The Rewards of Wisdom

Proverbs 3; I die daily devotional.

¹ My son, do not forget my teaching, But let your heart keep my commandments;

---

I’m so excited about this chapter!

And let me tell you why!

We people of God live with the temptations of sin constantly crouching at our door as long as we’re alive in this world under the dominion of Satan, waiting to devour us … and as those pressures of temptation build up inside of us (for want of something we think we need, didn’t get, or don’t have) … the affect might look like a very bad attitude of disbelief, theology, or doctrine, that eventually kills the innocent love of God which means to save our souls—through the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. It is hard work to master our emotions and logic in a way that resists the temptation to live for ourselves, and yet to rather, die for the sake of Christ and the gospel. But wisdom rewards us with the capacity to resist sin by grace through faith in Jesus Christ! Jesus is our reward! We receive the rewards of what Jesus accomplished on the cross! We share in His afflictions! We receive the rewards of wisdom with the help of the Holy Spirit!

Thinking about that reminded me a bit about the story of Cain and Abel:

^{Gen 4:3} So it came about in the course of time that Cain brought an offering to the Lord from the fruit of the ground. ⁴ Abel, on his part also brought an offering, from the firstborn of his flock and from their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering; ⁵ but for Cain and his offering He had no regard. So Cain became very angry and his face was gloomy. ⁶ Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why is your face  gloomy? ⁷ If you do well, will your face not be cheerful?  And if you do not do well, sin is lurking at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it.” ⁸ Cain talked to his brother Abel; and it happened that when they were in the field Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him.

As members of the Body of Christ, we become targets to the enemy because we live contrary to his [Satan’s] agenda. We’ve willingly died with Christ through baptism as a confession of faith in repentance to death, born again with a new life in Christ for the sake of our faith in the gospel. That looks a lot like what happened to Abel when offering in faith the firstborn of his flock; his faith was revealed by the innocence of his blood crying out from the ground to plead his case. The blood of Christ that saves us, cries out to God, pleading our case even though we deserve the curse of Cain. God hears the cry of His Son in us as we live out our lives for the sake of Jesus and the gospel. You and I, are each others keeper in the Lord. Wisdom teaches us courage to confess our sins through prayer in Jesus, and by doing so will heal our broken consciences that experiences the guilt of our wrongdoings; we’re forgiven—cleansed from the guilt of our lying, lust, and pride, to serve God with assurance and confidence in the promise of eternal life.

^{Gen 4:9} Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” And he said, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?” ¹⁰ Then He said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying out to Me from the ground. ¹¹ Now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand.

^{Heb 11:4} By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain, through which he was attested to be righteous, God testifying about his gifts, and through faith, though he is dead, he still speaks.

And we haven’t even gotten to our verse yet yo!!!

Okay, to our verse of the day.

Examine the Scriptures within yourselves—unless indeed you fail the test? Now you might not agree with me on this, or just don’t care one way or the other, but when I read … “My son…” … I think of God the Father in Christ, instructing His Son that will eventually be revealed as Jesus of Nazareth (the Word of God in the flesh) through the lineage of prophecy (Adam to Joseph) at the time of the Spirit in Solomon. And so now that, that time has passed, we of the faith, are being transformed in the image of His [Jesus Christ’s] glory; the Holy Father of Jesus becomes our Holy Father in Christ by the seal of the Holy Spirit as a promise alive in us who’ve believed and are born again. So by the Spirit of Jesus alive in us, God is now instructing us as His Children in the Lord—”do not forget my teaching, But let your heart keep my commandments;“

^{2 Cor 13:5} Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith;  examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you fail the test?

^{2 Cor 3:15} But to this day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their hearts; ¹⁶ but whenever someone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. ¹⁷ Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. ¹⁸ But we all, with unveiled faces, looking as in a mirror at the  glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.

^{Matt 1:1} The record of the genealogy of Jesus the  Messiah,  the son of David, the son of Abraham: ² Abraham fathered Isaac, Isaac fathered Jacob, and Jacob fathered Judah and his brothers. ³ Judah fathered Perez and Zerah by Tamar,  Perez fathered Hezron, and Hezron fathered  Ram.  ⁴ Ram fathered Amminadab, Amminadab fathered Nahshon, and Nahshon fathered Salmon.  ⁵  Salmon fathered Boaz by Rahab, Boaz fathered Obed by Ruth, and Obed fathered Jesse. ⁶ Jesse fathered David the king. David fathered Solomon by her who had been the wife of Uriah. ⁷ Solomon  fathered Rehoboam, Rehoboam fathered Abijah, and Abijah fathered Asa. ⁸ Asa fathered Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat fathered Joram, and Joram fathered Uzziah. ⁹ Uzziah fathered Jotham, Jotham fathered Ahaz, and Ahaz fathered Hezekiah. ¹⁰ Hezekiah fathered Manasseh, Manasseh fathered Amon, and Amon fathered Josiah. ¹¹ Josiah fathered Jeconiah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon. ¹² After the  deportation to Babylon: Jeconiah fathered  Shealtiel, and Shealtiel fathered Zerubbabel.  ¹³  Zerubbabel fathered  Abihud, Abihud fathered Eliakim, and Eliakim fathered Azor. ¹⁴ Azor fathered Zadok, Zadok fathered Achim, and Achim fathered Eliud. ¹⁵ Eliud fathered Eleazar, Eleazar fathered Matthan, and Matthan fathered Jacob. ¹⁶ Jacob fathered Joseph the husband of Mary, by whom Jesus was born, who is called the Messiah.

^{Luke 3:23} When He began His ministry, Jesus Himself was about thirty years old, being, as was commonly held, the son of Joseph, the son of Eli, ²⁴ the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Melchi, the son of Jannai, the son of Joseph, ²⁵ the son of Mattathias, the son of Amos, the son of Nahum, the son of Hesli, the son of Naggai, ²⁶ the son of Maath, the son of Mattathias, the son of Semein, the son of Josech, the son of Joda, ²⁷ the son of Joanan, the son of Rhesa, the son of Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, the son of Neri, ²⁸ the son of Melchi, the son of Addi, the son of Cosam, the son of Elmadam, the son of Er, ²⁹ the son of  Joshua, the son of Eliezer, the son of Jorim, the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, ³⁰ the son of Simeon, the son of Judah, the son of Joseph, the son of Jonam, the son of Eliakim, ³¹ the son of Melea, the son of Menna, the son of Mattatha, the son of Nathan, the son of David, ³² the son of Jesse, the son of Obed, the son of Boaz, the son of  Salmon, the son of  Nahshon, ³³ the son of Amminadab, the son of Admin, the son of Ram, the son of Hezron, the son of Perez, the son of Judah, ³⁴ the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham, the son of Terah, the son of Nahor, ³⁵ the son of Serug, the son of Reu, the son of Peleg, the son of Heber, the son of Shelah, ³⁶ the son of Cainan, the son of Arphaxad, the son of Shem, the son of Noah, the son of Lamech, ³⁷ the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared, the son of Mahalaleel, the son of Cainan, ³⁸ the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.

---

RESOURCE

Proverbs 3 (NASB)—blueletterbible.org
¹ My son, do not forget my teaching, But let your heart keep my commandments; ² For length of days and years of life And peace they will add to you. ³ Do not let kindness and truth leave you; Bind them around your neck, Write them on the tablet of your heart. ⁴ So you will find favor and good repute In the sight of God and man. ⁵ Trust in the LORD with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding. ⁶ In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight. ⁷ Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the LORD and turn away from evil. ⁸ It will be healing to your body And refreshment to your bones. ⁹ Honor the LORD from your wealth And from the first of all your produce; ¹⁰ So your barns will be filled with plenty And your vats will overflow with new wine. ¹¹ My son, do not reject the discipline of the LORD Or loathe His reproof, ¹² For whom the LORD loves He reproves, Even as a father  corrects the son in whom he delights. ¹³ How blessed is the man who finds wisdom And the man who gains understanding. ¹⁴ For her profit is better than the profit of silver And her gain better than fine gold. ¹⁵ She is more precious than jewels; And nothing you desire compares with her. ¹⁶ Long life is in her right hand; In her left hand are riches and honor. ¹⁷ Her ways are pleasant ways And all her paths are peace. ¹⁸ She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her, And happy are all who hold her fast. ¹⁹ The LORD by wisdom founded the earth, By understanding He established the heavens. ²⁰ By His knowledge the deeps were broken up And the skies drip with dew. ²¹ My son, let them not vanish from your sight; Keep sound wisdom and discretion, ²² So they will be life to your soul And adornment to your neck. ²³ Then you will walk in your way securely And your foot will not stumble. ²⁴ When you lie down, you will not be afraid; When you lie down, your sleep will be sweet. ²⁵ Do not be afraid of sudden fear Nor of the onslaught of the wicked when it comes; ²⁶ For the LORD will be your confidence And will keep your foot from being caught. ²⁷ Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, When it is in your power to do it. ²⁸ Do not say to your neighbor, “Go, and come back, And tomorrow I will give it, ”When you have it with you. ²⁹ Do not devise harm against your neighbor, While he lives securely beside you. ³⁰ Do not contend with a man without cause, If he has done you no harm. ³¹ Do not envy a man of violence And do not choose any of his ways. ³² For the devious are an abomination to the LORD; But He is intimate with the upright. ³³ The curse of the LORD is on the house of the wicked, But He blesses the dwelling of the righteous. ³⁴ Though He scoffs at the scoffers, Yet He gives grace to the afflicted. ³⁵ The wise will inherit honor, But fools  display dishonor.

---

COMMENTARY

Chapter 3

Matthew Henry (P3-V1) Commentary
This chapter is one of the most excellent in all this book, both for argument to persuade us to be religious and for directions therein.

• I. We must be constant to our duty because that is the way to be happy (v. 1-4).
• II. We must live a life of dependence upon God because that is the way to be safe (v. 5).
• III. We must keep up the fear of God because that is the way to be healthful (v. 7, 8).
• IV. We must serve God with our estates because that is the way to be rich (v. 9, 10).
• V. We must hear afflictions well because that is the way to get good by them (v. 11, 12).
• VI. We must take pains to obtain wisdom because that is the way to gain her, and to gain by her (v. 13-20).
• VII. We must always govern ourselves by the rules of wisdom, of right reason and religion, because that is the way to be always easy (v. 21-26).
• VIII. We must do all the good we can, and no hurt, to our neighbours, because according as men are just or unjust, charitable or uncharitable, humble or haughty, accordingly they shall receive of God (v. 27-35).

From all this it appears what a tendency religion has to make men both blessed and blessings.

Pro 3:1-6

We are here taught to live a life of communion with God; and without controversy great is this mystery of godliness, and of great consequence to us, and, as is here shown, will be of unspeakable advantage.

• I. We must have a continual regard to God’s precepts, v. 1, 2.
  • 1. We must,
    • (1.) Fix God’s law, and his commandments, as our rule, by which we will in every thing be ruled and to which we will yield obedience.
    • (2.) We must acquaint ourselves with them; for we cannot be said to forget that which we never knew.
    • (3.) We must remember them so that they may be ready to us whenever we have occasion to use them.
    • (4.) Our wills and affections must be subject to them and must in every thing conform to them. Not only our heads, but our hearts, must keep God’s commandments; in them, as in the ark of the testimony, both the tables of the law must be deposited.