He
layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous (Prov 2:7)
Pitfalls In The Lord’s Service: Impatience:
Proverbs 20:21-26
21) An inheritance [may be]
gotten hastily at the beginning; but the end thereof shall not be blessed.
22) Say not thou, I will recompense evil; [but] wait on the LORD, and he shall save thee.
23) Divers weights [are] an
abomination unto the LORD; and a false balance [is] not good.
24) Man's goings [are] of the
LORD; how can a man then understand his own way?
25) [It is] a snare to the
man [who] devoureth [that which is] holy, and after vows to
make enquiry.
26) A wise king scattereth the wicked, and bringeth the wheel over
them.
In
this section of Scripture, Solomon reminds us of the pitfall of impatience in
our service to Christ.
EXPOSITION:
21) An inheritance [may be]
gotten hastily at the beginning; but the end thereof shall not be blessed.
Pitfall
1 – Impatience due to selfishness
1. A person may selfishly desire to receive his
inheritance quickly, taking no time to consider its proper use.
2.
However, after the inheritance is received, the Lord will not bless its use.
Many
times, selfishness breeds impatience, which then results in lack of preparation
and discernment of God’s will. How can we expect to be blessed of God when we
act upon our selfish desires and give no thought to God’s desires for our
lives?
“But they that will be rich
fall into temptation and a snare, and [into] many foolish and hurtful lusts,
which drown men in destruction and perdition.” (1 Timothy 6:9)
22) Say not thou, I will recompense evil; [but] wait on the LORD, and he shall save thee.
Pitfall
2 – Impatience due to desire for personal revenge.
1. When wronged by another, we should not say “I
will reciprocate their harmful actions”.
2. Instead, we are to wait by faith knowing that
the Lord will bring about deliverance and justice.
How
easy it is for us to desire to personally bring revenge upon those who have
done us wrong. Instead we are to, by
faith, exercise patience knowing the Lord will bring us out from the wrongdoing
by returning the evildoing upon the head of the guilty. After all, who is the more just and effective
judge of wickedness, ourselves or the Lord?
“Recompense to no man evil
for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men. If it be possible, as much
as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but [rather] give place unto
wrath: for it is written, Vengeance [is] mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. Therefore if thine enemy
hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap
coals of fire on his head.” (Romans 12:17-20)
23) Divers weights [are] an
abomination unto the LORD; and a false balance [is] not good.
Pitfall
3 – Impatience in making gain in business practices
1. Varying weights are disgusting in the sight
of Jehovah
2. Fraudulent scales is not pleasing, nor
beneficial to the Lord
There
are two ways to profit from a business:
a.
Displeasing the Lord by impatiently seeking “quick gains” through deceptive,
unfair, manipulative business practices
b.
Pleasing the Lord by being honest and open in our dealings, majoring on quality
workmanship, fair prices, excellent customer service, high productivity and
frugal spending. All of these will
require more time for the reputation of the business to reap higher profits than by defrauding the customer. However in the long term these will reap the
blessings of God over the business, compared to His displeasure that is brought
upon those who abuse others.
“Hear this, O ye that
swallow up the needy, even to make the poor of the land to fail, Saying, When will the new
moon be gone, that we may sell corn? and the sabbath, that we may set forth
wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel great, and falsifying the
balances by deceit? That we may buy the poor
for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes; [yea], and sell the refuse of
the wheat? The LORD hath sworn by the
excellency of Jacob, Surely I will never forget any of their works.” (Amos 8:4-7)
24) Man's goings [are] of the
LORD; how can a man then understand his own way?
Pitfall
4 – Impatience is getting ahead of God’s plan for our lives
1. Man’s course of life on earth is totally in
the hand of God.
2. Because God is in control, how can a man come
to a complete discernment of the events of his life?
If
we understand that the Lord is in control of our past, present and future, we
are to recognize the need for patience in making life decisions, seeking the
Lord’s will before acting upon the decision at hand. How often do we impatiently go ahead of the
Lord, making decisions and plunging forward without His counsel or His
approval?
“O LORD, I know that the
way of man [is] not in himself: [it is] not in man that walketh to direct his
steps.” (Jeremiah 10:23)
25) [It is] a snare to the
man [who] devoureth [that which is] holy, and after vows to
make enquiry.
Pitfall
5 – Impatience in using His “holy things” and in making promises
1. It is a trap laid by Satan for a man to
quickly, out of fleshly desire, tear apart and use selfishly that which is
separated for God’s use.
2. It is a trap for us to impatiently enter into
promises, before we consider if it is possible to keep the promise and what
will the cost of keeping our word.
We are to always hold the things of God with
the greatest of reverence and respect.
We should always patiently seek God’s will in using what He has given to
us. Compromise, laziness, irresponsibility, and flippant attitudes have no
place in our lives concerning His “holy things”. We
should never “jump into” the things of God, but respectfully hold the attitude “not
my will but thine be done” before taking actions related to His holy things. This includes His truths, the counselors He
has brought into our lives, the opportunities He has opened for us to serve…. the
list goes on and on.
Also
we should never enter into a commitment without seeking His will and counting
the cost of keeping that commitment. How
often do we quickly make agreements that we can never actually keep, thereby
being forced to break our word and dirty our testimony of honesty and
reliability.
“Buy the truth, and sell [it]
not; [also] wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.” (Proverbs 23:23)
“When thou vowest a vow
unto God, defer not to pay it; for [he hath] no pleasure in fools: pay that
which thou hast vowed. Better [is it] that thou
shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay. Suffer not thy mouth to
cause thy flesh to sin; neither say thou before the angel, that it [was] an
error: wherefore should God be angry at thy voice, and destroy the work of
thine hands?” (Ecclesiastes 5:4-6)
26) A wise king scattereth the wicked, and bringeth the wheel over
them.
Pitfall
6 – Impatience in holding authority over others.
A
king that applies the Word to his decision making will cast away and seek to run
the chariots wheels over them in disgust and punishment.
Anyone
in authority should understand the harm that wickedness brings and seek to rid
it from the areas over which he is responsible.
He also should seek to punish those who are wicked, making them an
example for all to see of the results of wicked actions done under his authority.
“Whoso privily slandereth
his neighbour, him will I cut off: him that hath an high look and a proud heart
will not I suffer. Mine eyes [shall be] upon
the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me: he that walketh in a
perfect way, he shall serve me. He that worketh deceit
shall not dwell within my house: he that telleth lies shall not tarry in my
sight. I will early destroy all
the wicked of the land; that I may cut off all wicked doers from the city of
the LORD.” (Psalms 101:5-8)
SUMMARY:
There
are many pitfalls involving impatience that await us in our service to
Christ. In this section, Solomon has
pointed our attention to these areas…
Pitfall
1 – Impatience due to selfishness
Pitfall
2 – Impatience due to desire for personal revenge.
Pitfall
3 – Impatience in making gain in business practices
Pitfall
4 – Impatience is getting ahead of God’s plan for our lives
Pitfall
5 – Impatience in using His “holy things” and in making promises
Pitfall
6 – Impatience in holding authority over others.
By
God’s grace, He has forewarned us of these pitfalls, so that we might not have
to experience them ourselves. Let us all
take this wise counsel and apply it swiftly to our hearts and lives, realizing
it is counsel that comes from a Loving, Merciful, All Wise, Heavenly Father.
By
God’s grace, let us all study these proverbs diligently, giving them the value
that they deserve.
May the
Lord bless us as we receive this sound wisdom and then “Think On These Things”.
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