Pure and Humble Heart with Words of Grace

Proverbs 22:1-16

1 A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches,
Loving favor rather than silver and gold.

2 The rich and the poor have this in common,
The LORD is the maker of them all.

3 A prudent man foresees evil and hides himself,
But the simple pass on and are punished.

4 By humility and the fear of the LORD
Are riches and honor and life.

5 Thorns and snares are in the way of the perverse;
He who guards his soul will be far from them.

6 Train up a child in the way he should go,
And when he is old he will not depart from it.

7 The rich rules over the poor,
And the borrower is servant to the lender.

8 He who sows iniquity will reap sorrow,
And the rod of his anger will fail.

9 He who has a generous eye will be blessed,
For he gives of his bread to the poor.

10 Cast out the scoffer, and contention will leave;
Yes, strife and reproach will cease.

11 He who loves purity of heart
And has grace on his lips,
The king will be his friend.

12 The eyes of the LORD preserve knowledge,
But He overthrows the words of the faithless.

13 The lazy man says, "There is a lion outside!
I shall be slain in the streets!"

14 The mouth of an immoral woman is a deep pit;
He who is abhorred by the LORD will fall there.

15 Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child;
The rod of correction will drive it far from him.

16 He who oppresses the poor to increase his riches,
And he who gives to the rich, will surely come to poverty.

We are called to fear God as our friend by cultivating a pure and humble heart with words of grace in our speech (Colossians 4:6) to others.  The good name we have as God’s chosen people is to be treasured and kept holy (1 Peter 4:14-15) as more precious than jewels or any other material riches, for God is our Maker who designed us in His image for all righteousness and holiness.  This value we have is never based on the value of what we have apart from Him.  If we then are wise and understanding, we will flee evil (1 Timothy 6:11, James 4:7) to avoid uncomfortable correction.  Our true riches come with honor and life in Christ by true humility and fear of the Lord whom we willingly follow to serve in joyful obedience.  We avoid the snares and thorns calling to us along the narrow way to and through Jesus Christ as the door to unending life before God’s face (Job 19:27, 1 Corinthians 13:12, Revelation 22:3-5).  As we train and bring up our child, so we do in discipling spiritual children as we are all ourselves taught by God as John 6:45 tells us (Isaiah 54:13) to avoid these entanglements.  Yes, we humble ourselves to serve each other as we serve God by Christ’s example and generously give instead of sowing sin and selfishness.  This may mean casting out the contentious from the assembly to keep that unity of peace and sound teaching necessary for bringing up spiritual children in godly understanding and wisdom.  We are to please God with purity of heart and grace on our lips to speak life if we are truly His friends (John 15:15).  We acknowledge that God preserves the truth and knowledge of it for us to hear, but the false words of man’s faithless philosophy He overturns through us (2 Corinthians 10:5) as we faithfully serve Him and minister to each other.  We are not lazy nor afraid in speaking these words of life (Acts 5:20, Philippians 2:15-16), for we trust in eternal security of our deliverance from God’s wrath (1 John 4:18).  We watch to avoid the pitfall of immorality and the foolishness which necessitates discipline for our correction (Hebrews 12:10-11) as children needing to know right from wrong which He teaches us (Hebrews 5:14) from His word.  Furthermore, we are not to oppress others, but remember the grace and mercy shown us, not bribing the rich and abusing the poor.  May we learn this wisdom of skillful application of knowledge and understanding.  Amen.