Those who are God’s delight
[Proverbs 11:1-31]
Are you a child delight to your parents? If your parents died, were you a child who was delight to them when they were alive? Yesterday Tuesday afternoon, I went to my first daughter Yeri’s school with her after dropping my youngest daughter Yeun to her after school. The reason was because Yeri had a spelling test at her school and it ended a bit late. ‘Spelling Contest’ is supposed to select representative students from 4th to 6th grades to memorize numerous English words and then take the test and there were 12 students this time. So I asked Yeun’s after school teacher through phone to pick only Yeun up from her school and take her to the after school. And then I was about to go pick up Yeri from her school but she was walking down from her school because I think she ended her school little bit early today. So I stopped my car in front of Yeri and asked her how was the spelling test today. She said she won. So after complimenting her, I made a high five with her in congratulations (at the same time raising one hand and touching each other's palms). Haha. Then I asked her if she would like to talk to her mother on the phone. She said yes, so I called my wife and gave Yeri my phone. And when Yeri was talking to her mother, I was able to hear their conversation I made it on a speaker phone. I heard my wife saying to Yeri, “I am proud of you”. Later, after I picked up my son Dillon and my youngest daughter Yeun, I told them Yeri won the first place in the spelling contest. And I was grateful that they were also happy.
Personally, I often feel grateful when I think of the three children God has given me and my wife as precious gifts of grace. One of the reasons is because I feel the grace through my children. There are many times when I feel that I am not a good example of my children and am unable to raise them properly. Nevertheless, I am just grateful for the way my children grow up well in the Lord and faithfully take their responsibilities. And sometimes, when I talked to my wife about our children, I'm grateful that them because they don't resemble me. Isn't there a time when you don’t want your child to resemble you? Haha. I am really grateful and happy when I see that God is raising these children. And most of all, when I remember that Heavenly Father loves these three children more than me, I feel relieved and am thankful and I have joy in my heart.
We prayed to God after meditating on the word of God under the title of “The wise and foolish children,” centering on the words of Proverbs 10 at the Wednesday prayer meeting in the last two weeks. First, we prayed for ourselves to be wise parents in God's eyes, and then we prayed to God for our children. Today, while meditating on the entire passage of Proverbs chapter 11, I would like to receive a lesson by thinking about those who are God’s delight. Look at Proverbs 11:20 – “The perverse in heart are an abomination to the LORD, But the blameless in their walk are His delight.” Today, based on this word, I would like to receive a lesson given by thinking about five things about those who are God’s delight under the title “Those who are God’s delight”. I hope and pray that we become those who God’s delight by receiving and obeying these five lessons.
First, those who are God’s delight are humble.
Look at Proverbs 11:2 – “When pride comes, then comes dishonor, But with the humble is wisdom.” When we read the Bible, we see so many ways that God is against the proud (1 Pet 5:5) and also rejects them (Jam. 4:6). What is “pride”? Jeremiah 48:29 says that “pride” is ‘haughtiness, arrogance and self-exaltation’. When we look at the Bible, we often see people who exalt themselves and are rejected by God. Among them, I cannot forget King Saul. Perhaps the reason is because I think I have fear that I will change like King Saul who considered himself little before he became king (1 Sam. 15:17), but after he became a king of Israel and won the war against Amalek (v. 20), he became proud of himself. In particular, when I see his deterioration that he makes excuse after he disobeyed God (vv. 9. 19), committed sins instead repented (vv. 20-21), and asked Samuel to honor him before the elders of his people and before Israel (v. 30) , I can't help but think that pride leads a person into the path of destruction. However, another aspect we clearly see in the Bible is that God surely gives grace to the humble (Prov. 3:34, Jam. 4:6; 1 Pet. 5:5). When I think about “the humble,” I think of Moses, the great leader of Israel in the Old Testament. Especially, I remember the words written about Moses in Numbers 12:3 – “(Now the man Moses was very humble, more than any man who was on the face of the earth)”. Although Moses was the most humble than anyone in the world in the Old Testament, he refers to Jesus in the New Testament. In Philippians 2:5-8, the Bible says that the humble Jesus didn’t regard equality with God, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. And the Bible says that Jesus humbled Himself by becoming obedient to His Heavenly Father to the point of death on the cross. Shouldn't we have this humble heart of Jesus?
In Proverbs 11:2, King Solomon says, “When pride comes, then comes dishonor,” which means ‘the proud will fail’ (Park). The inevitable reason is because the proud don’t listen to the command of the Lord by acting arrogantly (Neh. 9:16). Not only do they not listen, they also sin against God by disobeying His command. So they are bound to fail (v. 29). Although in our human eyes the proud people seem to succeed at first, we must not forget that in the end God will make them fail. At the same time, we must not forget that the humble has wisdom (Prov. 11:2). What does it mean? If God causes the proud to fail, doesn't it mean that God makes the humble successful? Then, how does God make the humble successful? Again, why do humble people succeed in the sight of God? The reason is because the humble have wisdom (v. 2). In other words, the humble have wisdom, which is the secret to success. The humble are the wise. So, how do the wise people act according to Proverbs 11? Here are four lessons to be learned:
(1) The wise know how to keep silent.
Look at Proverbs 11:12 – “He who despises his neighbor lacks sense, But a man of understanding keeps silent.” The wise are the ones who give the other person trust in relationships. The reason is because they are humble and their hearts are faithful (v. 13). And because they are faithful in their hearts, they don’t go around as a talebearer and reveal secrets (v. 13). Rather, they hide secrets well. Those who give trust aren’t foolish and don’t despise their neighbors in front of others. Rather, they are wise and are silent when they need to be silent.
(2) The wise have abundance of counselors.
Look at Proverbs 11:14 – “Where there is no guidance the people fall, But in abundance of counselors there is victory.” The humble have wisdom, and they have their own counselors. Therefore, the humble make wise decisions in consultation with wise counselors (15:22; 20:18). Especially we see in the Bible King David appointing counselors to win the battles. That is why we can know from the Bible that his son, the wise King Solomon, also hired counselors (2 Sam. 8:15-18; 1 Kgs. 12:6) (Park). And that King Solomon said in Proverbs 24:6 – “For by wise guidance you will wage war, And in abundance of counselors there is victory.” If the wise King Solomon also hired counselors, how much more should we also have counselors? We must make the right decision while praying to God, having seniors of wise faith as counselors, discussing and seeking their advices. Then we will be able to triumph and have peace in our lives (v. 14).
(3) The wise hate to be a guarantor for others.
Look at Proverbs 11:15 – “He who is guarantor for a stranger will surely suffer for it, But he who hates being a guarantor is secure.” We have already been warned in Proverbs 6:1-5 against making a guarantee for our neighbors. In other words, King Solomon warns us not to make promise to pay off the debts for another person who defaults, knowing that we are in debt as well. In other words, the Bible warns us not to be a guarantor who is not prepared to actually take responsibility in the event of an accident, or a guarantor who has been deceived and becomes a guarantor, or a guarantor who has no economic power to fulfill the responsibilities. And King Solomon is talking about the guarantor again in Proverbs 11:15. The point of his words is that the wise hate to be the guarantor for others. And the wise who hate to be the guarantor is secure.
(4) The wise win souls.
Look at Proverbs 11:30 – “The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, And he who is wise wins souls.” This Bible verse was our church's 2006 theme verse. That year, our church theme was “Be a Soul Winner!” At that time, we learned 7 lessons from Pastor Spurgeon's book, “The Soul Winner,” about how to be the soul winner, focusing on the words of Proverbs 11:30. Today, I have merged those 7 lessons with the wise: (a) The wise who win souls have holy character. (b) The wise who win souls have high level of spiritual life. (c) The wise who win souls are humble. (d) The wise who win souls haave living faith. (e) The wise who win souls have real zeal. (f) The wise who win souls have great simplicity in heart. (g) The wise who win souls surrenders themselves completely to God. In this way, those who are wise in the sight of God exert a good influence on people and lead them to walk the path of wisdom.
Second, those who are God’s delight are the upright.
Look at Proverbs 11:3 – “The integrity of the upright will guide them, But the crookedness of the treacherous will destroy them.” Here, “the integrity” of the upright means the righteousness pursued from his heart. In other words, the upright longs for righteousness and walks on the path of righteousness, and he leads to life (Park). In contrast, the Bible says that the treacherous will destroy himself because of his crookedness (v. 3). What, then, is the crookedness of the treacherous who destroys himself? Look at verse 1: “A false balance is an abomination to the LORD, But a just weight is His delight.” In other words, the crookedness of the treacherous is the false balance. In other words, the crookedness of the treacherous is a lie. In the end, the treacherous perishes himself because he seeks lies away from the truth of God. However, the upright person who longs for righteousness and walks on the path of righteousness throws away lies and lives according to the righteous word of God. Therefore, the upright person will be saved because of his righteousness (v. 6). And look at verse 11: “By the blessing of the upright a city is exalted, But by the mouth of the wicked it is torn down.” What does it mean? It means that a city is elevated through the blessing of the upright, that is, prayer for blessing. More specifically, it means that the city is exalted by the people because of that upright person who is righteous. How it is possible? It is possible because the citizens living in the city praise and exalt the city because they see the blessings that the upright person receives from God (Walvoord).
Shouldn't we be the upright people? Since this city in which we live is blessed by God because of us, the upright Christians, shouldn't the city's citizens not only praise and exalt us, but also have the work of exalting this city? In that respect, I think it is worth noting that the sanctification movement currently being carried out in the Los Angeles city here and there. I don't know much about the sanctification movement, but it was started in 1972 by the Pastor Joon-Gon Kim, who was the president of the sanctification movement in Chuncheon. And its purpose is to preach the gospel: the whole church is preaching the whole gospel to the whole city. And the content of the sanctification movement is evangelization, sanctification, and welfare. In other words, it is the movement to create the just, holy, and blessed city by making everyone to hear the gospel (Internet). When I think about the purpose and content of this movement, I think it is a very precious purpose and content. So, what is our responsibility as Christians so that the purpose and content can actually be fulfilled in our city? Our responsibility is first to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ. And we must first be just and holy. In order to make this city holy, we Christians must first live a holy life. Especially in light of today's text, we must be upright and honest first. We must first long for righteousness and walk faithfully on the path of righteousness. The wise are upright, longing for righteousness, and faithfully walking the path of righteousness.
Third, those who are God’s delight are the blameless.
Look at Proverbs 11:5 – “The righteousness of the blameless will smooth his way, But the wicked will fall by his own wickedness.” Is there blameless among us? Here in verse 5, “the blameless” refers to the person who is blameless in his walk. Look at verse 20: “The perverse in heart are an abomination to the LORD, But the blameless in their walk are His delight.” In other words, the blameless is the person who is blameless in his conduct, and who is God’s delight. Why does God delight in he who is blameless in his conduction? It is because he practices “righteousness” (v. 5). In other words, God is delight with the blameless because he hates the “false balance” that God hates and loves the “just weight” that God is pleased with (v. 1). God hates lies but is pleased with righteousness. Therefore, we must be pleased with righteousness so that we may be God’s delight. Then, the Bible says that God will smooth our way (v. 5). What does it mean? It means that when we do righteousness that God is pleased with, God will make our path trouble-free and finally makes us prosper (Park). Of course, there will be many hardships and difficulties along the way. However, God will make us, the blameless who do righteousness, prosper through the course of suffering and adversity by refining us and finally delivering us from suffering and adversity. However, the wicked will fall by their own wickedness (v. 5). In other words, the wicked will be caught by their own greed (v. 6) and will perish (v. 10).
Fourth, those who are God’s delight are those who are merciful who love to show grace.
Look at Proverbs 11:16-17: “A gracious woman attains honor, And ruthless men attain riches. The merciful man does himself good, But the cruel man does himself harm.” Here, the word “gracious” means “kindhearted”. Therefore, it can be said that the virtuous people who are God’s delight are those who love to show grace because they are merciful.
(1) Those who are merciful who love to show grace show discretion.
Look at Proverbs 11:22 – “Like a gold ring in a pig's snout is a beautiful woman who shows no discretion.” In the Old Testament, women wore ornaments called nose rings to beautify themselves (MacArthur). However, King Solomon is saying that the beautiful woman who shows no discretion is like the gold ring in a pig's snout. Can you imagine the pig with the gold ring on its snout? If you put the gold nose ring on a pig's snout, does it look beautiful? Of course not! King Solomon is saying that the same is true of a woman who shows no discretion, that is, the woman who is morally unclean and unscrupulous (Park). This is what Dr. Yoon-sun Park said: ‘Although the face is beautiful, if the conduct is indulgent, the two are not in harmony with each other. It is like a beautiful makeup of the dead body's face. It is actually ugly’ (Park). However, in the eyes of God, a beautiful woman is a merciful woman who loves to show grace. And such woman isn’t only morally clean, but her deeds are prudent, discerning, and the woman who does things well at her own discretion. She is merciful and loves to show grace carefully and in her discretion. This is the beauty of Christians. God is pleased with these Christians who aren’t only morally pure, but who show grace with God's love, but carefully and discreetly.
(2) Those who are merciful who love to show grace gives freely.
Look at Proverbs 11:24 – “One man gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty.” The merciful Christians who love to show grace that pleases God love to give freely and generously (Park). They like to refresh others (vv. 24-25). That is their joy. And the merciful Christians who love to show grace know that giving freely, generously and joyfully is the secret to refresh and enrich themselves. However, the fools don't know this secret, so they are too spared amidst anxiety and worry, and are stingy in giving relief. The Bible says that such people will come to poverty (v. 24). Not only that, the Bible says that the people will curse those who are stingy in giving relief (v. 26). Isn't that true? Who would praise and like someone who is stingy for giving to others? Of course, wouldn't he be insulted by people? The principle is simple. It’s “generosity”. Just as Heavenly Father gives us good things generously, the Christians who are God’s delight give generously to others, especially in giving relief to others. How can they give relief generously to others? It is because they earnestly seek good and find goodwill (v. 27), so that they can give abundantly to others. Also, those who are God’s delight can give generously to others because they don’t trust in their riches (v. 28). Such people are God’s delight.
Fifth and last, those who are God’s delight are the righteous people.
Look at Proverbs 11:8 – “The righteous man is rescued from trouble, and it comes on the wicked instead.” King Solomon isn’t saying that there there is no trouble for the righteous man. Rather, he is saying that the righteous man has trouble, but he will be saved. In verse 21, King Solomon says that even the descendants of the righteous will be delivered. Even in such trouble, the desire of the righteous is only good (v. 23). What does it mean? It means that the righteous focus on the goodness of God “only” (v. 23), rather than focusing on a painful situation in the midst of trouble. What is the reason? The reason is because the righteous man believes that God is the good and He works together for good even in trouble. Therefore, since the righteous man looks to the good God only with faith even in the midst of trouble, he doesn’t practice injustice but he is steadfast in righteousness firmly in the face of every adversity and crisis he encounters (v. 19). Then God will give the righteous man a true reward (v. 18). The true reward means that God will eventually let the righteous taste and know God's goodness (Ps. 34:8). Certainly God rewards. Look at Proverbs 11:31 – “If the righteous will be rewarded in the earth, How much more the wicked and the sinner!” God surely rewards the righteous and punishes the wicked (sinners). The reward to the righteous is that God saves the righteous in trouble (vv. 8, 21), and makes the righteous prosper (v. 10). So, in the end, God makes the righteous flourish like the green leaf (v. 28). And God will make the righteous bear fruit, that is to win souls (v. 30).
As I meditated on this word today, I remembered Zephaniah 3:17 – “The LORD your God is in your midst, A victorious warrior He will exult over you with joy, He will be quiet in His love, He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy.” When we think of this word, we cannot help but to thank God for His grace and love. Therefore, we must work hard to become God's children who are God’s delight. In order to do that, I hope and pray that we will be raised by the Lord to be humble, upright, blameless (in deeds), love to show grace and mercy, and those who walk the path of righteousness.