Wisdom's Blessings
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Introduction
Introduction
<<CHILDREN’S SERMON>>
<<PRAY>>
Wisdom - “Seeing God’s world the way God does.” How things are supposed to work, how God intends us to see the world and live in it.
But wisdom is often sabotaged by the brokenness of the world. It doesn’t always guarantee success or prevent tragedy.
Solomon’s primary warnings are intended to keep us from trusting in God’s gifts, including wisdom, instead of trusting in God.
And yet,
16 But I say that wisdom is better than might, though the poor man’s wisdom is despised and his words are not heard.
Chapter 10 takes all that Solomon has said so far about wisdom, and applies it to work
3 What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun?
In this broken world, sometimes things get turned upside down. You could do everything right and still have things go the wrong way. Like he said last week, the race is not always to the swift, nor bread to the wise. You could get hurt on the job, as we’ll see in verses 8-10. But wisdom can help.
A few weeks ago, we looked at the riddle of wisdom, but today, we’re going to look for the blessing of wisdom. Along the way, we’ll see the error of folly on full display, as Solomon revisits the challenge of wisdom & folly in our work, and the danger of a little folly to ourselves and to others.
ORG: Since Solomon is bringing a lot of material together here, chapter 10 ventures far and wide. So we’re going to take a bird’s eye view of the whole chapter in 2 parts, and then we’ll zero in on Wisdom’s blessing, and a conclusion.
I. Wisdom’s Fragility (vv1-11)
I. Wisdom’s Fragility (vv1-11)
(outline vv1-11)
As we read verses 1-11, note how Solomon uses the problem of folly to show how it can ruin wisdom’s effect. <<READ v1>>
Have you known man or woman of wisdom who makes a single foolish choice and pays for it for years? Sometimes a wise person has to sink their gifts into averting catastrophe due to someone else’s folly.
1 Sam 25 - Abigail - wise woman married to a fatally foolish man. Abigail’s great wisdom is engaged in keeping her husband’s folly and wickedness from costing them and their servants their lives at the hand of King David. So continuing in v2
<<READ vv2-7>>
Notice that Solomon is not contrasting the rich and the poor, or the wise and the foolish. Remember at the end of chapter 9, the poor, wise man who saved a city. But there’s deep wisdom here: You have wise and foolish across the economic spectrum. Solomon has seen firsthand what happens if a ruler dumps all the wealthy out of authority because they are rich.
Unchecked idealism is folly because it treats the world as if it weren’t broken by sin. There’s a reason the French Revolution includes a chapter called “The Reign of Terror.”
Solomon is no stranger to political corruption, but he also knows that class warfare is not the answer.
A wise ruler or electorate or even manager will try to put wise people in positions of authority, and that's both difficult and worthwhile.
APPLICATION: In the Church, Christ the King has given spiritual gifts to His people in great measure for the sake of the whole Church. His wisdom is at the heart of it. And notice how Paul says it in
3 For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. 4 For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, 5 so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. 6 Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; 7 if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; 8 the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.
But folly would turn all this upside down.
Now let’s look at verses 8-11. <<READ 8-11>>
And here we see the fragility of wisdom in everyday situations. Solomon’s big questions - the problems of vanity, toil, and death - are all tied up together.
APPLICATION: Wisdom helps, but even a careful worker can’t eliminate danger altogether.
ILLUST: Hornet spray (note all the safety precautions I normally took)
A little folly goes a long way, right?
Calling something "fool-proof” is usually asking for someone to invent a better fool, right? Let’s look at the rest of the chapter, really covering verses 8 to the end of the chapter. But since we’ve already read verses 8-11, we’ll start reading in verse 12.
II. Wisdom’s Strength (vv8-20)
II. Wisdom’s Strength (vv8-20)
(outline vv8-20)
Solomon paints the difference between the wise and the fool with his words. Notice, he spends half of a single verse on the words of the wise, <<READ 12a>>
and the rest of verses 12-15 are all about the prattling madness of the fool. <<READ 12b-15>>
The fool has a defective heart according to verses 2-3, pointing him in the wrong direction. He just goes on and on, but instead of talking himself out of a mess, his lips are his undoing.
And verse 15 says his toil wearies him, but most of his toil is just talk. Verse 3 warned us that even when he gets on the right road, he won’t know it.
And in verses 16-20, Solomon brings the topic back to wise and foolish government and management. Remember
9 But this is gain for a land in every way: a king committed to cultivated fields.
Here's verses 16-18: <<READ 16-18>>
There are exceptions, Solomon knows that - he already told us
13 Better was a poor and wise youth than an old and foolish king who no longer knew how to take advice.
But the wise king in verse 17 knows how to reign.
Verse 18 is a proverb worth remembering for a household, a business, a kingdom, a church - through sloth the roof sinks in. I think it’s Dave Hunt who says “delayed maintenance is a death wish for a business.” Or, as your grandma used to say, “A stitch in time saves nine.”
And verse 19 is like a little wisdom test: If you say, <<READ 19 like a fool>>
“So let’s just live it up and throw money at our problems,” Solomon has a prediction: Woe to your land, whatever you’re in charge of. You’ve got a leaky house.
Like the Prodigal Son, the money will eventually run out.
But the wise man says, <<READ 19 like a wise man>>, so let’s seek laughter and gladness at the proper time, and remember that just because money has an answer doesn’t mean it’s the right one.
And Solomon finishes the chapter with a reminder that secret bitterness not likely to stay a secret: <<READ 20>>
What a chapter.
We’ve just touched the surface. Try reading chapter 10 this week, and digging into some of these proverbs. Think about how folly spreads, and spoils wisdom. It can ambush wisdom, it can upend understanding.
But we’re going to focus on wisdom, and specifically wisdom’s blessing.
III. Wisdom’s Blessing (vv2, 10, 12)
III. Wisdom’s Blessing (vv2, 10, 12)
<<READ 2, 10, 12>>
EXPLAIN:
Wisdom directs the heart, helps the wise succeed, and wins favor.
A few weeks ago, Pastor Aaron P showed us in chapter 8 part of wisdom’s blessing,
5 Whoever keeps a command will know no evil thing, and the wise heart will know the proper time and the just way.
And wisdom’s blessings are mighty. Maybe you remember back in July, we saw how Proverbs 2 answered the question, “How does God use wisdom to guard our hearts,” and we saw that a wise heart is protected by God, and prepared for Godliness.
Some people have called wisdom “skill for living,” which is fine, but it misses the most important part of wisdom. That’s why we’ve defined wisdom as “seeing God’s world the way God does.”
Wisdom knows what a thing is because it knows the Creator.
In our neighborhood in Highland Park, IL, all of the manhole covers had this black plastic circle on them with a plain, silver plate in the shape of a piece of sandwich bread on it. Every time we went on a walk, I’d wonder what they were. And if you know, please let me know.
But if I knew the maker of those manhole covers, I could find out what the thing is and what it’s for. To see God’s world the way God does is to see what things are, and what they’re for.
And this gets at what verse 10 tells us. <<READ v10>>
PUCK sharpener - for axe
But look at the beginning of verse 12. This is the better blessing: <<READ v12a>>
If you’ve got an ESV, you’ll notice a text note that says, “Or are gracious.” Ecclesiastes is full of phrases that could be taken more than one way in Hebrew, like this. “The words of a wise man’s mouth are gracious,” or “The words of a wise man’s mouth win him favor.”
It’s just 4 words in Hebrew.
Lexham Hebrew Bible Chapter 10
דִּבְרֵ֥י פִי־חָכָ֖ם חֵ֑ן
The words of the mouth of the wise - favor
That word, favor, is the same Hebrew word sometimes translated “grace.”
So here are 3 ways to understand these 4 Hebrew words.
So here are 3 ways to understand these 4 Hebrew words.
First: The words of the mouth of the wise - a gift of grace
Wisdom is always a gift from God.
6 For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding;
And this means that whoever wants to be wise should start by humbly recognizing that you must ask God for it.
5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.
Second: The words of the mouth of the wise - gracious to others
Wisdom’s blessing is not meant to be kept a secret. Every drop of God’s wisdom in you can bless someone else.
20 Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm.
And the apostle Paul says:
29 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.
And in Colossians, he says
5 Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. 6 Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.
Wise words are a blessing to those who hear. They are God’s grace mediated through one who has come to know Him.
So the words of the mouth of the wise are a gift of grace, gracious to others, and
Third: They win favor with others
At least, that’s often the case. Remember:
7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.
We know that a wise man can end up hated by those he helps. That’s part of the vanity of life under the sun.
And yet, the wise will recognize wisdom. Those who are growing in wisdom will delight in wisdom.
34 And people of all nations came to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and from all the kings of the earth, who had heard of his wisdom.
And God often does give His people favor with those who don’t know Him, so that His redemptive purposes would be accomplished in the world. We see this with Daniel in Babylon, and Ps 105 says this of Joseph:
17 he had sent a man ahead of them, Joseph, who was sold as a slave. 18 His feet were hurt with fetters; his neck was put in a collar of iron; 19 until what he had said came to pass, the word of the Lord tested him. 20 The king sent and released him; the ruler of the peoples set him free; 21 he made him lord of his house and ruler of all his possessions, 22 to bind his princes at his pleasure and to teach his elders wisdom.
The words of the mouth of the wise are a gift of God’s grace, gracious to others, and win favor with others.
Back in Ecclesiastes 7, we saw the riddle of wisdom, driving us to consider our mortality and our need of salvation.
The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. And “The heart of wisdom must drive us to conclude that no one will escape the wrath of God against sin unless God Himself redeems us.”
Take another look at chapter 10, and a surprising theme arises. The fool is arrogant, but wisdom blesses its possessor with humility.
To see God’s world the way God does means you will begin to see yourself as God does. And that is humbling in the best possible way. Pray for wisdom, and you will find that you are either a sinner desperately in need of salvation, or a sinner already redeemed by faith in Christ.
And that means that every good thing in us is a gift from the God who so loved sinners, like you and me, that He gave His only Son so that all who believe would not perish, but have eternal life.
17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.
And later in the book, James writes these words:
6 But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
Wisdom’s blessing strips us of pride, and replaces hubris with awe in every one of God’s gifts.
If you put all of these texts together, Old and New Testament, you’ll come to the conclusion that the gift and blessing of wisdom is found by those who seek it by pursuing its author, Jesus Christ, through His Word, and prayer, and by seeking Godly counsel.
The first two of those are pretty well-known among believers. But note the third: Seeking Godly counsel. “Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise,” right?
So who is the sage in your life? The person whose biblical wisdom you turn to?
Conclusion: Wisdom’s Whetstone (v12)
Conclusion: Wisdom’s Whetstone (v12)
I want to close by really focusing on this aspect of verse 12.
The words of a wise man’s mouth are grace.
ILLUST: Do you know how many people will suffer in crisis mode in their family or marriage or work for years or decades without ever seeking help?
And sometimes, when things are just about to break, they call a pastor or a counselor, and sometimes that’s me, and they say, “I’ve tried everything. Nothing works.” So tell me what you’ve tried.
And they say, “I did this.” Ok, and that didn’t work? What else?
And they say, “Then I said it louder.”
Most of us don’t even realize that “I’ve tried everything,” usually means “I tried the only three things I could think of, and then despair hit, or anger, or resentment,” and that’s where we’ve been for 10 years.
But what if we took this Scripture seriously:
16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.
What if we realized that everyone needs Godly counselors? I need wise people in my life.
And if you think you don’t need wise people pouring into you, no matter how old you are or how long you’ve been a Christian, you’re missing out on God’s blessing. Grace from the mouth of the wise.
17 Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.
And Ecclesiastes 10:10 says: <<READ v10>>
It is God’s design that we should help one another as members of Christ’s Body. Life Groups, Sunday School, Discipleship Groups, Bible studies, Biblical Counseling, these are all ministries designed to build one another up in Christ, “in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Col 2:3).
Are you tired of pouring all your strength into what feels like a losing game?
<<READ v15>>
It’s time to recognize the blessing of wisdom.
Then bend your ear to the words of the wise. Be sharpened so that you can sharpen another.