Proverbs 22:17-29

Welcome to God's Word for You, a ministry of Sharon RPC Church in Morning Sun, Iowa. Check us out online at www.sharonrpc.org. We pray that this message will be a blessing to you and that the Lord will use it to transform your faith and your life. Hey, hey, good morning. Good morning. Welcome to Coffee and Devotions. This is where every day we get together, we get into God's Word, and we grow in our love for the Lord together. And this year, 2021, we'll make it through all the wisdom literature. Well, this morning we're at Proverbs chapter 22, verses 17 through 29.
Do me a favor, if this is helpful to you, could you hit a like button, the like button down there, or send it off to a friend. Let other people know that this is helpful to you. It just helps with the algorithms on Facebook and YouTube and stuff, but it also is a good way to spread the word that there's a resource available to people for a daily time to be in God's Word.
Why don't we go ahead and have some coffee. We'll pray and we'll get into God's Word together. Let's pray. Oh, Father, we thank you so much for this day. We thank you for your word, and we thank you for the blessing it is to have your word in a language that we can understand. We thank you for the opportunity to listen to you, the king of the universe, instruct us mere mortals. In Jesus's name we pray, amen.
All right, here we go. Proverbs chapter 22, beginning at verse 17. Incline your ear and hear the words of the wise. Apply and apply your heart to my knowledge." Listen up. Listen up. Listen with your ears and be attentive with your heart that you can actually do what I'm about to say. This is what Jesus calls people to do, right? Don't just be hearers of God's word, but doers of them.
For it is a pleasant thing if you keep with them within you. Let them be fixed upon your lips. These words, this knowledge is a pleasant thing to keep within you. Psalm 119, your word I have hidden in my heart that I might not sin against you. As we meditate and memorize God's word, we store it away in our souls. As one minister just told me not too long ago, he said, memorizing God's word is like cash in your wallet. You never know when you're going to need it, but when you do, you're going to be glad you had it. Memorize, meditate on God's words, store it away in your heart so that your trust may be in the Lord.
I have instructed you today, even you. What is this for? That you may trust, that your trust may be in Yahweh, in Jehovah, in the one true and living God. We listen to His word, we fix it on our mouths, we bury it in our hearts that we might remember He is the Lord. Have I not written to you excellent things of counsel and knowledge that I may make you known, that I may make You know the certainty of the words of truth, that you may answer words of truth to those who sinned to you." What is this saying? This is again the king talking to his son here and he's telling him, he's saying, I've given you these words of truth. I've given you this wisdom. I've given you these Proverbs.
You need to bury it in your mind, keep it in your heart, put it on your lips, that you may be able to answer back. When people need wisdom from you, you'll be able to have a storehouse, a barn, a grain bin full of knowledge and wisdom that you can then pull out and give to others.
And these won't just be words of your own speculation, but words of truth. What does Jesus pray for his disciples? Father, sanctify them by the truth. Your word is truth. Verse 22. Do not rob the poor because he is poor, nor oppress the afflicted at the gate, for the Lord will plead their cause and plunder the souls of those who plunder them. Just because in God's providence he has made someone poor does not give us a right to then oppress that person Or when it says here, nor oppress the afflicted at the gate. This is the place of judgment where the elders meet. And he's saying when you go to that place, when you go into the courthouse, when you sit in the jury box, when you're sitting in a place of judgment, do not be those who afflict, who pervert justice. Why? Because God himself is on their side. God is a God of justice and righteousness. He weighs with perfect scales. Verse 24 and 25.
Make no friendship with an angry man, and with a furious man do not go, lest you learn his ways and set a snare for your soul. Hey son, be careful. Hey buddy, be careful. You don't know what type of problems you're going to get into if you get in He had a friendship with an angry dude.
This is why in the book of Colossians, God tells us, do not be deceived. Bad company corrupts good morals. Even though you might have been a patient person, even though you might have been a loving person, your friends are going to rub off on you. And if you make friends and you become best buddies with a guy who is quick to anger and he's always ready for blows, you know, he's a strong man. Be careful.
Be careful because that's the type of dude that's going to get you in trouble. Let's go ahead and go to verse 26 and 27. Do not be one of those who shakes hands in a pledge, one of those who is surety for debts. If you have nothing with which to pay, why should you take away your bed from under you? I did it again. We did this yesterday and I forgot to do it again. There's the words. Don't shake your hands in a pledge. Don't co-sign on a loan. If you don't have the money to give away to someone, don't become a co-signer for them. Why should you give away your bed? Why should you underwrite your house or your car or your next paycheck? when you don't even have the money to pay.
I remember when my dad, I had just gotten my driver's license and my dad gave me a really good piece of advice. There was a guy at the shop and he had a brand new Mercedes. It was a beautiful car and he gave me the keys and I was so excited to drive this thing. I was a young and dumb 18 year old and I wanted to drive this car and my dad said, hey Brian, you can't afford the wheels on that car. And I was like, oh, yeah, you're right.
The reality is that don't take on more than you can actually pay, even if it's something borrowed. And that's another day for another proverb at a different time. But especially when you're making a loan or cosigning for someone, you better make sure that you're just able to give it away. And here he's saying it's wise just not to do that at all.
Verse 28, do not remove the ancient landmark which your fathers have set. The ancient landmark, meaning where the boundary lines are. Out in Kansas, this is a thing, you know, you might be tempted when you're putting up the gate for the cattle to just move it over a little bit on your buddy's land. Or here in Iowa, you know, there used to be fence rows, but a lot of the trees have been cut down and and the prairie land is just wide open and there are places where there's a couple hundred acres that are open and a farmer might be tempted just to plant one or two rows over into his neighbor's field. Just moving the ancient boundary line. This is why there are deeds that say from this point to this point to this point this is this person's property and here it's saying don't remove the ancient boundary lines. Verse 29, do you see a man who excels in his work? He will stand before kings. He will not stand before unknown men.
Have a skill and work with all your might, with the time that God has given you, without neglecting your soul or your family, to do the best job you possibly can be in that field. And this is largely based on providence, but I'm going to tell you, if you are flipping burgers at McDonald's, figure out how to be the best person on the floor doing it.
If you are doing computer design and you're doing graphics work, become the best graphics designer you can. If you are a programmer, study and work hard to become the best programmer you can. If you are a mother, think and study and do all you can to be a good mother. If you are a pastor, I love that our church sends me to go and to do conferences and to learn how to be a better pastor. Yes, I need to be a better pastor. Obviously, you know that. But those who work hard, those who become skilled craftsmen stand before kings. They're not the unknown, but people take notice of those who are good at their trade.
Well, let's go ahead and pray. Father, we thank you so much for this day and for the blessing it is. to be your children. Lord, we pray that you would make us wise. We pray that your word would be deep in our hearts and that you would conform us more and more to the image of Jesus. And it's in his name we pray. Amen. Well, may God bless you today. May you walk in the joy and peace of Jesus Christ. And I'll catch you tomorrow. Bye.
Thanks for listening to this week's message from God's Word for You, a ministry of Sharon R.P. Church in rural southeast Iowa. We pray that the message would be used by God to transform your faith in your life this week. If you'd like to get more information about us, feel free to go to the website, SharonRPC.org. We'd love to invite you to worship with us. Our worship time is 10 a.m. every Sunday at 25204 160th Avenue, Morning Sun, Iowa, 52640. May God richly bless you this week.