The Lion of the Tribe of Judah

Good evening, good evening, good evening. This is where every day we get together. We get into God's word and we grow in our love for the Lord together. So great to have you tonight. We're at Proverbs chapter 30 verses 24 through 33. Let's pray and we'll get into God's word. Father, we thank you for this day. We thank you for your word and we pray that you would care for us, watch over us, bless us and teach us in Jesus' name, amen. Well, I'm gonna go ahead and have some coffee and we're gonna go into Proverbs chapter 30 verses 24 through 33. I hope you got your Bible ready. Here we go.
There are four things which are little on the earth, but they are exceedingly wise. The ants aren't a people, not strong, yet they prepare their food in the summer. The rock badgers are a feeble folk, yet they make their homes in the crags. The locusts have no king, Yet they all advance in ranks. The spider skillfully grasps with its hands, and it is in king's palaces. the four different creatures it wants to talk to us about. First is the ant, right? The ant is wise.
Why? Because the ant is able to go out and is able to store up all throughout the spring, summer, and fall, and in the wintertime has plenty of food to store. What is the wisdom to be had there? You know, it might be good to save. My wife and I were just talking about that today, about how we could be saving better. There's always opportunities to save our income. And here God is saying, go look to the end.
The next is the rock badgers, right? It calls them a feeble folk, right? Even though they might be weak and small, they make their house among the crags on the cliffs in the rocks. What is the wisdom there? Even the rock badger knows that they need to have a firm foundation for their home, a safe place to go, a refuge, if you might even go that far. And we likewise are told to have a refuge. We're told that Jesus Christ is our rock. In Psalm 446, we cry out saying that we are the ones who trust in God, who is our refuge, our strong tower, our fortress. And so we likewise ought to build our house upon the rock, not upon the sand.
Fourth, or thirdly, is the locusts, right? The locusts don't have their kings, and yet they move in ranks. They have leadership. They know how to follow. There is wisdom in that. And lastly here, it says the spider skillfully grasps with his hands. There's some argument amongst translators here.
Is this the spider or is it the lizard? I like to imagine it that it's a lizard, but maybe you're in the north or something, you don't have very many lizards. And here in Iowa, we don't have a ton of lizards, but growing up in Southern California, we did. And I remember growing up and seeing the lizards as they climbed along the walls and as they would get into backyards and be in places that you didn't really want them to be.
And if you imagine going to Israel, And during the time that Solomon is writing this, or Agur and the wisdom that he's giving here is writing this, there's no windows. They don't have double-paned glass. And so even though the king has a spotless palace, you might still find a lizard who would sneak his way in, nimble, quiet, able to get in places. Verses 29 through 31.
There are three things which are majestic in pace, yes four of which are stately in walk. A lion, which is mighty among the beasts, and does not turn away from any. A greyhound, a male goat also, and a king whose troops are with him. So three things, majestic and pace, four which are stately and walk, and then it goes on with those. The first is the greyhound, the lion, the male goat, and lastly, the king. The king walks with his head up, has a stately pace.
It's like the lion walking along and it doesn't fear anyone else. It's the king of the jungle or the savanna. It knows and it rules. The greyhound or the strong hound is able to walk and not be fearful. We think of hounds today as pets, but these were hunting dogs. These were dogs that were trained to sniff and to go and to attack. They were strong animals also. The male goat. Again, we might not think of a male goat, but I'm telling you, you meet a goat head to head, you meet a ram face to face, and you better be ready if it wants to charge at you. Because it's going to have the courage and the power to do so, and you better be ready. If you're going to mess with a king, you better be ready.
Verses 32 and 33. If you have been foolish in exalting yourself, or if you have devised evil, put your hand on your mouth. For as the churning of milk produces butter, and the wringing of the nose produces blood, so the forcing of wrath produces strife. If you've been foolish, stop. That's exactly what verse 32 says, right? If you've been foolish in exalting yourself, or if you have devised evil, put your hand over your mouth, be ashamed of it, turn away from it, realize what you've done is wrong because you know what's going to happen if you've exalted yourself in a position and you're not able to back up what you said.
You're in for a world of hurt. See, this is the point that Jesus tries to make as well. It's that those who exalt themselves are not the ones who will get glory, but it's those who humble themselves. It's those who are in low positions. It's the meek who will inherit the earth. It's not the proud, but it's those who have the right to the throne. Those who have the right to the authority that they wield.
Well, let's go ahead and pray. Father, we thank you so much for our rock, Jesus Christ. We thank you that he is our lion of the tribe of Judah and that he is the one who is able to stand with his head high. He is able to know that his throne has been established in righteousness. Thank you for giving us such a king. Lord, we pray that we would be humble and that we would be wise, in Jesus's name, amen. Well, may the Lord give you a great night's sleep tonight, and I'll see you tomorrow, bye.