Well, please turn once again in your copies of God's Word to the book of Proverbs. Proverbs chapter three, and we'll read verses 21 to 35. This is God's Word. My son, do not lose sight of these things. Keep sound wisdom and discretion, and they will be life for your soul and adornment for your neck. Then you will walk on your way securely and your foot will not stumble. If you lie down, you will not be afraid. When you lie down, your sleep will be sweet. Do not be afraid of the sudden terror or of the ruin of the wicked when it comes. For the Lord will be your confidence or at your side and will keep your foot from being caught. Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it. Do not say to your neighbor, go and come again, tomorrow I will give it, when you have it with you. Do not plan evil against your neighbor, who dwells trustingly besides you. Do not contend with a man for no reason, when he has done you no harm. Do not envy a man of violence, and do not choose any of his ways. For the devious person is an abomination to the Lord, but the upright are in his confidence. The Lord's curse is on the house of the wicked, but he blesses the dwelling of the righteous. Toward the scorners he is scornful, but to the humble he gives favor. The wise will inherit honor, but fools get disgrace. So ends the reading of God's word. Let's pray together and ask the Lord's blessing. Lord, we thank you for your word that comes to us again this evening. Lord, as we are your children, we ask that you would speak to us as this father speaks to his son, and that you would not only cause your word to be heard, but truly received in our hearts. Help us to learn wisdom's lessons, that we might walk in wisdom's path and receive all of her blessings that are found most fully in Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray, amen. Well, for the vast majority of us who know how to drive, do you remember all the way back to when you first learned how to drive? For some of us, that was a very, very long time ago. For others, perhaps not so much. I remember when I was learning how to drive, feeling overwhelmed with all that was required of me. the constant requirement to watch the road, watch traffic at intersections, watching for pedestrians and potholes. In Ireland, it was shifting my gears as I was pressing the clutch, taking all of these things into account, watching my speed. There's a lot to keep in view, and it can all be very overwhelming when you're learning how to drive. And that's why all of us needed that calm and steady, patient voice of an instructor, telling us that it's all going to be okay, and helping us to focus on one thing at a time, and helping us to see which thing needs to be our focus at any given time, so that then we get into good routines and good discipline, and we act more instinctively. Well, navigating life can be a little like learning how to drive. There's almost always so much going on in front of us. So many things happening around us over which we have so little control. So many obligations that we have, whether it's in family life or work, church life, or any other spheres of influence or responsibility that we might hold. There's a lot that happens around us and all we want to do sometimes is just to keep from crashing. Well here in Proverbs, like a calm and patient instructor, the father gives his son instruction, calling him to focus on that which is most important. He says in verse 21 and following, My son, do not lose sight of these. Keep sound wisdom and discretion and they will be life for your soul and adornment for your neck. Then you will walk on your way securely and your foot will not stumble. The way to navigate through the complexities and distractions of life is by not losing sight of wisdom. That's what the father says. The Father saying to the Son that with all that's happening all around you, you'll be tempted to lose focus. There will be things that will try to draw your eyes away from wisdom. And then when you lose focus of wisdom, you'll be tempted to feel that you've been abandoned by God. You'll feel tempted to get caught up in the rat race of life, not giving a care for other people, just seeing others as a means to your own ends. You'll be tempted to envy the wicked and how they prosper. And as a result, my son, you'll be anxious. You'll lose sleep. But my son, the father says, I have something much, much better for you. Set wisdom before your eyes and do not look away. And then you will walk without stumbling. Well, this is the very profound and yet very simple message that we find in our passage this evening and the message that really is the message of the whole of Proverbs. Those who focus on wisdom will receive the benefits wisdom has to offer. This is why the father calls his son and our heavenly father calls us to not lose sight of wisdom. Well, there are three things in particular I think we can group this passage in such a way where we see three things that the father tells the son to keep in view, to keep before his eyes. Pursue wisdom with an eye to these three things, the Lord's presence, the Lord's people, and the Lord's promise. First, the Lord's presence. Those who pursue the way of wisdom walk in the presence of the Lord. Now each time that the father has spoken to the son, he's made his appeal to the son in different ways, hasn't he? He's called the son to receive his instruction and to not forget his instruction. And now he calls his son to not lose sight of this instruction. That's the appeal here. He says, do not lose sight of these, to put it positively, We are to keep these things in our view. We are to focus on these things. We are to keep our eye on the ball and not let it get away from us. Well, what are these things that we're to keep our eye on? The Father says, sound wisdom and discretion. These are two more of the many words that we've seen already in the book of Proverbs that further nuance and fill out the definition of wisdom. The word for sound wisdom has a sense of being able to think through a difficult set of circumstances. It's careful thinking that leads to fruitful action. The word for discretion, when it's applied negatively, it has the sense of scheming or shrewdness. sometimes used of Satan. But put positively, it has the sense of careful and wise planning that looks through the different choices that are set before us and looks and anticipates the consequences of those choices and tries to choose the wise choice. Why do we need to keep our eye on these things and not lose sight of them? What's interesting is that both of these terms were used previously in the context of being guarded and shielded from the temptations of the perverse man and the wicked woman. It's possible for us to lose sight of these things. through laziness or through carelessness, we can lose sight of discretion and of sound wisdom. And then we can more easily fall into the traps of the wicked and the temptress. That's why the father says you must keep these things in view. And when you keep these things in view, the father says, they will be life for your soul and adornment for your neck. Wisdom, as you keep it in view, will add life to your soul and it will bring honor, it will bring adornment to you externally. What's this a picture of? Well, it's a picture of how wisdom will bless you inside and out. Inside, in your soul, you'll have life. Externally, you'll have adornment, you'll have honor from other people. Those are the blessings that come through wisdom. And there are more blessings. Verse 23 says, Then you will walk on your way securely and your foot will not stumble. The son who keeps his eye on sound wisdom and on discretion will walk secure and not stumble. I think we're all familiar with this imagery that the father uses here. How many times because we were not being careful or because we were absent-minded or we had so many things on our minds that we stubbed our toe, we kicked the edge of a chair or a table or closed a door on our finger and felt the negative consequences of not walking securely. Or perhaps we carelessly knocked a drink from a countertop and it spilled and crashed to the floor. We're familiar with these things, aren't we, of being careless and losing sight of what's before us and therefore stumbling and stubbing our toe. The Father says, keep your eye on these things, focus on these things. Don't let them out of your sight. And then you can avoid the many toe-stubbing events that come through life. He continues in verses 24 and 25. If you lie down, you will not be afraid. When you lie down, your sleep will be sweet. Do not be afraid of the sudden terror or of the ruin of the wicked when it comes. I think it's very common for us that when we lie down, I think it's very easy for us, for our minds to wander. Sometimes I envy the kinds of people who can just put their head to the pillow and fall asleep. Sometimes you put your head to the pillow and the thoughts of the day come back to your mind and you begin to ruminate on those things. Maybe your mind accesses data banks from 10, 20 years ago and you start remembering things that someone said to you or you said to them. Sometimes our minds fill with fears of the future as we begin to think through the challenges that lay ahead of us, maybe the very next morning or maybe years down the road. And our mind tends to grab those things and it tends to catastrophize and we imagine the worst possible outcome. And then our heart races and we panic and we feel anxious. Here God says that the wise receive good rest. Sometimes we are restless at night for physiological reasons. If you drink a coffee late in the day, it will keep you awake. That's what caffeine does. And so the father here isn't saying that he has some kind of cure-all for insomnia or for some kind of thing like that. No, the point he's making is that the pursuit of wisdom can lead to sound sleep. How much anxiety do we take upon ourselves Because we don't follow wisdom's ways when it comes to our thinking. Because we don't get into sound patterns of mind, as Paul says, meditating and thinking upon those things that are good and beautiful. Instead, we ruminate on that which is awful and saddening and depressing. How often do we lose sleep? Because we have something that's on our soul and we haven't taken it to the Lord. We have not cast our cares upon him, but here we're reminded that we can go to the Lord and that we can bring to him our fears, our worries, our anxieties, and that the Lord gives sleep and rest to those who come to him in wisdom, yes, but what is wisdom but humility, going before the Lord saying, I need your help. The most comforting of all, and the reason for our greatest peace as we sleep, is that as we sleep, we do not have to fear the sudden terror that will come upon the wicked. That's what this term is, the ruin of the wicked. It refers to the judgment that will come upon the wicked, the judgment that awaits them. And the Father says that those who trust in the Lord can rest in sleep, because we know that even if the wicked should overtake us in our sleep, imagine David sleeping in the caves, we might not have that happening to us, but maybe other things might threaten to take us in our sleep. Even in our sleep, we do not have to fear death, because we have no reason to fear the ruin that will come upon the wicked. The overall picture that the Father has given us in these opening verses is that you will be blessed as you pursue wisdom, whether you're walking or you're lying down, whether you're awake or whether you're sleeping. Does this remind you of anything? It sounds a lot like Psalm 139, doesn't it? Oh Lord, you have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I rise up. You discern my thoughts from afar. And that's often how God speaks to his people, doesn't he? He speaks of times when we're standing and sitting, awake and asleep, walking, still. And it's a way of describing the totality of our life and saying, in all of these things, I'm with you. In all of these things, you will be blessed. In the final verse of this section, verse 26, we learn where all of these blessings flow from. How is it that we can have life within and adornment without around our necks? How is it that we can walk securely through life and not stumble? How is it that we can sleep and sleep well and rest, free from fear and anxiety? That's verse 26. For the Lord will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being caught. Now the phrase there in the ESV will be your confidence, it's probably better translated as at your side. You can see what the authors or the editors of the ESV are doing. They're taking that very literal at your side and they're interpreting that as well kind of in your confidence. But we'll say the wooden or literal translation is the Lord is at your side. He's with you. And so we are to pursue wisdom and not lose sight of the fact that the Lord is present. He's at our side. It is because the Lord is present with us that we can persevere and even thrive in this world of the fall. His presence in our lives is the source of the strength we need and of every blessing. If you, dear Christian, walk in wisdom's way, you will never walk by yourself. You'll never be alone. The Lord is at your side, and that's why you will not trip. As he says to his people in Isaiah 41 verse 13, for I, the Lord your God, hold your right hand. It is I who say to you, fear not. I am the one who helps you. This is the reason why we can sleep in peace and we don't have to fear. We don't have to fear either man's wrath or even God's wrath because God has brought us near to his side and God has most clearly shown his nearness to us, how? through Emmanuel, the one who is God with us. God has drawn near to us through Jesus Christ. And through Christ, he takes our hand, and he keeps us from stumbling. Why is it important that we don't lose sight of this? Because sometimes, the reason we slip, the reason we fall, whether it's into temptation and sin, or whether it's as we begin to doubt God's promises and his word, is because we forget. that the Lord is near. We sometimes forget that he is the one who is at our side. But beloved, if you are in Christ, that's simply Paul's way of saying if you're trusting in Christ, if you're united to him by faith, then the Lord is near you. The question for you this evening is, have you lost sight of this? Have you forgotten the Lord's nearness? Be encouraged to know that he is near to you, and therefore you, dear Christian, draw near to him in prayer, in worship, in communion. Because he is with you, be sure to walk with him. Let us keep this in view and never lose sight of the Lord's presence. Well, secondly, The father calls the son to pursue wisdom with an eye to God's people, God's people. Now for almost three whole chapters, the focus of Proverbs has been calling the son to pursue wisdom kind of for his own benefit. He is to pursue wisdom to find life, to avoid death, to resist temptation, to prosper in life. And of course, all of these are good things there to be done in the fear of the Lord. However, lest we make the error of thinking that wisdom is a purely individual pursuit or perhaps even a selfish pursuit that is self-focused and private, the father now calls the son to pursue wisdom with the goal of loving others and being a good neighbor. And this is consistent with the law of God. As we saw in Luke chapter 10 in the previous sermon and also this morning, Jesus affirms the summary of the law as you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength and with all your mind and your neighbor as yourself. Well, just like the law, wisdom has the goal of making us into good neighbors. First, we see that wisdom calls us to Do good to others. The Father says in verse 27, do not withhold good from those to whom it is due when it is in your power to do it. This command here to do good is deliberately vague. What is the good? Well, it's deliberately undefined. The good for one's neighbor could be financial good, could be practical good, it could be good in the sense of encouragement and support in a time of emotional need or trial. So we're to do good to others. But there are some important qualifiers. First, this is good that is due to the other person. In other words, it's a call to give what is owed. That's an important qualifier. Now at the very least, we owe everybody a certain amount of good. Even as Jesus clarified this morning in this morning's sermon, all people are our neighbor and therefore we owe a duty of care to all people. We ought to respect all who are made in God's image with the kind of respect with which we would want to receive. Well there's another important qualifier and limit to this good. The Father says, when it is in your power to do so. Now there are a lot of good and noble causes all around the world. And I think especially for us in today's day and age where we have such access to social media and we get second by second updates of everything that's happening in every part of the world. I think it's very easy for us to see all of that. And because we're creatures and we're compassionate, we feel compassion for those things. But then sometimes we can make the mistake of thinking that therefore we have the responsibility to be involved in every single thing that comes on our newsfeed or we see on the TV. And so we can perhaps place a duty on ourselves that really isn't there. But it's important for us to remember that not everything that happens in every part of the world is our concern, our personal responsibility. We give what is owed and what is in our ability to give. As one commentator said, the Bible does not ask the faithful to give what they themselves do not have. Now when something is within the realm of our ability and our responsibility, we must give that thing, we must perform that duty. The Father gives us an example of what he means by this in verse 28. He says, do not say to your neighbor, go and come again, tomorrow I will give it, when you have it with you. Here the example perhaps is maybe borrowed money, borrowed food, borrowed tools or something like that and one neighbor has lent it to another or he's given him supplies in a time of need and now he needs those things back or he needs some kind of repayment. The debt needs to be paid. And the picture here is of this other person having the ability to fulfill his obligations, but lying and saying, no, sorry, don't have it with me today. Come again some other time. And the father is essentially saying, don't be like that. Don't take advantage of the kindness of other people. Don't use other people and take advantage of them when you have the opportunity to treat them right. Well, to give another example with a little bit of a spin, It's like if you find a wallet on the ground somewhere. What do you do with it? Do you hand it straight into the police? Or do you kind of, I'm just curious, open it and take a little look inside and see, well, there's some cash in there. And I did find the wallet and I'm not gonna keep the credit cards or IDs. What kind of a person do you think I am? But if I slip out a couple of bills, maybe even some coupons or whatever's in there, hand it into the police station then. The father says, no, you have the chance to do something good and right for your neighbor. Don't take advantage of them because you're the one that holds that in your hands. Do what's right. The father takes our duty to our neighbors a step further. It goes beyond the material and property-related good and kindness, and it goes to the realm of peace and peaceability. Verse 29 says, do not plan evil against your neighbor who dwells trustingly besides you. So here is the picture of, you have someone who trusts you and you're dwelling together, you're in close proximity. The father says, don't plot evil against them. Again, don't take advantage of their trust because what will happen is you'll lose their trust. To plan and to act in an evil way will breed suspicion and fear in the community. Verse 30 elaborates on this. He says, do not contend with a man for no reason when he has done you no harm. If living peaceably with a neighbor, don't stir up strife. This word here for do not contend has the sense of being accusatory or litigious. And the father saying don't be a litigious kind of person. Don't be bringing accusations and criticisms against people all the time. This isn't going to produce peace in the community. No, it will upset the community. Scheming, planning, being litigious is not the way of wisdom. Instead, wisdom. cultivates peace and preserves peace. As we think of how to apply all of these things to our lives as we try to be those as Christians who pursue wisdom with an eye to God's people, how do we apply a passage like this? To whom do we owe good? And with whom should we especially be pursuing peace? Well, in one sense, again, as Jesus teaches, we owe a certain good to everybody. Anyone we come in contact with, we're to respect and to treat them as image bearers. However, as much as we are called to do good to our neighbor, the New Testament places a higher standard for us in how we treat believers. And as I've thought about it, it isn't that the Bible calls us to a lower standard for unbelievers, right? It's not that, well, if you're an atheist or a Muslim, I'm just gonna leave you the side of the road. No, it's that we owe good to our unbelieving neighbors, but to fellow believers, we owe an even greater level of care and love, something that the New Testament calls a duty. What's interesting is that Paul uses these same words in Galatians 6, Verse 10, when he says, so then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith. So again, on the one hand, we ought to be good and respectful to all people, not just to believers. And we should never do wrong because someone isn't a believer. Of course, that should go without saying. But as Paul makes clear, to the church and to fellow saints, there is an even higher obligation that we owe one to another. Interestingly, in the New Testament, all of the examples of official church benevolence are directed towards the poor, widows, orphans, and suffering in the church. And so when we ask the question of to whom does the church owe benevolence and care, the answer is to the weak and needy Christian. Romans chapter 15, Paul describes how the churches of Macedonia and Achaia had gathered money for the poor saints at Jerusalem. And then he adds that those churches in Macedonia and Achaia were pleased to do it. And he adds that they owed it to them. It's interesting that Paul would speak in those terms, both that they were pleased to do it, it was voluntary, it was their grateful offering, and yet at the same time, Paul can say that these churches had a duty to their fellow Christians, they owed it to them. And so the application is, let us be encouraged, yes, to be good neighbors to those around us, or unbelieving neighbors, we want to be a good witness. But let us especially take care and concern and show love for the body of Christ, both locally and also as we have opportunity around the world. Let us gratefully fulfill our duty of love to care for fellow Christians by supporting them And as the Father also instructs, let us be. Let us not be contentious or litigious in the church, but let us pursue peace. Instead of fear, let peace rule our hearts. Instead of suspicion towards other people, let us instead, in love, hope all things. In love, believe all things. And thus, by God's grace and by his spirit, build the kind of loving, trusting, and peaceful community that reflects our Savior, who is the Prince of Peace. As we pursue wisdom, we do so keeping sight of the Lord's presence, the Lord's people. And thirdly, we must not lose sight of the Lord's promise. Why is it imperative that we keep an eye on God's promise and not lose sight of it? Well, because as we go through life, we're tempted to secure the kind of life that we want, not through God's promises, but through forbidden ways. Look at what the father warns in verse 31. Do not envy a man of violence. Do not choose any of his ways. Why would the son be envious of a man of violence? Well, because sometimes, You can get what you want when you want it and how you want it when you are violent. Sometimes it's a lot easier to get what you want through violence rather than through the hard work of wisdom. Think of the looting epidemic that's in our country right now and the lax laws that have lowered criminal penalties, thus incentivizing looting. You can go online and you can watch hordes of people enter into stores and walk out with TVs and all sorts of goods and all sorts of stuff, free stuff. No one's stopping them. They're getting away with it. And we can see this happening before our eyes, and we wonder why we work hard while men and women of violence prosper, and we can be envious of the wicked. Isn't that what Asaph struggled with in Psalm 73? He speaks of his foot almost slipping. My steps had nearly slipped, for I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. And it's not just, we might say, the lower class, if we can use that language. It's true of politicians. We see those in government, warmongering politicians, always chomping at the bit for the next war, the next foreign intervention. And all the while, they're heavily, heavily invested in defense stocks. And we watch those men and women of violence not only get away with what they're doing, but they seem to thrive and prosper through wickedness, and we're tempted to either despair or to want to do the same. Maybe in your own workplace, there's a case where someone is falsifying reports, making themselves look better on paper before their boss, and perhaps they're even taking the credit for the hard work that you put in. And you watch them and you watch them receive the praise for your hard work. And it's in those times we look at that and we scratch our head and we think, am I the fool here? How is this happening? And that's where we need to hear again the voice of the Father who says, do not envy the man of violence. Do not choose any of his ways. My son, they look profitable, they appear that way, but they're not, and let me tell you why. And he does that, he tells us why in verses 32 to 35. He says, do not envy them, for they are an abomination. Verse 32, for the devious person is an abomination to the Lord. The devious person is a person who deviates from the path. They're taking shortcuts. They're finding their own way to their own goals through wickedness and not through the ways of the Lord. And the Lord says, I detest this. Don't think they're getting away with this. Don't think they have my approval. Do not envy the wicked for they are cursed. Verse 33, the Lord's curse is on the house of the wicked. Again, when we see from our perspective the wicked prosper and the righteous suffer, we feel like we're the cursed ones and they're the blessed ones. But again, God says, don't be fooled by what you see. Do not envy the wicked, my son, for they will be disgraced. Verses 34 and 35. Toward the scorners, he is scornful. And finally, but fools get disgrace. The scornful one laughs that you work so hard, that you are honest, that you admit when you fail or when you sin and you suffer whatever consequences, but they laugh now. But our Lord tells us that in the end, they will not be laughing. They will be judged and they will be scorned. This is why we must not envy the wicked, however much we are tempted to do so, because the Lord has promised judgment of the wicked and of their ways. Keeping an eye on this promise of judgment, as we pursue wisdom, we'll keep our feet from falling and slipping, even as Asaph's feet almost slipped. But that's not the only promise here. Alongside the threats to the wicked, there runs along a series of contrasting promises to the wise. On the one hand, while God's curse is on the house of the wicked, verse 33, he blesses that the dwelling of the righteous. Bridges comments on this verse. Many modest cottages that are lived in by a child of Abraham shine more splendidly than the princely palaces of the ungodly, for heirs of glory live there. A family altar of prayer and praise consecrates it as a temple of Jehovah. Promises like clouds of blessings rest over it. God has been honored and God will honor it. Be encouraged to pursue the Lord in your homes. Verses 34 and 35, we're told he gives favor, to the humble he gives favor. The wise will inherit honor. Here, lest we fall into the error of thinking that somehow, whereas the wicked have earned their destruction, we have earned blessing and honor. No, blessing and honor and whatever good things we receive from the Lord here, we're reminded, comes by grace. They earn their judgment. Remember, the wages of sin is death. We haven't earned our blessings at all, by no means. We simply walk the path of blessing by God's grace and having his promises that he has given to his saints. But how can the father be so sure of all of this? How can we be certain that these things are true for us? That God will ultimately judge the wicked and that we, though we feel cursed now, will ultimately know the full blessings that these verses speak of. We can be certain of this because these promises have been secured for us through the work of God's Son. With words almost identical to these promises, Hannah sang and prophesied how through a king, the Lord would bring low the wicked, but would raise up the humble and, quote, make them sit with princes and inherit a seat of honor. From Saul onwards, however, kings came and kings went. They lived, they sinned, they failed Israel, they failed God, and they died. And even Solomon, as great a man as he was and a believer, he failed to bring about the promise of the kings. And all of them failed until the true king arrived, the one born of the Virgin Mary. Mary, the virgin who sang of what her son, the king, would do and what he had done. saying, he has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate. He has filled the hungry with good things. You see, it is Christ who secures these blessings for us. We do not receive these blessings because we've worked for them. We receive them only because Christ has worked for them and he's earned the blessings of wisdom for his people. the Lord of glory lived life in this fallen world. Like no one else, like no one else, he experienced the apparent triumph of the wicked. Think of how the wicked treated him. He was killed by men of violence. He was scorned by men of violence. He who was God died as a slave and a servant. And as the nails were driven through his hands and his feet, his disciples, abandoned him, those whom our Lord dwelled closely with, whom he trusted, betrayed him. But what appeared to be Christ's scorn and defeat and loss was in fact his greatest victory. and the way by which he has been exalted to the Father's right hand. His resurrection and his ascension to glory is our guarantee that though we suffer now, even though we suffer sometimes because we walk on wisdom's path, we will finally be glorified. We will be seated in places of honor because of what he has done. So beloved, as you pursue wisdom in a world that has fallen, in a world that is mad, in a world that is wicked, do so not losing sight of these things. Do so with an eye to God's presence that is with you. Do so with an eye to God's people who are among you. And do so with an eye to his promises which have been secured for you. And know that all of this is certain because of Christ who became a curse for you so that you might be blessed in him. Let's pray. Oh Lord, we thank you that you do not treat us as our sins deserve, for each one of us could be called and listed among the wicked and the unwise and the foolish. But Lord, we thank you for the sovereign grace that you have shown us in changing our hearts and giving us a desire to walk in wisdom's paths, a desire to worship the one who is wisdom incarnate, the Lord Jesus Christ. And we ask that as we continue to persevere now and until the end, that you would keep us in your presence and by your presence, and that you would see us home to glory. We pray these things in Jesus' name, amen.