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[0:00] Let's pray. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we acknowledge this morning as we come, as we come to worship you, that there is no wisdom that is sufficient for us, for our time, than your wisdom.

[0:37] And so, Father, we do not come to a roundtable discussion. We do not come to a panel of experts.

[0:58] God, we come to the reading and preaching of your word. We look to you, Father.

[1:12] Teach us. Humble us. We are waiting to hear from you, to be guided by your word, to be changed by your word.

[1:33] In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. Please turn with me to Proverbs chapter 10. We are now entering the main body of the book of Proverbs.

[1:51] This is what the, this is the proverbial feast that the woman of wisdom, the woman, lady wisdom, has been inviting us to in chapters 8 to 9. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Proverbs chapter 10, verses 1 to 22.

[2:21] The Proverbs of Solomon. A wise son makes a glad father, but a foolish son is a sorrow to his mother. Treasures gained by wickedness do not profit, but righteousness delivers from death.

[2:38] The Lord does not let the righteous go hungry, but he thwarts the craving of the wicked. A slack hand causes poverty, but the hand of the diligent makes rich.

[2:51] He who gathers in summer is a prudent son, but he who sleeps in harvest is a son who brings shame. Blessings are on the head of the righteous, but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.

[3:05] The memory of the righteous is a blessing, but the name of the wicked will rot. The wise of heart will receive commandments, but a babbling fool will come to ruin.

[3:17] Whoever walks in integrity walks securely, but he who makes his ways crooked will be found out. Whoever winks the eye causes trouble, and a babbling fool will come to ruin.

[3:31] The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life, but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence. Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all offenses.

[3:44] On the lips of him who has understanding, wisdom is found, but a rod is for the back of him who lacks sense. The wise lay up knowledge, but the mouth of a fool brings ruin near.

[3:58] A rich man's wealth is his strong city. The poverty of the poor is their ruin. The wage of the righteous leads to life. The gain of the wicked to sin.

[4:10] Whoever heeds instruction is on the path to life, but he who rejects reproof leads others astray. The one who conceals hatred has lying lips, and whoever utters slander is a fool.

[4:22] When words are many, transgression is not lacking, but whoever restrains his lips is prudent. The tongue of the righteous is choice silver.

[4:34] The heart of the wicked is of little worth. The lips of the righteous feed many, but fools die for lack of sense. The blessing of the Lord makes rich, and he adds no sorrow with it.

[4:49] This is God's holy and authoritative word. The first verse of this chapter begins by saying that these are the Proverbs of Solomon.

[5:03] Solomon, as I mentioned in my first sermon in the book of Proverbs, to introduce the book, is a compilation of wisdom collections from various authors. Solomon is the principal author, and this is a section that's dedicated to him.

[5:15] In this first section of the Solomonic Proverbs, chapter 10, verse 1, to chapter 22, verse 16, there's a total of 375 verses, and the Jews practiced kind of numerology in a way, like they would put a numerical value on each Hebrew letters of the alphabet.

[5:34] And if you add up the numerical value of the name Solomon, it's 375. So this is his mark on this collection, saying this is my wisdom he's trying to impart to us.

[5:47] And the whole collection is dedicated to helping us to live with the fear of the Lord. And the first collection can be divided into two general subsections.

[5:59] Chapter 10, verse 1, to chapter 15, verse 29, speaks of living righteously before the just Lord, before the justice of the Lord. And then chapter 15, verse 30, to chapter 22, verse 16, is about living humbly before the sovereign Lord.

[6:17] It's about humility before the sovereignty of God. And so this first section, which is broadly about living righteously before the just Lord, is made up of a series of contrasts between the righteous and the wicked.

[6:30] And it seeks to motivate us to live righteously by keeping the justice of God in view. And considering this common overarching theme, these five chapters really should be preached together.

[6:42] But that would make for a very long sermon, which I hear is not advisable, especially over Zoom. So for many days, I debated in my mind how to preach this. And we could preach it topically, meaning just pulling all these, lifting various verses from different contexts and then compiling them together to fit a topic.

[7:02] Or we could preach it just kind of chronologically as we've been doing, chapter by chapter, in which case you get the benefit of the context of each verse. And what we're going to try to do is to attempt a hybrid where we will cover it chapter by chapter, but we'll bring in other verses that are related to it so that it gets both its immediate context and the nuances of the entire book of Proverbs on a given topic.

[7:28] So today we're looking at chapter 10, verses 1 to 22, which contrasts the prosperity of the worker versus the poverty of the talker. Next week, we'll look at chapter 10, verse 23, to chapter 12, 28, which contrasts the permanence of the upright versus the impermanence of the crooked, particularly salient topic.

[7:49] And keep in mind that chapter 10 to 15, all of it is a series of contrasts between the righteous and the wicked. And what we're supposed to take from it is that even though the wicked prosper and injustices prevail in this world, this is a painfully relevant reality in our present world, but we ought to live nonetheless righteously knowing that the Lord is just.

[8:15] He will ultimately repay everyone according to their word and deed. And the main theme of today's passage is that those who wish to see the prosperity of the Lord should work diligently and speak sparingly.

[8:30] And so first, it tells us that the diligent will get rich in verses 1 to 5. And then it tells us that the babbler will meet ruin in verses 6 to 14. And then it tells us in verses 15 to 22 to store up wealth and words.

[8:45] So let's look at verses 1 to 5 first, which tells us that the diligent will get rich. Though not in a naive, unrealistic way. So let's look at what it actually says.

[8:56] Subunit begins in verse 1, ends in verse 5. And then verse 2 to 3 speak of the connection between wealth and ethics in a complementary way.

[9:08] Treasures gained by wickedness do not profit, but righteousness delivers from death. The Lord does not let the righteous go hungry, but He thwarts the craving of the wicked.

[9:20] So on the one hand, some people do gain treasures by wickedness. Verse 2 concedes that much. However, Solomon insists that such treasures do not profit.

[9:34] Obviously, treasures are by definition profitable. So he's not speaking here of material, temporal profit, but of eternal, spiritual profit. You might prosper by wickedness during your short life here on earth, but treasures so gained will be useless on the day of judgment.

[9:52] But righteousness delivers from death. This is paralleled by Proverbs chapter 11, verse 4, which is, Do not profit in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death.

[10:05] Only righteousness will deliver from the wrath of God on the day of judgment. It doesn't matter how much money you have, how much power you have.

[10:15] In the end, you will die like the rest of humanity, and the currency of this world will have no value. Only the righteous will be granted eternal life. On the other hand, while it is true that the wicked do sometimes prosper in this life, verse 3 says, The Lord does not let the righteous go hungry, but He thwarts the craving of the wicked.

[10:37] This is the general principle by which God has ordered the universe to work. God satisfied the hunger of the righteous, but thwarts the craving of the wicked.

[10:48] So verses 2 and 3, they complement each other to paint a fuller picture, more nuanced picture. The Lord opposes the cravings of the wicked in this world, but there are exceptions where the wicked prosper.

[11:03] Nonetheless, they will not avoid God's justice forever. They will meet their due on the day of judgment, and the righteous will prosper forever. Now, turn with me.

[11:14] I'm going to rely primarily on chapter 10 and chapter 13 throughout this passage, so keep your finger on chapter 10, but turn with me to chapter 13 for a moment. Verses 21 to 25.

[11:28] We'll linger here for a little while. We see here clearly that Proverbs does not teach that the righteous will never in any circumstances go hungry, and it explains why.

[11:40] Because verse 2, as verse 2 of chapter 10 conceded, the wicked do prosper sometimes, even at the expense of the righteous. But chapter 13 fills out the picture some more.

[11:51] 21 to 25. It says, Disaster pursues sinners, but the righteous are rewarded with good. A good man leaves an inheritance to his children's children, but the sinner's wealth is laid up for the righteous.

[12:04] The fallow ground of the poor would yield much food, but it is swept away through injustice. Whoever spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him.

[12:16] The righteous has enough to satisfy his appetite, but the belly of the wicked suffers want. First, there is the general assurance that the righteous will be rewarded and the sinners will be thwarted.

[12:28] Disaster pursues sinners. That's a hunting metaphor. Sinners might run free for a little while, but disaster hounds them, and eventually it will catch up with them no matter how long it takes.

[12:39] And the evil that they inflicted on others will boomerang back to them. In contrast, the righteous are rewarded with good. The good deeds of the righteous will return to them and do good to them in the end.

[12:51] And that's why verse 22 says, A good man leaves an inheritance to his children's children, but the sinner's wealth is laid up for the righteous. The good man is rewarded with good.

[13:01] In this case, the ability to pass on one's inheritance to his children and grandchildren. In contrast, the sinner, though he may have accumulated much wealth during his life, will be caught by the disaster that pursues sinners.

[13:14] There are, however, two things that stand in the way of passing on righteous wealth. First, verse 23 qualifies verse 21. The fallow ground of the poor would yield much food, but it is swept away through injustice.

[13:30] In Exodus chapter 23, verses 10 to 11, the Israelites are commanded, For six years you shall sow your land and gather in its yield, but the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie fallow, that the poor of your people may eat, and what they leave, the beasts of the field may eat.

[13:50] You shall do likewise with your vineyard and with your olive orchard. So they were supposed to let the land rest fallow, fallow, uncultivated, on the seventh year, so that, and then they were not to harvest that year, so that the natural produce of the land in that seventh year would all go to the poor of that land, and they would have to eat to their fill and even save some for the future.

[14:14] And Proverbs 13, 23 says that the fallow ground of the poor would otherwise yield much food, but unfortunately, it is swept away through injustice.

[14:28] People don't leave the land fallow. As we see in Israel's history throughout the Old Testament, they don't follow this command well, and so the poor are not fed, and they go hungry, even the righteous poor who deserve to eat.

[14:45] Second, verse 24 qualifies verse 22. So verse 23 qualifies 21, verse 24 qualifies 22. Whoever spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him.

[14:58] This is where we get the expression spare the rod and spoil the child. The Bible, in contrast to the prevailing wisdom of our culture, does not believe that children are kind of innocent angels that society then subsequently corrupts and ruins.

[15:15] Proverbs 22, 15 says that folly is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline drives it far from him. We'll address parenting and corporal punishment at greater length when we get to chapter 22, but for now, it suffices to say that some form of discipline for our children is necessary.

[15:36] Children are not born innocent angels. Children are born misguided, and therefore, they need course correction. That's what the Bible teaches us. Not disciplining our children is in fact unloving, and the failure of discipline is what threatens the promise of verse 22 that a good man leaves an inheritance to his children's children.

[15:58] An undisciplined child will grow up to squander all of his inheritance. Nevertheless, the general truth still holds, and it says in chapter 13, verse 25, the righteous has enough to satisfy his appetite, but the belly of the wicked suffers want.

[16:14] Now, that brings us back to chapter 10. The fact that the Lord does not let the righteous go hungry, as it says in verse 3. But that doesn't mean that the righteous don't have to do any work, or that they could just wait passively for God to put food on their tables.

[16:31] God's provision does not make man's work unnecessary. Verses 4 to 5 make that clear. It says, A slack hand causes poverty, but the hand of the diligent makes rich.

[16:43] He who gathers in summer is a prudent son, but he who sleeps in harvest is a son who brings shame. The reason why the righteous prosper is because the righteous are diligent.

[16:57] God has ordained that the righteous will prosper by their hard work. Notice the contrast between the slack hand and the diligent hand and between gathering and sleeping.

[17:09] Divine provision usually comes through human work. This is why it's appropriate for us to thank God for the jobs we work and the income we earn because it's ultimately all from Him.

[17:24] And turn with me one more time back to chapter 13. I'm going to do that two more times. This is the second time. I'm covering most of chapter 13 and chapter 10 this morning. Chapter 13 this time to verses 7 to 11.

[17:38] This also emphasizes the value of hard work and frugal living. And note well that frugal living is not the same thing as stingy living as the other proverbs later in this series will make clear.

[17:51] First, verses 7 to 8 give us insight to the behavior of the rich and poor people. It says, One pretends to be rich yet has nothing. Another pretends to be poor yet has great wealth.

[18:02] The ransom of a man's life is his wealth but a poor man hears no threat. I remember hearing the story of a prominent Christian speaker who was traveling and he was getting picked up at the airport.

[18:15] The person that was supposed to pick him up was the son of this really, really, really wealthy Christian businessman who had donated millions of dollars to various Christian charities that this man, the speaker, serves on the board of.

[18:30] And so his son is picking him up and he's waiting at the airport and to his surprise, this son pulls up in this junk of a car. And he couldn't suppress his curiosity so on his ride back he asked him, So hey, I mean, I know how well off you guys are so I'm just wondering why you guys are driving a car like this.

[18:57] And the son told him, so I actually complained about that to my father one time and he told me, Son, we have enough money to line up our entire driveway with dozens of Humvees but we don't because we don't need to flaunt our wealth just because we are wealthy and our money ultimately belongs to the Lord and we want to use it for His glory and not our vanity.

[19:24] Plus our car still drives smoothly and we don't need to replace it. Now this story captures the spirit of verse 7. One pretends to be rich yet has nothing.

[19:36] Another pretends to be poor yet has great wealth. The rich may live frugally well below his means but the poor may live lavishly well beyond his means perhaps out of a desire to be perceived as wealthy and important and powerful.

[19:54] But appearances, this proverb teaches us, ultimately, doesn't matter. Appearance doesn't matter. In a crisis when one's life is threatened, the rich may use his wealth as the ransom to save himself but a poor man hears no threat says in verse 9.

[20:13] The poor man has nothing to lose and will take his life into his own hands. He will be unable to save himself. And as a result, it says, the light of the righteous rejoices but the lamp of the wicked will be put out.

[20:27] Putting out someone's light refers to killing them, to taking the light out of somebody. And the righteous rich will rejoice which literally means to shine or beam.

[20:40] The righteous rich will beam with life but the wicked poor will be extinguished. This refers to their ultimate doom. And how can you avoid this fate? Verses 10 to 11 of chapter 13 tell us, By insolence comes nothing but strife but with those who take advice is wisdom.

[20:58] Wealth gained hastily will dwindle but whoever gathers little by little will increase it. You avoid the fate of the wicked poor by humbling yourself and heeding the wisdom of Proverbs.

[21:13] And according to Proverbs, those who wish to see the prosperity of the Lord should work diligently. Wealth gained hastily will dwindle but whoever gathers little by little will increase it.

[21:25] The word hastily literally means by vapor or by air. It refers to all empty and fanciful and insubstantial means of gaining wealth.

[21:36] So that means don't get fooled by the get rich quick schemes. That means don't be lured into gambling. It means don't throw away your money trying to win the lottery.

[21:51] It means don't try to scam people and to get rich quickly. Don't buy into the promise of easy money. Gaining wealth hastily involves the idolization of wealth and the love of money.

[22:07] Wealth at all costs and it will bring your ruin. It will be your undoing. The biblical way to gain wealth, the wise way to gain wealth is little by little.

[22:19] That literally means by hand. Something that you do by hand takes time. You're supposed to gain wealth gradually and diligently. Lasting wealth is gained incrementally through diligent work, not explosively through a stroke of luck or crime.

[22:36] And now returning to chapter 10 verse 4. A slack hand causes poverty but the hand of the diligent makes rich.

[22:48] Now having taught us that the diligent will get rich in verses 1-5, Solomon now contrasts this with verses 6-14 where he tells us that the babbler will meet ruin. Now verses 6-14 are stitched together by various repeated themes and phrases.

[23:05] There's a lot of reference to the body parts which is an imagery that's used to contrast the righteous and the wicked. Verses 6-7 say this that blessings are on the head of the righteous but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.

[23:19] The memory of the righteous is a blessing but the name of the wicked will rot. Our actions in this life though you might escape punishment in this life our actions have consequences.

[23:35] It's idiomatic in Hebrew to say that blessing comes upon someone's head. That's why when a person blesses someone in the Bible they lay their hands on their head. And the righteous during their lives was blessed and was a blessing to others.

[23:52] And so in their death it says their memory in people's heads will be a blessing. In contrast the wicked during their lives concealed violence wreaking havoc with their deceptive mouth.

[24:06] So in their death their name will never be invoked on people's mouths. Rather they will be forgotten and their names will rot like their bodies in the grave.

[24:18] It's typical in Hebrew culture to invoke the name of a godly person in a blessed individual in order to bless others. So for example in Ruth chapter 4 verse 11 when Boaz makes a pledge to marry Ruth the elders say this we are witnesses may the Lord make the woman who is coming into your house like Rachel and Leah who together built up the house of Israel they're blessing Ruth Now verse 8 says that wise of heart will come to ruin and the second half of this verse is matched by verse 10 whoever wings the eye causes trouble and a babbling fool will come to ruin now there's the contrast between the wise of heart and the fool who is wise in their own eyes in chapter 3 verse 7 so the wise of heart are humble and receptive to instruction and teaching and correction they will receive commandments in contrast the fool who is wise in his own eyes he wings the eye causes trouble they are wise in their own eyes so they use their wings with their knowing wings in order to deceive and but in the end the result is the same a babbling fool will come to ruin babbling fool is literally foolish of lip a folly is often discovered first on a person's lips he is quick to speak he airs his opinions widely because he thinks very highly of his own opinions and believes that everyone should benefit by hearing from him verse 11 once again returns to the image of the mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence now everyone needs water to live right but this need was especially felt keenly felt in the arid lands of the ancient near east where there wasn't much water and so communities literally formed out of places where there were wells fountains of water which were literally fountains of life and in similar to that the words of the wise the mouth of the righteous bring people together by his teaching and infuse the community with spiritual and moral vitality in contrast the mouth of the wicked conceals violence their words are deceptive divisive and destructive they bring death to their communities compare this to verse 12 which is a succinct summary of what we covered so far hatred stirs up strife but love covers all offenses the word cover here is the same

[27:25] Hebrew word that's translated as conceal in verses 6 and 11 to say that the wicked conceals violence and it's also the same word that's translated in verse 18 as the one who conceals hatred has lying lips the wicked conceal the wicked cover up their malicious intent through deceit but the righteous cover the offenses of others in love the wicked cover their own offense the righteous cover the others offense while the hatred of the wicked stirs up strife the love of the righteous brings forgiveness reconciliation and harmony this does not mean that the righteous turn a blind eye to evil nor that they never rebuke wrongdoers but their lives exemplify 1st Peter chapter 4 verse 8 keep loving one another earnestly sins love covers a multitude of sins if you love someone you overlook minor offenses if you love someone you give them the best possible construction and form charitable judgments about them if you love someone you are inclined toward forgiveness and reconciliation not condemnation and separation if you love someone you confront and correct in a gentle and patient way to be honest stirring up strife is a lot more cathartic at times isn't it but

[29:06] God's people are called to a different ethic we are to be animated by love not by desire to get even and our goal should be reconciliation not retaliation to build up and not to tear down and so verses 13 to 14 conclude this subsection with more emphasis on the importance of speech he says on the lips of him who has understanding wisdom is found but a rod is for the back of him who lacks sense the wise lay up knowledge but the mouth of a fool brings ruin near on the lips of the understanding you can find wisdom but the senseless invite notice how many times the words like mouth and lip are repeated in this subsection word mouth occurs four times verse 6 11 14 the word lip counting the word babbling fool which means foolish of lip it occurs three times in verse 8 10 and 13 there's many body parts imagery used but mouth the image of the mouth predominates and there's a reason for that and that brings us to the third point having taught us that the diligent will get rich and that the babbler will meet ruin

[30:31] Solomon now returns again to the topic of wealth on the surface level it's easy to think that these sections are discrete and unrelated but this is why Solomon tells us that wealth and words are intimately related and that we should store up both rather than playing fast and loose with them verse 14 serves as a transition and has many instructive parallels with verse 15 the wise lay up knowledge but the mouth of a fool brings ruin near a rich man's wealth is his strong city the poverty of the poor is their ruin the word ruin is the poverty of the poor the word poor is used in the bible primarily to refer to those who are poor because of circumstances that are outside of their control they are usually described as the object of

[31:32] God's special care and compassion but when it's used with the word poverty it has a negative connotation the word poverty and want in wisdom literature are a result of divine judgment for sins such love of luxury and carelessness and idle talk so the poor in view here are the guilty poor the mouth of a fool parallels the poverty of the poor they both bring ruin now there's an implicit parallel between the wise who lay up or store up knowledge and the rich man who stores up wealth as a safeguard the stored up knowledge of the wise protect them both wealth and words Solomon is teaching us through this connection are something that the wise save and store up the wise save up their money and spare their words now lest one value the security afforded by money too highly verse 16 qualifies verse 15 the wage of the righteous leads to life the gain of the wicked to sin it's the honest hard working wage of the righteous that leads ultimately to life the gain of the wicked on the other hand though they do gain at times wealth gain dishonestly and selfishly they lead to sin which ultimately leads to death this warning is captured by close parallel in

[33:12] Proverbs chapter 18 verses 10 to 12 the name of the Lord is a strong tower the righteous man runs into it and is safe a rich man's wealth is his strong city and like a high wall in his imagination before destruction a man's heart is haughty but humility comes before honor now if you're comparing the safety of the Lord with the Lord who is a strong tower with the safety of wealth which is a strong city there is no comparison the rich are not as secure as they imagine and the haughty rich will surely fall is what that passage in chapter 18 says it's the righteousness that leads to true security in life and verse 17 continues this train of thought whoever heeds instruction is on the path to life but he rejects reproof leads others astray it's being righteous that entails being teachable and open to correction and that's what ultimately leads to life and then starting in verse 18

[34:13] Solomon again returns to the importance of godly speech in particular the need to save our words he says in verses 19 to 20 when words are many transgression is not lacking but whoever restrains his lips is prudent the tongue of the righteous is choice silver the heart of the wicked is of little worth notice how he uses the metaphors of wealth in connection with speech as verse 15 said the wise store up knowledge they lay up knowledge like the rich man who stores up wealth but both wealth and words are something that should be saved not something we shouldn't be spend thrift or wasteful with similarly the tongue of the righteous is choice silver the heart of the wicked is of little worth choice silver is referring to precious silver costly silver that's valuable precisely because it is rare in contrast the heart of the wicked is of little worth it's not worth much it's cheap his wicked heart gives voice to many words and transgression therefore is not lacking in other words when there are many words there is a lack of wisdom when words are few there is much wisdom words are like money the more money you print into circulation the less value it has the more you speak the less value it has the less weight it has the less wisdom it has when there are many words there are often premature words imprecise words and partial unfair words words that are out of place words that are out of turn but once they leave our mouths you can't get any of it back so the wise for that reason restrain their tongue the wise don't have a hot take on every single trending issue on

[36:27] Twitter just as we save up money we should be concerned with saving our words it's what Solomon is trying to teach us honestly this is one of the most dangerous occupational hazards of being a pastor because he is often teaching and expected to speak much but James chapter 3 verse 1 says not many of you should become teachers for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness I've erred many times erred many times in my speaking even this past week I had a conversation with some people and then felt afterward that I had spoken too soon and too much it's a dangerous thing to open your mouth so brothers and sisters be wary of many words there's yet another more pragmatic way in which words are connected with wealth in

[37:30] Proverbs chapter 14 verse 23 and 24 say this in all toil there is profit but mere talk tends only to poverty the crown of the wise is their wealth but the folly of fools brings folly quite simply if you're busy talking you're not busy working if you don't apply yourself with working with your hands and only with running your mouth instead of reaping wealth you will reap more folly that's another connection between wealth and words and then now turn with me one final time to chapter 13 this time verses 1 to 6 which also illuminate the connection between wealth and words chapter 13 verses 1 to 6 it says a wise son hears his father's instruction but a scoffer does not listen to rebuke from the fruit of his mouth a man eats what is good but the desire of the treacherous is for violence whoever guards his mouth preserves his life he who opens wide his lips comes to ruin the soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied the righteous hates falsehood but the wicked brings shame and disgrace righteousness guards him whose way is blameless but sin overthrows the wicked the word desire in verse 2 the word life in verse 3 and the word soul in verse 4 are all different translations of the same

[39:04] Hebrew word so then there's a parallel between the desire of the treacherous and the soul of the sluggard who craves and gets nothing the sluggard and the scoffer they open wide their lips that has a double meaning they open wide their lips by speaking much and they open wide their mouths to be satisfied their craving for violence and unearned unjust income in contrast whoever guards his mouth preserves his life or preserves his desire appetite and that too is a word play he watches his words and guards his lips will be satisfied with rich food the soul of the diligent is richly supplied when you guard your mouth as verse 3 says righteousness guards you as verse 6 says now this doesn't mean that we should never speak let's return to chapter 10 look at verse 21 it says the lips of the righteous feed many but fools die for lack of sense notice the repetition of the word many in that subsection the righteous person's words are not many it said in verse 19 and and yet they feed many in verse 21 their choice words become choice morsels for the multitudes of the spiritually and morally hungry in contrast fools die for lack of sense lack the word lack poverty this verse is continuing the imagery of wealth the word sense in

[40:51] Hebrew is the same word that is translated heart so then in verse 20 the heart of the wicked is of little worth so to capture the word play we could translate this verse in verse 21 more literally as poverty of heart lack of sense poverty of heart the lips of the righteous feed many but fools die for poverty of heart though the fools words are many there is nothing of value in what they say because their hearts are impoverished and of little worth the wise in contrast give though their words are few they give out of the abundance of their heart and they feed many verse 22 then is a summary of this entire section the blessing of the Lord makes rich and he adds no sorrow with it the word sorrow is the word that's translated anxious toil in Psalm 127 verse 2 it is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest eating the bread of anxious toil for he gives to his beloved sleep

[41:54] God rewards those who work diligently and speak sparingly and they see the prosperity of the Lord without sorrow without anxious toil they acquire their wealth not by being consumed by their work and ambition and by becoming workaholics but by trusting in the Lord and working hard and doing right they prosper by working diligently and speaking sparingly some of you probably feel like you do this well you are well regarded for the quality of your work and you've amassed a lot of wealth or you have the potential at least to amass a lot of wealth compared to people that you know in your life maybe you feel that you've heeded Solomon's wisdom and have therefore won out but you need to remember that Solomon's wisdom is not the end in and of itself but rather it finds its ultimate fulfillment in Jesus who is described as the wisdom from God in Luke chapter 11 verse 31

[42:55] Jesus said the queen of the south will rise up at the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon and behold something greater than Solomon is here the queen of the south came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon and Jesus saying if she did that how much more will we be judged for not heeding the words of Jesus who is greater than Solomon the wisest human being to have lived Jesus is greater Proverbs chapter 10 repeatedly spoke of life in verse 16 the fountain of life verse 11 the path to life in verse 17 but while Solomon focuses primarily on the good life here on earth eternal life that it foreshadows is only found in Jesus Christ

[43:56] Jesus was the ultimate diligent worker who did the work of God that we should have but could not do Jesus said in John chapter 4 verse 34 my food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work that's what Jesus lived for and he never took a day off that he wasn't supposed to Jesus said in John 9 verses 45 we must work the works of him who sent me while it is day night is coming when no one can work and as long as I am in the world I am the light of the world Jesus knew that while he was in the world while it was day and the light of Christ was shining he had a work to accomplish and Jesus explained what that work was in John chapter 5 verses 15 to 21 when he was accused by the Jews for healing on the Sabbath he was accused of violating the Sabbath Jesus said my father is working until now and I am working truly truly

[44:59] I say to you the son does that the son does likewise for the father loves the son and shows him all that he himself is doing and greater works than these he will show him so that you may marvel and what is that greater work that the father gave the son to do it says for as the father raises the dead and gives them life so also the son gives life to whom he will giving life forfeited the eternal life of God by our slack hands and by our idle mouths that is Jesus his work to give life to sinners like you and me everything Jesus did and everything Jesus said as he says in John 12 were nothing other than the deeds and words the works and words of the father and

[46:06] Jesus accomplished his work of granting eternal life to us by dying on the cross in the place of sinners who deserve death now think about it this way he gave his life to lift up those who are spiritually morally bankrupt we all once owed God an insurmountable debt most of you can't relate to what that feels like some of you can't because you're students but if you have debt if you have a lot of debt at least you think you probably think that your education will enable you to pay it back later but can you imagine what it's like to be under the crushing weight of debt that you have no hope of ever repaying and just waiting with a sense of dread and doom for the money lenders the collectors to come and for you to be punished to be jailed to be ashamed the deep sense of failure the loss that was every single one of us because we had a debt of sin that we could not pay it was an insurmountable debt and

[47:24] God inexplicably chooses to assume that debt himself he absorbs our debt the punishment that we deserved he absorbs it through his son Jesus Christ who is the ransom prize for our sins Proverbs chapter 13 verse 8 which we read said that the ransom of a man's life is his wealth Jesus the diligent worker whose words and deeds were perfectly righteous he dies in the place of debtors so that his wealth of eternal life might be given to us that's why 2nd Corinthians 8 and 9 8 verse 9 said this for you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that though he was rich yet for your sake he became poor so that you by his poverty might become rich and it's as people who have been united with

[48:24]  Christ by faith who have been enriched by his impoverishment on the cross that we can now follow his footsteps to work diligently to speak sparingly with our eyes fixed on the prosperity of the Lord in eternal life God He saved no God himself he slept through death everything could it was muted right at baptism death is Adamц but yeah chang he said it