Exaltation of the Humble vs. Humiliation of the Prideful

[0:01] Proverbs chapter 12 verses 1 to 28. Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates reproof is stupid.

[0:20] A good man obtains favor from the Lord, but a man of evil devices he condemns. No one is established by wickedness, but the root of the righteous will never be moved.

[0:35] An excellent wife is the crown of her husband, but she who brings shame is like rottenness in his bones. The thoughts of the righteous are just, the counsels of the wicked are deceitful.

[0:49] The words of the wicked lie in wait for blood, but the mouth of the upright delivers them. The wicked are overthrown and are no more, but the house of the righteous will stand.

[1:05] A man is commended according to his good sense, but one of twisted mind is despised. Better to be lowly and have a servant than to play the great man and lack bread.

[1:19] Whoever is righteous has regard for the life of his beast, but the mercy of the wicked is cruel. Whoever works his land will have plenty of bread, but he who follows worthless pursuits lacks sense.

[1:34] Whoever is wicked covets the spoil of evildoers, but the root of the righteous bears fruit. An evil man is ensnared by the transgression of his lips, but the righteous escapes from trouble.

[1:51] From the fruit of his mouth a man is satisfied with good, and the work of a man's hand comes back to him. The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice.

[2:07] The vexation of a fool is known at once, but the prudent ignores an insult. Whoever speaks the truth gives honest evidence, but a false witness utters deceit.

[2:20] There is one whose rash words are like sore thrusts, but the tongue of the wise brings healing. Truthful lips endure forever, but a lying tongue is but for a moment.

[2:36] Deceit is in the heart of those who devise evil, but those who plan peace have joy. No ill befalls the righteous, but the wicked are filled with trouble.

[2:48] Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, but those who act faithfully are his delight. A prudent man conceals knowledge, but the heart of fools proclaims folly.

[3:02] The hand of the diligent will rule, while the slothful will be put to forced labor. Anxiety in a man's heart weighs him down, but a good word makes him glad.

[3:14] One who is righteous is a guide to his neighbor, but the way of the wicked leads them astray. Whoever is slothful will not roast his game, but the diligent man will get precious wealth.

[3:30] In the path of righteousness is life, and in its pathway there is no death. This is God's holy and authoritative word.

[3:41] As I've been sharing over the last couple weeks, chapters 10 through 15 up to verse 29 is all a series of contrasts between the righteous and the wicked.

[3:55] And the faith that awaits them both. Faith that awaits them both. And we're going to look at another aspect of that contrast today in Proverbs 12. And here it emphasizes the exaltation of the humble versus the humiliation of the prideful.

[4:13] And the main point of this passage that Solomon wants us to take away, that God wants us to take away, is that God bestows his favor upon those who humble themselves and learn from him.

[4:24] And this chapter can be divided further into two subsections. First, it talks about loving discipline in verses 1 to 14. And then it talks about listening to advice in verses 15 to 28.

[4:38] That's a general heading that kind of the head verses in each of the subunits talk about. And so all of this highlights the teachability of the wise versus the kind of the incorrigibility of the fool.

[4:52] The unwillingness to learn of the fool. And it says in verse 1, Now, this is a recurring theme that we've seen, that God blesses the humble.

[5:08] He gives grace to the humble. Those who submit to his order. Those who yield to his molding, his shaping influence. They are the ones that receive blessing from God.

[5:19] If you've ever tried to grow an orchid as a house plant, you know that in order for orchids to grow in your house and to bloom in a healthy way, that they need to be attached to stakes.

[5:32] That's how when you buy them from the store, usually they come with stakes attached to them. And that's because the way they grow in the wild, the orchids actually don't grow up like that. They grow from on top of trees.

[5:43] It attaches itself to tree limbs and actually grows downward. It bows down. And so if you don't have stakes in your house, it will keep bowing down and down. And when it blooms and the flowers get heavy, it will eventually tip over and uproot itself from the pot.

[5:58] The only way a orchid grows in a healthy manner in your house, in a pot, is to be staked, is to be attached to a stake. And God's discipline works in a similar way.

[6:12] It stabilizes us. It keeps us from being uprooted. It helps us to grow in a healthy way, the way God intends for us to. And it's those who submit, even though in the moment it might feel constraining, you might even chafe against that, but in reality it's those who submit to God who flourish, His order, His discipline, those who heed His correction, His reproof that grow.

[6:41] So whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates reproof is stupid, it says. Like the guitarist who submits herself to the discipline of tedious finger exercises and scales, they are the only ones who develop in the end an ability to perform masterpieces.

[6:59] Only the athlete who submits himself to the discipline of rigorous exercise and drill, they are the only ones that hone their bodies to win races.

[7:10] If you love discipline, you love knowledge. Because reproof, correction, and disprompt from the Lord is for our good. And verses 2-3 continue, A good man obtains favor from the Lord, but a man of evil devices he condemns.

[7:28] No one is established by wickedness, but the root of the righteous will never be moved. A good man obtains favor from the Lord. And the word good is defined, not by our own faulty sense of morality, but by God.

[7:45] Since, as Jesus said in Mark 10-18, no one is good except God alone. God is the ultimate, the only perfect standard of good. And so a good man, as defined by Him, a good man who does the will of the good God, obtains favor from the Lord.

[8:03] But in contrast, a man of evil devices God condemns. A man of evil devices refers to a crafty person, a cunning person who is scheming of ways to take advantage of others for their own advancement.

[8:17] And such people might get their way for a time, but God condemns him, and for that reason, he will not be ultimately established. Verse 3 says, The following verses describe in greater detail what the life of this righteous person looks like.

[8:48] Verses 47 describe in turn the righteous person's wife, his words, and his household. First it says in verse 4, An excellent wife is the crown of her husband, but she who brings shame is like rottenness in his bones.

[9:06] The word excellent that's used to describe the wife here is the same word used to describe the excellent wife in the famous Proverbs 31, verses 10 to 31.

[9:17] It literally means strong, strong wife. It refers to both the strength of her character, her noble character, and the strength of her competent industry.

[9:31] An excellent wife possesses fortitude, a spiritual, physical, mental, and emotional strength that enables her to face and overcome the adversities of life.

[9:45] And such a wife is the crown of her husband. I can't help but think about my own wife as I'm talking about it.

[9:58] The crown of her husband, she is his pride, his joy. The crown is a symbol of honor and authority. And because of her, the husband enjoys honor and prestige in the community.

[10:15] Because of her, he is the man he is. Because of the excellent wife, she is. And in contrast, she who brings shame is like rottenness in his bones.

[10:32] Unlike the excellent wife who brings her husband honor, there's a wife who brings him shame. Not only does this wife not bring her husband honor in public, she also makes his life miserable in private.

[10:48] This is described by the rottenness in his bones. When your blood-forming stem cells in the bone marrow are destroyed, it causes fatigue and shortness of breath so that you can't even do the lightest exercises.

[11:02] It makes you bruise and bleed more easily. It literally saps you of your vitality and strength and destroys you from the inside out. And that's what the wife who brings shame to her husband does.

[11:15] Her influence in his life is like rottenness in his bones. The wife, this is telling us, has the power to either make or break a man. And if you are a married woman, this is a good question to ask yourself.

[11:28] Does the way you conduct yourself, does the way you support your husband bring him honor or does it bring him shame? Are you sapping him of his life and strength or does your strength of character and competence build him up?

[11:43] And if you are single but hoping to get married, consider this, that marriage is no light matter. It can make or break you. Choose prayerfully and deliberately.

[11:54] And verses five to seven return to the familiar contrast between the permanence of the righteous and the transience of the wicked that we've been seeing throughout these chapters. It says, An excellent wife helps to establish her husband in the community and the righteous man in turn establishes his house, his household by living uprightly before God.

[12:34] His thoughts are just, right, fair, true, rather than deceitful. The words of the wicked are personified here as hunters. It says that they lie and wait for blood.

[12:46] But the mouth of the upright is personified as a rescuer or a deliverer. The wicked hunt the members of their community with what they say. The righteous, in contrast, rescue the members of their community with what they say.

[13:00] And this difference in wisdom between the righteous and the wicked can also be seen in the way they do their work. Verse eight says, A man is commended according to his good sense, but one of twisted mind is despised.

[13:14] The righteous have good sense. Their sense works well. The wicked, however, have a twisted mind. They can't think straight. Their perception, their worldview is skewed.

[13:27] It is twisted. It's warped. And then in verses 9 to 14, Solomon unpacks what this contrast looks like when it comes to one's work and employment. Verse nine says, Better to be lowly and have a servant than to play the great man and lack bread.

[13:44] To be lowly here means to be lightly esteemed, to be dishonored even. It's better to be regarded, it says, as lowly by others and to have a servant, which suggests actual, in reality, prominence and prosperity.

[14:02] It's better to do that than to play the great man and lack bread. Than to act like some wealthy and important person when in reality you don't even have bread to eat.

[14:14] This is very similar to Proverbs 13, verse 7 that we saw a couple weeks ago that one pretends to be rich yet has nothing. Another pretends to be poor yet has great wealth.

[14:27] Right? The rich may live frugally well below his means in order to be a good steward of the resources that God has given him. But the poor, in contrast, may live lavishly well beyond his means out of a desire to be perceived as wealthy and to gain social standing.

[14:45] And so verse 9 is highlighting the folly of trying to gain the approval of people using your wealth or your perceived wealth.

[14:57] Because God bestows his favor upon those who humble themselves. Instead, it says we should focus on what verse 8 taught us. A man is commended according to his good sense.

[15:08] It's our good sense through our wisdom, through the fear of God that we should seek to win commendation, not by flaunting our wealth. And then verse 10 shifts to how we have to gain wealth.

[15:23] It says, Whoever is righteous has regard for the life of his beast, but the mercy of the wicked is cruel. As we saw last week, the righteous person selflessly disadvantages himself for the sake of others, while the wicked person selfishly advantages himself at the expense of others.

[15:45] And so this applies even in the way they treat their domesticated animals. Whoever is righteous has regard for the life of his beast. The Bible tells us that God has compassion even for the animals he created in numerous places in Scripture.

[16:01] And the Ten Commandments specified that we are to grant Sabbath rest even for the animals within our possession. So this proverb applies certainly to the humane treatment of animals, but it doesn't apply merely to animals.

[16:18] In 1 Corinthians 9, verses 9-10, Paul argues that God's command in Deuteronomy 25-4, which is, You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain.

[16:29] In other words, you got to let the ox eat if you're going to use him for your work. He argues, Paul argues in 1 Corinthians 9 that this applies not merely to the oxen, but also to human employees.

[16:42] Because the plowman should plow in hope and the thresher thresh in hope of sharing in the crop. He argues that the farmers who share in your work should also share in the crop, the fruit of their labor.

[16:55] If even the animals are to be treated humanely and given what is due to them for their labor, how much more fellow human beings created in the image of God?

[17:07] So if you are involved in any kind of leadership or managerial role, if you have people that you are in charge of, you should have regard for the life of your employee.

[17:23] Care for their well-being. Don't reduce your management merely to getting the most out of your workers to increase, to improve your margins, the bottom line.

[17:36] don't reduce your work to meeting quotas. Your workers don't exist simply to make you richer and more successful. Humble yourself.

[17:46] Don't make it all about you. Have some regard for others. In contrast, the mercy of the wicked is cruel. The mercy, word mercy literally means bowels, your innards.

[18:00] It's a figurative representation of kind of your, the center of your compassion and mercy from a place, a figurative representation of the place from which people have well-loved with compassion for others.

[18:14] And it's so interesting the way this is phrased. Even the wicked have bowels, but it says even their bowels are cruel. They're so thoroughly corrupted that even their mercy is cruel.

[18:30] When they are being cruel and insensitive, abusive and manipulative, they delude themselves into thinking that they're being merciful. What are you complaining about?

[18:41] You should be thankful. I don't have to do any of these things for you. I'm being merciful. That's the delusion of the wicked. Even their mercy is cruel.

[18:52] And so we should be kind to our employees and work diligently on the task at hand. And then verse 11 says, Notice the contrast between verse 11 and verse 9.

[19:10] Verse 9 spoke of the foolish person who plays the great man and lacks bread. In contrast, whoever works his land will have plenty of bread. Verse 11 says, He who follows worthless pursuits lacks sense.

[19:26] And it's such people who, according to verse 9, who lack bread. If you care for your workers and work diligently, work your ground diligently, you will in turn have plenty of bread.

[19:38] Now, worthless pursuits literally mean empty or vain pursuits. Vanity projects. Things that people do when they have too much money and time on their hands.

[19:50] But in reality, people do such things even when they don't have enough money and time on their hands. Pursuing things that are insubstantial and or elusive.

[20:03] Instead of doing your job and being faithful to the roles that God has placed you in. Indulging your vanity. Flaunting your wealth and status. Playing the great man.

[20:15] Going to a club or a casino with a large entourage and spending lavishly. Things that people do when experiencing a midlife crisis. Finding a mistress. Buying a sports car.

[20:27] Expensive jewelry. Worthless pursuits. Those who do such things might not lack time, money, and power.

[20:38] But they lack sense. And verse 12 continues, whoever is wicked covets the spoil of evildoers. But the root of the righteous bears fruit.

[20:51] The word spoil is a translation of the word that literally means net or snare. The things that refers figuratively to the unjust gain of evildoers.

[21:03] That's why it's translated as spoil here. And the image contrasts well with the root of the righteous in that same verse. The righteous are rooted. They grow and bear their own fruit.

[21:16] The evildoers, however, steal the wealth of others with their net, their snare, through unjust gain. And only the wicked covet such get-rich-quickly schemes.

[21:29] Notice how verses 8-12 all deal with the theme of work and money. It says, you should be lowly and have a servant. Don't flaunt yourself. You should have regard for the life of the workers and animals under your charge.

[21:41] You should keep your head down and work hard instead of raising your eyes and imagination to vain, worthless pursuits. Instead of desiring the stolen spoil of evildoers, you should bear fruit from your own root of righteous hard work.

[21:57] Now, verses 13-14 continue this line of reasoning with regard to one's speech. It says, an evil man is ensnared by the transgression of his lips, but the righteous escapes from trouble.

[22:09] From the fruit of his mouth, a man is satisfied with good, and the work of a man's hand comes back to him. Verse 12 warned us not to covet the spoil or the snare of evildoers.

[22:22] And now, verse 13 says that an evil man is ensnared by the transgression of his lips. The wicked ensnare others for unjust gain, but in the end they ensnare themselves.

[22:35] In contrast, the righteous escapes from trouble, it says. Verse 12 said, the root of the righteous bears fruit, and likewise, verse 14 says that from the fruit of his mouth, a man is satisfied with good, and the work of a man's hand comes back to him.

[22:51] The righteous person not only is diligent in the work of his hands, he is also disciplined in the words of his mouth. And so they both bear fruit, his mouth, his hands, in keeping with his righteousness.

[23:06] So in sum, to summarize all this, the righteous person is humbly submitted to God and lives with the fear of God. He lives and works within the divinely instituted order. The righteous love God's discipline.

[23:21] And just as the first half of chapter 12 began with the statement about the humility and teach ability of the wise. So the second half begins with a similar statement in verse 15. The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice.

[23:39] Thinking that you're always right, this kind of stubborn self-assuredness that we can cultivate sometimes as sinners, that's the trait of a fool. This fool that Proverbs is speaking of is incapable of listening.

[23:53] He never learns because he already thinks he knows everything. In contrast, a wise man listens to advice. This doesn't mean, of course, that a wise man doesn't have any of his own opinions or convictions, but rather that he listens to advice.

[24:10] There is a willingness to be challenged or to be corrected. The fool's eyes are full of himself only, but the wise man's ears are full of the advice of many counselors.

[24:22] The wise humble themselves, and have a learning posture. Verses 16 to 23 focus on what the way of wisdom looks like in terms of one's speech.

[24:32] It first speaks of the timeliness of wise speech, and then it speaks of the truthfulness of wise speech. First, it speaks of timeliness. Verse 16 says, The word agitated, agitated, annoyed, or angered.

[24:52] When a fool is agitated or annoyed, it is known at once, immediately. The very same day, you're going to hear something from him. The fool is easily annoyed and quickly angered.

[25:06] He is characterized by outbursts of anger. He's always ready to pick a fight. He wants everyone to have a piece of his own mind. Compare this to verse 18.

[25:18] There is one whose rash words are like sore thrusts, but the tongue of the wise brings healing. The rash words of fools are like sore thrusts.

[25:29] You don't want to approach someone who is flailing his arms wildly with the sword in hand, because if you do, you are bound to get hurt. And the fool's rash words are like that.

[25:41] We don't in our house let our kids use sharp knives in the kitchen, understandably because they don't have enough strength and control over the knife.

[25:53] They can hurt themselves and others. The fool likewise has no control over his tongue, which he wields wildly like a dangerous sword, and it cuts.

[26:07] In contrast, the tongue of the wise brings healing. The fool's tongue is like a sword that kills, it's destructive, but the wise person's tongue brings healing. It's like a bomb to one's soul.

[26:19] So let's return to verse 16. The vexation of a fool is known at once, but the prudent ignores an insult. The word ignores is a translation of the same Hebrew word that is often translated cover or conceal.

[26:34] It's similar to Proverbs chapter 10 verse 12, which said, love covers all offenses. Instead of being easily annoyed or quickly agitated, the prudent person, the strategic person, the shrewd person, ignores or covers an insult.

[26:53] The prudent person knows when to speak and when not to speak. He understands that it's possible to speak the right words at the wrong time.

[27:04] He doesn't feel the compulsion to give everyone a piece of his own mind because he has humbled himself before God. He is content to let God defend him and vindicate him.

[27:16] And verse 16 is matched by verse 23. This is a prudent man in verse 23 conceals knowledge, but the heart of fools proclaims folly.

[27:26] The same word conceal, ignore. It's the same word as I mentioned. Once again, the wise person is called prudent. He is strategic. He is shrewd and he conceals knowledge. In contrast, the fool knows no such restraint.

[27:40] He is like a shaken cup of carbonated soda to drink that bubbles over with fizz as soon as you open the can. He spills out folly wherever he goes. There is no cap on it.

[27:52] In contrast, a prudent man conceals knowledge. His words are weighed and measured. He knows when to speak and when not to speak. He knows not to waste his knowledge on a blabbering fool.

[28:05] So there is a timeliness to wise speech. In addition to being timely, the wise person's speech is always truthful. It says in verse 17, whoever speaks the truth gives honest evidence, but a false witness utters deceit.

[28:22] The New American Standard Bible translates this verse more literally this way, he who speaks truth tells what is right, but a false witness deceit.

[28:33] truth is not only factually true, it is also morally right. When giving a sworn testimony in court as a witness, one must swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

[28:50] This is crucial because a false witness can destroy an innocent life. A truthful witness does what is right. he does righteousness because he preserves justice.

[29:05] He acquits the innocent and condemns the guilty. Verse 17 is matched by verse 22. Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, but those who act faithfully are his delight.

[29:18] The word faithfully is the same word that's translated truth in verse 17. To speak the truth is to act faithfully, to do righteousness. Verse 22 gives us the theological basis for truth telling.

[29:32] Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, but those who act faithfully are his delight. The wise person lives with the fear of God, and it's the fear of God that knowing that you are accountable to God, knowing that he is the Lord and God and judge over all, that fear of God constrains him to tell the truth.

[29:53] That's why in courts people say, I swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help me God. The wise person lives under the authority of God.

[30:05] He knows that even if he successfully deceives the human judge, the human jury, he will never deceive the divine judge. And this humility before God constrains him to tell the truth.

[30:20] It says in verses 19 to 21, truthful lips endure forever, but a lying tongue is but for a moment. Deceit is in the heart of those who devise evil, but those who plan peace have joy.

[30:32] No ill befalls the righteous, but the wicked are filled with trouble. A heart that plans evil is behind the mouth that speaks deceit. In contrast, those who plan peace have joy.

[30:48] This implies that the heart that plans peace is behind the mouth that speaks truth. The truth tellers are concerned with genuine peace, true, lasting peace, instead of fake, false peace.

[31:03] And such a person is rewarded with joy. The wise person understands as Jesus said in Matthew chapter 12 verse 36 that on the day of judgment people will give an account for every careless word they speak.

[31:16] For every word. And for this reason truthful lips endure forever while lying tongue is but for a moment. The liar might deceive others for the sake of self-advancement but his success is only momentary.

[31:31] It is fleeting compared to the eternal life offered to those the righteous who enjoy to obey God's will. For this reason it says no ill befalls the righteous but the wicked are filled with trouble.

[31:46] God bestows his favor. It's the main point of this passage. God bestows his favor upon those who humble themselves and learn from him. And as verses 16 to 23 focused on the way of wisdom focused on what the way of wisdom looks like in terms of one's speech and then verses 24 to 27 now transition to speaking of one's deeds what the way of wisdom looks like in one's deeds.

[32:11] This subunit is bracketed by verses 24 and 27 both of which contrast the diligence from the slothful. Verse 24 says the hand of the diligent will rule while the slothful will be put to forced labor.

[32:26] Verse 27 says whoever is slothful will not roast his game but the diligent man will get precious wealth. So it's telling us that diligence leads to rule and precious wealth but slothfulness leads to forced labor and poverty.

[32:44] the diligent person is being described here as a self starter someone who possesses self control and because he's able to control himself he will attain rule and governance over others.

[32:58] In contrast the slothful person who lacks self control and therefore is unable to get himself to work will be forced to work by others who rule over them.

[33:09] So ruling oneself leads to rule over others. And after speaking of the slothful who will subject themselves to the physical oppression of conscripted labor Solomon turns his mind to those who are already subject to the psychological oppression of anxiety or depression.

[33:30] He says in verses 25-26 anxiety in a man's heart weighs him down but a good word makes him glad. One who is righteous is a guide to his neighbor but the way of the wicked leads them astray.

[33:46] The phrase weighs him down literally means to oppress or to make someone bow down. For example, the same word is used in the prophecy of Isaiah chapter 51 verse 23 to refer to the tormentors and oppressors of God's people who say to them bow down.

[34:04] It's the same word being weighed down. So the people subjected God's people and then it says made their backs like the ground upon which they walked all over.

[34:20] That's what it says in Isaiah 51. So the word weighed down, being weighed down in your heart, has the connotation of being oppressed and ruled, being subjected to someone or something.

[34:30] And I think that's the connection between verse 24 and verse 25. Those who are slothful will be oppressed and ruled by others. But the Bible also acknowledges that some people are slothful because they are already oppressed and ruled by anxiety.

[34:49] Anxiety in their hearts weighs them down, rules them. Depression, anxiety, these are all words that convey emotional distress caused by loss or by the fear of losing something that one treasures.

[35:03] And if you are weighed down with anxiety there is hope for you because it says a good word makes him glad. One who is righteous is a guide to his neighbor but the way of the wicked leads them astray.

[35:19] If you are weighed down today with anxiety with heaviness if you feel oppressed and makes you slothful unable to work get yourself started what you need is the counsel of the wise and the righteous person to guide you and most importantly the message the good word the good news of Jesus the righteous one God the timely and truthful word of the wise as we have been talking about through this passage that good word can make you glad it says if you have been downtrodden or depressed or weighed down by fear and anxiety and sadness you should know that the Bible consistently teaches that you can be encouraged and lifted up by good counsel this might surprise us because nowadays many people see human beings as nothing more than a body made up of a series of chemical reactions but the Bible teaches us that human beings have two components the outer person the body and the inner person which scripture alternatively calls the heart the soul or the mind human beings cannot be reduced to only that which can be observed and measured by scientific instruments the body and heart are interrelated for sure there are physiological contributors to depression such as abnormally low functioning thyroid or low hemoglobin levels due to blood loss but we're not merely the body and our mind affects the body and vice versa and the inner person our hearts our minds can be exhorted it can be encouraged it can be renewed in fact there's a wordplay that communicates exactly this reality the phrase weighed down in

[37:07] Hebrew is yashana and the phrase makes him glad in Hebrew is yashama they rhyme and they are spelled almost exactly the same way and intentionally so to convey the truth that he who is weighed down can be made glad again by a good word the wise and humble person is the in your own eyes and thinking that there's nothing he or she can do to help me instead of isolating yourself thinking no one else understands humble yourself and get help seek wise counsel since

[38:12] God bestows his favor upon those who humble themselves and learn from him and just as verse 15 began this subunit with the metaphor of the way or verse 28 concludes this subunit with the metaphor of the path of righteousness is life and in its pathway there is no death living in humility and the fear of God makes for a better life here on earth the path of righteousness is life but it leads even beyond this life in its pathway there is no death the new international version translates that verse this way verse 28 along that path is immortality and it's only when we assume this long view of life only when we assume an eternal perspective that we can humble ourselves and learn from God because the humble life is the better and the more fulfilling life but it's not an easy life it's not easy to love discipline it's not easy to listen to reproof it's not easy to restrain our tongue and speak in a truthful and timely way when we are being insulted or when others are lying to get their way it's not easy to live for the approval of

[39:29] God rather than the approval of people because approval of people feels so immediate it's not easy to live with integrity diligence and justice when the wicked gain prosperity power and prominence all around us through their underhanded ways and this is why because it's not easy Proverbs God bestows his favor upon those who humble themselves and learn from him and this is what our savior Jesus Christ did to save us and to set an example for us 1 Peter chapter 2 verses 20 to 25 it says if when you do good and suffer for it you endure this is a gracious thing in the sight of God for to this you have been called because Christ also suffered for you leaving you an example so that you might follow in his steps he committed no sin neither was deceit found in his mouth when he was reviled he did not revile in return when he suffered he did not threaten but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly he himself bore our sins in his body on the tree that we might die to sin and live to righteousness by his wounds you have been healed for you are straying like sheep but have now returned to the shepherd and overseer of your souls

[41:02] Bolsonaro reconstruction were額 our constraints we were all railing against the standards of God's discipline we were all headed toward eternal death and damnation but Jesus humbled himself for our sake and he died on the cross to bear our sins to pay the price of our rebellion and now it's by renouncing our pride and humbly submitting to the lordship of Jesus saying that I cannot save myself I can cling to you alone for salvation that is the only way we can die to our sins and live to the righteousness and get restored to that path in which there is no death have you trusted in Jesus for salvation?

[42:08] have you given your life to him? do you have a relationship with him? because you can have that and it's only for those of you who have already done that it's only by receiving God's unmerited favor his grace bestowed upon us freely on account of what Jesus has done it's only by receiving that we too can have the mind of Christ and live with humility remember what Jesus did for you in order to save us who like sheep had gone astray Jesus was led like a lamb to the slaughter he says in Isaiah 53 verse 7 because we had gone astray like sheep he was led like a lamb to the slaughter and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent so he opened not his mouth Jesus of all people could have defended himself Jesus of all people should not have been the object of vitriol of foul-mouthed people Jesus of all people had a claim a legitimate claim to righteousness and Jesus of all people deserved to live forever and never experience the bitterness of death but he was silent for our sake he was submissive for our sake he was lowly for our sake he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death even death on a cross he says in Philippians chapter 2 and therefore because of that for that reason he says

[43:45] God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow and every tongue confess every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father God bestows his favor upon those who humble themselves and learn from him the prideful will be humbled the humble will be exalted so let's follow in the footsteps of our Savior and walk humbly with our God Holy right Lord Godard morning so in theovich and all good morning to the moon to the moon to the moon and again they declare an ark and oftentimes in the summer God every one day and then thank you the people now we can prevent you everything as you and you