“The LORD by wisdom founded the earth; by understanding He established the heavens; by His knowledge the deeps broke open, and the clouds drop down the dew. My son, do not lose sight of these—keep sound wisdom and discretion, and they will be life for your soul and adornment for your neck. Then you will walk on your way securely, and your foot will not stumble. If you lie down, you will not be afraid; when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet. Do not be afraid of sudden terror or of the ruin of the wicked, when it comes, for the Lord will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being caught.” Prov. 3:19-26
Well, like I said I went to jury duty Monday morning waited for hours and wasn’t picked. It used to be bitter sweet…not wanting to lose the time but at the same time wanting to do my civic duty. Nowadays, I go because it is still my civic duty and as a citizen of this world it is one of the things in a free society I get to do…show up!
We have been studying Genesis in Sunday School and I find it amazing that we get such a clear doctrine of creation lesson here in Proverbs of all places when we read, “The LORD by wisdom founded the earth; by understanding He established the heavens; by His knowledge the deeps broke open, and the clouds drop down the dew.” No ambiguity, no apology, nothing but the absolute true. And the lesson, “My son, do not lose sight of these—keep sound wisdom and discretion, and they will be life for your soul and adornment for your neck. Then you will walk on your way securely, and your foot will not stumble.” However, very few will see this passage since Proverbs is yet another of the many books that have fallen into disfavor and are left unread by many Christians today.
One reason for this is simply when a Christian actually picks up the Bible to read it, the average Christian will open to the Gospels or some other less controversial (in their minds) book in the New Testament. Another reason for this at least for my generation and I still suspect this to be true for today’s generation as well is that many pastors, teachers have a tendency to speak of the Proverbs as a collection of saying; making them appear less than they are. Many people, myself included, were left with the feeling that this meant that they were “good and moral advice only”. So if people do pick it up they are looking for great pithy statements on life or on parenting but they don’t see it for what it is…the Word of God. To that we must add that it is either all God’s Word which means we are expected to keep it…whether commanded or not to…or none of it is God’s Word.
Anyway, quickly back to our passage this morning. Verse 19 sets the stage for all the blessings that come with a correct understanding and acceptance of it.The LORD by wisdom founded the earth. Yahweh…the God head founded the earth by wisdom. All creation was made through Christ, the wisdom of God. John 1:1-3 tells us, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made.” And then Paul tells us, Col. 2:3- “…Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” This is said of course to reinforce all that has been said about Christ before. Christ is the wisdom of God and by this wisdom the earth was founded, the heavens were established, the deep broke open and the water and the dew came forward…all because of the wisdom of God….our Lord Jesus Christ in concert with the Godhead. Believing this makes all the difference in how we present Christ to others.
So you see a biblical position on Genesis is crucial to our faith and it affects our ability to truly tell others about this Jesus who is Creator, King and Redeemer of His people. It is not really about the days of creation but the CREATOR. Understanding the role of Christ in all of this…recognizing His preeminence and sovereignty over all things and the fact that it is this Christ that we worship; this should then motivate us to paint the proper picture of our God to those around us which leads to many blessings that are highlighted in our text.
Because of Jesus, the wisdom of God…we who are IN CHRIST can believe this and apply this truth to our lives giving us purpose and identity- “…keep sound wisdom and discretion, and they will be life for your soul and adornment for your neck.” Truly believing this and applying the truth to our lives gives us contentment and a sense of stability, “…then you will walk on your way securely, and your foot will not stumble.” Truly believing…that is, keeping this sound wisdom and discretion will net us not just safety but assurance that we are in His divine love no matter what comes. “If you lie down, you will not be afraid; when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet. Do not be afraid of sudden terror or of the ruin of the wicked, when it comes…” Just to be clear here, as we keep close to this wisdom we do not have to fear current events and tragedies that occur because God, has told us to expect these which leads to the last blessing that Jesus, the wisdom of God, gives us here in this short passage, “…the Lord will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being caught.” He is our confidence in dark times since He created all things He is now directing all things to the consummation that He has also predetermined so we can lie down in green pasture in a sense with no fear since nothing happens that He has not already pre-ordained to happen.
Good stuff all because we have a correct view of the beginning.
God Bless y’all today.
In His Grip,
Pastor Mike
