November 8, 2017
I HAVE TESTED THE WARNINGS OF SCRIPTURE AND FOUND THEM TO BE TRUE.
Proverbs 21:1-10
Jeff Parker
Central Truth
All His words are true (Psalm 119:160). We can find this out the hard way by testing His warnings in Scripture through disobedience. Or we can taste His promises by obeying His Word. One way offers painful consequences; the other offers beautiful blessing.
Key Verse | Proverbs 21:6
The getting of treasures by a lying tongue
is a fleeting vapor and a snare of death.
(Proverbs 21:6)
Proverbs 21:1-10
1
The king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the LORD;
he turns it wherever he will.
2
Every way of a man is right in his own eyes,
but the LORD weighs the heart.
3
To do righteousness and justice
is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice.
4
Haughty eyes and a proud heart,
the lamp
1
21:4
Or the plowing
of the wicked, are sin.
5
The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance,
but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty.
6
The getting of treasures by a lying tongue
is a fleeting vapor and a snare of death.
2
21:6
Some Hebrew manuscripts, Septuagint, Latin; most Hebrew manuscripts vapor for those who seek death
7
The violence of the wicked will sweep them away,
because they refuse to do what is just.
8
The way of the guilty is crooked,
but the conduct of the pure is upright.
9
It is better to live in a corner of the housetop
than in a house shared with a quarrelsome wife.
10
The soul of the wicked desires evil;
his neighbor finds no mercy in his eyes.
Dive Deeper | Proverbs 21:1-10
I am a white collar criminal. It’s true. I stole a six-figure sum of money from my company over a period of seven years. Without a doubt, it was ugly. Finally, on January 19, 2015, after years of God working on me, I confessed.
Two days later, I started studying my Bible. I began with Proverbs 21 since it was January 21. Six verses in I read, “The getting of treasures by a lying tongue is a fleeting vapor and a snare of death.” (Proverbs 21:6)
My jaw dropped. I literally lived this warning for seven years. Trust me when I say this verse is absolutely true.
I decided that going forward I was going to test the promises of Scripture instead of its warnings.
For a guy like me, there are few promises as encouraging as Ezekiel 33:15-16. These verses promise us that we find life (not death) when we walk by God’s statutes. We find life when we practice justice and righteousness. We find life when we pay back that which we have taken.
I give you the backstory to get to this point: we all have tested His warnings. We’ve all gone a direction that seems “right in [our] own eyes” (Proverbs 21:2). We’ve been haughty and proud (verse 4), hasty (verse 5), and desirous of evil (verse 10). If we look objectively at our lives, we can rightly see it doesn’t go well for us when we act wickedly, just like the Proverbs teach us.
Whether or not you’re a white collar criminal like me, once the grace of God enters and begins to transform you, the only right response is to bear fruit and to practice righteousness and justice (verse 3). We do this not to earn our salvation. We do this out of a humble gratitude and thankfulness that we have been delivered from our foolish ways.
From this place of humility, we begin to test God’s promises instead of His warnings. And as I have discovered these past three years, I’m excited to declare His promises are as true as His warnings.
Discussion Questions
1. What warnings from Scripture have you personally tested and thus found to be true?
2. What promises do you cling to from God's Word to remind you of where life is truly found?
3. As a believer who has tasted the goodness of God's promises, how can you better practice justice and righteousness as a response to His kindness?