WALKING IN WISDOM: PROV 28 - Lifestyles of the Poor and Righteous

INTRODUCTION: Once we finish this chapter, we have only three more to go before we complete the book of PROVERBS! Pastor Sonny directed me to turn my attention to the book of Psalms afterwards and I’m excited! The Psalms are rich with encouraging counsel, the worship of GOD in all His majesty, there are uplifting and joyous verses that set our souls ablaze with contented gladness; Psalms has a fair share of prophecy, and even some historical content.

For the video presentation of this teaching as given at SHINE BRIGHT Church, Tucson, AZ, click here!

ALSO Check out SHINE BRIGHT Church's New official website! 

Yet as we continue in the book of Proverbs, we are so grateful for GOD’s wisdom made available to us in these pages! When you have access to the counsels of the Creator, what need to we have for Humanistic, Psychological philosophies? Amen?

PROVERBS 28:1
The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are bold as a lion.

The tendency of sinful souls who are committed to wickedness is to do such things under cover of darkness where deceptions thrive. Such wicked souls have as their foundation falsehoods and lies. Once the light of truth shines on them, they tend to scatter, retreating from the light that they hate because it troubles their conscience:

JOHN 3:19-21
19 "And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 "For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. 21 "But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God."

This is why the righteous are as bold as a lion – because their foundation is the truth, the bedrock of spiritual reality as created by GOD. That’s a sure foundation that won’t ever crack or deteriorate.

Now as the light in the church dims so that we aren’t shining the light as brightly as we could, this will invite the wicked to come out into the open, and become more brazen in their sin, flaunting their wickedness.

Are we seeing this in our society? Are the rebellious becoming more boastful and blatant? It’s time now, more than ever to shine bright, church.

PROVERBS 28:2
Because of the transgression of a land, many are its princes; but by a man of understanding and knowledge right will be prolonged.

We’re seeing this in our own land; transgressions against the Holy GOD have multiplied at an exponential rate, and to protect these evils, “princes [administrators, bureaucrats]” are multiplied and red tape in the ways of laws or in the bylaws of dead churches produced that bind up any reactionary push to undo those transgressions.

Nevertheless a godly person with biblical understanding and knowledge of the Holy One will be able to accomplish much in the cause of righteousness!

Think about Daniel in the Lion’s Den and how he got there – jealous bureaucrats and officials massaged the laws of the land to corner this praying man into a trap, but GOD delivered him from that Lion’s Den and managed to turn his accusers into some Purina Cat Chow!

PROVERBS 28:3
A poor man who oppresses the poor Is like a driving rain which leaves no food.

Scripture speaks in plenty of how the wealthy will prey upon the poor, but here we see a poor man “oppressing” (literally, defrauding) one of his own. The thing is, the poverty of the predator is the result of unwise decisions and practices, laziness and nonproductivity – so after he steals from the other poor man, he wastes the money and remains poor.

This is one reason why Socialism works very poorly or not at all. No nation under Socialism has ever prospered. This is why a godly work ethic in a free society will prosper a nation and produce ample benefits.

PROVERBS 6:6-11
6 Go to the ant, you sluggard! Consider her ways and be wise, 7 Which, having no captain, Overseer or ruler, 8 Provides her supplies in the summer, And gathers her food in the harvest. 9 How long will you slumber, O sluggard? When will you rise from your sleep? 10 A little sleep, a little slumber, A little folding of the hands to sleep- 11 So shall your poverty come on you like a prowler, And your need like an armed man.

PROVERBS 28:4-5
Those who forsake the law praise the wicked, but such as keep the law contend with them. 5 Evil men do not understand justice, but those who seek the LORD understand all.

MATTHEW 24:12
"And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.

Those who truly seek the LORD in their lives, in every aspect of their lives, they are the ones who truly, wholeheartedly love the LORD and keep His Law (that is, His Holy Word). That love in such Savior-seeking saints will never grow cold, even though wickedness – “lawlessness” abounds. They will be quite able and competent in contending with law-breakers whose hearts can’t grasp the truth of GOD’s righteousness, His holy Law, His unchanging truth.

That’s being “salt and light” in a corrupt society.

PROVERBS 28:6,11
6 Better is the poor who walks in his integrity than one perverse in his ways, though he be rich.
11 The rich man is wise in his own eyes, but the poor who has understanding searches him out.

The LORD Jesus told us, “…one's life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses." (LUKE 12:15). The quality of a person is not measured by how much stuff they own, but by who owns that person’s heart! True integrity – think of integrity as “truth that is lived out in one’s personal life, and in their thoughts” – (in the armor of GOD, the belt of truth is a belt of integrity, self-control, whose passions are kept in check and used for godly purposes) that person is far better, even if they’re dirt poor! than a rich scoundrel who plays at life with loose, weak morals and cares nothing for the things of GOD.

Remember the man that built bigger barns to contain all of his bountiful belongings? He was so focused on the here and now, on his material wealth, he gave no regard to GOD or even to his own soul and GOD called him “a fool”!

LUKE 12:21
"So is he who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God."

The one who holds the truth of GOD as precious in their hearts and in their lives, those are the ones who are “rich toward GOD”!

PROVERBS 28:7
Whoever keeps the law is a discerning son, but a companion of gluttons shames his father.

PROVERBS 29:3 Whoever loves wisdom makes his father rejoice, But a companion of harlots wastes his wealth.

PROVERBS 1:8-9
8 My son, hear the instruction of your father, And do not forsake the law of your mother; 9 For they will be a graceful ornament on your head, And chains about your neck.

Sons (and daughters too!), do you want to bless your father? Follow their godly instruction - listen up and do it! You want to bless your heavenly Father? Same thing! Give your full attention and all your heart to how the Word of GOD says you should live your life.

“Whoever keeps the law…” That word for “keeps” in the Hebrew is interesting! It’s “natsar” and it literally means “to place under guard, to protect, to preserve, to obey.” To keep the Word of GOD in such a way, that it doesn’t get stolen by Satan or replaced with the reprobate philosophies of the world. Keep it as the treasure that it is.

I was thinking the other day about how the Roman Catholic church back in the Dark Ages kept kings and nations under its heel. Those were the Dark Ages, because the Holy Scriptures were not available to the common man. It wasn’t written in the language of the people – only in Latin, which only the priests could read and understand.

People were literally in the dark, spiritually and had to depend on the priesthood to tell them what the Scriptures said, and those priests for the most part didn’t tell it true.

The Bible that you hold in your hands (and if you came to church tonight without one, please bring your Bible to church, jot down notes in it, underline passages, tiny phrases that will remind you of teachings you’ve heard) – the Bible came down to you from history by men who literally shed their blood, endured torture and hideous deaths, just so that we would have the Bible in our own language.

Be discerning on how precious this Book is! It’s the only place we can find undiluted truth fresh breathed by the very Spirit of GOD!

PROVERBS 28:8
One who increases his possessions by usury and extortion gathers it for him who will pity the poor.

Statistics indicate that the most generous people are not typically the rich; more often than not, it’s the middle to lower-income folks. So, when you have a society that overburdens the population with excessive taxes (such as our own; one wealthy tycoon famously stated that “if the American people realized just how oppressed they really are, there would be a revolution overnight!”), it’s then that “the rich get richer and the poor get poorer”.

When the unconstitutional, unlawful Federal Reserve Bank was established here in the USA in 1913, that began the slow, virtually imperceptible downward spiral where, if left unchecked will leave a small minority of uber-wealthy elite and the rest of us poverty stricken.
And that’s when people start complaining about the rich and demand Socialism where “the haves” will be forced to give to “the have nots”, all the while the uber-rich live in the lap of luxury.

“If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issuance of currency first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around them will deprive the people of all property until their children wake up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered.”
~ Thoman Jefferson.

This subject is a huge can of worms, and this is not the time or place to address this, but if you’re interested, get a copy of the book “The Creature From Jekyll Island” by G. Edward Griffin, or you can watch a YouTube video with the same title, that goes into all this.

Thank GOD that we have a Good Shepherd watching over us, that in spite of the workings of evil men, we are kept safe and provided for.
And when the Good Shepherd arrives and dons His Judge’s gown and slams His gavel, every injustice, theft, wrongdoing, lies and deceptions, sin, rebellion and oppression will be exposed and dealt with! On that Day we’ll be given a history lesson in Christ’s Court like we’ve never had before!

PROVERBS 28:9
One who turns away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination.

I can provide no better commentary on this verse than what we find in the words of the prophet ISAIAH to backslidden Israel:

ISAIAH 1:10-15
10 Hear the word of the LORD, You rulers of Sodom; Give ear to the law of our God, You people of Gomorrah: 11 "To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices to Me?" says the LORD. "I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fed cattle. I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs or goats. 12 "When you come to appear before Me, who has required this from your hand, to trample My courts? 13 Bring no more futile sacrifices; Incense [which represents the prayers we offer up] is an abomination to Me. The New Moons, the Sabbaths, and the calling of assemblies - I cannot endure iniquity and the sacred meeting. 14 Your New Moons and your appointed feasts My soul hates; they are a trouble to Me, I am weary of bearing them. 15 When you spread out your hands, I will hide My eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not hear. Your hands are full of blood.

Saints, do we want our prayers to be hindered from reaching the throne of GOD? Of course we don’t – but they will be hindered if we’re not right with GOD and with one another.

If you have not yet gone through pastor Sonny’s series on Hindered Prayer, I have this series on my website and I can post them on Facebook for those of you on that social network – or if you want I can text the link to your phone number (just let me know!).

PROVERBS 28:10
Whoever causes the upright to go astray in an evil way, he himself will fall into his own pit; but the blameless will inherit good.

Is it possible for the upright to go astray – in an evil way? They might: but they won’t stay! The LORD Jesus addressed this very issue:

MATTHEW 18:6-7
6 "But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea. 7 "Woe to the world because of offenses! For offenses must come, but woe to that man by whom the offense comes!

Whether they fall into a pit, or into the depths of the sea, the way of the wicked always ends badly for them, especially if they lead GOD’s children astray (teachers of evolution, false teachers, sexual predators, militant atheists, etc.) Their fate is the same as nations that forget GOD:

PSALM 9:17
The wicked shall be turned into hell, And all the nations that forget God.

PROVERBS 28:11
Since we covered this in vs. 6 already, we’ll move on to vs. 12

PROVERBS 28:12
When the righteous rejoice, there is great glory; but when the wicked arise, men hide themselves.

Whereas GOD is a heavenly Provider, Satan is a hellish predator.

So when the righteous rejoice because righteousness is esteemed – in a household, a neighborhood, a community, city, state or nation, that is a place that honors the GOD of Righteousness, and all the blessings associated with that righteousness, provided by our heavenly Abba. It’s there that “great glory” resides.

Yet Satan is a predator, a thief and a murderer, and when the wicked – biblically classified as the children of the devil - arise in the fullness of their wickedness, and are in the place of power, people hide because they don’t want to be victimized. That’s where the church goes underground and when Bibles can’t be available at a bookstores shelves, but have to be smuggled in.

This truth is repeated in vs. 28:

PROVERBS 28:28
When the wicked arise, men hide themselves; But when they perish, the righteous increase.

PROVERBS 28:13
He who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy.

Not acknowledging your sin, denying that anything is wrong, sweeping wrongs under the proverbial rug will no more prosper you than someone putting a band-aid on gangrene.

By confessing sin before the LORD firstly, and then secondly to anyone you might have trespassed against is like the surgeon who cuts into his patient to expose the cancer deep within the tissue. That cancer isn’t going anywhere until it gets exposed – only then can it be removed in order to save the patient. Forsaking it is like the patient not giving in to cigarette smoking or whatever other bad habit that brought about the cancer in the first place.

What a blessing for us, that our Great Physician is so very willing to show us mercy, if we will only ‘fess up, and forsake. If you recall the teaching from last Wednesday, The Seven Lethal Levels Leading Into Sin, we recognized that had David confessed his sin earlier, rather than later, it would have gone far better for him and everyone around him!

PROVERBS 28:14
Happy is the man who is always reverent, But he who hardens his heart will fall into calamity.

Those who revere GOD are those who seek after GOD, surrender to GOD, worship GOD, obey GOD – love GOD! There isn’t a happier person on the planet when they have a deep, meaningful relationship with their Creator and Savior. Such a saint is entirely content, no matter their circumstances, because as we heard recently from pastor Sonny, there is a Mexican lady saint who has over her doorway, “With GOD – everything! Without GOD, nothing!”

Show me a saint who is tender-hearted to GOD, and I’ll show you a saint close to the heart of GOD and truly blessed in every spiritual way! Show me a soul that is hard-hearted toward GOD, and I’ll show you a person who, for all their wealth and prosperity is truly miserable.

The reverent Christian is assured of heaven because of their citizenship there, courtesy of Jesus Christ and His sacrifice for our sins and His life-giving Spirit. The resentful sinner whose heart is hard has a destiny of eternal hell – a calamity from which there is no escape!

ROMANS 2:5
But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God,