The Path of Wisdom: Our Relationship with God
Scripture: Proverbs 15:30–16:30, especially 15:31, 32b
The ear that hears the rebukes of life will abide among the wise … he who heeds rebuke gets understanding.
Introduction: From chapters 1–15, Proverbs focuses much attention on the contrast between the righteous and the wicked. Starting at chapter 16 the focus shifts to highlight the contrast between human righteousness and divine righteousness and also to give evidences of how the Lord intervenes in our daily lives, in our everyday thoughts and actions, in our plans and their outcomes. So here we’re brought face-to-face with the God who stands behind this wise instruction and who is working out His providential will in our circumstances.
1. Mind the Gaps (15:30–33). These verses stand about halfway through the book as a reminder about what proverbs is all about, and how to use it. Verse 30 states “The light of the eyes rejoices the heart, and a good report makes the bones healthy.” That reminds us why we study this great book: it’s designed to bring rejoicing and refreshment. Just as the sun after a gloomy spell or just as a good report encourages us, that’s exactly what wisdom is intended to do. The next three verses tell us how, specifically teaching us that there is no divide between what is secular and what is spiritual. We should mind these gaps; we should pay attention to where we mistakenly divide daily life from God’s wisdom.
A. Reproof (15:31, 32b). “The ear that hears the rebukes of life will abide among the wise … he who heeds rebuke gets understanding.” The promise in this verse is that we can gain wisdom and understanding if we subject ourselves to correction.
B. Instruction (15:32a, 33a). “He who disdains instruction despises his own soul … The fear of the LORD is the instruction of wisdom.” To reject God’s input on our lives is to despise ourselves, for what greater counselor to guide us through life than the One who created it?
C. Humility (15:33b). “And before honor is humility.” It’s not natural for us to subject ourselves to reproof and instruction, but humility is a prerequisite to gaining wisdom.
2. Mark the Grace (16:1–30). As we look at God’s proactive involvement with us in the life of wisdom, we can see this clearly from the verses that contain the phrase: “but the LORD.” Here we have God breaking in to our lives and wisdom enables us to see it, to understand it, and to cooperate with it. How does He do this?
A. Wise Speech (16:1). “The preparations of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the LORD.” The contrast in this verse is not between our plans and God’s answers as though it was wrong to plan. The contrast is what belongs to man and what belongs to God. As Christians, we should seek to make decisions prayerfully and wisely, but as the second half of this verse points out, sometimes it simply doesn’t turn out the way we expect. However well we plan, God will overrule to advance His purposes. What an incentive to active trust in God!
B. Discerning Motives (16:2). “All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, but the LORD weighs the spirits.” The first half of this verse is, perhaps, an attack on our complacency. We all tend to think we’re right and can persuade ourselves quite readily about the appropriateness of our motives. But, as the second half of this verse points out, we can never understand those motives fully. God knows the heart and understands exactly why we do everything we do. Not only does God know, but He assesses it and goes on revealing it to us, motivating us to change.
C. Divine Direction (16:9). “A man’s heart plans his way, but the LORD directs his steps.” The steps are the stages of progression along the way. They stay firm because they are watched over and protected by the Lord of wisdom. We cannot achieve the ends we desire; only God can. Again, we must humble ourselves and rely upon divine grace.
D. Revealing Providence (16:33). “The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD.” Casting lots was an Old Testament method of making decisions; doing so was still trusting that God would determine the outcome. God’s providence is such that it overcomes the human circumstance to accomplish His will.
Conclusion: Nothing can thwart the plans of the Lord. Wisdom is depending upon Him completely in all the details of our lives: walking with God, talking to God, about every decision every day—this is the Christian life!
Nelson’s Annual Preacher’s Sourcebook Thomas Nelson Publishers.
