The Bible says in Proverbs 3:3-4, Let not
mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the
table of thine heart:[4] So shalt thou find favour
and good understanding in the sight of God and man.
Mercy and truth are mentioned in verse 3. Christians should know a lot about
mercy because of the mercy of Christ that was bestowed upon us. Because we have
benefitted from such mercy, we should be able to show mercy to others. Mercy is
definitely needed, both with our relationship with God and with our
relationship with human beings. Since we are all sinners, we all make mistakes.
The world would be a terrible place if there was no mercy. All of your relationships
will fall apart without the quality of mercy to bless that relationship.
Once you experience the mercy of God
through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, then you start understanding truth also.
The most important part of Gods truth is the fact that Jesus died on the cross
for your sins and for mine. There will be many benefits to knowing mercy and
truth. Verse 4 says, So shalt thou find favour and good
understanding in the sight of God and man. Gods favor and approval are on you
once you experience the mercy and truth of God. Human beings will also favor
you and approve of you if you are a person who is characterized by mercy and
truth. It is interesting that a similar statement is made about Jesus when He
was a child. It says about Jesus, He grew in wisdom and in stature and in
favor with God and man.
The Bible says in Proverbs 3:5-6, Trust in the
LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.[6]
In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
When you trust in the Lord, you are relying on Him. You are recognizing that
you need Him. God likes that. He likes to be needed. If you are trusting in the
Lord with all your heart, that means that you are not trusting in anyone or
anything else. Some people trust in themselves, some people trust in another
person, some people trust in their ability to deceive and manipulate others.
and some people trust in money. If you are trusting in the Lord, then you do
not lean on your own understanding. Every person has a way of looking at
things and evaluating those things based upon how they perceive them and how
they are affected by them, but a person who is trusting in the Lord puts aside
their own understanding and looks to the Lord for what the Lord will do and how
the Lord will work things out.
We need the Lord to direct our paths
because if He does not, we will be like lost sheep in need of a shepherd. A
sheep without a shepherd will fall over a cliff. It does say in Proverbs 3:6, in all thy ways
acknowledge him. In other words, in every issue that comes into your life, in
every decision that you make, acknowledge the Lord and commit each thing to the
Lord. Once you do that, the Lord responds by intervening in everything, and He
guides your path.
The Bible says in Proverbs 3:7-8, Be not wise
in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil.[8] It shall be
health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones. One issue to be
careful about if you gain in wisdom or knowledge is pride. Knowledge puffeth up, and then pride goeth
before a fall. We owe everything to the Lord, and so in reality we have nothing
to be proud about. Jesus is our wisdom. He is our everything. We are nothing
compared to Him. He is strong and we are weak. He is good and we are evil. He
is wise and we are foolish. fear the LORD. Why should we fear the Lord:
because the Lord is the Judge of the whole earth. He judges sin. He brings
consequences based upon His holiness. That is why we should depart from evil.
Always do the right thing, and then you will be going Gods way. Good results
always follow doing what is right. As it says in verse 6, It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones. This verse implies that doing the right thing will result
in better heath. One reason that people are sick is sin. That is why it says in
James 5:14-16, Is any sick among you? let
him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing
him with oil in the name of the Lord:[15] And the prayer of faith shall
save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins,
they shall be forgiven him.[16] Confess your faults one to another,
and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer
of a righteous man availeth much.
It says in Proverbs 3:9-10, Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase:[10] So shall thy
barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine.
God created the earth and put man upon it, and then God put man in charge of
the earth to a great extent. God then gives each person a certain amount of
material possessions for two reasons: 1. To meet your own needs, and 2. To make
the world a better place. The question is, how do you Honour the LORD with thy substance. Always be on the lookout for what you can do to advance
the gospel of Christ or build up a Bible-teaching church or ministry, or
something else that the Lord puts on your heart. The Lord will guide you into
what He wants you to do with your substance. There is a practical side to
serving Christ as well as a spiritual side. Someone must pay the bills. One day
we will give an account for what we did for the Savior, and that includes what
we did for Him with our material substance. In the Old Testament believers were
given a percentage to start with: ten percent; and then they were told to also
add offerings to that. In the New Testament we are not under law, so we have a
requirement that is much more individual in nature. It says in Second
Corinthians 9:6-7, But this I say, He which
soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully
shall reap also bountifully.[7] Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not
grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver. If you love the Lord, you will probably give much more
than ten percent.
The Bible says in Proverbs 3:11-12, My son,
despise not the chastening of the LORD; neither be weary of his correction:[12]
For whom the LORD loveth he correcteth; even as a
father the son in whom he delighteth.
When a person first accepts Christ, they are a babe in Christ. Their new
spiritual life just started. They have a lot to learn, and one of the ways they
are going to learn is through their mistakes. God prefers that you do not make
mistakes in your new Christian life, but if you do, He will use each mistake as
a learning opportunity for you. God will chastise you in order to wake you up.
God is not going to despise you, nor turn away from you, but He is going to
turn your mistake into a learning opportunity. He will do that with
consequences, and He will do that with the Spirit gripping your heart. He loves
you, and He wants to make something out of you. Make sure you respond the right
way to Gods chastisement: ask Jesus to forgive you so that you can continue to
walk in fellowship with Him, and so that you can learn what you need to learn.
If you are not chastised when you do wrong, then that is evidence that you are
not a child of God.
The Bible says in Proverbs 3:13-18, Happy is the
man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding.[14] For the merchandise of it
is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold.[15]
She is more precious than rubies: and all the things thou canst desire are not
to be compared unto her.[16] Length of days is in her right hand; and in
her left hand riches and honour.[17] Her ways
are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace.[18] She is a tree
of life to them that lay hold upon her: and happy is every one that retaineth her. Wisdom comes from
knowing Jesus as Savior, and then learning the Biblical Christian principles
and putting them into practice. That is the way life should be. These verses
tell us what will be gained by finding Gods wisdom: happiness, something more
valuable than silver, gold, and rubies, a long life, honor, and peace. In other
words, finding wisdom is more important than anything in life that you can
think of.
The Bible says in Proverbs 3:19-20, The LORD by
wisdom hath founded the earth; by understanding hath he established the
heavens.[20] By his knowledge the depths are broken up, and the clouds
drop down the dew. Wisdom, understanding, and knowledge are principles that
God used when He made the earth and the heavens. That is one of the reasons
that the more true wisdom that you have, the more that you will understand how
to live this life on this planet. None of it takes God by surprise. He made it
this way. If you truly understand what you are dealing with each day, then you
will know what to do. That is why wisdom is so important. If you do not have
wisdom, you are going to do the wrong thing today.
The Bible says in Proverbs 3:21-24, My son, let
not them depart from thine eyes: keep sound wisdom and discretion:[22]
So shall they be life unto thy soul, and grace to thy neck.[23] Then
shalt thou walk in thy way safely, and thy foot shall not stumble.[24]
When thou liest down, thou shalt not be afraid: yea,
thou shalt lie down, and thy sleep shall be sweet. Once you
obtain wisdom from God and from Christ, then you will have the challenge of
retaining wisdom. This is especially true for young people who grow up with
godly parents. They learn a lot from their parents and get a good start in
life, but once they are on their own, they can just as easily lose what they
learned. One way to keep a desire to hold on to wisdom is to remember its great
value for life. These verses tell us that wisdom will result in life, grace,
safety, confidence (lack of fear), and peace. Your existence on earth will be
terrible without these qualities. That is why those who are very rich can also
be very miserable if they do not have these Christian qualities in their life.
The Bible says in Proverbs 3:25-26, Be not
afraid of sudden fear, neither of the desolation of the wicked, when it cometh.
[26] For the LORD shall be thy confidence, and shall keep thy foot from
being taken. The statement be not afraid is often said to believers
in the Bible. Jesus said it to His disciples. You cannot have both faith and
fear. Love God with faith in Christ, and it will drive your fears away. What is
there to fear anyway? If you know Jesus as Savior, when you die you will be
with Jesus forever. If you know the Almighty God, then you know the One who
controls all things, and He will only let happen to you what He chooses for
you. As it says in verse 26, For the LORD
shall be thy confidence, and shall keep thy foot from being taken.
Notice that verse 25 speaks of the
desolation of the wicked, when it cometh. It does not say if it cometh. It
says when it cometh. It will come. The wicked people of the world are
committing great sins, and the consequences of their sins are falling upon the
world. Those consequences are not good. The world is heading towards the events
of the Great Tribulation that are described in the book of Revelation. The
wicked destroy, and they tear down, and they harm. But do not fear them. God
controls them too. As Jesus said in John 16:33, These things have I spoken
unto you that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have
tribulation: but be of good cheer: I have overcome the world.
The Bible says in Proverbs 3:27-28, Withhold not
good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do
it.[28] Say not unto thy neighbour, Go, and
come again, and to morrow I will give; when thou hast it by thee.
This is the golden rule. Jesus put it this way, Do unto others as you would
have them do unto you. If you claim to be a Christian, then it should show how
you treat others. Notice that at the end of verse 27 it says, when it is in the power of thine hand to do it. Whatever God gives you over and above your own needs, He
has given to you to use for His glory. Some day you will give an account for
what you have done with your substance. Be careful what decisions that you make
in this regard. The New Testament principle for giving is found in Second
Corinthians 9:6-7. It says, But this I say,
He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly, and he which soweth
bountifully shall reap also bountifully. Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give, not grudgingly nor
of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.
___________________________________________________
Copyright; 2017 by Charles
F. (Rick) Creech
All Rights Reserved