Series in Proverbs - The Affirmed and the Despised

       

The Affirmed and the Despised

Proverbs 12:8-16

In a world where everyone seeks affirmation and acceptance for their actions or lifestyle, the polarity again spreads to extremes. In God’s providence the rewards and punishments, affirmations and denials are signs of His pleasure or displeasure. To the former, they are beloved and blessed, to the later, they are detested and abhorred. This may seem extreme, but it’s exactly what we are seeing: the extremity of depravity and the rising acts of righteousness in our very times. Whether in accounts of war, or killing in the schools, to providing clean water for the poor, or standing against the blatant acts of evil by rescuing someone from irreversible harm. God providentially responds to these extremes. The historical accounts in the Bible verify this truth.

So let’s read the first portion of the proverb text. “A person is praised according to their prudence, and one with a warped mind is despised. Better to be a nobody and yet have a servant  than pretend to be somebody and have no food. The righteous care for the needs of their animals, but the kindest acts of the wicked are cruel. Those who work their land will have abundant food, but those who chase fantasies have no sense. The wicked desire the stronghold of evildoers, but the root of the righteous endures.”

Solomon has praised and exalted the acts of God’s righteousness through the instruction of God’s commands, laws, and precepts to his children. Now Solomon has challenged those who are impervious towards God’s laws and rebellious in their heart and mind towards God’s Word and Way.  

Solomon begins by praising the prudent, those who think and sensibly act in word and deed. He then commends the content, the ones who don't make pretenses but live according to their means. 

Then Solomon commends those who are responsible for the keeping of their pets, farm animals, or animals in the natural settings in their communities. As well the commendations are given to the farmers and gardeners who work the land according to God’s directions and wisdom, for the abundance of food and supplies will bless others as well as themselves. For it is in this Godly root of His Word and wisdom that they not only endure the winter and more challenging times, but are rewarded in the abundance and they are affirmed by God. “Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord,and he will repay him for his deed.” (Prov. 19:17 ESV)

Solomon addresses the liabilities, deprivation, and the depravity of the foolish and the despised in the community. First the mind of the despised is warped from the neglect of God’s Word and Way. For in their thoughts, they have no need for prudence, but to live for the moment. They boast of their imagined wealth and pretend to be someone of importance yet the shelves in their homes are empty, and no foreseeable bounty is incoming without the assistance of the prudent. They come home to the emptiness and growl at the dog or hiss at the cat. They consider the goat and sheep as consumable, negating the provision that they give to this home and in their deprived mind, they cruelly treat those in the home who haven’t tended to the care of their animals as well. In the meanness of the night, they fantasize of better days, of a grand adventure forthcoming in which their days will be filled with abundance and mirth. But in the meantime, they fill the evening hours with those of equal depravity and privation, planning and participating in an evil deed in order to alleviate themselves of their presence, crisis and predicament. Of which there is no surety or guarantee.

Application - In every community, town, or city there are those whom God affirms and those He despises. Reminiscent to Abel and Cain, each had the blessings of God provision, but because of their hearts and minds, one brought out the best and the other brought resentment, ending in the heinous murder in the first family. 

God’s hand is not too short to provide, for He gives good gifts and blesses and disciplines those that are listening and obeying. “And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.” (2 Cor. 9:8 NIV)

He commends those who live within their means and assist others, caring and sharing not only for their neighbors, but for their livestock and animals as well. They are dedicated and diligent in their work habits, understanding the prudence of planning and preparing, like the ants “consider its ways and be wise! …it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest.” (Prov. 6:6,8 NIV)

The affirmed of God are rooted and established in the truth of God’s Word, they seek wisdom and discerning. For they realize the realities of the world and account sagaciously for the oncoming needs, they walk circumspectally in all their deeds and thoughts as they are led in the ways of God’s grace and bountiful knowledge and understanding. 

Whereas the despised revel in their warped minds. Egotistically planning narcissistic dreams and daydreaming about their fantasized lives in a different reality, where they reside in the paradise of leisure and abundance. 

When I worked as a security guard for millionaires, and want-to-bes ones. One man and his wife purchased a home where they couldn’t afford curtains for the windows. They lived in a fantasy, he was a realtor and she was a cheerleader for a professional sports team. There were also those who purchased expensive sports cars and luxury sedans only to have them impounded because they couldn’t make the payments. They lacked prudence and forethought, they were driven by their egos and narcissistic lifestyle. They daydreamed through their lives and ended in harboring schemes to continue in this fantasy role through money schemes that weren’t based on legitimate means and ways, but devised on the evil plans of deceit and lies. 

The end of these lives ended in repossession, shame, and the loss of much of what they claimed. Their lives ended in aggravation, bitterness, and resentment, still clinging to the entitlement of a life like the prudent, diligent, and sagacious.

Last, Solomon continues in laying out of the blight and infestation that sin and its twisted talk and promises had entrapped the enslaved evildoers. They have leaned their ears to the father of lies and accede and acquiesces to all the nefarious words slithering from evil’s lips. In the heinousness of their minds, they conjure up means of adjudication and justification of their acts and making plans for the future from the advice of the equally foolish. They disregard the words of correction and discipline from God’s Words and ways, and insult those who chose God’s pathway, acclaiming unequal treatment and disclusion from the entitlement of provisions and jobs without training or understanding, or the investment of their time and effort.

On the other hand, those who are innocent of nefarious talk and actions, are able to flee from the approaching chaos and cataclysms. For the fruit of their mouths are filled with the righteous advice and discernment from divine wisdom and guidance. The path of the righteous leads them away from Folly’s freeway to a narrow pathway created by God. It is laidened with good and desirable things, and the words of the affirmed resound with praise and honor, adoration and reverence to the Almighty, and the inspiration of hope over adversity and they are rewarded with wisdom, understanding, insight and discernment, the treasures of Heaven. Their work load is lightened because of the providence of God. And the righteous overlook the jeers and insults as they veer away from the highway of Folly.

Application - A great example of this selection of the proverb is the remnant that returned to rebuild the temple of God and the walls and city of Jerusalem. There are many who stand and exclaim injustice especially if it concerns the ways of God and His pathway. Just as God providentially provided and prophesied that His ways were Higher and His thoughts greater. Those who responded to the clarion call of God to come and work, live content lives, caring not only for the work of the Lord, but for one another. Dedicating themselves to the love of God and of their neighbor, being established in the righteousness and training of the Law, commands, and precepts of God. They lived circumspect lives, living with carefulness, vigilance, and wisdom, paying close attention to the leadership of God’s chosen leaders. Their actions affected the work and its completion, and overlooked the annoyance of the jeers and taunts of the evil ones, and in prudence overlooked the insults to see the hand of God’s providence and protection in each step of their lives. 

In closing this lesson, we really are in one of two camps, the affirmed of God or in the despised. We can be content and live according to God’s way and receive his grace and mercy or we can clamor and complain, scheme and plan folly or evil. We see the image of this portrayed in all areas of life and community. There are those who seek the Lord’s wisdom, discernment, and understandings to work diligently, and be content in our lives as they walk in His pathway of life, and there are those who chose the broad road of destruction. They chase the illusive fantasies of a narcissistic life, and want it to be given to them without much effort on their part. They end up seeing the emptiness and vainness as their world crumbles in violence and self-indulgence to that which brings death and despair, as they realize they are despised because of their choices.

As always, I want to conclude by presenting the gospel in the form of the basic principles of salvation for all those who have not yet received Jesus Christ. For Jesus, God the Son, came into this world to save all who believe and trust in him. He desires to reveal himself to you; he is the light that overcomes the darkness of this lawless world. He hears your prayers, and has given him all authority in heaven and on earth. He will answer you if you truly believe. If you haven't yet asked him to be your Lord and Savior, today could be that day.

First, A: Admit that you are a sinner. This is where that godly sorrow leads to genuine repentance for sinning against a just God, and a change of heart takes place: we change our minds, and God changes our hearts and regenerates us inside and out. Romans 3:10: As it is written: "There is none righteous, no, not one." Romans 3:23: For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (We are all born sinners, so we must be born spiritually to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.) Romans 6:23: For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. The bad news is that the wages of sin is death; in other words, our sin means we have been sentenced to death; we have the death penalty hanging over our heads; that's the bad news. But here's the good news: The good news is that the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Ephesians 2:8-9 - For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, lest anyone should boast. Secondly,

B - Believe in your heart that Jesus Christ died for your sins, was buried, and that God raised him from the dead. This is trusting with all your heart that Jesus Christ is who he said he was. Romans 10:9-10 - That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is righteous, and with the mouth confession is made and is saved. Third,

C - Call upon the name of the Lord. Every person who sees lThose who have lived since Adam will kneel andthey confessed with hismouth that Jesus Christ is Lord, Lord of lords, and King of kings. Romans 14:11 - For it is written: “As I live,” says the Lord, “every knee will bow to me, and every tongue will confess to God.” Don’t wait, do it now. Romans 10:13 - For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” “O God, I am a sinner. I repent of my sin. I want to turn away from it. I believe that Jesus Christ is your Son; I believe that he died on the cross for my sins, that he was buried, and that you raised him from the dead. I have decided to put my faith in Jesus Christ as my Savior, trusting in his shed blood alone as sufficient to save my soul and take me to heaven. Thank you, Lord Jesus, for saving me. Amen.”

Please share this with someone this week, the Lord knows we and they need it.

If you would like other lessons, please visithttp://pmdinhisservice.blogspot.com 

Until next week, In Your Service Mike Davis

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