#proverbs30

32 If thou hast done foolishly in lifting up thyself, or if thou hast thought evil, lay thine hand upon thy mouth.

Outline for Proverbs 30:1-33

The horseleach hath two daughters, crying, Give, give. There are three things that are never satisfied, yea, four things say not, It is enough: The grave; and the barren womb; the earth that is not filled with water; and the fire that saith not, It is enough.

Proverbs 30:15-16

This outline is intended to be used in conjunction with the School of Wisdom podcast found HERE on YouTube.However,…

Proverbs 30:1-33 (King James Version)

32 “If you play the fool and exalt yourself, or if you plan evil, clap your hand over your mouth! 33 For as churning cream produces butter, and as twisting the nose produces blood, so stirring up anger produces strife.”

Humans, by nature, know that pressing and forcing your will on others never turns out good in the end. Every single teeny-bopper movie that my girls watch has the same story line, and I have to sit through like a good dad and pretend to like each one of these movies. I won’t admit to which ones I actually like though. First, there are good kids. Then, there are bad kids who think they’re all that and who treat the good kids with scorn and contempt. Somehow the good kids break through and win out over the bad kids and the bad kids are made to look like fools. That’s how we know it’s supposed to be, deep in our gut. That’s what we want to see. It’s why we cheer when Batman overcomes The Joker. It’s why we feel whole when Superman defeats Lex Luther. Good is supposed to overcome evil, and that’s what we want to see. I wonder whether real world villains, who have embraced darkness, get sickened by good overcoming evil in all our stories and movies, or is there any possibility they secretly enjoy it? In most of our narratives, the one who stirs things up—the one who lacks character in his regard for other people—winds up experiencing worse strife (v33b) than he ever inflicted upon others. But even knowing deep down that this is the way of life, we tend to act with disdain toward people that we fear might break down our own perceived version of our earthly kingdom. I can remember saying awful things to my friends during my freshman year of high school about a new boy that had moved to town. He played basketball, was a point guard, and I had to act tough to secure my little kingdom—the undisputed point guard of my class. It sounds really stupid on paper, and it’s even more stupid in real life. That’s pretty much what high school students are though. And we don’t always improve much as adults. Unless, of course, we’ve given up the foolish idea of exalting ourselves into our self-made kingdoms. It’s best to just shut our mouths (v32b) when we feel the need to devise evil plans meant to secure our thrones. When Jesus is firmly on the throne of your life, even the idea of someone coming in to take your throne isn’t a big deal, mainly because it’s not your throne to possess. In fact, it’s not your throne at all. Letting Jesus be the king of your life means that you don’t have to become a jerk fighting to be the king or queen of your own little kingdom. Are you living for your own little kingdom or for the glory of a much bigger and better Kingdom?

29 “There are three things that are stately in their stride, four that move with stately bearing: 30 a lion, mighty among beasts, who retreats before nothing; 31 a strutting rooster, a he-goat, and a king secure against revolt.

A secure king (v31) seems to be an oxymoron in this life. Think about it—no kingdom has endured forever. Wars happen. Traitors rise up. Coups ensue. And not every danger comes from others. We had a President of the United States forced into resignation because of his part in the Watergate scandal. King Saul’s own jealousy of David led to his downfall. He was so worried that David would take his throne that Saul essentially gave it over to him through his own foolishness. There really is no secure king in this world. There really is no secure kingdom either. America is not assured of its lasting reign atop the superpowers of the world. In fact, it’s almost a certainty that one day it will NOT be in that position. The only image that faithfully comes to mind that embodies the term of “a king secure against revolt” is the image of Jesus Christ. This world doesn’t care how stately you seem strutting around. It doesn’t care how confident you are. There is no security that is assured outside of the security of Jesus. Jesus rose from death to defeat all sin and death for all time. That is your assurance in Christ, and in Him alone. Paul writes, “The end will come, when [Jesus] hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death” (1 Corinthians 15:24-26). The very same was prophesied by Isaiah: “He will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign LORD will wipe away the tears from all faces; he will remove his people’s disgrace from all the earth” (Isaiah 25:8). If you’re strutting around with confidence in anything other than the security that is to be found in Christ, that confidence may very well be shaken and destroyed. Security in money will one day prove insufficient. Security in good health will one day end in death. Security in family will one day be frustrated by conflict. Only security in Jesus will prove, at the end of all time, to be all-encompassing and sufficient. Is He the reason you walk in confidence today?