The wisest life?
[Proverbs 30:18-33]
How should we live? When I pray for my son Dillon, I am praying that he will be a faithful and truthful Christian according to his name. As I have been praying for him like this, I started to seek wisdom from God for my first daughter Sophie a few years ago because of an incident in her elementary school. And I ended up asking God for wisdom not only for Sophie but also for the youngest child Karis as well as Dillon. Perhaps one of the great reasons why I am asking God wisdom for my three children is because I have been asking God wisdom for myself due to my lack of wisdom. I have been holding onto the promise word of God James 1:5 – “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.” Because God is making me realize that I desperately need God’s given wisdom in order to live in this sinful world, I am asking God for wisdom when I pray for not only myself but also my three children (Of course I have been praying for my wife as well). Nevertheless, considering that Solomon who committed the great sin of idolatry during his last life, it is very important for me and my family to live a faithfully and wise life while living on this earth until the day the Lord calls us to Heaven. So, what is a wise life?
In Proverbs 30:24, the Bible speaks of the four smallest and wisest animals on earth. Based on this verse with the title of “The wisest life?,” I would like to receive the lessons from Proverbs 30:18-33, by meditating on the five most wise lives that the Bible teaches us.
First, the wisest life is to let go of hypocrisy.
Look at Proverbs 30:18 – “There are three things that are too amazing for me, four that I do not understand.” What do we do when our wishes conflict with what the Bible says? For example, what we want is to act according to our sinful old instincts, and the Bible tells us not to live according to our old instincts, but to live according to the Word of God because we became new creatures in Jesus Christ. What should we do? Perhaps our answer is that we must live in obedience to the word of God. I am sure no one will say that we should break God's word and live by our old sinful instincts. But the main problem is that we aren’t living what we say and believe.
The word of God is bound to collide with our overflowing greed. At that moment, our conscience tells us not to act according to our greedy desire. But there are times when we have already made up our minds to act according to our desires and do so. In my case, I am not living according to what I believe and say. So my hypocrisy is finally exposed. At the same time, there are times when I stand in front of the church members again and preach, 'I am what I am because of God’s grace' (1 Cor. 15:10). My lips are filled with 'God's grace', but deep in my heart it is filled with 'my merit' consciousness. After all, I am making God's precious grace into cheap grace. I am only revealing my own glory as a man, not the glory of God. Hypocrisy is that the outside is different from the inside. Hypocrisy is the difference between what we say and do in our church and what we say outside the church. Inside the church, our words and actions seem to be careful, right, and exemplary. However, outside of the church, there are many cases where we behave in a completely different way than the people of the world. Also, hypocrisy is when our words and our hearts are different. For example, we may hate someone in our heart, but be kind on the outside. This is hypocrisy. The hypocrite has an evil heart toward the other, yet he speaks smooth words with his lips, and ends his mischief, but disguises his evil heart with words of very warm love (Prov. 26:23). As we have already meditated on Proverbs 26:23-28, we have learned six things about the difference between the lips and the heart of the hypocrite: (1) The hypocrite’s lips are meek, but his heart is evil (v. 23). (2) The hypocrite hides his feelings of hate with flattery (v. 24). (3) Even though the hypocrite’s speech is charming, his heart is filled with abominations (v. 25). (4) Even though the hypocrite may conceal his hatred by deception, his wickedness will surely be exposed in the congregation (v. 26). (5) The hypocrite digs a pit, but he will fall into it. (6) The hypocrite lies (v. 28).
In Proverbs 30:18, the writer of Proverbs says, "There are three things that are too amazing for me, four that I do not understand" and talks about 4 ways: (1) The way of an eagle, (2) The way of a snake on a rock, (3) The way of a ship on the high seas, (4) The way of a man with a maiden, the way of an adulteress (vv. 19-20). Among these four ways, the key point the writer of Proverbs is trying to say is the way of the adulteress. Look at verse 20: “This is the way of an adulteress: She eats and wipes her mouth and says, 'I've done nothing wrong.'” When the writer of Proverbs says, ‘I have done nothing wrong,’ even though the adulteress committed fornication, he is pointing out that she is trying to conceal her sin. Just as the way of the eagle flying in the air, the way of snakes crawling on the rock, the way of the ship passing by the sea, and the way of the man with the maiden are hidden, so the adulteress tries to hide the way of her fornication. With the lips she says, "I have done nothing wrong." In Proverbs 7:10, there is a scene where the woman dressed like a prostitute and with crafty intent meets the foolish young man without wisdom. The reason the Bible speaks of this crafty woman here is because she has hidden intention in welcoming the young man. In other words, the crafty adulteress is hiding her true intention in meeting the ignorant, foolish young man. In fact, the literal meaning of the original Hebrew word for ‘crafty’ here is ‘hidden’ (MacArthur). What is her hidden intention? Look at Proverbs 23:27-28: “for a prostitute is a deep pit and a wayward wife is a narrow well. Like a bandit she lies in wait, and multiplies the unfaithful among men.” The hidden intention of the adulteress who dressed like the prostitute to greet the unwise young man is to set a trap to make him unfaithful to marriage. The adulteress' hidden true intention is to make many married men break the covenant they made when they got married (Park). Thus the adulteress does evil, but she says, “I have done nothing wrong” (30:20). This shows the hypocrisy of the adulteress, and the lesson the writer of Proverbs is trying to give us in today's passage is that the wisest should put away hypocrisy and must abandon it again (Note: 1 Peter 2:1).
How can we get rid of our hypocrisy over and over again? First of all, we must realize our hypocrisy. I hope and pray that the Holy Spirit will expose and rebuke our hypocrisy through the word of God. Look at Matthew 7:5 – “You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.” When the Holy Spirit rebukes and exposes our hypocrisy with the word of God and makes us aware, we must acknowledge our hypocrisy before God and confess our sins and repent by relying on the blood of Jesus Christ. We must confess and repent that we appear righteous to others on the outside, but inside we are full of hypocrisy and sin (Mt. 23:28). In addition, we must strive to live a life that is in harmony with the outside and the inside. We must be true Christians. We must cast away all lies and pursue a life of unity in words and deeds. We should not, like the Pharisees, clean the outside of cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence (Mt. 23:25). Finally, we must ask God for the wisdom that comes from heaven. The reason is because the heavenly wisdom has no hypocrisy. Look at James 3:17 – “But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.”
Our God is a God of order. Our God is by no means a disorderly God. For example, if we look at the order of creation created by God the Creator, a man and a woman marry and become one flesh in the Lord. However, people disregard this creation order and are led by the sinful desires of their hearts and shameful lusts (Rom. 1:24-25). They do not act according to the creation order, but exchange it and do the opposite, in which women exchange natural relations for unnatural ones and the men also abandon natural relations with women and are inflamed with lust for one another (vv. 26-27). This is what ought not to be done in the sight of God (v. 28). In 1 Corinthians 14:40, the Bible says, “But everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way.” We must obey this word. We must first keep order in our homes. In order to do this, each of us must faithfully and humbly take on our biblical responsibilities in the home. For example, a wife's responsibility in the home is to submit to her husband. The Bible says that it is fitting in the Lord (Col. 3:18). This is a wife's duty. It is fitting in the Lord's sight to submit to the husband as a wife does to the Lord in the family system established by the Lord. The wife must also recognize and respect the divine authority God has given to her husband, the head of the household. These days, the authority of the husband is being ignored in the home. There are many reasons for this. But one of them is that the wife disregards the authority of her husband. That is why children imitate their mother and ignore the authority of their father, who is the head of the household. It really is a serious problem. Obviously, God has given divine authority to the man who is the head of the household, but his wife isn’t submissive to that authority (Eph. 5:22). Obviously the Bible commands “the wife must respect her husband” (Eph. 5:33), but the authority of the man is disregarded in the home because of his wife who refuses to respect her husband. As a result, the order of the family is broken. It shouldn’t be like this anymore. In order for us to establish family order, the wives and children of the family must recognize and respect the authority God has given to the husband/father, who is the head of the household. And in obedience to the word of God, the wife should fear and respect her husband. At that time, the children who see the mother's face will also fear and respect the father and obey the father's words. Also, we the fathers must not abuse the authority God has given us. The reason is because when we abuse our God-given authority, we will never win the hearts of our children. Rather, we should use the authority God has given us wisely to keep peace and order in the home.
So is the church. We must keep order in the church. In order to do that, we must refrain from saying and doing things that are beyond our boundary. Neither should we take the office given to each of us lightly or further downgrade. In serving the church, as office-bearers, we must not break the peace that disrupts the order of the church by forming factions like Korah, the descendant of Levi in Numbers 16:9. God is never a God of disorder. But those who break the peace that disturb the order of the church don’t refrain from words and actions beyond the boundary with pride in their arrogance. We should not build a faction in the church and exalt ourselves in front of the church congregation in order to eventually obtain a church office by human power while envying and coveting a post that is bigger and higher in the eyes of people. We should not go beyond our boundary by slandering and condemning others, and even using malicious rumors to build a faction in the church. As office-bearers, we should not try to exalt ourselves before the congregation of the church. We must refrain from speaking and deeds that are beyond our boundary. We must regard the office given to us as a great grace of God. It should never be regarded as grace only in the first moment of being given an office. The more we serve as officers, the deeper we need to understand God's grace. Therefore, we must be more humble. We must humbly assume the office given to us. No need to compare with other officers. Just as an official, we should be humbled and grateful for the responsibilities entrusted to us.
Second, the wisest life is to live in order.
Look at Proverbs 30:21-23: “Under three things the earth trembles, under four it cannot bear up: a servant who becomes king, a fool who is full of food, an unloved woman who is married, and a maidservant who displaces her mistress.” Here, the writer of Proverbs speaks of four states of upside down order (Park). The four states are (1) a servant becomes king, (2) a fool is full of food, (3) an unloved woman is married, and (4) a maidservant displaces her mistress. What all these four states have in common is that unqualified persons were seated in high positions (Park). Is the servant eligible to be the king? Of course not, isn’t it? However, if the servant becomes the king, then the earth will trembles (v. 21). But what about “a fool who is full of food”? (v. 22) The meaning of this word is that the fool becomes rich (Park). Is this acceptable in the world? Of course not. How can the fool become rich? What about “the unloved woman who is married”? (v. 23) How can the unloved woman marry? Isn't it an unacceptable fact that a woman who doesn't deserve to marry has married? Isn't it also unacceptable that “a maidservant who displaces her mistress” (v. 23), in other words, the maidservant who took the place of her mistress? In all of these four states, the unqualified were seated in a high position, which means that the order is upside down (Park).
What will happen to the family, the church, society, or the world if the order is turned upside down? In particular, without realizing that we aren’t qualified, what if we say 'A servant ought to be a king', 'A fool ought to be rich', 'An unloved woman ought to marry', 'A maidservant should displace her mistress,' doesn't that show our pride? If such pride is in our hearts, the family and church we belong to will inevitably become disordered. We must never tolerate arrogance. We must be very wary of becoming proud in our hearts. We should not break the order of the family and the church by having thoughts, words, and actions that are beyond our boundary. Rather, we must keep the order in our home and church. In order to do that, we must all be humble. We must have the humble heart of Jesus. In particular, we must bear in mind that we have been saved and become children of God because of Jesus, who came to this low world and was crucified and died on the cross, the tree of the curse in order to save us who deserve to die forever. We must not forget this wonderful fact that we, who never deserved to become children of God, have received the authority to become children of God through faith in Jesus Christ. It was totally by God's grace. This is an astonishing rise in status that cannot be compared with the succession of the servant becoming the king, the fool becoming rich, the unloved woman marrying, and the maidservant displacing her mistress. Therefore, while we are more aware of this grace of God, we must obey God's word with the power of God's grace and keep the order of the home and church well. When we do this, I hope and pray that we will live the wisest life in the sight of God.
Third, the wisest life is to be industrious like the ants, to anticipate danger like the shephanim and make their houses in the rocks, to be united like the locusts, and act swiftly and cunningly like the lizard.
What are you learning these days? What do you think God is trying to teach you? I read Pastor Joon-Min Kang's column, ‘The Wisdom from the Storm,’ that I read once again. And I want to summarize only two things and share with you. For one thing, to live is to learn. A disciple of Jesus is a learner who must yearn for learning. And learning also requires wisdom. The right thing to learn is to grow up right. That is why we must learn to learn well. Learning how to learn well will benefit us for a lifetime. Another thing is that learning is ability. ‘Learning is the ability to grow in storms. We sometimes encounter storms. Sometimes we pass through the wilderness. Sometimes we go into the furnace of suffering. Of course, life isn’t always about suffering. However, it is unavoidable to encounter tribulation in life. The ability to learn is the ability to overcome the difficulties encountered in life. If we live with a learning attitude, we can turn every life experience into an opportunity to learn. The storm is school. Hardship is a teacher’ (Kang). In learning, we must also learn from animals. There was an article I read at Health Chosun two years ago and I read it again. The article is titled ‘5 Health Habits Learned from Chickens’ (Internet): (1) Sleeping early and waking up early. It is said that chickens start their activities from 4-5 am, just before dawn, crying 'Cock-a-doddle-doo ~'. On the other hand, they don’t move very well at night. (2) Cherishing their young. The chickens are said to be highly maternal animals. They don’t hesitate to sacrifice their chest hairs to keep the eggs warm, and during the 20 days of incubating the eggs. They are said to not move in the cold or heat. Also, chickens rarely eat feed. (3) Eating evenly. The chickens are said to be omnivores and eat any kind of food. It is important for people to eat evenly. (4) Moving diligently. They are said to be constantly moving. Regular exercise is also an essential condition for physical health. (5) Drinking a lot of water. Everyone has seen the behavior of chickens drinking water and looking at the sky at least once. The chickens are said to drink a lot of water. Water is a major component of the body, accounting for about 70% of the human body.
In Proverbs 30:24-28, the writer of Proverbs says: “Four things are small on the earth, But they are exceedingly wise: The ants are not a strong people, But they prepare their food in the summer; The shephanim are not mighty people, Yet they make their houses in the rocks; The locusts have no king, Yet all of them go out in ranks; The lizard you may grasp with the hands, Yet it is in kings' palaces.” These four kinds of animals are weak. But they live well by the instinctive wisdom God has given them (Park):
(1) Let’s consider the ants.
What can we learn from the ants? Look at Proverbs 6:6 – “Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise!” What wisdom should we learn from the ants? At least two things (Park):
(a) The ants work diligently and cooperatively, voluntarily, even without a supervisor.
Look at Proverbs 6:7 – “Which, having no chief, Officer or ruler.” What comes to your mind when you think about the ants? I read an article on the Internet to learn about ants. And I have some interesting points about ants (Internet):
(i) The ants are said to be thoughtful to each other.
When we mainly think of “the ant”, we think of it as a queen ant and a worker ant, but there is a “patrolling ant”. In general, the ants are said to send out the patrolling ant to find food. After finding it, the patrolling ant is said to take an inexperienced companion and slowly go vertically (parallel) and lead it to the place where the newly discovered prey is. And it is said that the following ants gain knowledge thanks to the leader ant. It is said that both the guide ant and the ant following are very considerate enough to slow down the guide if the ant following it procrastinates, and move quickly again if the rear ant catches up again.
(ii) The ants are said to help each other.
The ants' mutual help can be seen by looking at their communication. The ants are said to communicate with each other by means of pheromones (a chemical signal used to communicate between animals of the same species). The ant's chemical cues are much more advanced than other logging insects. And like other insects, the ants are said to smell as long, thin, and moveable antennae. It is said that the pair of antennae can convey information about the intensity or direction of the smell. Most of the ants live on the ground, so it is said to leave a path with pheromones on the surface so other ants can follow. It is said that among species that scout in groups, the patrolling ant who is scouting for food display traces from its prey to the anthill. Other ants follow this trail, and each time they return home with food, they are said to reinforce the odor path. When all the food is gone, the returning ant marks it, and the smell slowly disappears. This behavior is said to help the ants adapt to changes in their environment. For example, it is said that if the scent trail that leads to the prey is blocked by an obstacle, the ant behind the fence goes off the road and finds a new path. When the ant finds the new path, the ant returns and marks the shortcut with smell. It is said that as the ants flock to the good path, the smell of the shortcut increases and gradually finds the best path.
(iii) The ants divide professional occupations according to their size.
Looking at the ants' food cultivation, most ants are omnivorous predators and deal with dead creatures. But there are other ants that have developed special nutritional methods. Such ants are called ‘scissor ants,’ and they are said to grow mushrooms only in their ant nest. They continue to collect leaves, bring them to their colonies, cut them into small pieces, and place them on mushroom farms. The largest ants are said to cut the stem, the smaller worker ants chew the leaves, and the smallest ants care for mushrooms.
(b) The ant prepares ahead for the future.
Look at Proverbs 6:8 – “yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest.” Do you know the Aesop’s fable “The ant and grasshopper”? According to that famous story, the grasshopper sang and mocked the ant which worked hard in the summer: ‘Hey ant, is something wrong with your head? Why are you preparing food in summer for winter?’ Despite such ridicule, the ant worked very hard for cold winters, even in hot summer days. However, the grasshopper didn’t work every day and only sang. As a result, he had no food to eat in the winter so he begged for food. When I read this fable story as a child, I was taught that I should be like the ant, not the grasshopper. I learned that I must live diligently like the ant, not lazy like the grasshopper. However, as I grew older when I thought about this story, not only that I learned the lesson of being diligent like the ant, but also being wise in preparing for the future. When we are young, who cares about the future and prepares for it? In Proverbs 6:8, the Bible urges people who are worse than the ant to go to the ant and learn the wisdom to prepare for the future. Even in Proverbs 30:25, the Bible introduces the ants as “they prepare their food in the summer”. Why do the ants prepare winter food ahead of time in summer? According to Dr. Park, summer is the harvest time in Palestine. So, at this time, the ants are said to collect food for winter (Park).
(2) Let’s think about the shephanim.
In this way we must learn from the ants the diligence of preparing our food in advance in the summer. And then we must learn from the shephanim to foresee the dangers that lie ahead, and to fortify our dwellings. Look at Proverbs 30:26 – “The shephanim are not mighty people, Yet they make their houses in the rocks.” The shephanim are small, timid and weak animals like a hare (Internet). However, the shephanim are extremely wise (The Pulpit Commentary). So the shephanim build their houses in the rocks in order to defend themselves from the big animals, anticipating the impending danger (Park). Interestingly, the shephanim live in crevices in rocks in groups and have sentries to keep watch around them. When these sentries squeak, blink, and signal, everyone enters the cave (Internet). Look at Psalms 104:18 – “The high mountains are for the wild goats; The cliffs are a refuge for the shephanim.” The shephanim take their refuges among the rocks.
When I think about “a refuge,” I think of our Lord because the Lord alone is our strong refuge (Ps. 14:6; 46:1, 7, 11; 59:16; 61:3; 62:8; 91:2; 142:5). The Lord is also the Rock of our strength (62:7) and the Rock of our salvation (2 Sam. 22:47). Christ is our Rock (1 Cor. 10:4).
(3) Let’s think about the locusts.
What wisdom should we learn from “the locusts”? Look at Proverbs 30:27 – “The locusts have no king, Yet all of them go out in ranks.” What comes to mind in the Bible when we hear the word “the locusts”? I remember the eighth of the ten plagues that God brought upon Egypt at the time of the Exodus, when a swarm of locusts covered the entire surface of Egypt (Exod. 10:1-20). When Pharaoh, king of Egypt, didn’t humble himself before God and didn’t let God’s people Israel out of Egypt (10:3), God sent swarms of locusts to Egypt, covering the entire land of Egypt so that the land could not see (vv. 4-5). As a result, the locusts covered the entire land of Egypt and the damage was great (vv. 14, 15). In Proverbs 30:27, the writer of Proverbs spoke of “the locusts,” one of the smallest and wisest animals on the earth, and said, “The locusts have no king, Yet all of them go out in ranks.” What is the reason? When we say “the locusts”, we can see that not only Exodus 10 but also Joel 1:4 were used as instruments of God’s punishment. In other words, God used the warm of the locusts when He brought disaster on a nation. What is interesting is that the swarm of the locusts that were used as an instrument of God’s punishment is like an army that is well-ordered and moving even though it has no leader (“king”). They move systematically and appear to act under clear direction and strict discipline (Thru the Bible With J. Vernon McGee Commentary). After all, the reason the writer of Proverbs speaks of the locusts that have no king but all of them go out in ranks in Proverbs 30:27 is instructing us to be united like the locusts (Park).
I have applied this lesson to my home and church. Our families and churches should be united like the locusts. Although we are different in many ways, we must unite our hearts and strengths as one family in Jesus. In particular, if there is no leader in the swarm of the locusts, how well should the family and the church with leaders united? I think this is the wisest life in the sight of God.
(4) Let’s think about the lizard.
Look at Proverbs 30:28 – “The lizard you may grasp with the hands, Yet it is in kings' palaces.” Perhaps we have all seen the lizards. Of course, I have seen the lizards in front of our house many times. But the most memorable is that when I went to see my church Elder Yoon, who was on a medical mission in the Philippines a few years ago, I saw a lizard stick to the ceiling of the hotel where I was staying. As Proverbs 30:28 says, it was a small lizard that I could grasp with my hands. But I didn't even try to catch the lizard. The reason may be because the lizard eats the bugs, and because I thought I couldn't catch it. The Bible says that such a lizard lives in king’s palaces (v. 28). Have you ever heard of the characteristics of the lizard? The lizard's characteristic is to lure enemies by waving its tail when facing danger, then cut off its own tail to run away while the enemy panics (Internet). The lesson this teaches us is that the wisest life is to act swiftly and wisely like the lizard (Park).
Who do you think of in the Bible who acted swiftly and wisely? According to 1 Samuel 17:48-49, Goliath moved closer to attack David when David was fighting with Goliath. So David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet Goliath. “Reaching into his bag and taking out a stone, he slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell facedown on the ground” (v. 49). Do you remember what Jesus said, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep among wolves; therefore be wise as serpents and innocent as doves” (Mt. 10:16)? Here, the serpent is a symbol of wisdom. The Lord speaks of the wisdom of the serpent, above all else, that the serpent avoids the difficulties by carefully coping with various difficulties that come to it. And that the serpent is wise means careful discernment. The serpent's wisdom is the ability to discern and judge all things. We must be as wise as serpents because the Lord has sent us into this world, and there are many false prophets who come to us in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves (Mt. 7:15; 10:16). Therefore, we must speak wisely and act wisely in preaching the gospel to this world and living a life worthy of the gospel.
Fourth, the wisest life is to lead with dignity and the strength to not retreat, to take the initiative to take the lead, identify problems, and act as guardians at the forefront.
Harvard Medical School psychologist Steven Berglass has this to say about ‘Success Syndrome’: ‘Even if you get a great sense of accomplishment, if you don't have the basic character to support it, you're headed for ruin.’ He believes that such people will fall into one or more of the following four A's: (1) Arrogance, (2) Painful feeling of Aloneness, and (3) Destructive Adventure-Seeking, and (4) Adultery. These four things are that people with weak character are always asking for a price that is too high to pay. The thing to keep in mind here, Berglass says, is that you should never forget that in the valley you're in right now, that you're stuck in one or more of the four A's, you'll never get past time or money or more fame. The reason for this is because the rifts of character become more destructive as time goes by, increasing in depth. Whether we lead people at home, at work, or in meetings, we must never forget that character is our most important asset (Maxwell). Alan Bernard, Chairman of Mid Park, Inc, said of character: ‘The respect leadership must have, it requires an ethical life of the individual. Leaders must not only be on the borderline between right and wrong, but also live a transparent life without ‘gray areas’ (Maxwell). I think the most important list in leadership is character. Therefore, we must devote ourselves to “character building” in order to find potential leaders, raise them up as mature lay ministers, and send them out. And the important thing in the “character making” process is crisis or adversity. The reason is because a crisis doesn’t necessarily shape character, but it is as clear as it reveals character. Adversity is a crossroads between character and compromise, and life always has to choose between them (Maxwell).
Look at Proverbs 30:29-31: “There are three things which have a magnificent walk; yea, the fourth is stately in going: The lion which is strongest among beasts and does not turn away for any; the greyhound who is girded up of loins; the goat also, and the king, against whom no one rises up” (JUB). Here, the writer of Proverbs says, “There are three things which have a magnificent walk,” referring to the strongest of all beasts, the lion, the greyhound, the goat, and the king. Here, he gives three examples of animals to teach the qualifications of the leader (the king) (Park). And he refers to these three animals as the ones that have the magnificent walk (v. 29). In other words, to say that the lion, greyhound, and the goat walk magnificently means that they walk with dignity (Park). As such, the king, the leader of a country, must possess dignified virtues (Park). Pastor John MacArthur said dignity and confidence (MacArthur). When I think of the word “dignity,” I remember the words of the pastor of the church that I served when I was studying and ministering in Korea. At that time, I remember that the pastor said that I had reduced his dignity in front of the church elders and their wives. Haha. At that time I didn’t fully understand his words. The reason was because I didn’t fully understand the meaning of the word “dignity”. I searched the Internet and found that the dictionary meaning of the word “dignity” is “the state or quality of being worthy of honor or respect” (Internet). The leader should have this dignity. Then, when I thought of the word “confidence”, one day I came across an article I wrote under the heading ‘3 C’s of Leaders’: (1) The first “C” is Conviction. If we do the Lord's work without conviction, one day we will have to lean left or right. Especially in the work that the leader wants to do, if he doesn’t have conviction in the words of the Holy Spirit, those who follow him cannot help but be anxious. Therefore, the leader must first be sure whether it is the will of the Lord or not. (2) The second “C” is Confidence. The leader who has conviction that it is the Lords’ will has confidence. Therefore, he is confident that what he is doing is what the Lord wants him to do. So he doesn’t get discouraged, shaken, and confused by what anyone says. The basis for this confidence is the assurance given by the Holy Spirit. We have confidence because we believe that it is the Lord’s will, and we are confident that the Lord will faithfully accomplish it through us. (3) Third “C” is Consistency. The leader who has conviction and is confident is consistent in his work. The leader shouldn't do this and that. The leader should not be told that he is inconsistent from his followers. When I think about why some leaders do this and that inconsistently, I think the reason is lack of conviction and confidence. I think too many leaders forget the value or importance of consistency. They must be confident in what they believe and should have conviction that it is the Lord’s will, and must complete their work with consistency. If the leader goes one way or another without consistency, the followers will inevitably be confused. In addition to this, we are taught that there are three things the leader needs, especially when we consider the three animals in Proverbs 30:30-31:
(1) The leader must have dignity and strength not to retreat from the presence of any beast, just like the lion, the strongest of all beasts (v. 30) (Park).
It means that the leader must have the strength to not back down in dignity and confidence. A good biblical example is David, who stood confidently in front of the Philistine general Goliath and spoke boldly to Goliath. Look at 1 Samuel 17:45-47: “… You come to me with a sword, a spear, and a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have taunted. This day the LORD will deliver you up into my hands, and I will strike you down and remove your head from you. And I will give the dead bodies of the army of the Philistines this day to the birds of the sky and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly may know that the LORD does not deliver by sword or by spear; for the battle is the LORD'S and He will give you into our hands.”
(2) The leader must take the initiative with a clear sense of purpose like the greyhound.
As we know, the greyhound goes ahead of hunters and tracks their prey (Internet). As such, the leader must take the initiative with a clear sense of purpose. In this way, those who follow can follow the leader with the same goal. I think a good example is the Apostle Paul. Look at Philippians 3:13-14: “Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
(3) The leader must act as a protector at the forefront like a goat (Park).
For the Israelites, the story of the sheep and the goats is a familiar and interesting story. And it is impossible to raise the sheep alone without the goats. Therefore, it is common to raise one goat for every three sheep (1 Sam. 25:2). There are two reasons why the goats are mixed with the sheep this way:
(a) The first reason is to protect the pasture.
There is not enough grass for the sheep to graze because the wilderness is a barren environment where there isn’t much rain. Therefore, it is necessary to protect the grassland, and while the goats eat only the leaves of mature grass, the sheep eat the leaves without distinguishing between young and mature leaves. However, if you raise a small number of the goats, the sheep will follow you.
(b) The second reason is that the goat's role is necessary when going through the rough roads and the high rocks in the wilderness.
The road from the Judean wilderness to the green pastures isn’t a rosy road. But sometimes you have to climb high rocks and sometimes go down a steep slope. After the rain, there is a calm waterside in the valley, so it is necessary to go down the steep slope. The sheep are fearful animals. So the goats are the ones that act as a charger (Internet). In this way, a leader needs to act as shock troops for those who follow him. In other words, the leader must stand in the front and lead those who boldly follow. And the leader has responsibility to protect them.
We need a wise leader. The life of the wise leader has majesty that shows dignity and confidence and strength that don’t retreat. The wise leader also takes the initiative to identify problems and act as guardians at the forefront. Let’s pray for our leaders to become such leaders.
Fifth and last, the wisest life is to cover our mouths with our hands and stop when we need to.
We must be patient in order to edify one another in the home and in the church (1 Thess. 5:11, 13). Especially when we have anger against the other person, we need to be able to control it. Such a wise man restrains his anger, but a fool gives full vent to his anger (Prov. 29:11). When he gives full vent of his anger in this way, he is bound to quarrel (v. 22). Therefore, when anger arises in our hearts, we must first close our mouths. The reason is because if we don’t, then in anger we will speak harsh words toward other (15:1). As a result, the person who hears the harsh words will not only get hurt, but also get angry and say the harsh words himself. Then the fight will inevitably escalate. In Job 21:5, Job says to his friends who came to comfort him: “Look at me and be astonished; clap your hand over your mouth.” The reason Job told his friends to “clap your hand over your mouth” was because even though they had come to comfort Job in his affliction, it was no comfort to him at all, but rather they mocked him (v. 3). So Job referred to them as miserable comforters. Look at Job 16:2 – “I have heard many things like these; miserable comforters are you all!” Job, who was suffering, was not comforted at all by his friends, but rather suffered. So he told them to cover their mouth. But when we look at Job 40:4, Job himself put his hand over his mouth. The reason is because God said to Job, “Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct him? Let him who accuses God answer him!” (v. 2) So Job said, “I am unworthy--how can I reply to you? I put my hand over my mouth” (v. 4). Ecclesiastes 5:2 comes to mind when I think of Job covering his mouth before God: “Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few.” According to this word, we must not be quick with our mouths in the presence of God. And we must not be hasty in our heart to utter anything before God.
Look at Proverbs 30:32-33: “If you have been foolish in exalting yourself Or if you have plotted evil, put your hand on your mouth. For the churning of milk produces butter, And pressing the nose brings forth blood; So the churning of anger produces strife.” Why does the Bible say, “put your hand on your mouth”? The reason is because we are fools. In other words, the Bible tells us to cover our mouths with our hands if we are fools. And the Bible tells us that we can show our follies in two ways. Those two follies are, first, that we exalt or boast ourselves, and second, that we plan evil things (v. 32). That is, the Bible tells us to put our hands on our mouths if we are fools who exalt or boast ourselves. Also, the Bible tells us to put our hands on our mouths if we are fools who plan to do evil. In a word, “put your hand on your mouth” here means stop it (The Nelson Study Bible). In other words, if we are fools and exalt ourselves, and plan evil things, we must stop doing them.
We must cover our mouths with our hands when we exalt ourselves. It is because if we don't shut our mouths we will make arrogant noises out of our mouths. When we exalt ourselves, we must cover our mouths with our hands, because if we speak proudly we will glorify ourselves rather than glorify God. Also, if we plan to do something evil, we must stop that plan. If we don't stop the plan we will surely sin against God by doing that evil thing. We must not exalt ourselves. We don't have to brag about ourselves. If we exalt ourselves or boast in the church, our pride can break the unity in the church and cause quarrel and strife. A good example is “the congregation in the wilderness” (Acts 7:38). The leaders of the congregation in the wilderness were Moses and Aaron. But Korah the Levites, certain Reubenites named Dathan and Abiram, and On (Num. 16:1) rose up against Moses with 250 well-known community leaders who had been appointed members of the council (v. 2). They said to Moses and Aaron, “You have gone too far! The whole community is holy, every one of them, and the LORD is with them. Why then do you set yourselves above the LORD's assembly?” (v. 3) Upon hearing this, Moses first fell down and prayed to God (v. 4). Then he rebuked Korah and all his people: “… You Levites have gone too far!” (v. 7) How can we know that Korah and all his people had gone too far? They thought God's grace was small. They took lightly the noble office that God set them apart to serve the Israelites in God's tabernacle (v. 9). So, like Aaron, they sought priesthood. They considered the ministry God had given them small and light, so they overestimated them (pride that exalted themselves), and spoke and act too far to Moses and Aaron. They did this because they pursued vain glory in their hearts. The reason they rebelled against Moses and Aaron, the leaders of the congregation in the wilderness, was because they sought vain glory. The Bible says that they were not only against Moses and Aaron, but also the God who set them up in the congregation of the wilderness (v. 11). In the same way, if we have vain glory in our hearts, we can overthink and try to exalt ourselves. And indeed, if we exalt ourselves in the church, then we are more likely to quarrel with one another, angering other brothers and sisters in Christ by our behavior that is gone too far (Prov. 30:33). Ultimately, if we exalt ourselves in the church, we break the church's reconciliation and unity. Therefore, we must not fool ourselves into exalting ourselves.
Also, we must not promote evil. In other words, we must not plan evil things (v. 32). You might think that we are planning something evil, but if we see that David, a man after God's heart, also did evil in God's sight, wouldn't we be at greater risk of doing the same? Why did David do what was evil in the sight of God? Although the Bible clearly says, “Do not do wrong to your Christian brother by taking his wife for yourself” (1 Thess. 4:6, WE), King David took Uriah's wife Bathsheba (2 Sam. 11:27). He did so even by deliberately planed to kill Bathsheba's husband and a loyal solider Uriah (vv. 14-26). Why did David do such an evil thing in the sight of God? (v. 27) He seems to have relaxed, careless, when God gave him victory in battle wherever he went (8:6, 14). So, mainly when the war started, he sent the Israeli army and Joab to war, and he stayed in the royal palace in Jerusalem (11:1, 2). Then he saw Bathsheba bathing (v. 2). And he saw her exceedingly beautiful (v. 2). He saw a sight he should not have seen. He sent someone to find out about Bathsheba (v. 3). And he knew that Bathsheba was Uriah’s wife, that is, a married woman (v. 3). He sent messengers to bring Bathsheba, and he slept with her (v. 4). Later, David found out that Bathsheba was pregnant (v. 5). So he twice tried to send Uriah, Bathsheba's husband, into his house (vv. 8, 12-13). The reason seems because David wanted to make the baby that Bathsheba was pregnant with as Uriah’s baby by making Uriah to go home and sleep with Bathsheba. Since Uriah didn’t go home according to David's plan, he eventually forms an alliance with Joab and killed Uriah in battle (vv. 14-26). Then, after Uriah's burial, David sent and came down to the palace to take Bathsheba as his wife (v. 27). The Bible says that what David had done was evil in the sight of God (v. 27).
We have to cover our mouths with our hands when we need to. Especially if we have foolishness in our hearts, we should keep our mouths shut. We must not be fools to exalt ourselves or boast of ourselves. Also, we must not devise or plan to do evil. In particular, we must not provoke the other’s anger. If we don't stop provoking the other person's anger, quarrels are bound to happen. Therefore, we have to cover our mouths with our hands when we need to and stop when we need to stop.
In this perilous and sinful world, we desperately need God's wisdom to be wise as serpents and innocent as doves (Mt. 10:16). In Proverbs 30:18-33, we meditated on five things about the wisest life: (1) The wisest life is to let go of hypocrisy. (2) The wisest life is to live in order. (3) the wisest life is to be industrious like the ants, to anticipate danger like the shephanim and make their houses in the rocks, to be united like the locusts, and act swiftly and cunningly like the lizard. (4) The wisest life is to lead with dignity and the strength to not retreat, to take the initiative to take the lead, identify problems, and act as guardians at the forefront. (5) The wisest life is to cover our mouths with our hands and stop when we need to. I hope and pray that all of us can live the wisest life.