March 16, 2025 | Fearless in the Maker's Hands | Proverbs Part 5

Fearless in the Maker's Hands | Proverbs Part 5

Proverbs 3:13–35

Blessed is the one who finds wisdom,
    and the one who gets understanding,
for the gain from her is better than gain from silver
    and her profit better than gold.
She is more precious than jewels,
    and nothing you desire can compare with her.
Long life is in her right hand;
    in her left hand are riches and honor.
Her ways are ways of pleasantness,
    and all her paths are peace.
She is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her;
    those who hold her fast are called blessed.


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.
Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due,
    when it is in your power to do it.


Do not say to your neighbor, “Go, and come again,
    tomorrow I will give it”—when you have it with you.
Do not plan evil against your neighbor,
    who dwells trustingly beside you.
Do not contend with a man for no reason,
    when he has done you no harm.
Do not envy a man of violence
    and do not choose any of his ways,
for the devious person is an abomination to the LORD,
    but the upright are in his confidence.
The LORD’s curse is on the house of the wicked,
    but he blesses the dwelling of the righteous.
Toward the scorners he is scornful,
    but to the humble he gives favor.
The wise will inherit honor,
    but fools get disgrace. (ESV)

Jed Gillis explored the deep value of wisdom as presented in Proverbs 3, tying it directly to Jesus Christ, whom the New Testament calls our wisdom. True wisdom, he explained, is not just about knowing how to live well; it’s about knowing Jesus — His humility, compassion, and justice. As the passage describes wisdom as more valuable than silver, gold, or jewels, Gillis emphasized that these treasures point us to the greatest treasure — Christ Himself.

Wisdom offers something better than material wealth — peace, pleasantness, and healing for the soul. It’s not a promise of prosperity as defined by health and wealth, but a promise of a greater gain: life shaped by God’s definition of blessing. Gillis warned against the prosperity gospel, which misrepresents both God’s definition of gain and His timing. Instead, real trust means wanting what God calls good, not what we call gain.

Wisdom, Gillis argued, is woven into the very fabric of creation. Proverbs aren’t just good advice — they reflect the patterns God embedded in His world. Living wisely means aligning with those patterns, like understanding aerodynamics before attempting flight. He gave practical examples: don’t withhold good from others, don’t betray trust, and don’t envy violent or aggressive people. These are not arbitrary rules but reflections of how life was designed to flourish.

Ultimately, wisdom is not merely a technique — it’s relational, rooted in the Maker Himself. God stands behind His wisdom and blesses those who follow it. The result? Fearless security. When you live by God’s wisdom, especially as found in Christ and His cross, you can rest — even sleep — without fear, knowing your life is in the hands of the One who built the world with wisdom and calls you to walk in it.

Transcript of Fearless in the Maker's Hands | Proverbs Part 5

Jed Gillis: How rich a treasure we have in Jesus Christ our Lord. And the New Testament says Jesus Christ is our wisdom. So when we read through Proverbs and we see treasure described over and over, and we hear, you need to pursue wisdom like it's treasure, God's already given us the greatest treasure. And what we really want is to know Jesus.

It's to know Christ. It's to know His mind, and have His mind of humility. It's to know His compassion. It's to know His justice. It's to know all of these things that are Jesus. And the more we know Jesus and the more we are shaped to be like Him, the more we have the treasure of wisdom. Because Jesus is our wisdom.

So we can sing how rich a treasure we possess. In Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Proverb's Long Introduction

Jed Gillis: At this point in Proverbs, really, there's, there's an obvious question. We're about a third of the way through the introduction to the book. Which, if you're reading Proverbs, you might think, that's a really long introduction. And it is.

But you keep in mind that he's introducing it to talk to, especially, young teenage boys. There's a group of them over here in this room who I love very much. Sometimes you need a long introduction to get attention, right? There's a reason for that. It's a long introduction, and as he's talking, he's told us a couple things.

He said, true wisdom is available to you. Doesn't matter who you are. The message was wisdom is calling out. It's available. But to get it, it requires attentive longing. You can't just, oh, it's calling somewhere, I'm gonna go chase foolishness. No, it's attention that says, I want that wisdom.

He said, you also have to be ready because knowing that wisdom is going to transform you at the deepest level. If you really get God's wisdom, it's the fear of the Lord being put into you, which will rearrange some of your life.

And the last section we looked at last week. Getting this wisdom requires radical trust. Trust in the Lord with all of your heart. And don't lean on your own understanding. Instead, in all your ways, acknowledge Him. And He will make straight your paths.

Why Should I Trust God This Much?

Jed Gillis: So, the question that comes to my mind, if I track what He's doing, the question is, why should I trust God this much? Why should I trust That when God's wisdom says one thing, and my understanding and my wisdom says something else, why should I say, I trust Him, instead of me?

And, and maybe even a little bit deeper, not only why should I trust it, but it'd be one thing to say, well, I trust in God, but I'm really scared it's not gonna work out. So why should I trust Him like that, and rest in trusting Him like that?

So I want to read, beginning in verse 13 of Proverbs chapter 3. Blessed is the one who finds wisdom, and the one who gets understanding. For the gain from her is better than gain from silver, and her profit better than gold. She is more precious than jewels, and nothing you desire can compare with her.

Long life is in her right hand, in her left hand are riches and honor. Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her. To those who hold her fast are called blessed. The Lord by wisdom founded the earth, and by understanding He established the heavens. By His knowledge the deeps broke open, and the clouds dropped 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.

Opening Prayer

Jed Gillis: This is God's Word, let's ask Him for His help as we consider it. Father, You are good, and You've given us these statements. Not only did You give it to us in Proverbs, but You have guided us as a body of believers so that today we open this chapter of Proverbs. And we might know some of the reasons for that, but you know a million more.

So use your word, take away whatever distractions need to be removed. From my heart, from my speech, from all of our hearts, give us ears to hear. And hearts that gladly trust in you. In Jesus name, Amen.

Wisdom Entices You With Its Goodness

Jed Gillis: So unashamedly, this section begins by trying to entice you. It says, look, wisdom is so good. Right, he doesn't start with, well, foolishness is really good, but this will work out better in the long run. That's not what he does. He says, look, wisdom is so good. You should want it. He, the word blessed begins this section at verse 13. It comes back at the end of verse 18. It's, it's happy. It's more than happy. But it's not less than happy.

Wisdom is Like Treasure

Jed Gillis: Blessed is the one. He invites you to say, Here are the good benefits of having wisdom. And look at the way he describes it. First, he uses, mostly in this section, the picture of wealth. Words like, gain, or profit.

He says, wisdom is more precious than jewels. He talks about riches. Words that none of us need defined for us. We all know, gain, profit, precious, riches. We go, oh, I get that. He says wisdom is kind of like that. It gives a certain kind of gain and profit. So think about what wealth can do. Money can put food on a table.

With the current price of eggs, more money can put food on the table. But money can put food on a table, so it can give us a type of provision. Money can buy a house, or rent a house, it can put a roof over your head. A certain amount of protection can happen through money.

Money can buy jewelry, or clothes. Money can buy toys, whether it's the, these kinds of toys, or the more expensive grown person toys. It can buy these things, so it can give entertainment, it can give. A good feeling about how you look, a good feeling about your status. Money can do a whole lot of things. It can buy influence. So it can give you a sense of power.

Money can buy medical treatments, so a type of healing. And if you don't have as much money, but you have more wisdom, you can maybe make up for a little of that. Right, you say somebody who is able to, through wisdom, use their resources well, or they make wise health choices, maybe they don't need as many medical treatments.

So you see, wisdom can do some of the same things that money can do, and that's part of his point. He's connecting wisdom is like gain and riches in some ways.

You want provision? Money can seem to do that and wisdom can do that in some ways. You want protection? Well, money can do that and, and wisdom can do that. There's some similarities between the two.

Wisdom is Better than Treasures

Jed Gillis: But notice, wisdom is not like money in some ways. He talks about that. He says in verse 14, There is gain. Money brings gain and wisdom brings gain. But the gain from wisdom is better than gain from silver. The profit from wisdom is better than profit from gold.

So there's a way that money is like wisdom. And there's a way that wisdom is not like money. There's a different kind of gain. And we could say it this way. Money can put food on a table, sure. But money can't give fellowship or joy or peace around the table. We know the difference.

Money can buy a fancy vacation, but money can't give you peace within that vacation with the people around you. People have often said money can buy a house, but it can't make a home.

We instinctively know there's something different about these kinds of things. Money can buy jewelry and toys and fancy dinners, but money can't buy love and trust. Money can buy medical treatments. But it can't undo foolish choices.

There's a sense in which, yes, he's drawing your attention to say, Wisdom is kind of like money. That's because all of us, whether you are incredibly wise or not so wise, all of us know something about what money does. We get that experience. So he's saying, look, it's kind of like that. There's gain. It can do some of the same things. But the gain that comes from wisdom is so much better.

Wisdom is Healing

Jed Gillis: He uses in verse 18, he says wisdom is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her. Those who hold her fast are called blessed. This picture of tree of life comes from the Garden of Eden. And there it speaks of the tree of eternal life. But especially throughout Jewish tradition leading up to when Proverbs was written and afterwards as well, the tree of life also symbolized healing now.

It was really both. He's saying there's going to be an ultimate sense, yes. Wisdom will give you the tree of life. But also, wisdom is healing. Not just for your body. That's good. But more importantly, healing for your soul.

Many of us have gone through difficult times where our souls have been wounded. And I know, If you think about one of those times and you say, would I rather have my soul be fully healthy or my body? I know what you'd choose. Both, actually, right? But if you had to choose one, you'd choose your soul.

The beginning of this section, the writer is enticing you. And I wanna, I wanna make sure you hear that. He is not saying, Wisdom is better for you, kind of like taking your medicine. It's miserable, but it's better. That's not the way it's portrayed at all. He says this is so good. You should want it. It's even better than the riches that you already know are good. It's way better than that. This kind of gain can give you something far more.

This is Not the Prosperity Gospel

Jed Gillis: Now, we could pause there, and, and maybe some of you start thinking, Yes, but, does that mean if I follow God that I'm always gonna have the biggest bank account? Does that mean I get whatever car is your dream car? No, of course not.

And, really, the, the prosperity gospel, the idea that following Jesus will result in health and wealth and that kind of prosperity here right now. It's wrong in at least three areas. One, it doesn't follow scriptural examples. And if you've been here at Berean for a while, we've been through Job, and you see, oh, that didn't quite work the way I thought it would along the way.

We've been through 1 Peter, and Peter keeps saying, hey, when you suffer according to God's will, here's how it's actually going to work for good, and here's what God is doing. So, entrust your souls to a faithful creator while doing good, even while you suffer.

We've been through Habakkuk, where the prophet says, I will trust you even if I and everybody around me starve to death because of famine.

Clearly, Scripture is not setting up a pattern where if you just trust God enough, your daily life is full of only health and money and success. Of course, we could always talk about Jesus's example, who perfectly walked in faith and trust and then was crucified. We could always talk about Paul. So over and over, we say the prosperity gospel, even if you just look through scripture and look at the patterns, say that doesn't fit.

But a second thing, it gets the timing wrong. Ultimately, yes, as a believer in Jesus, God promises the riches of heaven. Yes, God promises you perfect health. That's true. Not now, later.

God's Definition of Gain, Not My Definition of Gain

Jed Gillis: So the prosperity gospel gets the scriptural examples wrong, it gets the timing wrong. The more important one for this text today is it insists on my definition of gain. Or prosperity.

Because if you trust in God and you follow His wisdom, you may get a bigger bank account. Or you may not.

But if the gain from wisdom is better than the gain from money, then we don't look and say, I want the smaller gain. We don't say, God, I'm trusting you, give me the smallest gain I can have. We don't do that. If we really trust someone, we say, I want the best gain.

So, if we really say, I trust in the Lord with all my heart, that means, God, I'm following you and if my bank account gets smaller because of that, then I trust that the gain you define as the best gain is what I'm going to get.

This text is not focused on a human definition of gain, a merely human definition, or profit. It very clearly tells you, no, there's a different kind of gain. The gain of wisdom is better than this gain. It distinguishes those, and it describes some of that gain in verse 16 and 17. Long life is in her right hand, in her left hand are riches and honor.

Is it possible to get money and not get honor? Uh, yeah. For sure. How about the next verse? Her ways are ways of pleasantness. Is it possible to have more money and not have more pleasantness? Mm hmm. How about peace? That's the next one. Have you ever looked back and say, I'm in a better financial situation, but I had more peace then?

He's not driving you to say, follow God's wisdom, and all these human ideas about gain. The smaller gains are what you're going to get. Health and wealth, and success by human definition. He's saying, there's a much bigger, better gain.

It's one of the dangerous things with the prosperity gospel is it claims to trust God more while actually trusting Him less. It claims to trust God more because it says, Oh, if you just trust Him enough, your problem is you don't trust God enough. If you just trust Him more, then you'll have the money and then you'll have the health and then you'll have, but it's actually trusting Him less because they're not letting God define what gain is.

I get to define better. And God has to give me better. No, to really trust God, it's God, what you say is better. That gain is what I want.

Wisdom Is Enticing

Jed Gillis: So there are huge issues with the prosperity gospel. But, this text is here for a reason. Like, God knew all those issues, right? God could have set you up and said, No, actually, there's not any gain you should really want in wisdom. You should just tough it out, and later, when you go to heaven, you'll figure it out and it'll be better.

God could have done that, but He didn't. Instead, let this text say what it says. It doesn't say you're gonna get health and wealth and prosperity in a human definition right now if you follow wisdom. It doesn't promise that. But what it does promise Is that the gain of wisdom is better and you can have it. The text really is enticing you.

You're supposed to see wisdom and be enchanted with the blessing that it promises. That's how he sets it before you. In a variety of terms, he talks about resources like money. He talks about treasure like jewels. He talks about psychological terms like peace, pleasantness.

All of these things he's pointing you and saying this is one of the reasons you should trust God with all of your heart because wisdom is that good. In fact, the blessings of wisdom from verse 15 are so incredible that nothing you desire can compare with her. I hope that makes you pause a second and say, wait a minute, I'm supposed to desire God.

The Psalms say nothing I desire compares with Him. And that's why I started where I did, Jesus is our wisdom. The only way verse 15 can be true, nothing you desire can compare with her, is if, when you want wisdom, you actually want God. Otherwise, that would be blasphemy. Wisdom can't be better than God. Unless, wanting wisdom is to actually want Him. That's what we want.

Wisdom is Living According to the Patterns of God's Creation

Jed Gillis: So with this blessing and all of this enticement, this is what's good, look at where he goes in verse 19. He takes you back to the Creator. The Lord, by wisdom, founded the earth. By understanding, He established the heavens. By His knowledge, the deeps broke open and the clouds dropped down the dew.

He takes you to the Maker's wisdom. Well, why does He do that? We need to guard against a misunderstanding of wisdom. Sometimes we think wisdom is a technique. Like, I've learned how to maneuver in life so that it works out well for me, so I'm wise. I've learned how to shape reality around me. I do the right things so that my experience is what I want. And we sometimes think that's wisdom. It's not a technique.

Maybe an example would be, to say it this way, If you know how to manipulate people around you, you know how to use your body language and your words, and you know how to manipulate people around you to get what you want. Now, if I showed you that and asked, is that wisdom? You'd say, not really. It's something else. It's, it's maybe shrewdness. It's maybe cunning or something like that. But it's not biblical wisdom. Because wisdom isn't about manipulating the world around you to get what you want. It's about knowing how God made his world and operating according to that.

For example, wisdom in business. It's not that you know how to manipulate economics for your advantage. It's, you know God's given certain patterns, certain realities, and so I operate according to God's pattern.

That's why he goes back here and starts with creation. Because wisdom works, not just because it's a good idea, but because God created the world with patterns like this of wisdom in it.

A couple examples. If you were to rewind over a hundred years, and if your name happened to be Wilbur or Orville Wright, you're trying to figure out, how do I make something fly? Now, your best plan is not to slap a plane together and jump off a building. That's not going to work well, right? Because there are things, we describe it as aerodynamics, right? That's the way air flows around wings and creates lifts and all this kind of stuff.

So what do they do? They start observing, what is the pattern in reality around me? Birds fly, somehow. Pigs don't. All right, well, why does one fly and why not? They start observing reality patterns all around them.

Now, if we want to do space launches, we use computer simulators. Well, what do those do? We've programmed them with the best we can describe the patterns in reality of physics. And then you test it out before you jump on the rocket and hit go. You test it a million times before you risk your life, you study what are the patterns in real life.

Proverbs are Identifying Those Patterns

Jed Gillis: Here's what Proverbs really is. Proverbs is basically like that simulator. God's given you a million little examples of patterns within His world. That if you're going to act in wisdom, you need to live according to those patterns. That's why God used Proverbs to do this, like the genre of a proverb. We do this all the time. We have a phrase like, absence makes the heart grow fonder. Like, there's some truth in that. Or the old Disney Robin Hood with the fox. And they say, or forgetful. True. Because sometimes absence makes the heart grow fonder. That's a real pattern in reality. But it's not the only pattern. Sometimes absence makes the heart forgetful.

So, that's the way proverbs work, they demonstrate a reality pattern that you can then use to examine your world and say, well, what flies and what crashes?

I remember, I remember coaching a young soccer player, a defender, and I had told him, you need to stay on your side of the field. And there were two defenders back there normally, you stay on the left side, he stays on the right. So, I had given him essentially a proverb. Stay on your side of the field.

That's the genre. Now I remember one time, his other defender was out of place. The ball was rolling back there. The other team's running. Here he comes up to the line and he just stops like this. I'm like, no, not that time. He misunderstood the genre of my statement. He thought it was a blanket command. And it wasn't. It was a proverb. It was a little model of reality that says when this is happening, and your teammates over there, stay on your side.

God's given you this book of Proverbs because just like there are patterns of aerodynamics, there are also patterns that relate to hard work. Good hard work tends to result in prosperity and laziness tends to result in poverty. That's a reality pattern. Does it mean no one will ever do good hard work and find it hard to succeed and be prosperous? No. But it's a reality pattern by which you learn what's gonna fly and what's gonna crash.

There are reality patterns about your relationships. There's ways humans interact. And when you do it the right way, just like an airplane, when you react according to that pattern, it flies and it's wonderful. And when you don't live according to this pattern, you crash.

There's a spiritual pattern, a pattern of reality around your relationship to God. If you come to God with the fear of the Lord, and you trust in Him, Your relationship with God flies. And it's wonderful. If you come to God and you ignore that reality pattern and you say, I'm gonna dictate what this is like, God. I trust myself, I don't trust you. Then it crashes.

Just like aerodynamics. Wilbur and Orville Wright could have made up something different and said, I don't think aerodynamics works that way. I'm gonna do it my own way. And none of us would know their names. But instead they said, what's the reality pattern? How do I live according to it? And as they did, they, they soared.

The same thing is true with us. That's why he starts here and draws you back to creation. He says, wisdom isn't about a technique that happens to work. It's about the creator created this whole world with these patterns of wisdom baked in. Just like you can't ignore aerodynamics and fly, you can't ignore God's wisdom about relationships and expect your relationships to soar.

Now, God's made his world so well that you can ignore wisdom for a while, right? You can. It's legal. You can choose to eat a cheeseburger and french fries and a giant coke every single day. You can, for a while. Some in this room are young enough, they might not feel it for a little bit. But over time, that catches up with you. Because there's reality patterns.

God's Wisdom Was Intregal to Creation

Jed Gillis: So you need the Maker's wisdom. It's fascinating too. If you go back, I won't make a blanket statement of this because I haven't seen them all.

But if you go back and look at ancient creation stories. You know the one that emphasizes wisdom? The Bible. You know it's the only one that I'm aware of? Maybe there's some others. Because every other creation story that I've seen, the ancient ones, there's two ways that comes about. There's chaos that's brought into order. Now that sounds like wisdom. It is. But it started with chaos. Or it's a power struggle. This evil being and this good being fought each other and the world came out of it.

The Christian worldview is different because it says, look, at the very core, from the very beginning, this world, this creation wasn't chaotic. As if it could be partly brought into order but not fully. From the very beginning, God made it and he made it with wisdom.

So if God made and sustained the world by wisdom. Doesn't it make sense that we enrich and preserve our lives by wisdom?

Examples of Reality Patterns: Don't Withhold Good from Others

Jed Gillis: Now in the rest of this chapter, after where I stopped, beginning in verse 27, he gives you some examples, some reality patterns. There's a whole lot more of these coming. If you start in chapter 10 and just read through the rest of Proverbs, you'll find it's full of them. But he starts with a few. Look at verse 27 and 28.

Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due when it is in your power to do it. Do not say to your neighbor, go and come again tomorrow. I will give it when you have it with you. Don't withhold good from your neighbor.

Now, we could talk about the specific example of if you owe money to someone. Don't say, oh, I'll give it to you tomorrow if you have it with you and you can give it then, sure. But he broadens it because he says, don't withhold good. He doesn't just say, don't withhold money. Don't withhold good.

He also doesn't just say, don't harm your neighbor. I think we all like that one better because I can feel like, oh, I don't harm my neighbor. The question isn't how do you harm your neighbor? The question is what good are you withholding from them? That one's harder.

And if we use the example of owing someone money, think of what the New Testament says. Don't owe anyone anything except to love one another. So, based on that statement in Romans, if I withhold love from my neighbor, I'm withholding something that I owe.

Every human being is made in the image of God. That means we owe honor. If I withhold honor from my neighbor, I'm withholding good that I owe.

So, if we're going to have relationships that fly instead of crash. This is the first model he points to here. He says, human relationships fly when we don't withhold good from one another.

And that's not rocket science, right? We all know that instinctively. If we stop and think, if you put a group of people together and say, Can you interact with one another? But you're all going to try to withhold good from each other. It might sound a little like a reality TV show or something, but it's not where relationships are going to fly. None of us think, that's the kind of family I want to be a part of.

No. The author of Proverbs is pointing you to say, here's a reality pattern. If you want to fly, you've got to follow this. Don't withhold good from the people around you.

And not only don't withhold it. Don't even delay it Notice verse 28. Don't say I'll give it later when you have it with you. Human relationships fly when we don't withhold good and we don't delay good from someone else.

Don't Plan Evil Against Another

Jed Gillis: Look at verse 29 and 30. We'll get another pattern Do not plan evil against your neighbor who dwells trustingly beside you Do not contend with a man for no reason, when he has done you no harm.

Now we can all ask the question, does that mean I'm supposed to plan evil against somebody who has done wrong to me? No, he's starting with the easy examples. We'll get the hard ones later. But right now what he's doing is saying when somebody trusts you, don't do wrong to them. Again, it's not rocket science.

But he's stacked this on verse 19 and 20 to say this isn't just what randomly happens. This is the way the maker made his world. You can't ignore aerodynamics and you can't ignore this if you want to fly. He says you don't act against someone who trusts you.

It's interesting the word for planning evil here is also used for plowing. Like, to prepare the ground to plant seeds. So he's saying, don't even in your mind do something to prepare to plant seeds of hatred or evil against the person next to you. Person who trusts you. And then if you shouldn't plan on it, you shouldn't prepare for it, you certainly shouldn't enter into it and actually do it.

Human relationships fly in a context of trust. We know that, don't we? We can see that the same way we can see, oh, a bird flew. How did that work? You see a couple that has a wonderful long marriage. And if you hang around and talk to them for a while, what do you find out? Oh, they trust each other. Just like we see the bird flew. Well, what happened? This reality is true. Human relationships flourish in a context of trust.

And it doesn't have to be a couple, it could be best friends. I love the fact that in our body here, there's some relationships of 20, 30, 40, 50, I'm not sure how many years we get up to. There's some friendships that have been together for decades. Why? Why did they soar? Why did those friendships last? Why did they fly? Because they trust each other. That's one reason. There are these patterns. They don't withhold good. They don't delay good. They show love. They trust.

Don't Even Men of Violence

Jed Gillis: Or verse 31 and 32. Do not envy a man of violence and do not choose any of his ways. For the devious person is an abomination to the Lord, but the upright are in his confidence.

Sometimes it looks like the bullies get ahead, doesn't it? Sometimes it looks like The person, and it could be the physical bully, it could just be the person who always has to be heard. They barge into every conversation with verbal violence, and it seems like they get ahead, people notice.

He says, don't envy a person like that. Don't envy the person who puts down others or oppresses others to get what they want. Don't envy that. And in fact, avoid their ways. Do not choose any of his ways.

Because what you want is to have the maker's counsel. You want to know the creator who said this is how it should work. You want to have that in your life. And he says in verse 32, The devious person, paralleled with the person of violence, they don't have that. They're an abomination. But the upright person, the one who avoids those violent ways and doesn't envy that, that's the person who has God's counsel, who understands His wisdom for all of their lives.

So we could say, human relationships fly when they are filled with love instead of greed and violence. Now there's a million other reality patterns. This is a very complex life simulator in the book of Proverbs. That tell you about reality in relationships. But these are his examples right here. At, in this part of his introduction.

He says, wisdom is so good. Because the maker put these patterns into real life. And these are his examples. Don't withhold good. Build trust, and don't envy violent, greedy people. Because every one of those things will cause your relationships to crash instead of fly.

Wisdom Is Not Just Technique, It Is a Person

Jed Gillis: And he continues, because we, we could get here and we could be back to wisdom being a technique. And we could say, these just happen, they're just laws that exist. He won't let you do that. He gets to verse thirty three. The Lord's curse is on the house of the wicked, but he blesses the dwelling of the righteous. Toward the scorners but to the humble he gives favor. The wise will inherit honor, but fools get disgrace. He says, all of these are patterns of reality, but they're not just mechanical patterns. If they were, you might think, maybe I can trick them. Maybe I can work it out. He says, no, it's not just mechanical patterns. The maker who put these patterns in place, he stands behind his wisdom.

So we get to this part of the wise will inherit honor and fools will get disgrace. It's crucial that you understand what wise is and what foolish is. And the New Testament helps us with that. In 1 Corinthians, he says the cross is the wisdom of God. To those who are perishing, it's foolishness. But to those who are being saved, Jesus is our wisdom.

That includes righteousness and sanctification and redemption. It's a good place to check, is my definition of wisdom right? Well, look at the cross. That's not everything we need, but it's a good start to say, is the cross wisdom to me? Or is it foolishness?

As a, a modern song from City of Light says, See the open arms of Jesus upon the cross that day. What they understood as weakness or foolishness deserves my highest praise.

When you look at Jesus dying on the cross for you, is that, that's so wise. I want to walk that path. Or is it foolishness? Do you see it as wisdom, because the Maker stamped creation with these patterns? And He is faithful to endorse, to keep them.

The Blessing of Wisdom: Fearless Safety

Jed Gillis: So if we got all the way to there, and say, wisdom is wonderful, paraphrasing five verses, wisdom is great, the Maker made it, here's your patterns, here's how you can live according to that. We come to one of the deepest blessings of wisdom, and it's found in verse 23 and following.

Fearless safety. If you walk according to God's wisdom, specifically as found in Jesus Christ on the cross, you can have fearless security. That's what he describes. You will walk on your way securely. Don't you want that? Don't you want to be able to make decisions with security? And your foot will not stumble. We face unknowns and we think, I might trip up in life.

If you lie down, you will not be afraid. Have you ever laid down at night and had a hard time going to sleep because you weren't sure about the decision you had to make the next day? Or the decision you made that day? Sure, we've all been there. When you lie down, though, your sleep will be sweet. You see, if the Maker, who made everything, put these patterns of wisdom in the world, and if you walk according to those patterns of wisdom by His grace, you don't need to be afraid. You can be fearless in God's hands.

I think for me, the challenge is, I want to believe my own understanding and my patterns are actually the best. So then when I lie down, I have no idea how it's going to work out the next day. And my soul cannot rest.

But if you know the Maker and you know the patterns of wisdom He has put in the world, you can be fearless in His hands. You have safety. And if that doesn't make you want wisdom, I don't know what would.

So I invite you to take a moment, I invite you to respond to God in prayer. Would you ask Him to give you wisdom and to guide you to shape your lives according to His patterns? So that your relationships with others and with him would flourish. That's what he's promised his wisdom will do. I invite you just to talk to him for a minute and then we'll sing together.