Proverbs 3:1-12

Lest We Forget

Proverbs 3:1

INTRODUCTORY WORDS

The Book of Proverbs speaks several times of the danger of forgetting God and His Commandments. We are firmly convinced that herein is a danger that we all need to consider with care. We will consider several warnings about forgetting, that are to be found in Deuteronomy and in the Psalms.

1. Forget not His Covenant (Deuteronomy 4:23). God never forgets His pledges to His people. It is interesting to study His Covenant to Abraham concerning his seed. Abraham may often have despaired, and thought himself forgotten, but in the end all was fulfilled.

Deuteronomy 4:31 emphasizes that God will not forget His Covenant which He sware unto their fathers, that He would bring them back. For this cause we are today seeing God turning once more toward His people.

2. Forget not His Commandments (Deuteronomy 8:11). How true to life is the Word of God. He says, "Lest when thou hast eaten and art full, and hast built goodly houses," etc., etc., then thy heart be lifted up and thou forget the Lord thy God.

In the times of need we draw nigh to God; then, in the times of our bounty, we often become self-centered, and glory in the works of our own hands, saying, "My power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth."

3. Forget not wherein we sinned (Deuteronomy 9:7). After we have sinned, repented, and been forgiven, we sometimes fail to remember the stumblingblock where we left the Lord. God would remind us of our sins lest we forget, and fall again at the same place.

Sin number one was bad enough; but to sin again in the same way demonstrates a rebellious and forgetful spirit.

4. Forget not His works (Psalms 78:7). How wonderful are the works of God, which He has wrought in our behalf! He had done much for Israel. And He commanded Israel that they should tell His wondrous doings unto their children, that they should not forget the Lord and His wonderful works.

Israel, however, soon failed to remember God's deliverances and His wondrous blessings, which He had wrought for them. They kept not His Covenant, they refused to walk in His Law, and they "forgat His works, and His wonders that He had shewed them." They even tempted the Lord their God in their hearts; they were lead away by their lusts; they turned back, and limited the Holy One of Israel; yea; they tempted God and dealt unfaithfully.

5. Forget not His benefits (Psalms 103:1). Instead of forgetting, we are called upon to bless the Lord. Here is the way our Psalm reads: "Bless the Lord, O ray soul, and forget not all His benefits." Then the Psalmist goes on to enumerate his benefits.

1. "Who forgiveth all thine iniquities."

2. "Who healeth all thy diseases."

3. "Who redeemeth thy life from destruction."

4. "Who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies."

5. "Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things."

6. Who reneweth thy youth as the eagle's.

7. Who executeth righteousness, and judgment for the oppressed.

6. Forget not Jerusalem (Psalms 137:1). There are some who will immediately object that we have no call to remember Jerusalem. Well, the Psalmist did not so feel about it. He said, "If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning. If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth."

We are just as sure that God has not forgotten Jerusalem. He has kept her in His heart during all of the days of her wanderings, and He will yet remember her with mercies.

Let us, then, also pray for Jerusalem, for, "They shall prosper that love thee."

I. THE BLESSING OF KEEPING HIS LAW (Proverbs 3:1)

1. The admonition, "Forget not My Law." The word "Law" may, by some, be ruled out of this dispensation of grace. And so far as salvation by the works of the Law is concerned, it has no place, and never did have a place in the economy of God. We are saved by grace, through faith, and not of works.

We suggest, however, that the word "Law" in our text has a very wide significance. It means the words of God covering the will of God, given for our good. His "Law" includes not only rules of conduct, but also rules covering every phase of life.

2. The Call: Let thine heart keep My Commandments. God asks for more than a mere legal keeping of His Law. He wants a heartfelt and heart-appreciative keeping. It is not enough to do His will; but, in all we do, to do heartily; to do it with joy and gladness. The reason for this part of God's Word is made known in the next statement, Deuteronomy 4:2 :

3. The promise: "For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee." Now we learn how beneficent are the laws and Commandments of our God. God does not command in order to display His authority. He does not demand as a demigod would demand, only for his own good. He makes His laws and gives His commands for the good of His people.

Think of the blessings which obedience brings:

(1) There is length of days and long life. This is one of the blessings of obedience. It is not merely that the keeping of God's laws will cause God to work a miracle in granting long life to the obedient as a reward; but also that obedience to His laws has a natural assurance of long life. We, personally, have no doubt that it is physically beneficial to obey God, and that God, in making laws, accordingly had our length of days in mind.

(2) There is peace. Disobedience to God's laws brings misery and unhappiness. Obedience brings length of days and peace, withal.

Let us, therefore, follow the things that make for peace.

II. A DELIGHTFUL ORNAMENT FOR THE NECK (Proverbs 3:3)

1. The twin sisters, mercy and truth. These two graces will form a chain of greatest price, and will prove an ornament in which God will, Himself, rejoice.

Mercy is that grace in life that shows kindness even to the undeserving. If we see mercy forsaking us, and leaving us filled with harshness and bitterness, let us beware.

Truth is the opposite of error. Christ said "I am the Truth." Some men live in so much of error that they cry, like Pilate, "What is truth?" If we follow after the spirit of antichrist, we will find that truth will forsake us, and God will give us over to the believing of a lie.

2. Mercy and truth should adorn our necks and warm our hearts. We should bind them to us, and write them on the tables of our hearts. If we find ourselves afraid of truth, and shunning mercy, we are to be pitied, indeed.

In this word the Proverbs are in line with many Scriptures. Read Second and Third John, and you will discover how vital truth is to the saint. John writes, "I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth." In First John we are taught, in chapter 4, how to discern between the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. Then in chapter 3, we read: "Hereby we know that we are of the truth."

It is the same with mercy. If we have the spirit of God we will have the spirit of mercy. Mercy is also set forth in John's Epistle when he speaks of our shutting up our bowels of compassion.

James tells us that the wisdom from above is full of mercy. He also tells us, "For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment."

3. Truth and mercy will cause us to find favor in both the sight of God and of men. Even men of the world, and, above all, men of God, will praise those who walk after truth and follow after mercy. God will grant favor to such, for He is Mercy and He is Truth, Following error and showing judgment may give us a sway among devil-deluded men, but not so with true men and with God, where favor is most worth while.

III. A CALL TO PERFECT TRUST (Proverbs 3:5)

1. A call to heartfelt trust. Here, hidden away in the Book of Proverbs, we have found a very vital statement of evangelical faith. Faith is trust. Faith is more than trust, it is heartfelt trust.

The Holy Spirit emphasized this when He said to the eunuch, "If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest." The Holy Spirit said a similar thing when he wrote by Paul, "For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness." The only difference is that in Proverbs the word "trust" is used, while in the New Testament the word is "believe."

In Bible terminology, faith, trust, and believe, all are the expressions of a heart affiance, and confidence that brings salvation.

2. A call to trust in the Lord. Proverbs does not merely say, "Trust with all thy heart," but it says, "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart." It is not a trust in man, nor a trust in the statement of creed; it is trust in the Lord. The Lord is worthy of trust because He is ever true; and He is Truth. He is worthy of trust because He is faithful to all of His promises. He never fails His own. He is worthy of trust because He is, Himself, our Sacrifice for sin, our Saviour.

3. A call to trust, as against leaning to our own understanding. Be we as wise as Solomon, or be we as well versed in knowledge as he, we dare not set our own understanding up against anything that God has spoken.

Take the story of creation as it is written, and believe God against the words of any man. If you ask what is the province of our mind, we reply it is for this, that it may be renewed by the Holy Ghost.

Trust in the Lord and lean upon Him, and not upon our own understanding.

IV. THE KEY TO DIVINE GUIDANCE (Proverbs 3:6)

1.Deuteronomy 4:6; Deuteronomy 4:6 is a postscript to Deuteronomy 4:5.Deuteronomy 4:5; Deuteronomy 4:5 said, "Lean not unto thine own understanding"; Deuteronomy 4:6 says, "In all thy ways acknowledge Him." Surely if we are leaning upon our own wisdom, or upon our own understanding, we will not acknowledge Him.

Here is the source of many life failures. We begin early to assert our own "think-sos," and "feel-sos," against our parents'; and, later on, we take up the same attitude against our God.

How often do some little two-year-olds, resent the will of their parents! Some will even slap their mother, or make a drive at their father.

This is sadly true in adults, many of them; they will not hear the voice of God, and, if they hear, they will not heed. They deliberately refuse God's will and way, and turn to their own.

The Spirit in Isaiah 53:1 put it this way: "We have turned every one to his own way." John, in the Spirit, put it thus: "Sin is the transgression of the Law." To transgress is to go across. It is, simply stated, no more than plain contrariness. It is taking our own way as against God's.

2. Our verse gives the positive path to Divine guidance. Here it is: "Acknowledge Him." How can God direct the path of anyone who refuses to acknowledge Him?

If God tells one who is not ready to acknowledge the Lord, to do this or that, He is merely wasting His energy. God cannot guide the unyielded spirit.

Here is the way it is written in Romans 12:1 : "Present your bodies a living sacrifice * * be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind"; then what? "That ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God."

So it is also in Proverbs:

"Trust in the Lord"; "Lean not unto thine own understanding"; "In all thy ways acknowledge Him"; then what? "And He shall direct thy paths."

V. A WARNING AGAINST SELF-WISDOM (Proverbs 3:7)

1. "Be not wise in thine own eyes." Here is an admonition that is certainly worth while. Self-conceit is a most dreadful disease. It goes far toward making one obnoxious in the eyes of others. God has said, "Not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think."

Pride of self-wisdom is just as evil as any other pride. It is the high look, and the thing which exalts itself, that God will bring low. "The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down." "The day of the Lord of Hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one. that is lifted up."

2. "Depart from evil." This second admonition is also greatly needed. Many youths take pleasure in playing with sin. They like to play with a serpent, or a viper. Some go so far as to say that every young person must have his or her fling. They imagine that youth is the time for folly, and for the sowing of wild oats. If that be true, then full growth is the place for the harvesting of every evil deed. It is written: "Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." If we sow to the wind, we shall reap the whirlwind; thus we reap even more than we sow.

Let no one imagine that there is some fairy with a magical wand to change the evil fruitage of youth. God has made unerring laws to cover the wages of social, and of other sins. Evil will pass down, in its physical effects, unto the third and the fourth generation.

3. "Depart from evil. It shall be health * *, marrow to thy bones." This is true to experience. He who shuns every evil way, and every evil fleshly desire, will find that it will mean much toward physical health and strength. Evil saps every physical power that tends to stalwart manhood or womanhood.

If you want health in old age, have sobriety in your youth. If you sow to the flesh, you will pay for every seed which you sow, in physical and mental and spiritual suffering.

VI. THE LAWS OF GIVING AND RECEIVING (Proverbs 3:9)

1. Giving unto the Lord of the first fruits. Our verse reads: "Honour the Lord with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase."

Surely we have found one way at least in which we may give honor to the Lord. We may honor Him in our giving. We may particularly honor Him in giving Him of our first fruits. To him who would give God the sick, or the lame, or the thing which is polluted, God says, "A son honoureth his father, and a servant his master: if then I be a Father, where is Mine honour? and if I be a Master, where is My fear?" So real giving does give honor to the Lord.

Real giving also means first-fruit giving. In this grace, as in every other phase of Christian living, Christ must be first. It is not for us to first retain for ourselves certain blessings, and then to give to God what is left over. Before we use anything for self, we must take out the first fruits for God.

If we follow the injunction of Elijah, when he said to the woman, "Make me thereof a little cake first," we shall do well. If we do as the Corinthians did, and first give ourselves to the Lord, we will have no trouble in the proper and Scriptural method of "giving our substance."

2. Receiving from the Lord His bounties. Our verse, Proverbs 3:10, says, "So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine." The Spirit of God does not make this promise of assured bounties with the thought of inveigling saints into the giving of their first fruits unto God. He says this as an encouragement to obedience, to be sure; but He is emphasizing that God will not allow any of His servants to outgive Him.

"A man there was (though some may count him mad),

The more he cast away, the more he had."

Of course he did have more, because he was only "casting it away" so far as human eyes go. In the sight of God he was laying up treasures in Heaven, and at the same time gaining increased earthly harvests down here. For my part I will continue giving to the Lord, knowing that He will receive it with joy; even as I receive with joy all that He so bountifully gives me.

VII. THE BLESSINGS OF CHASTISEMENT (Proverbs 3:11)

1. The Lord chasteneth us as sons. There is a great deal of difference between the chastening of a slave and of a son. We are sons. We are not only sons, but we are sons well beloved in the sight of the Lord. The Master may chasten His slave for the master's good, more than for the slave's good. The whip is used in order to create a fear in the heart of the slave, that will force him to faithful service. The son is chastened for his own good.

In the Book of Hebrews where the Holy Spirit quotes the words of Proverbs, He enlarges upon them, with this statement: "He (chasteneth us) for our profit, that we might be partakers of His holiness."

It is true that no chastening for the present time seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: "Nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby."

2. The Lord chasteneth whom He loveth. We must not think for one moment that, when we are corrected by the Divine hand, we are cast off as despised and rejected. Not at all. God's corrections are a sign of His love. Not only that, but He corrects us because He delighteth in us.

Some parents may imagine that they should never correct their children or chasten them. Such a conception is altogether contrary to a properly directed love. If we want our children to grow up in sin and willfulness, we need but to leave them to their own way. God chastens us because He wants to bring us back into the place of righteousness and true holiness.

Let us, therefore, not despise His chastenings, neither let us weary of His corrections. If we receive not the chastening of the Lord, we know that we are not sons, but bastards. True sonship means a faithful and a wise child-training, and true fatherhood will be sure to exert this corrective training.

AN ILLUSTRATION

The following words from Miss Havergal are right in line with the spirit of thankfulness that should grip us all for God's goodness! to us.

All God's goodness to us is humbling. The more He does for us, the more ready we are to say, "I am not worthy of the least of all Thy mercies, and of all the truth, which Thou hast showed unto Thy servant." The weight of a great answer to prayer seems almost too much for us. The grace of it is "too wonderful" for us. It throws up in such startling relief the disproportion between our little, poor, feeble cry, and the great shining response of God's heart and hand that we can only say: "Who am I. O Lord God, that thou hast brought me hitherto? Is this the manner of man, O Lord God?" But it is more humbling still, when we stand face to face with great things which the Lord has done for us and given us, which we never asked at all, never even thought of asking royal bounty, with which not even a prayer had to do. It is so humbling to get a view of these, that Satan tries to set up a false humility to hinder us from Standing still and considering how great things the Lord has done for us; thus he also contrives to defraud our generous God of the glory due unto His Name. For, of course, we do not praise for what we will not recognize. Let us try to baffle this device today, and give thanks for the overwhelming mercies for which we never asked. Frances R. Havergal.