Those Who Always Fear God

[Proverbs 28:8-14]

Friends, the Bible tells us that those who always fear God are blessed (Psalm 128:1). As we have been continuously meditating on the words of Proverbs, we have reflected many times on what it means to fear God. The book of wisdom, Proverbs, consistently repeats that “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (1:7). As we review these repeated words we have already meditated on, I want to review two points here:

First, I want to review what it means to fear God. To fear God means having a state of mind in which our attitudes, will, feelings, deeds, and goals are all exchanged for God’s attitudes, will, feelings, deeds, and goals [“The fear of the Lord is a state of mind in which one’s own attitudes, will, feelings, deeds, and goals are exchanged for God’s” (MacArthur)]. Therefore, those who fear God have everything centered on the Lord and never on themselves. Those who fear God never seek their own will but only the will of the Lord. They carry the heart of the Lord, imitate the Lord’s thoughts, feelings, attitude, will, and actions, and live a life that fulfills only the Lord’s will. Thus, Dr. Park Yoon Sun described five ways in which a person who fears God lives their faith:
(1) They fear God to avoid sinning even in ordinary matters.
(2) They live devoutly in secret and pray vigilantly.
(3) They do not sin in their hearts.
(4) In times of peace, they fear and are careful not to depart from the Lord.
(5) In difficult times, they do not try to avoid them cowardly but keep their loyalty.

Next, let us review what kind of life the Bible describes for those who fear God:
(1) Centered on Proverbs 1:8-19, we have already learned three things about young people who fear God:
(a) They obey the teachings of their parents (v. 8).
(b) They do not follow the enticements of the wicked (v. 10).
(c) They do not associate with evil people (v. 15).
(2) Centered on Proverbs 24:21-26, we have learned two things about citizens who fear God:
(a) They fear their president (v. 21a).
(b) They do not associate with rebels (v. 21b).
(3) Centered on Ecclesiastes 5:1-7, we have learned three things about how those who fear God act:
(a) They listen attentively to God’s word (v. 1).
(b) They pray to God (v. 2).
(c) They keep the vows made to God (v. 4).
(4) Centered on Psalm 34:8-14, we have learned four things about those who fear God:
(a) They take refuge in God (v. 8).
(b) They lack nothing (vv. 9-10).
(c) They are blessed (v. 12).
(d) They abandon evil and do good (v. 14).
(5) Centered on Psalm 128, we have learned three blessings given to those who fear God:
(a) They are blessed in their work (v. 2).
(b) They are blessed in their family (v. 3).
(c) They are blessed in the church (v. 5).

Today, looking at the main passage in Proverbs 28:14, the Bible says:
“Blessed is the one who always fears the Lord, but whoever hardens their heart will fall into trouble” [(Contemporary Bible) “The person who always serves the Lord with a reverent heart will be blessed, but a stubborn person will face difficulties.”]
From this, we see that the Bible says “those who always fear God are blessed” [(Contemporary Bible) “Those who always serve the Lord with reverence will be blessed”]. But who exactly is the one who fears God according to the Bible? To answer this question, we need to look at the previous verse, verse 13:
“Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy” [(Contemporary Bible) “The person who hides their sins will not prosper, but the one who confesses and abandons them will be shown mercy”].
This verse tells us that those who fear God confess and renounce their sins. Why do they do this? Because those who fear God hate evil (8:13). Therefore, when the Holy Spirit reveals their sins committed against the holy God through His Word, they immediately admit their sins. And they abandon the sins they have acknowledged before God. Dr. Park Yoon Sun said:
“To ‘confess’ means to ‘acknowledge.’ And to abandon sin is the fruit of repentance. Repentance without fruit is meaningless. But abandoning sin only happens when one comes to hate sin” (Park Yoon Sun).
Those who fear God hate sin. Therefore, they not only acknowledge and confess their sins but also repent and abandon those sins. They do this because they know “whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and abandons them is shown mercy” (28:13).

But our instinct is to hide the sins we have committed. So when those sins are exposed, instead of immediately confessing, we tend to deny and keep denying them. The fact that we deny our sins means that we have hardened our hearts (verse 14). When we harden our hearts like this, we do not listen to God’s word (Exodus 7:13). And if we stubbornly refuse to listen to God’s word, we cannot be pierced in our conscience by the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word. As a result, not only do we refuse to confess (acknowledge) our sins, but we are unable to do so. Therefore, we neither repent of our sins nor are able to repent. Ultimately, a hardened heart means “a heart that does not repent” (Romans 2:5). Then, when someone presents evidence of the sins we have committed, only then do we admit and confess our sins. The reason is that we can no longer hide the sins we have committed nor deny them any longer. Yet our hearts remain hardened, so we may not feel shame and may have a shameless face with no sign of repentance. Sometimes we may even accept the consequences of our sins with a “let it be” attitude. Therefore, in Proverbs 28:14 (second half), the Bible says: “... whoever hardens their heart will fall into calamity” [(Contemporary Korean Bible) “... a stubborn person will fall into trouble”].

So, what kind of sins should those who fear God and are blessed by Him confess, repent of, and abandon? What sins should we truly confess, repent of, and discard? Today, I want to meditate on five lessons from Proverbs 28:8-14 to receive instruction on this.

First, those who always fear God confess, repent of, and abandon the sin of not having compassion on the poor. That means those who fear God do have compassion on the poor.

What comes to your mind when you hear “interest”? For me, two things come to mind. First, when I was in college, the government gave me a loan, and the interest rate on that loan was much lower than bank loan interest rates. If I remember correctly, bank loan interest at the time was about 8% or 10%, but the government loan for poor students had an interest rate around 4%. Also, I repaid that loan not monthly, but once every three months, starting six months after graduation. So the government loan was a great help to me. Another thing that comes to mind when I think of “interest” is that my spouse and I have used Chase Bank for a long time. We once deposited some money in a savings account, but I remember the interest was so small it was not much help. Ideally, interest on a savings account should be high enough to benefit us, but it was so low that no matter how long we kept money there, the gain was minimal.

Look at Proverbs 28:8 today: “Whoever increases wealth by taking interest or profit from the poor amasses it for another, who will be kind to the poor” [(Contemporary Korean Bible) “Whoever increases their wealth by charging high interest will ultimately be storing it up for the one who is kind to the poor.”] This verse speaks about those who increase their wealth by charging “high interest” or “heavy interest.” From a modern perspective, some might ask, what’s wrong with earning wealth by charging high interest? Nowadays, when people borrow money from a bank to buy a house, a 30-year loan might have an interest rate of 4.0%, and a 15-year loan about 3.625% (Internet). Most people want the lower 15-year loan rate but choose the 30-year loan because the monthly payment is lower. News reports say that after the U.S. presidential election, mortgage interest rates have jumped by about 0.5 percentage points, meaning a homeowner with a $400,000 mortgage might pay about $700 more in interest annually (Internet). Ultimately, banks earn income by lending customers money and charging interest, which no one calls wrong. However, Proverbs 28:8 in today’s passage carries a negative connotation regarding increasing wealth by charging high interest, indicating that at the time of the Old Testament, charging high interest was seen as wrong among the Jewish people. In fact, in Israelite society at that time, it was prohibited to charge interest to poor fellow Jews when lending money (Park Yoon-sun).

Look at Exodus 22:25: “If you lend money to one of my people among you who is needy, do not be like a moneylender; charge him no interest” [(Contemporary Korean Bible) “If you lend money to a poor fellow Israelite among you, do not act like a creditor and do not charge interest.”] Look also at Deuteronomy 23:19-20: “Do not charge interest to your brother—interest on money or food or anything else that may earn interest. You may charge a foreigner interest, but not your brother, so that the LORD your God may bless you in everything you put your hand to in the land you are entering to possess” [(Contemporary Korean Bible) “Do not charge interest when you lend money or food or anything else to your fellow Israelites. You may charge interest to foreigners, but not to your fellow countrymen. If you do not charge interest to your fellow countrymen, the LORD your God will bless you in everything you do in the land you are entering.”]

These passages show that while the Israelites could charge interest to foreigners, they were commanded not to charge interest to poor fellow Israelites. God promised to bless all their work when they entered and took possession of the land of Canaan. Interestingly, the Code of Hammurabi, an ancient Babylonian law code issued by King Hammurabi who ruled Babylon from 1792 to 1750 BCE, provides sufficient evidence that Israelites charged interest up to 20% when lending money to foreigners (IVP Background Commentary). At that time, making money by usury was considered inappropriate among the Israelites because lending money was intended to help economically struggling fellow countrymen, not to exploit their financial weakness (IVP Background Commentary).

Why then did God give such commandments to the people of Israel? Why did God tell them not to charge interest when lending money to their poor fellow countrymen? The reason is that God loves the poor and shows them compassion (Proverbs 28:8). Look at Psalm 72:13: “He cares for the poor and needy and saves the needy from death.” Because God shows compassion to the poor and needy, He made a promise to the Israelites in Proverbs 19:17: “Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will reward them for what they have done.” The Bible also says that those who show compassion to the poor honor the Lord, but those who oppress the poor insult the One who made them (Proverbs 14:31).

In today’s passage, Proverbs 28:8 teaches us that “the person who increases wealth by charging high interest gathers it for the one who is kind to the poor” (Contemporary Bible). In other words, if an Israelite breaks God’s command and increases his wealth by charging high interest to his own people, God will punish him so that the wealth he has gained will ultimately go to the Canaanites—those whom God loves and shows compassion to.

A similar message is found in Proverbs 13:22 (second half): “The wealth of the wicked is stored up for the righteous” (Contemporary Bible). Also, look at Job 27:16-17: “Though the wicked pile up silver like dust and prepare clothing like clay, the righteous will wear the things they have prepared, and the innocent will divide the silver.”

Look at Ecclesiastes 2:26: “To the person who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind” (Contemporary Bible). Ultimately, God gives the wealth of the wicked to the righteous, even if the wicked obtain it by unjust means.

So, what lessons should we learn from this? There are several. For example, we Christians must not increase our wealth by unjust means, even if it means disobeying God’s word. Even if we do increase wealth by such means, we must remember that God will ultimately cause wealth gained unjustly to go to the poor. Another lesson is that true Christians who fear God should confess and repent if they have not shown compassion to the poor. As those who fear God, we too must have compassion for the poor whom God has compassion on.

Secondly, those who fear God will confess, repent, and abandon hateful prayers offered to God while ignoring His word. That is, fearing God means praying to Him while listening to His word.

Now, do you receive answers to your prayers well? Have you ever felt, like me, that God’s answers to prayer are slow? Pastor Iain M. Duguid says that the slower our prayer answers, the more Satan approaches us with persistent temptations—namely, deceptive shortcuts. At such times, we must choose one of two paths: (1) continue to trust God and pray with faith, expecting and waiting for His timing to answer, or (2) choose the shortcut Satan shows us to get what we want quickly rather than waiting. If we choose the second path, the consequences could bring unimaginable suffering not only to us but to our descendants as well. Duguid advises that the slower the answers, the more God strengthens our faith, and when the answers come, we will see God’s presence more clearly.

Martin Lloyd-Jones, in his book "From Fear to Faith," said: “If God answered our prayers immediately and in the way we want, we would be very poor Christians. Thankfully, God sometimes delays answers to deal with selfishness and other things that should not be in our lives.” Don’t you think that’s very true? If God answered immediately as we wish, wouldn’t we be impoverished Christians? If the delay in answers is to deal with our selfishness, shouldn’t we be thankful for God’s delay?

Look at Proverbs 28:9: “If anyone turns a deaf ear to the law, even their prayers are detestable” (Contemporary Bible: “If a person ignores the law and refuses to listen, God does not listen to that person’s prayers”). This teaches us that, in God’s eyes, ‘detestable prayers’ are prayers offered while turning away from God’s law (His word). Dr. Park Yoon-Sun said that ‘turning away’ means having a rebellious heart and not obeying; it is not a momentary mistake but a deliberate sin.

It’s like a rebellious teenager who deliberately refuses to listen to their father and turns their back on him, yet comes to the father for help when needed. What would you do if you were that father? If you listened to such a rebellious child, would that really be for the child’s good or for your own convenience? I think it would be more for the parent than for the child. Though we may say and believe it’s for the child’s good, it might actually not help raise the child to be obedient but instead encourage the child to turn away more from the father’s word.

In Zechariah 7:11-12, the Israelites are described as turning away from God’s word because they did not want to listen: “But they refused to pay attention; stubbornly they turned their backs and stopped up their ears. They made their hearts like flint and would not listen to the law or to the words that the Lord Almighty had sent by his Spirit through the earlier prophets. So the Lord Almighty was very angry.” The Israelites hardened their hearts and refused to listen to God’s word.

Therefore, God was angry with them and said: “When I called, they did not listen; so when they called, I would not listen….” (v. 13). God scattered these people throughout the world to live in foreign lands, and their former land became desolate and deserted. God turned their good land into a wasteland (v. 14, Contemporary Bible).

The people of Israel turned their backs on God and did not turn their faces toward Him. Although God continuously taught them, they did not listen to or accept His instruction (Jeremiah 32:33). So when they cried out to God in their poverty or distress, how could God listen to their abominable prayers and respond? Therefore, God turned His back on the people of Israel who would not listen to His words; He did not show them His face (Jeremiah 18:17) and did not listen to their abominable prayers (Zechariah 7:13). Furthermore, God commanded the prophet Jeremiah not to pray for those Israelites who offered such abominable prayers. Consider Jeremiah 7:16: “Therefore, do not pray for this people, do not plead with me or pray for them, for I will not listen to you.” Also see Jeremiah 11:14: “So do not pray for this people or offer any plea or prayer for them, because I will not listen when they call to me in the time of their trouble” (Contemporary Bible).

Based on the New Testament teaching in James, “… faith without works is dead” (James 2:26), we have learned that faith without works is dead faith. Put differently, “faith with works is living faith.” When I think about this living faith, I also wonder if prayers without works are dead prayers. In other words, our prayers must be accompanied by works. Only then can we consider those prayers to be living prayers. To be more specific, living prayer includes our responsibility. The idea that God must answer our prayers simply because we pray is a distorted and unbalanced thought. Our responsibility regarding prayer is to offer God the right kind of prayers. For example, if we pray to God and say “Lord, Lord” only with words, but do not obey God’s word, the Lord says to us: “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord’ and do not do what I say?” [(Contemporary Bible) “You call me ‘Lord, Lord’ with your mouths, but why do you not practice what I say?”] (Luke 6:46). Jesus’ teaching is that it is not enough to say “Lord, Lord,” but we must “do the will of my Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 7:21).

God listens to prayers that we offer while listening to and obeying His word. But if we disobey God’s word and harbor sin in our hearts, the Lord will not listen to our prayers (Psalm 66:18). Therefore, those who always fear God hate evil, hate sin in their hearts, confess that sin, and repent. They recognize and repent before God of the sin of offering abominable prayers by not listening to or obeying God’s word. Then they turn from sin, listen to God’s word, obey it, and live accordingly. I pray that you and I become such people who fear God.

Thirdly, those who always fear God confess their unfaithfulness, repent, and abandon it. This means that those who fear God are sincere and honest.

When I think of “honesty,” I recall a book title that I cannot forget. That book is “The Integrity Crisis,” written by Pastor Warren W. Wiersbe. What is “integrity”? According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the word comes from the Latin “integritas,” which means “wholeness,” “completeness,” or “perfection.” The root “integr” means “whole,” “undamaged,” or “in original condition” (Internet). The author says in the book that honest people have nothing to hide and nothing to fear, and their lives are like an open book (Internet). That is how honest people live transparent lives. However, hypocrites hide, disguise, and adorn what is inside them. They deceive others with lies. Especially hypocrites try to conceal their sins by coming to church and pretending to be holy, pretending to worship, pray, praise, serve, love, and so on—they are very good at pretending. Such hypocrites are not transparent. John Bevere said in his book “Victory in the Wilderness”: “After you have been through terrifying trials and refining, you will become more transparent. A transparent vessel does not show its own glory but shows what is inside it.” I think this is a meaningful statement. We need to become transparent even if it means going through severe trials and refining. The reason is that our hypocritical appearances need to be purified and our honest nature restored through this refining. Personally, I think that the faith of Christians and Christian churches is not pure. That is to say, we have been contaminated by the impure things of the world. As our faith and churches lose their purity, the symptom that appears is hypocrisy. Our outside and inside are different. Life inside and outside the church does not match. We pay too much attention to appearances and try to look like people who believe in Jesus by dressing up. The church does not behave like a church, but it is heavily disguised to appear like one. Yet the stench of decay is strong. We try to cover that stench with perfume, but it only produces an even stranger smell. It seems we cannot hide even that rotten stench. Because of this, our neighbors dislike us. They dislike our smell. They hate and despise our hypocrisy even more. They criticize and insult us. Nevertheless, our church tries to appear holy before them, even though these are sins that can no longer be hidden.

Our church is not honest before God and the people of the world. The church is facing a crisis of honesty. The church must be transparent. To do so, we must first lay down all our shells and coverings before God. We must no longer desperately seek to hide and cover up. Relying on the blood of Jesus on the cross, we must repent of our sins. We must turn back and be honest and sincere before God and people. In doing so, the church must be transparent and reveal the glory of Jesus dwelling within us to this dark world. Our church must show this world how sinners are living by God’s grace. We must demonstrate to this world how sinners believe in Jesus, receive salvation by God’s grace, and grow to resemble Jesus’ character. Even amid the stench of corruption, we must reveal the fragrance of Jesus more strongly to this world so that the world may see Jesus’ glory and give glory to God.

For the church to become transparent, it must be refined through the hardships allowed by God. God permits hardship for the church so that it may come forth like refined gold. These hardships we endure are like fierce fire (a refiner’s fire) that separates the worthless from the valuable. Through hardship, our church must cast away worthless things and choose the valuable things. And the church must exist for those valuable things. Our church must never seek glory through worthless things. The reason is that the church must manifest the glory of the Lord. The purpose of the church’s existence is to display the glory of the Lord, who is the head of the church. To do so, like the Israelites passing through the wilderness, the church must be purified. Through purification, the church must restore its purity and transparency. Therefore, the Jesus who dwells among us must shine His light brightly in this dark world.

Look at today’s text, Proverbs 28:10: "Whoever leads the upright along an evil path will fall into their own trap, but the blameless will receive a good inheritance." [(Modern Korean Bible) "Whoever leads the honest person into evil will fall into their own trap, but the honest person will be blessed."] From this verse, we see that the writer of Proverbs contrasts two people: one who “leads the honest into an evil path,” and the “blameless” or “honest person.”

First, what kind of person is the one who leads the honest into an evil path? We have often seen on Korean news reports about kidnappers enticing children and abducting them. How did they entice the children? Surely, they aroused the children’s curiosity to trick them. A simple example is how I can entice my dog Luna. I just give her a treat, and she follows me even if she’s with the child she loves.

In Genesis chapter 3, the most cunning beast, the serpent (verse 1), tempts the woman. How did the serpent entice her to disobey God’s command and eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? I have thought of three reasons:

1. The serpent tried to make the woman question God’s word. The serpent asked her, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat fruit from any tree in the garden’?” (v. 1). Did the serpent not know God’s command to Adam that he could eat from every tree in the garden? (Genesis 2:16). I believe Satan already knew God’s word. Here, the serpent’s intention was not about “every tree in the garden” but about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden — the tree of knowledge of good and evil (v. 17).

2. The serpent lied to the woman. The woman answered, “We may eat fruit from the trees of the garden, but not from the tree in the middle. God said, ‘You must not eat or touch it, or you will die.’” (Gen 3:2-3). However, God did not say “do not touch” in Genesis 2:17. Then the serpent said to her, “You will not certainly die. When you eat it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (3:4-5). This was a lie. God said Adam would surely die if he ate from the tree, but the serpent lied.

3. The serpent stimulated in the woman the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life, causing her not only to sin by eating the fruit but also causing her husband Adam to sin.

Genesis 3:6 says, “When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.” When I think of this verse, I recall 1 John 2:16: “For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world.” Satan used humanity’s three greatest vulnerabilities — lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and pride of life — to entice the woman, making the fruit appear “good for food, pleasing to the eye, and desirable for gaining wisdom,” so she sinned and ate it. Then she gave the fruit to her husband, who also sinned.

In Judges chapters 14 and 16, the story of Samson is told. There are two instances where Samson is enticed by women:

(a) Samson’s first wife was from Timnah. Samson went there and liked her (Judges 14:1-3). He asked his parents to get her for him as a wife. At the wedding feast, Samson gave a riddle to his 30 friends (14:10-12). When they could not solve it, on the seventh day they pressured Samson’s wife to entice her husband to tell the answer or they would burn her and her father’s house (14:15). She wept and pressured Samson daily until he gave her the answer on the seventh day (14:17).

(b) Samson’s third wife, Delilah (Judges 16:4), was bribed by the rulers of the Philistines to find out the secret of Samson’s strength and how to bind him. She repeatedly asked Samson, and he lied to her three times about the source of his strength:

1. If he were tied with seven fresh bowstrings, he would be weak (16:7).

2. If he were tied with new ropes, he would be weak (16:11).

3. If his seven locks of hair were woven into the loom, he would be weak (16:13).

Delilah accused him of mocking her since he lied three times and pressed him daily until his heart was troubled to death (16:16). Finally, Samson revealed the truth: he was a Nazirite from birth, and if his hair was cut, he would lose his strength (16:17).

As I meditated on this passage, I deeply pondered how Samson could have fallen for Delilah’s temptation.

1. First, Samson didn’t know who was behind Delilah. He didn’t realize that the five rulers of the Philistines had promised her a bribe to find out the source of his great strength and how he could be bound and subdued.

2. Second, even though Samson lied to Delilah three times, by the third lie, he mentioned his hair. This shows that he was gradually drawing closer to revealing the true source of his strength—his hair.

3. Third, as Delilah kept pestering and pressuring Samson daily, he became so distressed that he felt like he might die. This reminded me of Potiphar’s wife, who tempted Joseph day after day. But Joseph not only refused to sleep with her, he even avoided being in her presence (Genesis 39:10). In contrast, Samson not only revealed everything to Delilah, but even laid his head on her lap and fell asleep (Judges 16:17, 19). After telling her that his strength would leave if his head were shaved, he went on to sleep in her lap. If that’s not saying, “Go ahead and devour me,” then what is?

Just like this, Satan deceived the first woman and her husband, Adam, causing them to sin against God. And in the same way, he used a woman to lead Samson—the Nazirite and judge of Israel—into sin. Even now, Satan is still luring us, Christians who have been justified by faith in Jesus, into sin against God. Especially, he entices us by stirring up the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, tempting us to sin against God.

So then, who is the “upright person” mentioned in the second half of Proverbs 28:10?
The upright person is the honest one, also known as the righteous one.
Such a person has “righteous lips,” and is one “who speaks honestly” (Proverbs 16:13). His or her actions are also upright (Micah 2:7). The reason the righteous speak honestly and act justly is because, just as “the LORD is righteous and loves righteous deeds,” they too love what is right (Psalm 11:7).

A good example of this is Job, the man described in the Book of Job. He was “blameless and upright, feared God and shunned evil” (Job 1:1, 8).
Even after losing his ten children and all his possessions, he fell to the ground in worship (v. 20), and “in all this,” “he did not sin by blaming God” (v. 22).

This kind of person—the righteous, honest, and upright—will be blessed, according to the second half of Proverbs 28:10 (as translated in the Modern Version).

What kind of blessing does an honest person receive?

Job’s blessing can be understood in two ways:

1. First, material blessings: In the latter part of his life, God blessed Job more than at the beginning. He was given 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 2,000 oxen, and 1,000 female donkeys (Job 42:12). In addition, God gave him the blessing of children: seven sons and three daughters (v. 13). The Bible says there were no women in all the land as beautiful as Job’s daughters (v. 15).

2. Second, and in my view, greater than the material blessing, is this spiritual blessing Job received from God:

“My ears had heard of you, but now my eyes have seen you” (v. 5).

Job, who had only heard about God with his ears, came to experience God's presence in the reality of his life.
I believe that this spiritual blessing is greater than the blessings of children or material possessions.

Now, coming back to Proverbs 28:10, I believe the blessing that the upright person receives is the blessing of being delivered.

Why do I think this?

Because the first half of the verse says, “Whoever leads the upright along an evil path will fall into their own trap…”

What does this mean?

The wicked set traps to lure the righteous into sin. But in the end, they fall into the very traps they made for others:

“Whoever digs a pit will fall into it…” [(Modern Version) “A person who digs a trap for others will fall into it themselves…”] (Proverbs 26:27)
“Whoever digs a pit will fall into it…” [(Modern Version) “The one who digs a pit will fall into it themselves…”] (Ecclesiastes 10:8)

How is this possible? How does the wicked fall into their own trap meant for the righteous?

The reason is that God blesses the upright by rescuing them from the trap laid by the wicked.
This is what I call the blessing of deliverance.

Dear friends, those who fear God are always honest.
They speak with integrity and act with righteousness.
As believers in Jesus, we must be honest.

However, Satan continually tries to lead us down the wrong path.
He digs traps along our way to make us fall.
Why? Because Satan wants us to sin against God.

He seeks to make us unfaithful to God, to disobey His Word, and ultimately to act wickedly.

If we have fallen into Satan’s trap and have been unfaithful to God, then we must confess and repent of our sin.

And we must live with integrity and honesty.
Because those who fear the Lord are always upright.

Fourth, those who always fear God confess, repent of, and abandon the sin of considering themselves wise.

This means that those who fear God examine themselves thoroughly.

Friends, why do some rich people consider themselves wise?
I found the answer in Deuteronomy 8:17–18a:

“You may say to yourself, ‘My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.’ But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth.”
[Modern Translation] “Do not think you became wealthy by your own strength and ability. Remember that it is the Lord your God who gives you the ability to become wealthy.”

In other words, the rich who consider themselves wise do so because they believe they earned their wealth through their own strength and ability.
To put it another way, they have forgotten that it is God who gave them the ability to gain wealth, and that’s why they now regard themselves as wise.

Regarding such people, Proverbs 26:12 says:

“Do you see a person wise in their own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for them.”
[Modern Translation] “There is more hope for a fool than for someone who thinks they are wise.”

Scripture tells us that there is more hope for a fool than for someone who considers themselves wise.
This means that a self-proclaimed wise person is actually in a worse state than a fool.
This is why Proverbs 3:7 says:

“Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil.”

If we rely on our own understanding, we will inevitably come to see ourselves as wise.
Especially wealthy individuals—when they rely on their own wisdom in managing their affairs and things go well—they may falsely assume that their success is due to their wisdom.
These people, trusting in their own insight, see themselves as wise.
But this self-perception is considered evil in God's eyes, and the reason they do not depart from that evil is because they do not fear God.

In short, the rich who consider themselves wise are not walking in the fear of the Lord.

If we do not fear God, we are bound to fall into the sin of considering ourselves wise.
Therefore, we must learn to fear God.

How is that possible?

Let’s look at Deuteronomy 17:19:

“It is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life so that he may learn to revere the Lord his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees.”

To learn to fear God, we must keep the Bible close and read it all our lives.
Not only that, but we must obey what we read.
When we do this, God will teach us to fear Him, and we will not consider ourselves wise in our own eyes.
Our hearts will not become arrogant toward our brothers and sisters (v. 20).
Instead, as we fear God, we will not set our hearts on lofty things, but on lowly things, serving the Lord and our neighbors with humility.

Look at Proverbs 28:11:

“The rich are wise in their own eyes; one who is poor and discerning sees how things really are.”
[Modern Translation] “The rich may think they are wise, but the poor who have discernment carefully examine themselves.”

The lesson here is that it is better to be a poor person who examines himself thoroughly with discernment than a rich person who considers himself wise.

What this teaches us is that a discerning person examines themselves deeply.

One of the great graces God has shown me in my life of faith is that He allows me to reflect on myself through His Word—that is, self-reflection and self-examination.
I was especially impacted by James 1:23–24:

“Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.”
[Modern Translation]

Through this passage, I received the grace to make God’s Word my spiritual mirror, and to cultivate the habit of reflecting my inner self against that mirror.

I was also influenced by something I read from Tony Campolo, a pastor and sociologist, who conducted a survey among people over 90 years old.
He asked them:

“If you could live your life over again, what would you do more of?”
And one of the top three answers was:
“Self-reflection.”

As we examine ourselves thoroughly in the light of God's Word,
we must also diligently teach ourselves through that Word.

Let’s look at Romans 2:21a:

“You, then, who teach others, do you not teach yourself?”
[Modern Translation] “You who teach others—why don’t you teach yourselves?”

Paul gave this message to the believers in the Roman church because, just like the Pharisees, some of the Jewish believers there were eager to teach others but did not teach themselves, and worse, did not live in obedience to the Word themselves.
Paul did not want them to follow that pattern.

If they ignored Paul’s exhortation and behaved like the Pharisees—teaching others but failing to teach themselves—they would have become arrogant before the Gentile believers, thinking themselves wise and showing pride.

We must not be proud.
We must not consider ourselves wise in our own eyes.
Believing that you are wise in and of yourself is extremely dangerous,
because such a person is not only unwilling to receive the teaching of God’s Word, but also incapable of doing so.

Those who truly fear God—if they ever fall into the sin of self-conceited wisdom—
will recognize their sin, confess it, and repent.
And instead of pride, they will humbly and thoroughly examine themselves.

I pray that you and I may become wise people in this way.

Fifth and lastly, the one who always fears God confesses, repents of, and abandons the sin of rejoicing when the wicked come into power.

In other words, those who fear God delight in the victory of the righteous.

In his book “Spiritual Life,” Pastor Martyn Lloyd-Jones said the following about parents who abuse authority:

“Parents who abuse authority forcibly impose their own personality on the child and ignore the child’s individuality.
Such parents demand and expect everything from their child. This is often referred to as possessiveness.”

I believe that children who grow up under parents who control them with such possessiveness and abuse of power are likely to be psychologically conditioned.
In a sense, they grow up with psychological wounds or even disorders, and as a result, these children, even when they become adults, are less likely to function properly as mature individuals.

That is why, in my personal opinion, we as parents must be extremely cautious not to abuse the divine authority that God has given us to raise our children.
We must respect their individuality and be careful not to force our will upon them.
We should avoid demanding too much or placing unrealistic expectations on them.

This applies not only to the home but also to the church.
If a senior pastor abuses authority, he will inevitably sin against God.
Furthermore, such abuse of power will wound church members, cause them hardship, and bring them suffering.
Eventually, they will have no choice but to avoid or even leave the pastor.

This is especially true for associate pastors.
How can they continue ministry with a senior pastor who disregards their dignity, demands everything from them, and forces work upon them?
They won’t be able to endure for long.

So then, what happens to a nation when the wicked gain power?
What becomes of a country ruled by the unrighteous?

We don’t have to look far — just look at North Korea.
There, a dictator abuses power and runs the country as he pleases, and how much suffering must the citizens be enduring?
What joy or delight can they possibly have in life?

Now look at Proverbs 28:12:

"When the righteous triumph, there is great glory, but when the wicked rise, people hide themselves."
[Modern translation] "When the righteous are victorious, everyone rejoices — but when the wicked take power, the people go into hiding."

Here, the writer of Proverbs contrasts the righteous with the wicked.
The meaning regarding the righteous is that God uses them, and they rejoice because God pours out great grace and blessings upon them (Yoon Sun Park).
Especially when God appoints the righteous as national leaders, they rule with order and justice, and the citizens naturally rejoice (Walvoord).

So, what is our joy, as those who have been justified by faith in Jesus through God’s grace?
Isn’t it that God uses us?
And when He uses us, He not only gives us abundant grace to help in time of need, but He also pours out great blessings upon us.

What else could bring us greater joy than this?

It reminds me of the first verse of Hymn #303 in the New Hymnal, “For Me He Died on Calvary”:

“For me, He suffered heavy pain on the cross,
The love and grace of Jesus who died in my place.
He shed His precious blood and redeemed us from eternal death.
How could we not praise Him?”

Our joy is the Lord Himself.
When we are used by the Lord, we cannot help but rejoice.
And when the Lord uses us, He gives us the grace we need in every moment — how could we not be joyful?

Look at Proverbs 11:10:

"When the righteous prosper, the city rejoices…"
[Modern translation] “When the righteous do well, all the citizens rejoice…”

But when the wicked rise — that is, when the wicked come into power — people go into hiding (28:12, 28).
Why? Because the wicked who gain power become arrogant and oppress the people (Yoon Sun Park).

That is why Proverbs 29:2 says:

"When the righteous increase, the people rejoice, but when the wicked rule, the people groan."
[Modern translation] “When righteous people take power, the people rejoice. But when the wicked rule, the people groan.”

Indeed, how much groaning and suffering must be occurring in countries like North Korea or Syria, where the wicked hold power?

Therefore, we must pray for our national leaders — that God would appoint righteous individuals as leaders of our nation.
When this happens, the citizens will rejoice.

The same applies to our homes and churches.
If the Lord appoints righteous people as heads of households and leaders of churches, there will be order and justice, and the family and congregation will naturally rejoice.

Look at Proverbs 14:34:

"Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people."
[Modern translation] “Righteousness lifts up a nation, but sin brings shame to its people.”

We pray that the Lord would appoint the righteous as leaders of our nation so that our country may be exalted.
And may those in leadership not sin and bring shame upon the people.

Let me conclude this meditation.

The Bible always says that those who fear the Lord are blessed (Proverbs 28:14).
A Christian who fears God continually is someone who confesses and abandons their sins (v.13).

Based on Proverbs 28:8–14, we meditated on five sins that those who fear God continually confess and forsake:

1. The one who fears God confesses, repents of, and abandons the sin of not having compassion on the poor (v.8).
   → In other words, they show compassion to the poor.

2. The one who fears God confesses, repents of, and abandons the sin of offering detestable prayers without listening to God’s Word (v.9).
   → They listen to God’s Word and pray accordingly.

3. The one who fears God confesses, repents of, and abandons the sin of unfaithfulness (v.10).
   → They are faithful and honest.

4. The one who fears God confesses, repents of, and abandons the sin of considering themselves wise in their own eyes (v.11).
   → They thoroughly examine themselves.

5. The one who fears God confesses, repents of, and abandons the sin of rejoicing when the wicked take power (v.12).
   → They rejoice when the righteous are victorious.