The Shield of God. Proverbs 2:5-8
We are now focusing on the impact of GodÕs Word as a protection to
our life. This functions in a coupler of different ways. Number one, it is the
Word of God itself as it is taken in to our soul and changes the way in which
we think and react to life. But as we do that and as we walk, as the text says,
uprightly—in conformity to GodÕs revelation—then God Himself
becomes that shield for us. This is very much a part of the whole metaphor of
the spiritual fortress that we develop and build within our own souls as we
incorporate into our thinking the principles of GodÕs Word, exchanging the
errors, personal opinions and biases that we have learned from parents, peers,
professors, etc. for the eternal truth of GodÕs Word.
What we find in Proverbs chapter two in its structure, the second
lesson in the instruction of the father to the son, is that the first four
verses laid down the condition for successful or wise living. These are all
expressed in conditional clauses: v. 1, ÒIf you receive my words; v. 3, ÒIf you
cry out for discernment; v. 4, ÒIf you seek her as silver.Ó The focal point in
these first four verses is on our volition. The results of this are indicated
by the phrase ÒthenÓ which we see at the beginning of verse 5 and again at the
beginning of verse 9. The first section, [5] ÒThen you will discern the fear of the LORD,Ó (verses 5-8) focuses on the results in our
relationship with God, and the second part (vv.9ff to the end of the chapter)
focuses on the results in reference to relationship with people.
What we see here in Proverbs 1:8
through 9:18 are several lessons from the father to the son. The father in this
case isnÕt passing on his own experience, his own biases and opinions about
life; he is representing God. He is passing on the truth of GodÕs Word. He is
following the mandates of Deuteronomy 4:6-9: the parents are to continuously
teach the Law to their children. It is the primary responsibility of parents to
teach their children, and this is one of the primary ways in which our
spiritual heritage is passed from one generation to another.
The second lesson is to seek wisdom. This is the first four verses
of chapter two. It is the appeal to the volition. If we make that decision and
commitment in our own life—doctrine, number one—to make that a
priority every single day, to be reminded of GodÕs Word, to have what we have
learned reinforced by hearing it again and again and then applying it in our
life. If we donÕt make that a commitment then we fall off the path that God has
set before us and we fall prey to all of the ambushes that the system, the
peers, the evildoers around us set as traps. So we are to seek wisdom to find
the knowledge of God first and foremost: that knowledge of God, of who He is,
developing an intimate, close relationship with God based on what we learn in
His Word. That alone can protect us and shield us from self-destruction.
As we go through life we are faced with challenges. But what the
Word of God says is that there are untrackable—you canÕt sit down and
draw a straight line of cause and effect between the cause, being the doctrine
that is in our soul and the effect, meaning the way things come into our life.
There are these untrackable consequences as opposed to unintended consequences.
As we watch a believer who grows to maturity we observe in their life that
generally speaking there are problems and issues and things that just wonÕt hit
them because they make wise decisions to avoid certain traps. The unbeliever
operating on human viewpoint constantly seems to be dealing with self-induced
misery, self-generating crises. And if they just learned to live life wisely
they would avoid a lot of the traps, a lot of the pain, a lot of the problems
that come into their life. Caution: Just because we are walking with the Lord
doesnÕt mean that we donÕt go through certain types of suffering. We live in
the devilÕs world.
But generally speaking the person who lives in the basis of the
value system of the world around us is on a path of self-destruction, defined
in Scripture as death. It is not physical death; it is a death-like existence.
And they are just constantly dealing with problems and crises, nothing ever
seems to work. Believers operating on wisdom go through some times like that,
we understand that, but generally speaking over the course of life there are
some people we watch who just never get it together. Even though we may not see
it what is going on in the background is that they are just living according to
the dictates of their sin nature so often that they donÕt and canÕt make wise
decisions.
In contrast, the believer who is positive and living on the basis
of wisdom is just going to avoid a lot of issues, situations and circumstances
because he doesnÕt make decisions that are going to put him in those negative
situations. He is not going to go down certain paths that are loaded with
snares and traps and temptations that can lead to self-destruction. So the
challenge for us is do we really, really want to know the Word of God. There
are a lot of people who think they are positive because they listen to the
Word, they come to Bible class two or three times a week. But the measure of
our positive volition isnÕt how thick our doctrinal notebooks are, it doesnÕt
have anything to do with how many times we come to Bible class, it has to do
with what we do with what we learn when we come to Bible class. We have to come
to Bible class consistently and frequently because we have to counter the
message from the world system around us.
We are bombarded much more than we ever imagine with the message
of the world, the value systems of the world. It comes across through news
shows that we watch, through people we listen to (maybe on talk radio), from
our peers, our family, teachers, professors, and it is 24/7. We are constantly
under a barrage of worldly chatter; we just canÕt avoid it. One of the great
self-deceptions of our sin nature is to think that by listening to the Word of
God being taught for 45 minutes or an hour once a week that can counter seven
days of worldly chatter and worldly influence. We are deceiving ourselves. The
reality is that one day when this life is over with we are going to be standing
before the judgment seat of Christ and it is not going to matter what we did in
life; what is going to matter is how much of the Word of God transformed our
thinking so that we lived our lives walking in fellowship, applying the Word of
God consistently so that our character was transformed, in order that we are
prepared for the next stage which is to rule and reign with Jesus Christ in
heaven. And the rewards that we receive at the judgment seat of Christ are
going to be directly related to how we grew and matured as believers in this
life, and the capacity that we developed. That is what developing wisdom is all
about and what these challenges are all about.
So in this second lesson the father begins in the first four
verses stating what the conditions are. We have to receive the Word. We have to
treasure, value above everything else, the commands of Scripture, with the
result that we Òincline our ear to wisdom, apply our heart to understanding.Ó
It is our focal point. Verse 3,
ÒFor if you cry for discernment, Lift your voice for understanding.Ó He ramps
it up. It is not just receiving the words or treasuring it but it is crying out
for it. That is the next level of pursuit of the Word. You are desiring it so
much you are screaming for it. You want more; you want to learn more. Then the
fourth condition is [4], Òseek her as silver And search for her as for hidden
treasures.Ó That is putting a high priority on the Word of God above everything
else in life.
From there we go to the
conclusion. Proverbs 2:5 NASB ÒThen you will discern the fear
of the LORD And discover the knowledge of God.Ó What verses 5-8
actually focus on is the prerequisite. People say all the time they would like
to know God, but they have to put forth a little effort and study the Word, and
eventually they will get it. God is not going to disclose Himself to us through
the Word if we are not taking the time to truly understand the Word. So the
first result in these conditions is that we grow in our knowledge of God and
our intimacy with Him.
Then the second result has to do with
our day-to-day decision-making and our relationship to people around us. Proverbs
2:9 NASB ÒThen you will discern righteousness and justice And equity
{and} every good course [path].Ó The concept of the path plays out a lot in the
second part of this chapter. That is the direction of our life and the choices
we make as we go through day to day as we move forward. That has to be built
upon an understanding of what is right. That is the concept of righteousness,
that which conforms to GodÕs standards. We discern the path and the way to go
only comes as a result of following the conditions of verses 1-4.
Proverbs 2:5 NASB
ÒThen you will discern the fear of the LORD
And discover the knowledge of GodÓ – only if we follow the first set of
conditions in vv. 1-4.
Then there is an explanation indicated by the first word in verse 6,
ÒFor the Lord gives wisdom.Ó That ÒForÓ in the Hebrew indicates an explanation.
Proverbs 2:6 NASB ÒFor the LORD gives
wisdom; From His mouth {come} knowledge and understanding.Ó How does this work?
If we treasure the commands, the wisdom of God, and cry out for it we will
understand the fear of the Lord and the knowledge of God. Why? Because this
knowledge and this understanding comes only from God. Job 28:12-28. God gives
wisdom. We canÕt find it in any other place.
Proverbs 2:7 NASB ÒHe stores
up sound wisdom for the upright; {He is} a shield to those who walk in
integrity.Ó That is where it leads; there is a progression here. First we seek
Him with everything we have, then we will develop that relationship with God.
As that develops then God begins to dispense to us wisdom and knowledge. This
comes through divine revelation. Then we are told that God has treasured this
up, stored this up for us. It is through that wisdom that we have the result of
His protection in our life. This comes both from His Word and from His
sovereign oversight of our life. He is a shield. He guards and He preserves.
That is the protection of the soul fortress that we have in our life, the
protection of God.
As we get into this passage we see
again some of the key words that we find throughout Proverbs talking about
various synonyms for wisdom. Verse 5, ÒThen you will understand the fear of the
Lord.Ó Here the verb is bin, the verb form. There is a related noun in verse 6, tebuna, the
noun for understanding. This has to do with making decisions between things. It
has to do with evaluation and then making a choice. ÒÉAnd discover the
knowledge of God.Ó This is a knowledge that is application. It is related to epignosis [e)pignwsij] in the New Testament. gnosis
[gnwsij] is the basic Greek word for knowledge. It is intensified
with the prefix epi [e)pi], a preposition, indicating that it is an applicable
knowledge. It is not just abstract information, it has gone from information to
usable, applicable knowledge. When it is applied consistently we learn from it
and we develop skill at application. That is when it becomes chokmah,
wisdom. Proverbs 2:6 NASB ÒFor the LORD
gives wisdom; From His mouth {come} knowledge and understanding.Ó That is a
reference to special revelation. Knowledge comes from no other source than God.
Verse 7,ÒHe stores up sound wisdom for
the upright.Ó Here is a totally different word for wisdom: tushiyyah, which has to do with a
skilful application of wisdom as well. He is a shield to those who walk
uprightly. He shields, He guards and He preserves.
The Multiple Facets of Wisdom in Proverbs
Chokmah – has to do with skill or prudence, being wise. This is
often not a choice between right and wrong but what is best and better. Often
we settle in life for that which is a little more comfortable. It is not wrong,
not against God; it is just a little easy. Wisdom is the ability and
discernment related to making those kinds of choices, doing that which is best
instead of that which is better, so that we pursue excellence in the spiritual
life.
Musar – instruction, is a disciplined instruction. This is when
you are really disciplined in your own study. Thinking through again what was
taught and relating it to how it applies in our own life.
Bina – understanding. This is really the concept of
discernment, being able to look at a situation and think about it in terms of
its spiritual dimensions. One of the great examples of discernment in the
Scriptures occurred in the life of David in the confrontation with Goliath.
There was no discernment or wisdom at all in the camp of Israel. David
responded to GoliathÕs challenge by saying, ÒWhat is with this uncircumcised
Philistine?Ó David understands that the issue is who controls the land that
they are on. The land God promised to Israel has been invaded by the
Philistines and they have no right to be there because they are not heirs to
the covenant of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. What signifies heirship to that
covenant? It is the sign of the covenant—circumcision. So what David is
saying by his question is that this guy has no right to be here. He has the
discernment, the understanding to see right away the real issue at stake in the
whole conflict. He says they are just going to rely on the God of Abraham,
Isaac and Jacob and we are going to defeat these Philistines. He is able to see
past all the chatter, all the negatives, all the detail, to focus on what the
real spiritual issue is. That is discernment or understanding.
Skhl – the idea of craftiness. The negative is that the
serpent was the most crafty in the garden. It is someone who is able to think
in terms of all the details of a situation or a problem. It has to do with
being able to therefore make prudential or wise decisions.
DaÕat – applicable knowledge.
Mezimma – purpose, discretion. The root of this word has
something to do with a rope initially used in sailing vessels in guiding and
directing the vessel. So it has to do with planning and purpose and direction.
Tushiya – wisdom for successful living. Chokmah emphasizes the skill aspect; tushiya
emphasizes more the results of that skilful living in oneÕs life.
So when we make doctrine our priority the
result is that we will understand the fear of the Lord and find knowledge of
God. It starts with our volition. God has already revealed Himself to us
non-verbally through general revelation, also referred to as common grace—the
knowledge that God makes available to every human being. Whether a person is a
believer or an unbeliever he has access to a certain amount of knowledge
related to the creation and he can learn it through the study of creation.
Whether he can organize it and come up with the right information depends upon
getting the revelation from God that is the key to organizing that—special
revelation. That is what the Lord gives in verse 6 and what He provides through
special revelation from His mouth.
Often what we have heard is that spiritual
truth cannot be discerned except by the Holy Spirit, or unless you are
regenerate. That canÕt be absolutely true. There was the whole Old Testament
period when not one single believer had the Holy Spirit to enlighten his mind
to the knowledge of GodÕs Word. We have the psalmist crying to God to enlighten
his kind all the time. How was this done? It was done at a level that was not
as intense or intimate as what comes in the church age. That is one of the
distinctions between the New Testament period and the Old Testament period. We
also have example of unbelievers in both the Old Testament and the New
Testament who come to a certain knowledge of biblical truth and they are not
regenerate. The Bereans in Acts 16 were not saved yet. There is a knowledge of
biblical truth at a very elementary level that an unbeliever can access.
There is a clear understanding of the
significance of Scripture to those who are regenerate. 1 Corinthians 2:14 NASB
ÒBut a natural man does not accept the
things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot
understand them, because they are spiritually appraised [discerned].Ó A clear understanding comes only to those who are regenerate
through the illuminating ministry of God the Holy Spirit.
In common grace the Lord implants a certain
amount instinctive wisdom in animals. This is described in Proverbs 30:24-28.
To the farmer, we are told in Scripture, God gives basic knowledge for growing
things. Isaiah 28:26-29. Also there is a basic sense of moral right and wrong,
Job 22:22; 32:8.
Here we see a more in-depth perception of
the knowledge of Scripture. This goes beyond just understanding the vocabulary
and the basic superficial meaning, but to truly understand the application in
oneÕs own life. It is not some sort of mystical insight, it comes like anything
else in life. If you read anything twenty or thirty times that has to do with
any kind of production, the more you read about it and think about it the more
insight you derive into how to apply it. That is what we see here. The more we
pursue the study of the Scripture the more God will help us to understand it
and enlighten the eyes of our souls so that we see how this is to be applied.
We know that wisdom and true knowledge only
comes from God. Proverbs 8:22 is personification of wisdom. It says, ÒThe LORD possessed me (wisdom) at the beginning of His way, Before
His works of old. [23] From everlasting I was established, From the beginning,
from the earliest times of the earth. [24] When there were no depths I was
brought forth, When there were no springs abounding with water.Ó Wisdom
precedes the creation of mankind. It is in the mind of God.
It is described in the
New Testament under two passages on inspiration. 2 Peter 1:20, 21 NASB
ÒBut know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is {a matter} of
oneÕs own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human
will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.Ó The prophet didnÕt make
up what he wanted to say. He didnÕt generate what he wrote from his own mind,
it came from outside of his mind. The Greek expresses it a little differently:
prophecy never came into existence by the will of man.
Do ÒKnow this first.Ó
Peter is saying you have to understand this because this is why we emphasize
Scripture as the foundation for everything in life. All prophecy does not
derive [come into existence] from oneÕs own interpretation or explanation. The
word there, ginomai [ginomai] is the word that means something that comes into
existence. The content of Scripture didnÕt have its origin in human will, but
men spoke from God by being carried along by the Holy Spirit. The word that is
used there for being carried along is the same word as used for blowing a
sailing vessel across the water. So the Holy Spirit is being compared to this
unseen force that is directing and moving the individual prophets in the
writing of Scripture.
2 Timothy 3:16, 17.
In the context Paul is talking to Timothy about his experience growing up. His
experiencing in learning the Scripture growing up was in the pre-Pentecost
period before the church age began. He had heard a lot of doctrine before the
Holy Spirit came. This is the point made earlier that a certain amount of
doctrine is available and understandable apart from the Holy Spirit, but it is
basic, foundational.
2 Timothy 3:14, 15 NASB
ÒYou, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of,
knowing from whom you have learned {them,} and that from childhood you have
known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to
salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.Ó When he is talking about the
Scriptures here he is not talking about the New Testament at all, because
nothing in the New Testament had been written at that point when Timothy was a
child and young man. So verses 16 and 17 focus, in terms of direct
interpretation, the Old Testament, although it is applied to the New.
ÒAll Scripture is
inspired by God ÉÓ The Greek word theopneustos
[qeopneustoj] which means it is breathed out by God. God is the one who
originates the Scripture; it is from His mouth, so to speak, and He exhales it
through the Holy SpiritÕs moving upon the prophets. ÒÉ and profitable for
teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that
the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.Ó
God is the one who
provides us with wisdom. Proverbs 2:7 NASB ÒHe stores up sound
wisdom for the upright ÉÓ This word for the upright really focuses on those who
live with integrity. The upright
are those whose lifestyle does not deviate from the path of righteousness, from
the divinely revealed code of conduct for the believer. God is storing this and dispensing it.
So it is a matter of volition, learning what you can, applying that, and then
God gives more understanding and wisdom. He is not going to give you a lot
until you have gone through this step by step growth process. The results are
then described. ÒÉ {He is} a shield to those who walk in integrity.Ó This
shield metaphor is used many times in the Scripture, and there are some great
promises.
Psalm 3:3 NASB
ÒBut You, O
LORD, are a shield about me,
My glory, and the One who lifts my head.Ó God is the only protection we have.
Psalm 18:2 NASB
ÒThe LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, My God, my
rock, in whom I take refuge; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my
stronghold.Ó When we are walking with the Lord He is our total and absolute
protection. It doesnÕt matter what is going on around us, He is going to
sustain us. That doesnÕt mean that we are not going to have some difficult
emotions in the midst of challenging circumstances. Even Jesus in His humanity
dealt with difficult emotions but He didnÕt let those emotions drive Him in
wrong directions. We go through all kinds of things that generate these
emotions. The issue is: are we going to apply doctrine and not yield to that,
or are we going to let the emotions run riot?
Psalm 18:30 NASB
ÒAs for God, His way is blameless; The word of the LORD
is tried; He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him.Ó
Psalm 28:7 NASB
ÒThe LORD is my strength and my shield; My heart trusts in Him, and I
am helped; Therefore my heart exults, And with my song I shall thank Him.Ó We
have joy and we praise god because we have seen Him function as our shield and
our protection.
Psalm 33:20 NASB
ÒOur soul waits for the LORD; He is our help and our shield.Ó
Lastly, Proverbs
2:8 NASB ÒGuarding the paths of justice, And He preserves the way of
His godly ones.Ó As we walk down this path of righteousness God is the one who
sets up a guard or protection around us. We canÕt draw a direct line of cause
and effect. This is the consequences that we canÕt draw patterns on. It is
expressed in Proverbs 3:5, 6—He makes our paths straight. He guards those
paths and directs us unseen in the background, because we have made this
commitment and have this desire to study and know the way. ÒAnd He preserves
the way of His godly ones [saints]Ó—those who are walking in faithfulness
to God.
But the issue, the starting point, is
our volition. Are we going to make the Word a priority? Are we going to
continue? So many Christians just play games with God and they just have a
superficial attachment to GodÕs Word. They donÕt really give themselves over to
it. They donÕt cry out for it, they donÕt scream for it; they just say, okay it
is convenient for me to go to church this Sunday. ItÕs a little tough for me to
get there Tuesday and Thursday night and I constantly forget to plug in and
turn the computer on to live stream. No, that is not going to cut it.
Christianity wonÕt work for you unless you make it a priority. And Christianity
is the only thing that is going to work for anybody because it is the only path
of truth.