Let's turn in our Bibles to Proverbs chapter 19. Proverbs chapter 19, our text today begins with verse 14, which says, houses and riches are the inheritance of fathers and a prudent wife is from the Lord. Now, if you remember last week, we concluded with verse 13, it had been my intention to consider them together last week, but I didn't get that far. What does verse 13 say? A foolish son is the calamity of his father, and the contentions of a wife are a continual dropping or dripping. And we noted there in verse 13 that the word contentious wife refers to a wife who is a nagging type of wife. She's constantly dissatisfied, she's unhappy, she's critical of her husband, and she's constantly bringing those criticisms out. And that is to a man like the continual dropping of water. Now having said that, we come to the other side of the equation. This is almost in a sense in which verse 14 is the antithesis of the contentious wife. And that antithesis here is the prudent wife. And so as the previous proverb spoke of the contentious and brawling wife, now we hear of the prudent wife. And these two proverbs in that sense go together. As a contentious wife is a great misfortune for a man, so a prudent wife is a great blessing to a man. In fact, she is such a great blessing that she can only be considered as a gift from God himself. Now the nature of the parallelism here, at least for me, was difficult to determine. It could be synthetic. where both lines, that is in verse 14, both lines are dealing with the same thesis or the same subject of gifts that we receive from others. Here are gifts we receive from others. The first line is we receive houses and lands from fathers. The second line continues to develop that thesis by saying, and we receive a prudent wife from the Lord. But it could be antithetic. where the first line is set in contrast to the second. We would understand it then this way. Men can give us certain things, such as an inheritance of houses and lands, but only God can give us a prudent wife. And so the antithesis is there between what men can give and what only God can give. But it could even be comparative. Parallelism, where the first line and the second line compare what comes from man and what comes from God. As a father can give us a house or lands, so, in comparison, the Lord gives us a prudent wife. Or perhaps we could put the comparison in this way. The first one is good, but the second one is better. So exactly how we're to look at this may be just an example of the richness of it. They can be understood in various ways. But I lean toward the antithetic aspect here. That the first line tells us what a father or fathers, a grandfather and fathers can give. But antithesis to that is something that men cannot give. This does not come from fathers or grandfathers, parents. This is something that comes from God. So I would read it this way. Houses and riches are the inheritance of fathers, but a prudent wife is from the Lord. Now the word inheritance in the first line does not need to be understood in the technical term that we think of when someone dies and they pass on an inheritance. Though of course it can mean that, and I think it does include that kind of a thing, but the word inheritance actually simply means a possession. A possession. And so the point is that fathers are able to give us certain possessions. And the two that are mentioned here as examples are pretty important possessions, a house and lands. They can give us that. That is in their power to do that. But the second line brings the antithesis. But this is something that is not in their power to bestow. And in fact, it's not a possession at all. It's a person. And so I would say, translated, but a prudent wife is from the Lord. Here is our contrast. And the phrase from the Lord indicates source, that is, the giver is being spoken of. God is the giver of this gift. What is the gift? A prudent wife. Now the word prudent is used the actual Hebrew word, its root, is used 19 times in Proverbs. So this is a pretty important term. It's translated by five different word groups in Proverbs and in the Old Testament. The first word group is words that speak of wisdom or being wise. The second, knowledge and understanding. The third word group, the idea of being successful or prosperous. The fourth, would be skillful, talented in what they do. And the fifth would be this idea here of prudence or sagacity and wisdom. In Proverbs, it's a very important word, this word prudent throughout the whole book, to depict the life of wisdom, which Proverbs is seeking to inculcate. Here are some examples of its usage in Proverbs. But these examples of usage also help us to see what a prudent wife is like. In the very opening words of the book, Proverbs 1, 1 to 3, we read this. The Proverbs of Solomon, the son of David, king of Israel. To know wisdom and instruction. To perceive the words of understanding. To receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, and judgment and equity. Now in the first or second verse it says to know wisdom. In the third verse it's to receive the instruction of wisdom and that word instruction of wisdom there the word wisdom is our same word translated prudent here. So it's part of the whole life of wisdom that the book of Proverbs is about and so the prudent woman is a wise woman is the idea. She is a woman who seeks to know and has grasped to a significant degree wisdom, instruction, the words of understanding. She receives and understands justice and judgment and equity. That's the prudent wife. Proverbs 10.5 says, he that gathers in summer is a wise son. There's our word wise again, but it's the same Hebrew root translated prudent in the proverb we're considering. He that gathereth in summer is a wise son, but he that sleeps in harvest is a son that causes shame. This use of the word wise there helps us to see another characteristic of the prudent wife is that she gathers in summer. She's a disciplined individual. She understands the times and seasons of life. She is a hard worker. She does not sleep when work needs to be done. She doesn't sleep in the harvest. She doesn't cause shame. This is the prudent wife. Proverbs 10.19, it says this, in the multitude of words, there wanteth not sin, but he that refraineth his lips is wise. There's our word prudent, again, translated wise in that passage. So here's another picture of the prudent wife. She's not given to a multitude of words. She chooses her words carefully. You can study that in Proverbs 31 about her. And she knows how to refrain her lips. Isn't that interesting? The last proverb about the contention wife is her continual complaining and belly aching, as we say, and never satisfied, always criticizing. But the prudent wife refrains her lips. Even if she sees things in her husband that trouble her or are things that maybe irritate her, she refrains her lips. And she thinks of a wiser way to help him overcome those kind of things. Proverbs 16, 20, another place where this word prudent The Hebrew root prudent is used, but it's translated wisely in this one. He that handles a matter wisely shall find good, and whoso trusteth in the Lord, happy is he. There again, we see a picture of the prudent wife. She handles matters wisely. She's thoughtful. She considers. She applies her knowledge. Doesn't just fly off and do this and that, but she handles matters wisely. And therefore she brings good upon herself, upon her husband, upon her children. And then it also is known to say that she would be someone who trusts in the Lord, a woman of faith. Proverbs 16.22, here our word translated prudent in Proverbs 19.14 is translated by the word understanding. Here it is. Understanding is a wellspring of life unto them that have it. But the instruction of fools is folly. So the prudent wife is an understanding woman. She has proper knowledge, proper doctrine, proper truth. And this is a wellspring of life to her and to her family. Picture the prudent wife as being this wellspring of life based on her understanding that is springing up to refresh her husband and bless her children. Proverbs 16.23, the heart of the wise, and there's our word, could be translated the heart of the prudent, but the heart of the wise teaches his mouth and adds learning to his lips. And so the prudent wife is one who teaches her mouth what to say. When she opens her mouth, learning is on her lips, not foolishness. And one more, Proverbs 19.11, here the word is translated discretion. The prudent wife is a woman of discretion. Here is the proverb. The discretion of a man defers his anger. And it is her glory to pass over a transgression. Again, if we apply that in the context of our two proverbs here, the contentious wife was not passing over transgressions or faults, but constantly pointing them out. Here it says, the discretion of this prudent wife defers her anger and she passes over transgressions. Such is the character and the actions of the prudent wife. whose proverbs and of course the others that are spoken about. In fact she is an embodiment or she seeks to be of the life of wisdom set forth in the whole book. No one of course advances to a point where we can say we have it all down and are doing it all just right, but this is the character of the woman in view, an amazing person. The prudent wife is also defined by other passages in scripture. The well-known text of Proverbs 31, 10 to the end of the book is well-known. Who can find a virtuous woman? Virtuous is different than the prudent, but it's the same class. We could say, who can find a prudent woman? Her price is far above rubies. The heart of her husband does safely trust in her so that he will have no need of spoil. She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life. Proverbs 12, 4, which we studied a while ago, a virtuous woman is a crown to her husband, but she that maketh ashamed is rottenness in his bones. And then Proverbs 14, 1, every wise woman, every prudent woman builds her house, but the foolish plucks it down with their hands. So a woman like that doesn't come from a father, a mother, parents, or anyone else. The prudent wife comes as a gift from God. And that's the point of the proverb. It begins by showing us what fathers can give. They can give material wealth. They can give possessions to their children, to their sons and daughters. But one thing they cannot provide for them is a prudent wife. Only the Lord can do that. And so this proverb is based on this fact that a prudent wife is one of life's greatest blessings for a man. And a blessing of this magnitude can only come from who? God himself. This proverb is related to one we studied in the last chapter, 1822. Who so finds a wife finds a good thing. and obtains favor of the Lord. And when we study that, you'll remember context demands us to see the wife here as being a good wife, because it's a good thing you're finding, or a prudent wife, a virtuous woman. You see it's the providence of God that first of all prepares the woman. When she comes to the age of marriage she has a number of years behind her, 20 years let's say. And it's during those years that God has been preparing her and establishing her faith and her character. And then He provides that woman for the man. He's prepared her and then provides, but it's not done then. He's with her also in the marriage to continue to sanctify her and lead her in the life of wisdom. This means that a young man who is unmarried must look to God for her. As we saw in Proverbs 18.22, whoever finds such a wife has found a good thing. And the reason why he has found her is God's favor is upon him. She is a gift to God. Therefore this proverb speaks to young women that they might prepare themselves for marriage to be this kind of woman. And it also speaks to all women who are married. Perhaps they haven't been a prudent wife. It's never too late to start. It's never too late to come to the Lord, repent of sin, imprudence, or foolishness, can ask God to forgive and to make you into the woman he wants you to be, this prudent wife. This should be the goal of every married woman. I, by God's grace, want to be a prudent wife. Lord, sanctify me to that end. Use me to that end. May I be a blessing to my husband and children and thus to the whole world. Oh, how we need prudent wives. We desperately need them today. Amen. We could also say then by way of application and expansion on this, because there's two sides to marriage. If you've been given a prudent husband, that didn't come from fathers or mothers either. Prudent husbands are from the Lord as well. That's something only God can do, something God can make. He prepares and gives a prudent man. Joseph Mencher says this concerning the Proverbs, splendid mansions and extensive estates are often acquired by hereditary right. And those, these are in a certain sense the gift of God. Yet a prudent and discreet wife is more especially from the Lord. She is more valuable, a more valuable possession than wealth and her influence for good, here's what he says, is infinitely more potent and enduring. Infinitely more potent than enduring the good of such a woman. So you may not have houses and lands from fathers. Your possessions might be very small. But if you have a prudent wife, you have got a great person, a great blessing of infinite value in your life. Here's how Matthew Henry puts it. He says no two things here. Number one, a discreet and virtuous wife is a choice gift of God's providence to a man. A wife that is prudent in opposition to one that is contentious, Proverbs 19.13. For though a wife that is continually finding fault may think it is her wit and wisdom to be so, it is really her folly. A prudent wife is meek and quiet and makes the best of everything. If a man has such a wife, let him not ascribe it to the wisdom of his own choice or his own management, for the wisest have been deceived both in and by a woman, but let him ascribe it to the goodness of God who made him a help, meet or fit for him. And perhaps by some hits and turns of providence that seemed casual to us, brought her to him. Every creature is what he makes it, that is God makes it. Happy marriages we are sure are made in heaven. And number two, the prudent wife is more valuable gift than houses and riches, contributes more to the comfort and credit of a man's life and the welfare of his family. It is a greater token of God's favor and about which the divine providence is in a more a special manner conversant. A good estate may be the inheritance of fathers, which by the common direction of providence comes in the course to a man, but no man has a good wife by descent or gift from parents. The prudent wife is from God. And if you have a prudent wife, let God have the glory. Amen. Now let's go to Proverbs 19.15. Slothfulness casteth into a deep sleep, and an idle soul shall hunger. Here we return to another one of the themes of Proverbs, and that is the theme of the foolishness and the ruin of slothfulness. The words slothful and slothfulness together appear about 12 times in the book. Another, therefore, important theme. I think we have synthetic parallelism here, where the second line is introducing a consequence of the first line. So the second line is the consequence of slothfulness. Slothfulness is defined in the first line, or its effect upon a person, and the consequence in real life is then set forth in the second line. Now the word slothfulness, means laziness and so it says slothfulness casteth into a deep sleep and an idle soul shall suffer hunger. There's the first line stating what slothfulness is like and the second line the consequence that comes from being such a person. The word slothfulness means laziness. Laziness The root indicates someone who is at leisure, sort of just laying around, not really doing anything. It speaks of laxity and languor, listlessness. Now the word deep sleep here, we have slothfulness, this laziness, someone's always at leisure, never active and working as they should. chaos, it says, into a deep sleep. It leads someone into the deep sleep. It brings about a deep sleep. According to Yesenius, the word deep sleep comes from a root that means to snore. That's why we have the sense of a deep sleep, because you only start snoring when you're in a deep sleep. However, in the Logical Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew looks at it a little bit differently. It says that it actually comes from a root that means to incapacitate. The word deep sleep. Because when you're in a deep sleep, you're unconscious and incapacitated from really doing anything. This word incapacitated was used in the sense of somebody receiving a stunning blow to the head. In other words, knocking out. Somebody was knocked out by that. They were rendered unconscious and incapacitated by the blow to the head. Which is interesting that if that is the root sense here, then slothfulness is pictured here like a blunt object that smacks a person in the head and renders them or unconscious or incapacitates them. Slothfulness incapacitates a man or a woman. And what's the result of this laziness, this slothfulness that incapacitates someone from doing the work they ought to do? Well, idle soul is parallel to slothful person. That's another way you could define a slothful person, they're an idle soul, they're idle, they're not doing anything. It's like the car, when your transmission's in idle, it's just sitting there. You might have the motor running, but you're not going anywhere. You're out of gear. So to be an idle soul is to be a soul out of gear, not active in doing any profitable work, but indulging the flesh, laying around, and the like. The idle soul, here's the consequence of slothfulness, shall suffer hunger. Not might, but will. And the word idle means to relax. Relax. Just going to relax a little bit. Not any work to do. I'm going to relax. I'm going to let down the hands. Sit down, prop up the legs. By the way, it's not wrong to do that sometimes. In fact, we need to do it. What this means here is this is their life-dominating characteristic. Idle. Indolent. Proverbs 10.4 uses the same word. But it translates it slack. It says, he becomes poor that deals with a slack hand. That's exactly what it's talking about here. The idle soul will suffer hunger. But the second part of Proverbs 10.4 is, but the hand of the diligent maketh rich. Now the word suffer hunger means to lack the basic foods that you need. to be satisfied and healthy. So it means to be hungry, even to starve. And the word here, hunger, is a part of speech where the part, the word you, stands for a whole class of things related. And so suffer hunger here is indicating all of man's basic needs. One of his basic needs is food. And if you are lazy, you will be hungry. You'll lack food. But it also includes and points to clothing, shelter, usually transportation, and all the things that we need, the tools and implements of life that we need to function. And so look at it beyond hunger. Like the proverb we just read, 10-4, you basically become poor. You lack in all the basics of life. So slothfulness leads to poverty is the basic point. And so the proverb is stating graphically that the character quality of laziness is a paralyzing fault. It incapacitates a man or a woman and results in them falling into poverty. Proverbs 23, 31, for the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty. And drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags. The idea of drowsiness is there the same idea of slothfulness. It's interesting that it's connected with drunkenness and gluttony. That brings the poverty and synonymous drowsiness clothes you in rags. John Gill writes, slothful persons are generally sleepy. and are very desirous of sleep and indulge themselves in it. They spend their time, day and night, in sleep and drowsiness and are quite careless and unconcerned about either their temporal or eternal good. See Proverbs 6, 9. And the phrase, an idle soul shall suffer hunger, that is, perish with it, both in a temporal and spiritual sense. An idle person that will not work ought not to eat. And an idle soul, or one that is unconcerned about his soul and the spiritual food of it, shall perish. And then our good commentator Henry says, see here. the evil of a sluggish, slothful disposition. Number one, it stupefies men and makes them senseless and mindless of their own affairs, as they were cast into a deep sleep, dreaming much, but doing nothing. Slothful people doze away their time, bury their talents, live a useless life, and are the unprofitable burdens of the earth. For any service they do when they are awake, they might as well be always asleep. Even their souls are idle in lulled sleep. Their rational powers are chilled and frozen. This is rich. Number two, he says, it impoverishes men and brings them to want. Those that will not labor cannot expect to eat, but must suffer hunger. An idle soul, one that is idle in the affairs of his soul and takes no care or pains to work out his salvation, shall perish for want of that which is necessary to the life and happiness of the soul." End quote. In Proverbs 24, the writer says, I went by the field of the slothful. by the vineyard of the man, void of understanding, and low. It was all grown over with thorns, and nettles had covered the face thereof, and the stone wall thereof was broken down. Then I saw and considered it well. I looked upon it and received instruction. Yea, a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep, So shall thy poverty come as one that traveleth, and thy want as an armed man. Proverbs 24, 30 to 34. Now, as I pointed out to you many times as you look at the Proverbs here, remember that our Lord Jesus Christ lived these to perfection. And do you think the Lord Jesus Christ was a slothful individual? He was walking around in a deep sleep, that he was an idle soul. No, as the perfect man, he was the exact opposite of the lazy, slothful man of Proverbs. Just a couple of verses. John 9, 4, he said, I must work the works of him that sent me. I must work. That was his theme of life. And that should all of us. We are not here for a pleasure tour. We are here to work, to do the work God has given us. Surely because we're human and physical and frail, we need periods of rest. We need refreshment. We need at times that entertainment, but we're here to work. And all of those other things are only to prepare us for the work God has called us to do. He says, I must work the works of him that sent me while it is day. The night cometh when no man can work. Your ability and your time frame to do the work God has given you to do is limited, is the point. He then says this at the very end of his life. He says, I have glorified thee on the earth. Well, how did he do that? How did he glorify God on the earth? Here's how. I have finished the work. that Thou gavest me to do." That's how He glorified Him. He finished the work. And you will be able to say the same. As you come to the end of your life, you can say, Lord, I have glorified Thee on the earth because I have finished the work Thou gavest me to do. You know, we also noted in the quotes, I should note from the quotes of John Gill and Matthew Henry, that this proverb too, to you and I can be applied, not only in the physical labors and works of this life, but in spiritual labor and spiritual work. spiritual slothfulness, that is not praying, not reading your Bible, not attending the fellowship of the saints, not reading good edifying literature, not singing praise to God, not attending to the means of grace the Lord has given in the local church and in our own personal lives. When we are slothful in the spiritual disciplines of life, it will cast us into a deep spiritual sleep. It will incapacitate us. for doing those kind of works that God wants us to do in the spiritual sphere. And so then an idle soul shall suffer hunger. You know, I just don't feel fed. You know, the Christianity really hasn't done much for me. Well, why not? Because we are, you are, I am, when we say that, we've been idle. And therefore we're suffering hunger for our spiritual idleness. So a rich application for your meditation in that regard as well. Here's what Paul says to us. In Ephesians 5, verse 14, wherefore he saith, awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, this deaden state, and Christ shall give thee light. See, then you walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise. The wise man or woman as set forth in Proverbs 19. Let's look at verse 15. Let's look now at verse 16. He that keeps the commandment keepeth his own soul, but he that despiseth his ways shall die. I believe this is the antithetic parallelism. We have in contrast the two lines. And you can see in the translation the but between them is indicative that the translators understood it in the same way. He that keepeth the commandment keeps his own soul. But in contrast to that, in antithesis to that, he that despises ways shall die. Now this parallelism is important for interpretation. We've pointed that out repeatedly. So what are the points of comparison? He that keepeth the commandment in the first line would be parallel with he that despises his ways. In other words, his ways is therefore a reference to God's commandments. He that keeps the commandments keeps his own soul, but he that despises his ways shall die. And so we have that parallel between these two. Keeping the commandment, the antithesis, despising his ways. His ways are revealed, what? In commandments. And then we have the line keeps his own soul. That is set in antithesis with shall die of the second line. So that's our parallelism. Keeping the commandments, notice, is equated with keeping the soul. The two go together. You cannot keep your soul without keeping the commandment. The verb keepeth, Hebrew verb, here is put in a verbal form that indicates ongoing, regular, or continuous activity. He that is keeping, In this ongoing sense, the commandment is keeping his soul. To keep this word, keep means first of all, it's got two basic points of reference. Number one, to guard or protect. Number two, to observe or keep, that is obey. It's interesting that in this we have both senses of the word keep used. He that keeps the commandment means he's that obeys the commandment, observes it. Keeps his soul, there we have the other meaning of protecting it, guarding it from danger. It's interesting how those two go together. Same verb. But those two senses of meaning are found right in the same line. He that obeys the commandment protects his soul is the idea. It's also interesting that the original, in the original language, the definite article the before commandment is not there. He that keeps a commandment It's indefinite, is the idea. And when you couple this with that participle that means keeping, I believe here's the sense. He that keeps the particular commandment of God as it applies to the particular situation you are facing at that moment will guard his soul from the misstep that you might fall into. So this is talking about an ongoing life and understanding what commandment of God applies to this situation. So it's not he that keeps the commandment as some one commandment's in view, but he that keeps the commandment that the situation requires you to keep. To illustrate, you could say you're in this circumstance and God brings this proverb to your mind, I gotta keep the commandment here, Lord, in this situation. Which commandment applies? We could start with the 10 commandments. Is this where I'm calling to honor your name, to keep your Sabbath? Is this where I'm called upon to honor my parents or those in authority over me? Is this where I'm called to not harm my neighbor physically or spiritually? Is this where I'm not the commandment not to lie? to bear false witness? Is this a commandment where I gotta be careful that I don't steal or deprive, defraud someone? You see what I'm saying? You're asking yourself, what commandment applies? We could even make it simpler and take it down to two commandments, the two great commandments of the law. Lord, am I being called upon to keep the commandment to love my neighbor as myself? Or in this situation, is it I'm called upon to love you with all my heart, soul, and strength? So this is what I think the Proverbs telling us. Be thoughtful that in the moment in which you find yourself, you're keeping the commandments of God that apply to that situation. And you know who helps us do that? The Holy Spirit. But he can't help us if we haven't put those words in our minds already. If you know the commandments of God, the Holy Spirit, what commandment applies here? Help me to do it, this is a tough one. Show me what I should do. Here's what Franz Delitzsch says, he says, as in Proverbs 6.23 in Ecclesiastes 8.5, commandment, the word commandment, is here the commandment of God, and thus obligatory, which directs man in every case to do that which is right, and warns him against that which is wrong. So says Professor Delitch. And when a person keeps the appropriate commandment for that circumstance, he thereby keeps or guards his life, his soul. By keeping God's law, you protect and preserve your life, your integrity, your reputation, your usefulness. You keep your life under the protection of God by keeping his commandments. But on the other hand, he that despises his ways shall die. And his ways here, I believe is parallel to the commandments of God. And so his ways equal the commandment of God. And the word ways is often used in that sense because the commandments of God are his ways. What the law of God is, is simply the character of God put into commandments for us. In other words, God is a God of love. God is a God of truth. God is a God of mercy. God is a God who is content. He doesn't covet and so forth. So God's ways are in view. But instead of keeping God's ways, here in this antithesis, the despise them. This word despise means to hold in scorn or disdain something. Hold it in contempt, or as we might say in figurative language, to trample it underfoot. These individuals in this second line disdain the word of God and the law of God. Why would they do such a thing? Because they reject it and they believe that it is not God's word or they believe that they know better than what the Bible has to say. And so they exalt their own understanding and wisdom and morality over the Bible and they trample the Bible underfoot. What will happen to such a person? They'll die. This death could be literal, physical death. By refusing the commandments of God, it might actually lead you into a situation where you die. For example, I don't know if you heard about, I just saw it the other day, there was a, I guess it was a professional hockey player, and his brother were riding their bikes along the road, and somebody in an SUV passed the car in front of them on the right side of the road, in other words, the shoulder, hit both men and killed them, and they believe I haven't heard the final report that the person was drunk. Now, by disobeying the commandments of God and disobeying the sixth commandment and putting the lives of their neighbor in grave danger by driving under the influence, they have committed murder. Maybe it's not first-degree murder, but it's third-degree murder. unlawful taking of a human life. Now, under God's law, they should die for this. They should die for it. They won't, but they should. But in another way, their whole life has died. They've ruined their... They killed these people, but I'm talking now about this proverb. They shall die. Their life is over. It's ruined. by this foolish act, because they despise the law of God. They didn't keep his commandments. I'm getting in my car to drive. I need to have my full faculties. Oh, I had a little bit too much to drink. I must not drive. Something like that. They would have kept their soul. But they despise that. I can do it. I can handle it. I can do it. I know what I'm doing. And their lives were ruined and two people are dead. And so the death could be literal, but it could be spiritual, and it could be existential. What I mean by existential is the quality of life. You ruin your quality of your life by despising God's ways. And so the point of the proverb is that the commands of God set forth the way of life for us, the way of happiness and success. And so those who keep those commands of God, as the circumstances dictate, In other words, they line up the command with the moment, and they keep the command they need to keep. They will experience life, happiness, and success, but those who despise the word of God and act according to their own understanding will experience death, be it in a spiritual, physical, or even existential manner. There's a proverb that talks to this, Proverbs 29, 18, where there is no vision, the people perish. but he that keeps the law, happy is he. The word for vision in that proverb is not some idea of a plan, you have a vision for the future, a plan. It's actually the word for prophetic vision in the Old Testament. In other words, it's a synonym for the word of God. They listen to the law and the prophets. Where the law and the prophets are not present, and people do not keep them, They will perish. But in antithesis, the one who keeps the law, happy as he. He keeps his life and experiences abundant life. Joseph Menscher says, he who keeps the commandments of Jehovah adopts the best course for preserving and prolonging his temporal life and the sure means of saving his immortal soul. But he was regardless of his conduct and cares neither for human nor divine law, renders himself obnoxious, leads to death, both corporal and spiritual. The verb to keep is here employed in two different senses. First, in the sense of to observe or to obey, and then in the sense of to preserve or to save. Keeps his life means keeps himself, including both body and soul. Proverbs, excuse me, Deuteronomy 32, 45 and 47, Moses at the very end of his messages in Deuteronomy, really the end of his life, it says, Moses made an end of speaking all these words to Israel. Well, what words were they? The law, the doctrine, the teaching. And he said unto them, set your hearts unto all the words which I testify among you this day. which you shall command your children to observe to do it, all the words of this law, for this is not a vain thing for you, not an empty thing to do, not a pointless thing to do, vain means empty or pointless, because it, that is, knowing and observing the law is your life. He equates knowing, observing the words of the law with life itself, meaning he equates death with not doing it. He goes on to say, and through this thing, through keeping the law, you'll prolong all the days, your days in the land, where you go over to possess it, over the Jordan to possess it, Deuteronomy 32. Proverbs 19 and verse 17. He that has pity on the poor lends unto the Lord, and that which he hath given will he pay him again. I think we have synthetic parallelism here. He that has pity on the poor, the first line is equivalent to he which, that which he has given in the second. But the development of the theme is in these words. that gives to the poor lends to the Lord, and the consequence will be for that act that God will repay you again. It's not that the poor man will pay you, but the Lord to whom you lend it will pay you. To have pity on the poor means to be gracious to them, to be kind and compassionate. The poor is an individual here of someone who is weak and powerless, in a low condition financially. Its main use in Proverbs is of those who are in great financial distress. Though it be momentary or continuous, refers to someone who is poor and destitute. And someone who sees someone in that situation, in great financial material need, and has pity on them, meaning to have pity on them means you give them a gift or a loan, a poor loan, which the Old Testament speaks of in Deuteronomy 15, seven to 11. You give to them to help them your lending to the Lord. And this verb lending should be understood, I think, in the context of the Old Testament requirement of lending to the poor without interest and without inflexible demands of any kind. That's where the word lendeth comes into the picture here. And so we would think that in this situation there's a poor man And you have the resources to give him a charitable loan, no interest at all. You have no intention of gaining from this because the idea of interest or usury in the Bible sense is that you will then seek to make a profit off of their poverty. And that is condemned. It's clearly taught in the Old Testament that when the poor is in need, you're to give them a financial give them financial help by means of a loan. It doesn't mean you can't give them an outright gift, but there's a reason why in some circumstances it would be better to give them a loan than to give them a gift. And I don't have time to develop that, but if you wanna go to it in sermon audio, my sermon on Deuteronomy 15, seven through 11, develops this at length. But the point here is that If you give a loan to the poor, in a sense, you're actually lending to the Lord. In other words, he's going to take up that loan as a personal responsibility to repay. And so that's what the next line says. And that which he has given, he'll pay him again. That which you have given as a loan or a gift, both are acceptable, Wisdom will show which should be given, but the first line looks at the situation where a loan was given, though I think loan again can stand for just an outright gift as well. But what you have given to this poor person when you showed pity on them, God says to you, I will make it good. I'll repay it to you. You will not lose from this. Oh, I can't give to this needy brother or sister. Because if I do, then I'm going to lose. Now, by the way, you should not give if you don't have the resources to give. The Bible always says we give according to our need, excuse me, according to what we have, not what we don't have. This is not saying if you have a bill to pay of $1,000, And you have $1,200 on you and someone is in great need that you should just give them $600 and then not be able to pay your own bill. No, no, because then now you are a needy person that someone, God doesn't work that way. But if you have an extra 200 and you can spare it, give it is the point. God will repay. The Lord takes it upon himself. And the repaying that he gives here, you know, probably has the initial, at least, sense that we would grasp that it's monetary. But you know, there's something else he pays. It's joy. Because what does the Bible say? What's more blessed, what's more joyous? To give than to receive. And so God repays us in a two-fold way. He gives us joy. He gives us that blessing of giving and helping. You know the feeling when someone has been genuinely in need and you of your own volition, not with state mandated poverty programs where they take whatever they want for their own purposes, but you of your own heart and generosity have given to help somebody, you are blessed by that. There's a joy in that. But God, I think the passage is saying even more than that. He'll make sure that you do not suffer financially from that. And so the point of the proverb is that having pity on the poor is well-pleasing to God. And he rewards the giving of gifts and loans by repaying the giver. Proverbs 11, 24, there is he that scattereth and yet increases, and there's he that withholds more than his meat, but attends to poverty. The liberal or generous soul shall be made fat. And he that waters shall be watered also himself. It says in Proverbs 28, 27, he that gives to the poor shall not lack. Well, they won't lack because God will repay. But the second part of that proverb, but he that hides his eye shall have many a curse. Here's what Clark says, Adam Clark, on this phrase, lend it to the Lord. He says, oh, what a word is this? God makes himself debtor for everything that is given to the poor. Who would not advance much upon such credit? God will pay it again. And in no case has he ever forfeited his word. The New Testament embodies the teaching of this proverb in numerous texts. Its emphasis is on showing mercy and giving help to fellow Christians who are in poverty. It doesn't say we should not help non-Christians, but it's interesting, if you read the New Testament, its main emphasis is on showing mercy to fellow Christians. James 2, 15 to 16, if a brother or sister be naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you say unto them, depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled, notwithstanding you give them not those things which are needful to the body, What doth it profit? One more proverb today, Proverbs 19, 18. Chasten thy son while there is hope and let not thy soul spare for his crying. Notice there's a lot in Proverbs about family life. We've been looking a lot about husbands and wives. We also looked about just a few proverbs ago, verse 13, a foolish son being the calamity of the father. Well, here is a proverb that shows how we can avoid that calamity. Here's a proverb on parental training. And there are many such proverbs in this book that deal with the theme of the training and discipline of our children. Because what it says, chasten thy son while there is hope, and let not thy soul spare for his crying. Now the proverb can be construed, according to the synthetic parallelism, where the second line further develops the theme of the first. How? By warning against a common stumbling block to parental discipline. So it's dealing with a theme, okay? Chasing your son while there's hope, and along this same theme, don't be dissuaded from doing the work by emotions. where you don't want to see the child cry or something like that. It can also be understood antithetically in that the two lines would present opposite approaches to discipline. One is based on correction and training and chastening. The other is based on you know, I want the child to be happy and let them have their own way. I don't want to have to spank them or something like that. And so the one is based in wisdom, the first one, the other is based in human emotions or like the proverb we just saw, despising God's way of parental training and doing it according to your feelings, how you feel about parenting and what you think this will do for the child. And so it's chastened thy son, let not thy soul spare, while there is hope for his crying. They're the lines as they line up. The verb chasten here means, first of all, it is an imperative, by the way, there's not that many imperatives in Proverbs, it's more statements of wisdom and instruction. This is actually a command. This is a biblical command to parents, which by the way, we just saw, he that keeps the commandment, keeps his way. So if you keep this commandment as a parent, you're going to keep your way. You're going to keep your child. It comes from a root, interestingly, the Hebrew root for the word chason means to restrain or set limits. Parenting is about restraining the evil, the natural fallen nature in a child that would give itself out in selfishness of every degree and restraining that and setting necessary limits for them. Children need limits. That's the basic meaning of the word chastened. And so it has the idea then by extension through the senses of discipline and correction and chastening. According to Gesinius in his Hebrew lexicon, he says the word chastise essentially means to correct. to correct. So something's wrong, so you correct it. In all of its uses, it has this idea of correction. And that correction can be of one or two ways. Number one, by blows or stripes. Or number two, by words. Then the sense would be admonishment, rebuke, instruction. This particular word, chasten, is used 41 times in the Old Testament. Here's how it's translated in other passages. It's translated by chastise 21 times, instruct eight times, correct seven times, teach two times, reform one time, reprove one time, and punish one time. It's also used in a number of Proverbs. here and chapter 9, verse 7, 29, 17, and 19, and 30, 1, 1. I believe we should conclude that the word chastise here means to correct, to correct them. And it includes both those means. What are those means? Proverbs 29, 15, the rod and reproof. give wisdom, but a child left to himself brings his mother to shame. Now, that's interesting, this left to himself means no limits have been set for the child. They have not been restrained. See, that's what chastisement and correction is, the setting of limits. The rod and reproof give wisdom, but a child who is given no limits, not restrained in any way, brings his mother to shame. But the rod would be corporal punishment, reproof would be verbal reproof, instruction and correction. Now in Proverbs, where do you think the emphasis is? Well, it's very clearly on verbal instruction. The emphasis of correction in Proverbs across the board, in other words, in all of the Proverbs is on verbal correction, verbal reproof, verbal instruction. However, the rod is present. It is recognized as a necessary complement to verbal incorrection. You cannot train a child with just the rod. And parents who do make a mess of it. It's not chastisement, it's something else. It's parents expressing their anger and frustration. So remember, parents, that it is verbal correction, verbal instruction that is the emphasis of Proverbs. However, as I just said, the rod is present as a necessary complement to verbal correction, or we might say an important means of enforcing the verbal instruction. Foolishness is bound in the heart of the child, but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him. It says, withhold not correction from a child, for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die. Thou shalt beat him with the rod and shall deliver his soul from hell. Now, the use of the word beat here in our English language today is very harsh as we read it. But the English word itself, as Webster defined it around in 1828, did not mean to beat as we think with brutal strokes. As he defined it, it meant to touch or hit with some force, some kind of force. That force can be light or stronger depending on the circumstances. And when we're talking about child discipline, we're not talking about brutal beating at all. It's impossible. It would mean to touch or hit with some force. He goes on to say, either with the hand or an instrument. And so the word that we use today and understand within the context of parental love and restraint, not physical abuse, is spank. And so you could say, withhold not correction from a child, for if you spank them with a rod or with a stick, he will not die. you shall spank him and deliver his soul from hell. Now the Hebrew word for hope here, chasing your son while there's hope, is the idea of striving toward a particular goal with an expectation of reaching the goal. And it says here that we're to strive to correct them And what would be the hope we're seeking? Well, that they would be corrected, reformed, instructed, made wise. Do this chastening while there's hope. While there is a good reason to expect success, that you'll reach the goal of training your child in the ways of wisdom. The meaning is you should correct your son or daughter with the hope and expectation that it will yield the desired results. You see, parental discipline through correction, which is the reproof and rod, is God's appointed means of training. And so if His means are employed, what can you look for? What is your hope? It'll be successful because it's God's way. Like the proverb says above, he that does his ways, he that despises his ways, 16 will die. But he that follows his ways will keep his soul and keep the child's soul. And so this, this, uh, word while is important to keep in mind. It's temporal. It suggests that there's a time in a child's life when you can expect results, good results from correction. But that time has its limits. It's only for a while. The early years of a child's life are the time when parental training and discipline is most effective. It's in the formative years of his or her life, I don't know, say from age two when they really begin to express their will, not that there's no training before, but where this rot and reproof really come into play is going to be starting sometime around two and lasting through its most effective time through probably age twelve. In other words, at two, it's not as effective. At 12, it's not as effective. But there are the ranges. And in the middle there is, boy, the best opportunity for molding the character and teaching your children the way of life. And if you neglect that opportune time, you cannot expect that your training will be successful. You say you start when you're about nine or 10. You just start then. Probably too late. Not absolutely too late, but your success will be limited. As they say, mold the clay when it's soft. For once it hardens, it's too late to put it in the shape you want it. So think of your children as soft clay. And there's a period of time when you can mold them in the right way. You can train them in self-restraint. You can train them in wisdom. Mold the child when the clay is soft, because after it hardens, can't do too much with it. And let not your soul spare for his crying. Now there's some debate over the meaning of this. My time is, I'm not gonna go into all of this. I think what we understand, how I understand this here, is do the work of chastening. But when you get in the middle of that work, you're going to find out your child is not going to be happy about that, being restrained, being reproved, being using the rod. They might cry. What parent likes to see their child cry? I don't. I always found the hardest thing about discipline was that very point. They're crying in the tears. Oh, you don't want to make them cry. But the point is here, don't spare for their crying. Don't let emotions take over. Understand they're not going to die through this, like that one proverb said. The crying here is the child's response to being denied. But don't you let that crying keep you from doing the chastising. As Adam Clark says, this is a hard precept for a parent. Nothing affects the heart of a parent so much as a child's cries and tears. But it is better that the child may be caused to cry when the correction may be helpful to his soul than that the parent should cry afterward when the child has grown to a man's estate and his evil habits are sealed for life. So the point of the proverb is to exhort parents to discipline, to correct and train their children when they are young, when they may expect good results from the training. And in pursuing their duty, even at times when it seems like it's not working, They must not let anything dissuade them from the course. Not a feeling of pity for the child when he needs corrected, nor the cries of a child while he's being corrected. Gill says, chasten thy son while there's hope. That is, of guiding and keeping him in the right way as long as corrections are or can be hoped to be of use. while in a state of infancy, childhood and youth, while under parental government, and before habits and sin grow strong, and the case becomes desperate, and he's hardened, and proof against all instruction and discipline. and let not thy soul spare for his crying. This means the noise he makes, the tears he sheds, the entreaties he uses to keep off the rod. Let not a foolish pity and tenderness prevail to lay it aside on account the consequence of which may be bad to parent and child. And then in conclusion, one more, Matthew Henry. Number one, he says, do not say that it is all in good time to correct them. No, as soon as ever there appears a corrupt disposition in them, check it immediately before it gets head and takes root and is hardened into a habit. Chasten thy son while there's hope, for perhaps if he be let alone a while, he will be past hope. And a much greater chastening will not do that which now a less would affect. It is easiest plucking up weeds as soon as they spring up. And the bullock that is designed for the yoke should be betimes accustomed to it. And number two, do not say that it's a pity to correct them and that because they cry and beg to be forgiven, you cannot find it in your heart to do it. If the point can be gained without correction, well and good. But if you find, as it often proves, that you're forgiving them once, upon a dissembled repentance and promise of amendment, does but embolden them to offend again, especially if it be a thing that is in itself sinful, such as lying, swearing, stealing, or the like. In such a case, put on resolution, and let not thy soul spare for his crying. It is better that he should cry under thy rod than under the sword of the magistrate, or which is more fearful, that of divine vengeance." End quote from Henry. So here's our Proverbs for the day. Houses and riches are the inheritance of fathers, and a prudent wife is from the Lord. Slothfulness casteth into a deep sleep, and an idle soul shall suffer hunger. He that keeps the commandments keeps his own soul, but he that despises his ways shall die. He that has pity upon the poor lends unto the Lord, and that which he hath given will he pay him again. Chasten thy son while there is hope and let not thy soul spare for his crying. Let's pray. Thank you Lord for the way of wisdom thou has taught us in thy word and particularly in the book of Proverbs. Lord as we take these Proverbs today may we rejoice in the teaching we see here concerning wives and parenting. May we ponder the great dangers of idleness and slothfulness and the terrible results that come from it. May we also remember that by keeping your commandments we find life and blessing and joy and peace. Help us all to remember the need to have pity on the poor, knowing that if we are able to give, you will see to it that we are not in any way harmed financially by such pity and charity, and then again on the chastening of children, the training there. Bless us, we pray, in Jesus' name, amen.