life, a set apart life, a consecrated life. Preserve the ways of his saints. And how will God preserve us? How will he guard us? Let's go through this quickly. Verse 9. He'll guard us from moral ignorance. Then shalt thou understand righteousness and justice and equity. Yes, every good path. Those who don't seek wisdom are always weighed down with I don't know what to do. I don't know what is right. I'm confused here. But not God's saints. They shall understand righteousness and justice. They'll know the right way. They'll follow in the good path. Not only this, they'll be preserved from the pain and apathy of ignorance. Look at verse 10. For wisdom shall enter into thy heart and knowledge shall be pleasant unto thy soul. Those who are not knowledgeable in the ways of the Lord are usually either apathetic about knowledge or find it a great pain. It always distresses me when I see students at school complaining about learning their schoolwork. At least if it's good schoolwork. Knowledge is not something that's painful. Knowledge is the sort of thing that we should enjoy. Indeed, the knowledge of the Lord, it says, should be a pleasure to our soul. You ever stop to think about the first catechism question? What is the chief end of man? Chief end of man is to glorify God. And that sounds good. It is good. It's biblical, it's right. But the catechism is better than that. The catechism is more full orbed than that. The catechism reflects the full teaching of God's word when it says to glorify God and enjoy him forever. Do you enjoy God? Can you say that boy? The unbeliever doesn't enjoy God. He so much is in pain over the thought of God that he tries to drive all thoughts of God out of his mind. He does just desperate things to not have to believe in God. I'm reminded of that this morning I received a letter from this gentleman that I debated at the university in which he's now trying to publish an answer to the argument that I gave for the existence of God. He just can't bear the idea that there's a God. But you know, those who love the Lord, they enjoy knowing him, they enjoy walking with him, they enjoy studying him and His Word and getting to know him better and learning more about Him. The chief end of man, the highest calling in life, is to glorify God and enjoy him forever. God guards us from the displeasure and the apathy of being spiritually Ignorant if we'll be wise. Not only this God guards us from harm. Discretion, verse 11. Discretion shall watch over thee. Understanding shall keep thee. You'll have something that keeps you from harm's way if you'll learn to be wise. And verse 12 says, you'll also have something that keeps you from the worst of all the things that betray us in life. Evil company to deliver thee from the way of evil, from the men that speak perverse things. You're having a hard time breaking off with friends that bring you low spiritually. You aren't wise. You aren't crying out for it. You aren't laying up its commandments in your heart. You're not doing what God asks you to do. You're not being guarded from evil men. And notice how evil men are described. Note the character of the wicked. Here in verse 14 we read, they rejoice to do evil and delight to do in the perversity of evil. There are people like that. There really are. There are people who not only do evil things out of waywardness, out of convenience, out of a lack of self control, feel badly about it, but yet fall into it. There are people who love to do evil things, who sit around looking for mischief to get into. There are people who devise pornographic letters. Imagine that in these magazines that are published full of filth and unrighteousness. There are people who apply their creative talents to how to devise another picture or another filthy letter or something like that. You see? There are people who love their wickedness. There are people who steal for the thrill of stealing. There are people who create problems for others, who argue with their neighbors or get involved in lawsuits because they just enjoy doing that sort of thing. They have chosen a path. Verse 15 tells us who are crooked in their ways and wayward in their paths. And verse 19 says, none that go unto her in particular one kind of wicked person return again. Neither do they attain unto the paths of life. There is a high road to life and a low road to death. And those who choose the low road will not turn from it. They'll be perverse and they'll sink down. Now, the particular illustration Proverbs uses here is of the fornicating woman. We can learn a little bit from this. We're going to come back to this. Indeed, there'll be two entire chapters given to forsaking the way of prostitutes and unrighteous women. But here we read that wisdom will deliver you from the strange woman. Now, we in English might make a lot of that, make some jokes but what that means is the woman who is not your own, she is a stranger to you. You're not married to her. Even from the foreigner that flatters with her lips, she seduces by speaking. First of all, she has this come on that you don't have the wisdom to turn away from. And what is this woman like who doesn't have the wisdom of God? Verse 17 says, she forsakes the friend of her youth and forgets the covenant of her God. Here is a woman who is not true to her marriage vows. She forsakes the friend of her youth. She's someone who has decided, totally apart from the directions of God, totally apart from the conditions laid down by God for marriage, that she doesn't need this anymore. She's not going to put up with this anymore. Life is not exciting enough for her anymore. One way or another, she decides she's going to give up this friend of her youth. And when she does so the Bible says she forgets the covenant of her God. What covenant? Well, you might say the general covenant that God makes with his commandments. But I think it's more specific here. It's the covenant of marriage made in the presence of God that teaches us something about the nature of marriage, doesn't it? My sermon's not on this this morning, and so I have to be real careful not to get off on that rabbit pat path. But the fact is, in passing we can point out that marriage is a promise. It's a vow that is made in the presence of God for the sake of another person. I promise to be faithful to my wife in sickness and in health, in want and in prosperity, for good or ill, all the days of my life, until death do us part. Now that's a promise I made. And I don't just make that to my society. I don't just make that to my wife. I make that in the presence of my God. You see, when the time gets bad between a husband and wife, they need to remember the promise was made not first and foremost to one another, but made to God. I promise you, God, that I will treat this woman in this way. I promise you, God, that I will treat this man in this way. This is a covenant, and it is a holy promise that God will expect us to keep no matter how bad things get. Remember, the man who swears to his own hurt and changes not is the one who receives the blessing of the Lord. And when we swear before God that we will be faithful marriage partners, that's a covenant that he will enforce. So when people come in and they tell the pastor in marriage counseling, well, we just don't love each other anymore. The answer, as J. Adams puts it very well, is to say, well, that's too bad. You're going to have to learn to do so because you promised to be faithful to one another. So now let's learn to love. It's a shame that you haven't, but now it's time to learn. Well, this woman in the Book of Proverbs hasn't learned that lesson and refuses to learn it. She forgets the covenant of her God. Verse 18 tells us her house inclines unto death and her paths unto the dead. This is a very gruesome image. What you have here is the house of a wayward woman, a fornicating woman, and it's on the slippery slope going down to the place of the dead. That's what her house inclines to. She goes to the dead. Now, how would you like that? Some of you guys tempted to mess around with this woman. She messes around with the dead. That's where she's going. Is this the kind of person you want to be taking up with? The Book of Proverbs tells us that she is going to the place of the dead, and all those who go to her will go down into the pit with her. We mustn't think of the ancient world as being somehow backward when it comes to fornication and pornography and sexual looseness. The fact that Proverbs so much harps upon that tells us that was a problem in their day. And boy, you know, it's a problem in our day. Where is fidelity to be found? I'm always shocked, although I know there's some sensationalism involved in it. But I'm always shocked by the figures that are published by pollsters and others who study these areas that tell us how few people have been faithful in marriage, how few people even bother with marriage anymore. So it's a problem in our world, too. Well, that's the example of a wicked person that you'll run with if you don't learn wisdom. Wisdom promises to guard you from moral ignorance, to guard you from the pain and apathy of ignorance, to guard you from harm, and finally, to guard you from evil company. In verses 21 and 22, we see a concluding contrast. That's the climax of this chapter. For the upright shall dwell in the land, and the perfect shall remain in it. But the wicked shall be cut off from the land, and the treacherous shall be rooted out of it. This kind of Literary expression which sets the righteous and the wicked over against each other is really quite characteristic of Hebrew poetry. Look at Psalm 1 here. You notice it's found throughout the Psalms and proverbs. But Psalm 1 begins, Blessed is the man that walks not in the council of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and what will happen to Him? Verse 3. He shall be like a tree planted by the streams of water. But Verse four says, the wicked are not so the upright. You have those who are wicked, and their two paths are set over against one another. This is what we see at the end of our chapter this morning in Proverbs 2. The upright, the perfect shall do the but the wicked shall be cut off. And the basic promise to the righteous, which has been detailed throughout this entire chapter is now summarized. The upright shall dwell securely in the land. I say dwell securely because if you see the contrast, it is said over against being cut off from or rooted out of the land. That's what will happen to the wicked. The upright will dwell securely in the land. This is a beautiful Old Testament figure. If you stop and think about it, My guess is most of you know what I'm talking about. To dwell securely in the land. That's the promise God gave to the Israelites is the they went into the promised land. That's the promise he offered. If they would keep his law, if they would submit to him and worship him in purity and obey him in truth, then they would dwell securely in the land. This way of putting things emphasizes how strongly, then the path of wisdom is identified with the path of obedience to God's law. The very plain message of Moses to God's people was that disobedience would lead to their being vomited out of the land. In Leviticus, the 18th chapter, God says, because of all the abominations, all of the disobedience of the people that are in this land, I will drive them out before you and you when you enter this land. If you engage in such abominations, if you disobey my law, then you too will I vomit out of the land. On the other hand, if Israel obeys the law of her God, then she'll dwell securely in the promised land. Deuteronomy 28 says, and you'll have fruitful crops and fruitful flocks, and you'll have many children, and you'll build houses and live in them, and you'll have long days of Joy and rejoicing and prosperity before God. But if you dare break his law, if you turn from him, then he will turn you out of the land. And you'll build houses and you won't dwell in them, and you'll plant vineyards and you won't enjoy the fruit of them. And your children will die young and your flocks will pass away. The Book of Proverbs says, for the upright, the upright shall dwell in the land and the perfect shall remain in it, but the wicked will be cut off. The only problem in closing is we don't have a promised land anymore. God promised all these things to the Israelites, that they'd grow their crops and build their houses and dwell in the promised land. But. But we don't have that. The kingdom of God is no longer a geopolitical nation on earth with its own territory and land. Like others. We don't possess the land of Palestine as the Jews did. So how do we understand the promise of dwelling in the land? It's really beautiful, I think, to see what the Bible does with that. The answer is in comparing, I think, the promise that is found in the fifth commandment. Turn to Deuteronomy 5:16. In Deuteronomy 5:16, the same basic promise is given. Honor thy father and thy mother as Jehovah thy God commanded thee that thy days may be long, and that it may go well with thee in the land which Jehovah thy God giveth thee. There you have this promise. But what's of interest to me is that in Ephesians the sixth chapter, Paul quotes that. And yet he changes the wording under divine inspiration. Paul applies it in a slightly different way. Look at Ephesians 6:1, 2, 3. In Ephesians 6, Paul calls upon children to obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor thy father and mother, which is the first commandment, with prayer promise. Paul not only quotes the commandment, he specifically pulls out the promise for special notice. He says, this is a commandment with promise, a supreme commandment with promise. And we're saying to him, but Paul, don't you know that was a theocracy? Don't you know that that's passed away? Don't you know that those promises were only for the Jews? That can't be used today. Paul pulls it out and he says, this is a commandment with promise. The promise that they will dwell in the land with prosperity. And he applies it in verse three, this that it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth. Has Paul forgotten how to quote the Old Testament? It isn't long on the earth in the law. It's long on the land that the Lord thy God giveth thee. That is specifically in Palestine. It will go well for you if you keep this law. Paul says it will go well for you anywhere on the earth keep this law. What's Paul's theology? Paul's theology is that the Old Testament theocracy was a microcosm for God's designs for the whole world. That's why In Romans the fourth chapter, verse 13, Paul has no problem saying that the promise was made to Abraham that he would be heir of the world. When as a matter of fact, you look in the Old Testament, he's never promised to be heir of the world. He has promised the land of Palestine. But. But the land of Palestine was part for whole in God's thinking. It was the microcosm for the whole story. It is what God intends to do for all the earth. And so Abraham inherits the earth now. And those who honor their father and mother are walking the ways of wisdom and obedience to God. They live long and have prosperity on the earth, not just in the land of Palestine. And so wisdom does offer us something today, even if we don't live in the land of Palestine. If we lived on the face of the earth, wisdom promises to guard us. If, then my guess is this morning we all want. Then the challenge is to find out if we'll go for the if. Let's pray. Father, we ask that you would keep us from thinking that all of these pleasant, all of these blessed rewards will be ours by just falling into them. Help us to see that we need to cry out to you for wisdom. We need to submit to you, to honor you, to obey you, to lay up your commandments in our hearts. To be a people who are changed from inside, to have a new way of looking at things that pleases you, that honors your word, that brings glory to your son, that's empowered by your spirit, that promotes your kingdom above all in the world. Lord, we do pray for the blessings of security. That we might be guarded from ignorance of moral matters. That we might be guarded from the apathy and pain that comes with that ignorance. Guarded from stumbling on in darkness as the wicked do. That we might be guarded from being rooted out of the land and having short lives or lives that are be spent for a very long time in eternity under your wrath and curse. Lord, we wish to be guarded from all these things. We ask then that you would fulfill the conditions of wisdom in our hearts. We confess to you this morning. We need your grace, we need your goodness, we need your provision. Because we don't have it within ourselves to change and so change us. We don't have it in ourselves to turn from sin, so God turn us. We do not have it within ourselves to know the right way to walk, so God show us, make us a wise people. We might learn to glorify you, the God who is all wise in all ways at all times. For it's in your blessed name we pray. Amen.