The Wise Person (1)
[Proverbs 3:1-10]
In the membership guidelines of our church, there is a section titled “Spiritual Attitude.” In this section, there are spiritual attitudes that our church members need to have, such as "obedience," "humility," "faithfulness," "loyalty," and so on. Before discussing these spiritual attitudes, there is one phrase written. That phrase is: "The kind of person you are is far more important than the kind of work you do." I consider this phrase to be very important. I have deeply engraved it in my heart. Because of this, I focus more on being (Being) than doing (Doing) in both my personal faith and ministry. For example, what I value more is not what we have done for God, but what kind of person we are becoming in the eyes of God. The reason I value this is because I believe that actions should flow out of our being. If, right now, you and I are being transformed to resemble Jesus and becoming people who remind others of Jesus, that is more important than what we are currently doing for the church of Jesus. Therefore, today, I want to challenge you. The challenge is not the question, “What am I doing for the Lord?” but rather, “Am I becoming more like Jesus in His character?” When we become more like Jesus in character, we will also act like Jesus in our actions. Similarly, when we become wise, we will be able to act wisely. Therefore, we must become wise. Especially as you and I continue to meditate on the book of Proverbs, we must receive the wisdom from heaven that God gives and become wise.
Last week, during our Wednesday prayer meeting, we thought about “The Benefits of Wisdom” from Proverbs 2:10-22. These benefits show that wisdom delights our soul (v. 10), protects and rescues us (vv. 11-12), and leads us to walk in the way of the righteous (v. 20). Today, I would like to meditate on Proverbs 3:1-10 and reflect on "The Wise (1)," receiving the lessons that God gives to you and me. First, let us consider the faith posture of the wise person. Today's text teaches us four lessons:
First, the wise person keeps God’s commands in their heart.
Let us look at Proverbs 3:1 and 3:3: “My son, do not forget my law, but let your heart keep my commands… Let not mercy and truth forsake you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart.” The wise person does not forget or disobey God's law or commands, but keeps them in their heart. As a result, they engrave God's love and God's absolute truth on their hearts. This wise person, because they love God, obeys His word (John 14:21), and in doing so, they experience God’s love more deeply. In other words, the reason the wise person obeys God’s word is because of their love for God. Because they love God, they listen to and keep His word, and in doing so, they cannot help but experience God’s love even more deeply.
However, the foolish person cannot experience God’s love. Rather, they will experience more deeply the hatred of God. Why? Because they love foolishness, rejoice in pride, and despise knowledge (Proverbs 1:22). They hate to listen to God’s word (v. 24) and disobey it. Because they do not love God, they disobey His word, and as a result, they cannot experience His love. Instead, they will experience God’s scorn (v. 26), His rejection (v. 28), and the fruit of their own sinful actions as God's judgment (v. 31). But the wise person, by obeying God’s word of truth, experiences His love more deeply. Furthermore, the wise person, with that deep love for God, loves God and loves others. Moreover, the wise person strives to live a life of truth before both God and people. In other words, the wise person, by obeying the absolute truth of God’s word, lives a life that embodies that word. And that word-embodied life is a life of truth. But the foolish person lives a false life. The reason for this is that they hate and despise the absolute truth of God's word (vv. 22, 24), and are led astray by the enticements and temptations of the wicked (v. 10, 2:12) and the adulterous woman (2:16).
We must become wise. We must keep God’s commands in our hearts. Therefore, we must engrave God's love and truth more deeply on our hearts. And, by keeping and obeying God's word, we must live lives of love and truth, giving glory to God.
Secondly, the Wise Trust Completely in God
Let us look at Proverbs 3:5-6 (first part) in today’s passage: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him…” A wise person, who keeps and engraves God's commands on their heart, completely trusts God with all their heart. The phrase "trust with all your heart" refers to "exclusive trust." This kind of trust is described as "childish confidence" (Park Yun-seon). It is to trust God with simplicity and total dependence, just as a child does. To trust God in this way is to trust with a heart fully devoted to Him (Park Yun-seon).
In order to trust God with childlike simplicity, we must not rely on our own understanding. The more we rely on our own wisdom, the harder it becomes to trust God with a simple heart, like a child. One example of this can be seen in the story of Elijah. In 1 Kings 17, God commands Elijah to hide by the brook Cherith in a time of drought and drink from the brook (vv. 3-4). Do you think this command would make sense to us if we tried to understand it with our own reasoning? How could God command Elijah to go to a brook for water when there is no rain? If it does not rain, the brook will surely dry up. Of course, God is able to perform miracles even in a situation where there is no rain, preventing the brook from drying up. The God who made the Red Sea dry so that people could walk through it on dry ground is the same God who could make the brook Cherith continue to flow without drying up, even in the absence of rain. However, God did not perform such a miracle for Elijah. As a result, the water in the brook dried up (v. 7).
If Elijah had relied on his own understanding, would he have been able to obey God’s command to hide at the brook and drink its water when the water was about to dry up? Indeed, the brook dried up because there was no rain (v. 7). Then, God sent Elijah to a widow in Zarephath (v. 9). God commanded Elijah, "Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there" (v. 9). God had prepared a widow who, though she had just enough food to prepare one last meal for herself and her son before they died, would provide for Elijah (v. 12). Do you think this command makes sense according to human wisdom? How could God command Elijah to go to a widow’s house where they were about to eat their last meal and die? If we rely on our own wisdom, we may find such commands impossible to obey.
This reminds me of the words from Isaiah 55:8-9: “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.” Despite the vast difference between God’s thoughts and our thoughts, there are many times in our lives when we try to fit the infinite wisdom of the Creator into the limited understanding of His creatures. As a result, we often struggle to trust God fully and instead rely on our own understanding. However, the Bible commands us not to trust in our own understanding (Proverbs 3:5).
Therefore, we must not rely on our own wisdom. Instead, we must believe in the sovereignty of God and trust Him completely. In all our ways, we must acknowledge Him and commit everything we do to Him. When we do this, God will establish our plans (Proverbs 16:3).
Thirdly, the wise person fears God and turns away from evil.
Let us look at Proverbs 3:7 in today's passage: "Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and turn away from evil." When we rely on our own understanding, we eventually come to think of ourselves as wise. Especially when we manage things by our own wisdom and they go well, we often mistakenly believe that it was our wisdom that made things successful. Those who rely on their own understanding tend to think of themselves as wise. That is why King Solomon advises us not to consider ourselves wise in our own eyes. How is this possible? This is only possible when we fear God. In other words, when we fear God, we can turn away from evil. Just as when we love God and love truth (3:3), we turn away from hatred and lies, so when we fear God, we can turn away from the evil of thinking we are wise by our own standards (3:7).
If we do not trust in God and fail to acknowledge Him in all our ways, it is proof that we are trusting in ourselves and acknowledging ourselves. This is evidence that we are considering ourselves wise. This is the vain belief of the foolish who do not fear God (14:16). Moreover, the root of this vain belief that we are wise is the pride that sets its heart on things above (Romans 12:16). Why do we set our hearts on things above? The reason is that we do not intimately know the Almighty God. When we lack intimate knowledge of God, we consider ourselves wise (Proverbs 3:7) and even pretend to be wise (Romans 12:16). When we fall into this pride, even though we know God, we neither give Him glory nor thank Him. Instead, our thoughts become futile, and our foolish hearts are darkened, so we think we are wise, but we become fools (Romans 1:21-22).
Therefore, we must not consider ourselves wise in our own eyes. Rather, we must fear God and turn away from evil. We must not set our hearts on things above, but rather on things below, because the wise who fear God are humble. We must fear God and, in doing so, turn away from evil with humility. Those who are humble will be raised up and used by God in great ways.
Finally, fourthly, the wise person honors God with their wealth.
Let us look at Proverbs 3:9: "Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your crops." Those who rely on their own wisdom to gain wealth often consider themselves wise and give glory to themselves. Though they may speak words of glory to God, they will never honor God in their hearts, nor can they. They strive to fill their own bellies in their pride, and they never offer their wealth to God with a humble, thankful heart. However, the wise person who fully trusts in God and fears Him, turning away from evil, honors God with their wealth, just as wise children (Ephesians 5:15) not only obey their parents in the Lord (6:1) but also honor them (2:2). The wise person honors God with their wealth and the firstfruits of their harvest (Proverbs 3:9).
Why does the wise person do this? Because they know that all they have, including their wealth and the fruits of their labor, comes from God. They want to express their gratitude to God (Deuteronomy 26:1-3, 9-11) by honoring Him with their wealth. This is how the wise person acknowledges God and His help (Walvoord). Offering material wealth to God is an important act of faith (Park Yun-seon). In Exodus 34:20, it is written, "No one is to appear before me empty-handed," and in Deuteronomy 16:16, the Bible says, "No one should appear before the Lord empty-handed." If the material rewards of our labor are valuable, we must offer them to God. Let us not forget: "God loves a cheerful giver" (2 Corinthians 9:7) (Park Yun-seon).
The wise man keeps God's commandments in his heart. The wise man does not rely on his own understanding, but relies entirely on God. Also, the wise man does not consider himself wise, but fears God and turns away from evil. And the wise man honors God with his wealth. I hope that you and I will be wise in the eyes of God.