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Justin Brock
18 August 2013
Proverbs 4:20-27
Hearing and Walking in Wisdom
Thesis: Like Solomon’s sons, we must treasure wise words, forsake wicked words, and walk in the path of the wisdom to enjoy the blessings promised by our heavenly Father.
I. Introduction – Call to Listen v20
II. Council Concerning Words v21-24
A. Treasure Wise Words Externally v21a
B. Treasure Wise Words Internally v21b
C. Reasons to Treasure Wise Words v22
C. Reasons to Forsake Wicked Words v23
B. Forsake Wicked Words Internally v24a
A. Forsake Wicked Words Externally v24b
III. Council Concerning Walk v25-26
IV. Conclusion – Call to Apply v27
Manuscript:
Have you ever taken something apart and then wondered if you would be able to put it back together again? Growing up on the farm, I can think of several repair projects that I feared we might never manage to finish. We would have parts scattered all over the shop until it seemed we would surely lose something. However, thanks to the diligence of my father and brothers, most projects would eventually return to the field for productive service once again.
That nervous feeling came on me as I worked on our passage for today. At first the text seemed quite simple. Then as I dug into it a little deeper, it started to come apart. Soon I had phrases and outlines and cross reference verses, and analogies, and comments scattered all over my notes and I began to wonder if I could ever wrap them back together in an organized, understandable message. By the grace of God, my thoughts did eventually start to come together. I pray that after this morning, each of you comes away, not confused, but rather motivated to walk in the way of wisdom.
Our passage for today is Proverbs 4:20-27, but let’s begin with a review of the other two sermons we’ve already had from Proverbs 4. Preaching on verses 1-9, Matt laid out for us “the path to wisdom”. Recall that we must “listen to wisdom”, “seek out wisdom personally”, and ultimately, “prize wisdom”. Then in verses 10-19, Mr. Swihart described “the path of the wicked”, showing how it contrasts the path of wisdom and leads to the ruin of its travelers. So in summary, the author of this chapter, Solomon, has so far called his sons to pursue words of wisdom and to flee the path of the wicked.
Today, in the third section of Proverbs 4, we shall see Solomon urge his sons again to treasure wisdom, forsake the words of the wicked, and walk in the path of the wise so that they might enjoy the blessings of wisdom. My thesis for today is
Thesis: Like Solomon’s sons, we must treasure wise words, forsake wicked words, and walk in the path of the wisdom to enjoy the blessings promised by our heavenly Father.
Before we read this passage, I want to go over my outline so that you can begin noting the structure of this text as we read. Solomon opens with (I) a call to listen to wisdom. Then, he gives (II) council concerning wise words, which has two parts: First, treasure wise words and second, forsake wicked words. After his council concerning words, he gives (III) council concerning walking wisely. Finally, he concludes this passage with (IV) a call to apply wisdom.
OK. Let’s read through Proverbs 4 now. We’ll read through the whole chapter so that we can get the context for our passage today.
Proverbs 4:1-27
As I said a minute ago, verse 20 opens with (I) a call to listen to wisdom.
Proverbs 4:20 “My son, give attention to my words; incline your ear to my sayings.”
You’ll probably remember that Solomon has opened each of the other two sections of this chapter (verses 1 and 10) with a similar line. I want to note a few things from verse 20, much of which is a review, because it’s similar to what Matt said a few weeks ago.
First, note (A) who is listening. Solomon says “My son”. He speaks to his child. This passage is instructions written for children. In the most straight forward sense of this passage, (1) actual children are to listen. In another sense, the passage speaks to (2) spiritual children. Those who are immature in their faith need wisdom and will gain much from Solomon’s words. Finally, the passage speaks to all who are (3) children of God. No matter how long you’ve been a believer, or how far you’ve come in you walk with the Lord, this passage speaks to you too, for we all must continue to grow in wisdom. Again, I have only briefly covered these audience categories because Matt discussed them at length a few weeks ago.
Consider now (B) how the child is to listen. Solomon tells him to “give attention”. In other words, don’t be distracted. Most of my teachers at K-State don’t allow students to use their cellphones during class. And why? -because cellphones prevent students from paying attention. It’s difficult to do two things well at the same time.
Solomon also tells his son to “incline [his] ear”. He’s saying listen closely. Lean forward to catch every word. The word “incline” was used in the psalm we studied last week. Speaking to God the psalmist says in Psalm 10:17-18, “You will incline your ear to vindicate the orphan and the oppressed…” There we see the Lord listening for the purpose of acting. He listens to the cry of the weak for the purpose of delivering them. In Proverbs 4:20, we ought to “incline our ear” to the words of Solomon for the purpose of obeying them.
It’s hard to listen to instructions well if you don’t plan to follow them. Some of you have probably heard directions to where I live, but I’m sure you would listen to those directions much more carefully if you were preparing to travel out to my parents’ home. Here in Proverbs, Solomon gives us directions, not on how to reach an earthly house, but on how to safely reach our heavenly home. Thus, we ought to give Solomon our “attention” and “incline our ears” to his instructions. Listen closely so that you understand, so you get the directions right, and so you don’t forget them during your journey through life.
So we’ve seen who’s listening and how they’re listening; now we must consider, (C) what the child listens too. Solomon says, “Give attention to my words; incline your ear to my sayings.” The child is to listen to the words of his father. This is pretty strait forward to apply. Children, listen to you parents. We see that in Ephesians 6:1, “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.” The principle also applies to the children of God. We must listen to our heavenly Father. How does He speak to us? – through His Word. In a discussion on the reliability of Scripture, 1Peter 1:19 says, “ So we have the prophetic word made more sure, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts.” Or consider Romans 15:4, “For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.”
To incline your ear to God’s Word is to incline your ear to wisdom, and thus to incline your heart toward Christ. We find that verse 20 would read very well if it said, my son, give attention to Christ, incline your ear to His sayings. This is a good place to remember that Christ is our living example of wisdom. Matt showed us a few weeks ago in Colossians 2:3, which speaks of Chirst, “in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge”. We also read in 1 Corinthians 1:23, “we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God and the wisdom God.” And again in verse 31 of the same chapter it refers to Christ, “who became to us wisdom from God”. Christ is the source of all wisdom, and His life is our ultimate example of wisdom.
So to summarize Proverbs 4: 20, Child, listen attentively to wisdom. After this call to listen, In verses 21-24 Solomon now gives (II) council concerning words. This council has two parts. First, we are to treasure wise words and secondly, we are to forsake wicked words. This portion of my outline is the hardest for me to wrap my head around because of the way the thoughts are arranged. They follow an abccba pattern. We call that a “chiastic” structure. Solomon tells his son to first treasure wise words externally, then treasure wise words internally, then he gives a reason to treasure wise words. The second half of this point follows a pattern opposite of the first. Solomon begins with a reason to forsake wicked words, then instructs his son to forsake wicked words internally, and finally, to forsake wicked words externally. If I haven’t managed to make this clear, hopefully, it will make sense after we get through it.
Beginning in verse 21, Solomon tells his son to (A) treasure wise words externally. By “externally” I mean the things around us. Let’s read the first half of verse 21.
Proverbs 4:21a “Do not let them depart from your sight.”
Having just called his son to listen to words of wisdom, Solomon now tells him to keep them close. “Keep them in your sight.” What does Solomon mean by that? At least two things come to mind when we consider this phrase. (1) Keep them in your sight because you value them. In the spring of 2009, I was on a short mission trip in Mexico. As we worked in the mountain village of Texhuacan that week, it dawned on me that I didn’t know where my passport was. I had misplaced it and now I was desperate to get it back “in my sight”. Eventually I was relieved to find it in a backpack in one of our vehicles. The moral of the story is don’t let your passport out of your sight – you need it to get you home. In verse 21, Solomon tells his son, don’t let wisdom out of your sight – you need it to get you to your heavenly home. Earlier in Proverbs 4 Solomon told his son to value wisdom. In verse 6 he already said, “Do not forsake her, and she will guard you; love her, and she will watch over you.” We must prize wisdom.
The phrase “Do not let them depart from your sight” also reminds us that we need (2) wisdom for protection. When a family is at the park and the kids want to run and explore, what do the parents tell them? “You can go play, but stay where I can see you.” You stay within sight of your parents so they can protect you. Similarly, we are given wisdom to protect us from sin. We read in Proverbs 6:23-24, “For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching is light; reproofs for discipline are the way of life to keep you from the evil woman, from the smooth tongue of the adulteress.” So we see, that we must keep wisdom in our sight, not only because it is valuable, but because it protects us.
Before we move on, let us consider the words of Hebrews 12:1-2 which tell us to “run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith…” If Christ is the embodiment of wisdom, then we ought to fix our eyes upon Him and not “let Him depart from our sight”.
Now in the second half of verse 21, Solomon instructs his son to (B) treasure wise words internally.
Proverbs 4:21b “Keep them in the midst of your heart.”
Externally, wise words are our focus. Internally, wise words are to be our motivation. “Keep them in the midst of your heart” –your thoughts. Think on them. Meditate on them. Consider God’s words to the Israelites in Deuteronomy 6:6-9, “These words which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on you hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” Clearly, God wants His children to think frequently of His words, His commandments, His wisdom.
Having exhorted his son to treasure wise words externally and internally, he now provides (C) a reason to treasure wise words.
Proverbs 4:22 “For they are life to those who find them and health to all their body.”
For a child, following the path of wisdom can lead to a long life, as seen in Proverbs 4:10, “Hear my son, and accept my sayings and the years of your life will be many.” As Mr. Swihart emphasized when he preached on that verse a few weeks ago, verses like this in Proverbs are general principles. Not every child who has sought to walk in the path of wisdom has lived a long life, but generally speaking, this is true. The same applies to the phrase in the second half of the verse – “health to all their body”. Though he may not have perfect health, the child who follows the path of wisdom, will be spared from many of the sicknesses and diseases caused by sinful lifestyles.
So that’s how physical children can view this verse. Now, how should spiritual children, the children of God view this verse? It says, “For they are life to those who find them”. What do the pronouns “they” and “them” refer to? It’s the word of wisdom from verse 20 and we have already established that Christ is the embodiment of wisdom. So, those who find wisdom, find Christ, and thus, find life in Christ. In John 20:31, John tells us he wrote his gospel account so that we might “believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing, [we] might have life in His name. 1John 4:9 says, “By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him.” In John 14:6, Jesus is not only “the way” and “the truth”, but also “the life”. Words of wisdom draw us to Christ.
Words of wisdom also keep us spiritually healthy. How can we hope to thrive in our walk with Christ if we do not treasure God’s Word and meditate on it frequently? The word for “body” is used again in Ecclesiastes 5:6 where Solomon says “Do not let your speech cause you to sin” or literally, “cause your flesh to sin”. “Body” also translated “flesh” refers to that part of us which is prone to sin. We ought to consider words of wisdom frequently that they may guard us from error.