The Root of the Righteous
Proverbs 12:1-28
September 21-22, 2024
Lord, we thank you and we open our heart now and receive and pray that you would meet us here by your Holy Spirit. God reveal to us the way to live to your glory and honor, the way of greatest blessing, the way of wisdom. God, we open our heart to receive from your word in Jesus' name. And everyone say, Amen.
Beginning now in Chapter 10, we begin a whole new section of the Proverbs. 1-9 is one section, and the beginning in 10 is a whole another one. Here in this section, Solomon gives wisdom as individual pieces of wisdom treasures. One treasure of wisdom is not necessarily connected to the next one. In other words, he may change topics from one verse to another. It may seem at first to be random, but there are these themes. They're like wonderful cords woven through the fabric of the tapestry of this beautiful book.
We're going to capture those themes as they are woven throughout the book. Those themes speak on the whole of life. In many ways, he speaks on the condition of the soul, the inner working of the heart, the attitude of the mind. The diligence of work where the words that you speak, the thoughts that you think, the rewards of righteousness, all the matters of life are spoken of as themes woven through the Proverbs. Oftentimes, you'll see this, that he contrasts the righteous to the wicked. Now this is one of the great themes that runs through the Proverbs.
Very important to understand this in the Proverbs. Over and over, he draws this contrast. Notice, for example, in verse 5, "The thoughts of the righteous are just, but the counsels of the wicked are deceitful." He's drawing this contrast because he means for you to choose. This is the thought. He wants you to see the result that will come in your life, and he wants you to choose the path of the righteous. Now the wicked, we understand. The wicked are born in the ugly nature of man, and then they continue on that path of which they are born until the wickedness is seen in all of its ugliness.
Solomon shows throughout the Proverbs the futility, the emptiness of the wicked. It will not end well. It is certainly not a life one would choose if he wants anything good to come in his life. That is the condition of which man is born, and something must change or his life will be impacted by the wickedness and ugliness thereof. Jeremiah 17, speaks of that condition in which man is born, "The heart is more deceitful than all else and desperately sick." Who can understand that? "I, the LORD, search the heart, test the mind, and give to each man according to his ways."
He sets before you these courses and says, to choose the path of the righteous. Who are the righteous? Well, they are also born. Now this is important. They are also born in the ugly nature of men. Something happens that changes the course and the direction of their life. They have an encounter with God. They take hold of God's promises. They believe God's word, and they believe that he is the source of life for their soul. Now important to recognize he doesn't mean when he says it describes them as the righteous.
Does not mean that they're perfect. There is none perfect. Paul draws this to us. It is very important to understand what we need to see behind the word righteous. Well, first of all, Paul describes in Romans 3, he says, "There is none who understands, none who seeks for God. No, not one. There is none righteous. No, not one." He's describing the condition in which man is born. Righteous. No, not one. Can such a one like this be saved? Can a person born in that ugly condition be called righteous? Yes, and here's how.
That ugly nature of sin and the consequences of all of it, you are saved from that condemnation of that sin when the condemnation of it all falls directly onto Jesus Christ on the cross. He took it all. He took the condemnation of your sin upon himself, and thus you are saved. You are saved by his great love. He took the condemnation and paid the price of your sin in full. Then not only are your sins forgiven in their entirety, but then you are given the righteousness of Jesus Christ as a gift.
Can you imagine now receiving the righteousness of Jesus Christ into your personal account? That's what he tells us. The righteousness of Jesus is credited to you in its entirety, so that when you stand before the throne of the great Almighty, at the end of the age, you will be standing there before the throne of the great Almighty, wearing a robe of righteousness. Not a robe of your own righteousness, because our righteousness is as filthy rags. You will be wearing a robe of the righteousness of Jesus Christ. How beautiful is that?
Psalm 130:3-4 gives us this. It says, "If you, Lord, should mark iniquities if you should write them down in our account, O Lord, who can stand? But with you, there is forgiveness." Notice, "That you may be honored and that you may be revered." It's a beautiful understanding. The condition of the soul now wants to honor God, wants to revere God for all that He has done in your life and in your soul. Isaiah 61:10, "I will rejoice greatly in the Lord; my soul will exalt in my God. For He has clothed me with garments of salvation. He's wrapped me with a robe of righteousness."
This is the soul of the one he describes as the righteous. It's the gospel. Hearts can be changed, eyes can be opened, hearts can be softened, hard hearts can be broken, stones can be moved, thorns and thistles can be uprooted because something new happens in the life of the one born in that ugly condition. God opens eyes so that you see what you did not see before, you hear what you did not hear before, you understand what you did not understand before, and you desire what you did not desire before.
You have greater desires than ever because of the beautiful work that God is doing in the one whom God has made righteous. See that is what he is describing as the righteous. They're not perfect, but they delight in what God is doing in their soul. They have a teachable heart. They want the treasure of God's wisdom, and they delight in it. That's who he describes. Here in Proverbs 12, he describes what he calls the root of the righteous. I love that phrase. Great understanding. The root of the righteous. The righteous. The one who delights in what God is doing in his soul.
I. The Root of the Righteous will not be Moved
He has his roots deep in that relationship to God, to receive that life into his soul, the root of the righteous. It describes it similarly in Psalm 1:3. I love this. He says, "He, the righteous, will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water which yields its fruit in season, its leaf does not wither, and in whatever he does, he prospers." A great picture of the root of the righteous. We're going to read all of Proverbs 12, and of course, we'll look at the other verses around this at the Wednesday, verse by verse, chapter by chapter, service.
We're going to read all of Chapter 12, and then we're going to see the fabric of these beautiful themes that are woven into them for us. Proverbs 12:1, "Whoever loves discipline or the instruction of the Lord loves knowledge." This is the righteous. He delights in what God is doing in his soul. He loves knowledge. He's speaking here God's hand. "He who hates reproof is stupid." Don't you just love how he's like, oh, he's calling it out straight here now.
He's just calling it straight like it is. He who hates reproof. I don't want to hear it. He say that he's stupid.
For the good man, this is the description of the righteous now, "The good man will obtain favor from the Lord, but the Lord will condemn the man who devises or schemes evil. A man is not established by wickedness, but the root of the righteous," here it is, "will not be moved." An excellent wife, again, you can see treasures now moving from one to the next, topics changing rapidly, "An excellent wife is the crown of her husband." In other words, she speaks well of him. Not that he's perfect. There is no such thing as a perfect husband. Please don't say Amen to that but it's true.
There is no such thing, but she speaks well of him. She who shames him, see, she talks badly about him, "She who shames him is like rottenness to his bones." Then he changes again. Verse 5, "The thoughts of the righteous are just but the counsels of the wicked are deceitful. The words of the wicked, lie in wait for blood, but the mouth on the upright delivers him. The wicked are overthrown and are no more, but the house of the righteous will stand. A man will be praised according to his insight, that insight given to him by the wisdom of God, but the one of perverse mind will be despised." No one has regard for him.
Better is he who is lightly esteemed and yet has a servant or assistant. In other words, he has some success, rather than the one who honors himself and looks like he's all that but he has nothing. He lacks bread. Then it mentions a righteous man, verse 10, "Has regard for the life of his beast." Interesting. Well, look at this. But the compassion of the wicked is cruel or the heart of the wicked is cruelty. He who tills this man will have plenty of bread. He who pursues vain things lacks sense.
The wicked desires the booty of evil, but the root of the righteous, here it is again, the root of the righteous will yield fruit. The evil man is ensnared by the transgression of his lips, but the righteous escapes from trouble. A man will be satisfied with good by the fruit of his words, and the deeds of a man's hand will come back to him. The way of a fool is right in his own eyes." He thinks he knows it all. He's always right, but the wise man is he who listens to counsel. "A fool's vexation is known at once, but a prudent man conceals dishonor.
He who speaks truth tells what's right, but a false witness deceit. There is one who speaks rashly like the thrust of a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing. Truthful lips are established forever, but a lying tongue is only for a moment. For deceit is in the heart of those who devise or scheme evil, but counselors of peace have joy. No harm befalls the righteous, but the wicked are filled with trouble." Oh, you want trouble? Yes. Live that kind of life. That's the deep wisdom of that verse. "Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord.
He can't stand lying lips, but those who deal faithfully are his delight. Great verse. A prudent man conceals knowledge, but the heart of fools proclaims his folly. The hand of the diligent will rule," in other words, you will advance because of your diligence, "But the slack hand or the lazy hand will be put to forced labor. Anxiety in the heart of a man weighs it down, but a good word makes it glad. The righteous will be a guide to his neighbor, but the way of the wicked will lead them astray. A slothful man does not even roast his prey, but the precious possession of a man is diligence.
In the way of righteousness is life, and in his pathway, there is no death." This is a great Proverb, as I said. We'll look at the other verses around this Wednesday. There are themes that run through this Proverb, starting with this, that the root of the righteous, I love that phrase, you could write a book in that phrase, the root of the righteous will not be moved. In other words, He has settled this in His life. God's word is settled in His soul. He has set his roots deeply in the glory and the presence of God in his life. He's like a tree firmly planted by streams of water.
It will not be moved because its roots run deep. He has found his soul's desire, and that source of life that fills and nourishes every branch of the tree you might say. They draw that water into their soul, which is why the soul of the righteous is at peace, contented, and blessed. The root of the righteous, you see, are permanent, abiding there. They have found what their souls desire has always been, and they have found what they need for life. They're like that tree planted by water, always green, always flourishing their leaves and not wither.
My wife loves palm trees. She has a thing for palm trees. I think it reminds her of warmer weather, I guess. We have 60 wadis. We bought them when they're small and now they're big. Some friends gave us some also. The ones that are thriving are the ones that we planted next to these little ponds that we have for our fish. They love the water, and they're always green and always flourishing. There is that picture of it. The house of the righteous will stand. This is the one who delights in what God is doing in his life, and he finds the strength to stand firm.
In his soul, there is something arising of that which God is doing. His strength is arising. Spiritual strength is increasing even in his life. Notice Proverbs 4:18. "The path of the righteous is like the light of dawn. It shines brighter and brighter until the full day." This is a great description of the righteous. The flourishing strength of the righteous. The way of the wicked is like darkness, however. They do not know over what they stumble. Notice in Verse 5, "That the thoughts then of the righteous are just."
A. The thoughts of the righteous are just
He's speaking here now that even the thoughts of one's mind are very, very important in one's life. The root of the righteous it runs deep and draws living water, and by that living water he is transformed within. His very thoughts are transformed by that beautiful work that God is doing in his soul. You cannot see the roots of a tree, but we know that the roots of the righteous run deep. You cannot see that and nor can you see the thoughts in a man's heart. He said there is a spiritual formation happening that no one sees in the righteous.
Even his very thoughts are impacted by what God is doing. The thoughts are very, very important. In fact, so much so Proverbs 23:7, "As a man thinks within himself, so he is. You will become that of which you are dwelling in your mind." Proverbs 4:23, we mentioned. "Therefore, watch over your heart, the bearing of those thoughts of your soul, watch over your heart with all diligence watch over for from it flow the springs of life." Notice he says the thoughts are just. Springs forth out of righteousness. They're based on the good treasure of God's wisdom in the inner man.
The inner man is that which God is doing in the soul. The inner man, Paul describes, is strengthened by God's presence, the Holy Spirit. Imagine what your life would be, imagine how your life would be impacted if the inner man within you, the soul within you is being strengthened by God's presence, the Holy Spirit. Strong spiritual bearing comes from having that spiritual foundation and then building your life upon it. 2nd Corinthians 4:16, Paul says similarly, "Therefore, we do not lose heart, though our outer man is decaying."
Which the older you get, you know that's the case, the body falls apart, but the inner man is renewed, strengthened day by day. This is the beautiful work of God in the soul. Strengthened, but what happens if it's not strengthened? What happens if the inner man is weak? Faith then is weakened. Storms and troubles come and then that person reacts in the flesh easily offended, emotions become their master, and they're defeated. When the inner man is strengthened, that which God is doing in the soul is arising in your life. You will be transformed by it.
See if you desire godly change, godly transformation, he says, "Even the bearing of your thoughts are deeply important as a man thinks he will become." Well then, what do you want to become? That really becomes the question. What do you want to become? What do you want your life to be? If you want to be a man of grace, a woman of grace, then think grace thoughts. If you want to be forgiving, then think forgiving thoughts. What you dwell on, the bearing of your thoughts will transform who you are. Philippians 4:8-9, Paul says a similar word.
B. A righteous man is kind in heart
"Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there's any excellence, anything worthy of praise, think on these things." Then notice where he goes next in the Proverb, "That a righteous man is kind in his heart." Notice verse 10, "A righteous man even has regard for the life of his beast, but the compassion of the wicked, or really the heart of the wicked is cruel." I tell you, people are capable of so much hate, and with hate comes cruelty. World War II put hate in the theater of the world.
The cruelty that man displayed was unfathomable. Man is capable of so much hate. What does it take to be kind? He says the root of the righteous is such that the righteous man is kind in his heart. What kind of heart? Kindness. What kind of heart do you want? See, you have a say. You have a say in the kind of person you will become. Love is patient. Love is kind. Kindness is powerful. It takes courage to be kind. Kindness is powerful. A righteous man has a kind heart. Even, he says, he has regard for the life of his beast or his animals.
I read a book many years ago. I was thinking of an illustration. Many years I read a book of which I gleaned many life lessons. It's called, The Man Who Listens to Horses by Monty Roberts. I don't know if you've ever read this book. It's a great read. The Man Who Listens to Horses, and it's a true story of his life. He grew up on a horse ranch. Raised by a cruel father, and he watched his father break horses with cruelty. This was a common way. You take a horse from the wilds, and they would break this horse with cruelty.
They would rope them, tie them down, hobble their legs, beat them, whip them, and then ride them until they were exhausted and broken of spirit. That's why it's called breaking a horse. The idea of breaking a horse is literally break his will with cruelty. Not only was his father cruel to horses, his father was cruel to him. Not only to him, his father was a police officer in the city, and more than once, Monty rode in the police car with his dad, and watched with his own eyes how cruel his father could be to others.
Now, the story unfolds that when Monty was older, that he was asked to go out into the wilds when he was a teen. He was asked to go out into the wild to capture some wild stallions for the rodeo. He's out there in the wilds, in the plains, and he's got his binoculars, and he's observing these herds of horses. For hours he's watching them in his binoculars, and he begins to notice that they have a way of communicating with one another using body language. Then he thought, "If I could understand this, I could maybe then learn to use this to train them.
Instead of using cruelty, I can use their own way of communicating to each other." He observed them for hours and hours and hours and practiced with his own horses, and he began to be able to master this language, you might call it, to the point that-- this is an absolutely true story. He could take a wild horse off of the plain and have it gentled, he calls it, with a rider on his back in a saddle obeying the commands of the rider. He can take it from the wilds to that point where a rider is guiding him on the back in--
How long do you think it would take him to do this? 27 minutes. You say, "What? 27 minutes?" Yes, and he did it over and over and over. In fact, the interesting story unfolds. The Queen of England, of course, she's now passed, but she loved horses. She heard about this man, and so she asked him to come and demonstrate, which he did over and over and over. She said to him, "This is so important. I want you to go throughout the United Kingdom, and I want you to train our horse people this method." He would go from arena to arena and give these demonstrations.
Well, one day he was in Ireland, and as he's coming into the arena and people are filing into the stands, he sensed that something was different, like something is up. He could just sense it. Soon the arena filled and he's got a microphone. He's going to talk it through, and he's out there in the arena. The announcer comes on, "Now you have the famous Monty Roberts, who's going to demonstrate his famous method of gentling a horse. We're going to release a wild horse, and he's going to gentle this horse and teach us how it's done."
They opened the gates of the door into the corral, the pen thing, and out came a monster of a horse and immediately charged for Monty. He quickly got out of the pen and closed the gate. Then he had a microphone so he said, "Oh, now, I see." He said, "I agreed that I could take a wild horse, and train that horse. This is not a wild horse. This is a monster and someone has abused this horse so bad that that horse meant to kill me." Then he said, "Now, one of you men come down here and take care of this horse." That's when it all went silent.
He sat there and said, "Oh, there's none? I'll do it myself." He walked into the pen and faced down this monster, and he had him gentled with him on his back obeying his commands. It took him far longer, but he had it done in a relatively short time. He took the monster and he gentled this monster with kindness. Kindness is powerful, and a righteous man is kind within his soul. Amen. Then he says, I love this in verse 12, "That the root of the righteous yields fruit." Notice verse 12. "The wicked desires the booty of evil, but the root of the righteous will yield fruit."
II. The Root of the Righteous Yields Fruit
Here again, we see this theme that runs through the Proverbs, wisdom predicts the outcome. The righteous have roots that run deep in the glory and the life of God, and wisdom predicts the outcome, fruit, sweet, pleasant fruit that blesses those around you. The root of the righteous yields fruit. See, the fruit of a tree is for those who pass by to be refreshed, to be renewed by the fruit, the sweet fruit of the tree. Then he describes what that is. How that is lived. He says, "The fruit of his words is good."
A. The fruit of his words is good
Notice verse 14. "A man will be satisfied with good by the fruit of his words, and the deeds of a man's hand will return to him. Jesus spoke also similarly
of the fruit that comes from the relationship that you have with God. Notice John 15:4-5, "That he who abides in me and I in him, he is the one who bears much fruit for in apart from me, you can do nothing." Now, I love that he used the word fruit because fruit is good. It's sweet, it's tasty, it's a blessing. Jesus spoke of the blessing of the words that you speak, that come out of that good treasure.
I love to quote it because it's so important, so to be applied. The good man out of the good treasure of his heart will bring forth what is good for the mouth speaks from that which fills the heart. He's filled with the good treasure, and out of that good treasure, his good heart speaks good. Have you ever been around somebody who's just refreshing? You're just encouraged to be around them. They refresh, they encourage, they bless. I love being around this person. God says, "I want you to be that person."
We love to be around people who refresh us. We love to be with people who bless us. He says, "I want you to be the one who speaks words that encourage, that bless. That your words would build up and edify good words from a good heart will bring forth what is good. It's refreshing like the fruit of a tree." Good words always. Colossians 4:6 amongst other verses, "Let your speech always be with grace, season as though with salt, so that you'll know how you should respond to each person." Galatians 5:22-23. "The fruit of the Spirit is love." Love is good. Love is beautiful. It's joy.
The result of God in your soul is joy and peace. Peace that passes understanding. Oh, patience is beautiful. Kindness and goodness and faithfulness and gentleness is self-control. Now notice this Proverb emphasizes that there is a blessing that returns to the one who speaks from that good treasure of his heart when he speaks forth good words that are like good fruit. He says, "It comes back to you also." Notice, "A man, verse 14, will be satisfied with good by the fruit of his words, and the deeds of a man's hand will return to him."
Notice also Proverbs 13:2. "Similarly, the fruit of a man's mouth is such that he enjoys good." Luke 6, Jesus said a very similar word, verses 36-38. "Be merciful because your Father in heaven is merciful." He's merciful. I want you to be merciful. Don't judge, and you won't be judged. It comes back to you. Do not condemn, you'll be condemned. Pardon, you'll be pardoned. It comes back to you. Give and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure, press down, shaken together, running over for by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you in return.
Good words come back to you. Grace comes back to you. Kindness comes back to you. Wisdom predicts it. Wisdom predicts the outcome. It comes back to you. I tell you, wisdom says that grace is powerful. It's not just right. See, grace is not just right, it's wise, it's powerful. It is a very powerful way to live. It's not just right. This is so important. I wish I can emphasize. It's so, so critical in your words, in your interactions of life. Grace is so important. It's not just right, it's powerful. It's healing. I was thinking of an illustration many, many years ago when the church was very, very young.
There was a woman in the church who wanted a particular position, and I did not think she was qualified for it. When she didn't get that particular position she was not happy, and so she decided to leave the church in a huff. Actually, it was more than a huff, which confirmed that maybe that she wasn't really qualified. Well, anyway, short time later, I received a letter from her sister who lived probably 1,000 miles away in another state. I received this letter, and I get a sense right away that the letter was on fire because when I opened it smoke came out of the envelope.
Again, not really, but the words were on fire. I'm reading, "You are not a pastor. You're a wolf in sheep's clothing." Her sister wrote. Now those are words every pastor loves to hear. There's nothing like being called a wolf in sheep's clothing to brighten the pastor's day. I'm being sarcastic. Now, when I read that letter, my first response was, "You're not the only one who can write letters sister. I'm pretty good with words myself. You want to have it out with words? I'm good with words. You want to do this thing? Let's do this thing."
Have you ever had the Holy Spirit check you right now? That's exactly what happened. The Holy Spirit just checked me right there. "You'll do no such thing. You'll respond in grace." I knew right away it's right. I know grace is powerful. I know it's powerful. I sat down and I wrote a letter that I thought was grace, and I wanted to double-check it because I was disturbed by it. I went to Pastor Matthew in his office and I said, "Could you read this letter, and if you see anything lacking in grace, just highlight it with your yellow high letter."
He came back a few minutes later and gave me a yellow piece of paper. I go, "What?" "You asked." I did it again, and now I give it to him. He brings it back stripped. I'm getting better. I say, "You know what? Sit here next to me, and if I type even one word that lacks grace, you point it out to me. This letter has to be grace, top to bottom. Every word of it has to be grace." We finished the letter. I sent it off back to the sister, and I sent a copy to the person originally offended.
I said, "I'm not sure what you said to your sister, but I wanted you to know my response, and it was grace. All of it was grace. I love you, I'm for you, I'm praying for God's peace. Grace." Sometime later, I don't know, a few weeks or whatever we were in a store, and we ran into the person who was offended originally. My wife ran into her first. I was a few aisles over and she ran into her in tears. Kindness. "I'm so sorry. Thank you for that letter." I came around the corner, and then there were hugs and more tears, and reconciliation, and peace.
I tell you grace isn't just right. Grace is powerful. Grace is wise. Grace comes back to you. It is healing. Notice verse 18, "The tongue of the wise brings healing." That's the fruit he speaks of. When the soul is right with God, the words of the wise bring healing. Verse 20, "For counselors of peace have joy." Then lastly, we'll close with this notice verse 22, "That God delights in those who are faithful." I love this phrase. "Those who deal faithfully are his delight." I love that understanding. That God delights in those who are faithful.
B. God delights in those who are faithful
They faithfully live out that which God is doing in their soul. The bearing of their soul is lived and God delights in it. Now, that ought to be our singular desire that God would delight in the way that we live. Notice what Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5:7-9. "We walk by faith and not by sight. Therefore, we have as our ambition to be pleasing to him." Oh, to feel the pleasure of God. See, when I think of that, I'm reminded of Eric Liddell, the famous Olympian runner made famous by the movie Chariots of Fire. He was an Olympian runner and felt that God had called him to be a missionary.
Someone said, "Well, if you're called to be a missionary, why do you run?" He answered, "I run because God made me fast, but when I run, I
feel his pleasure. There's something beautiful about that understanding to feel the pleasure of God, to feel the delight of God in the way that you live, in the words that you speak, the faithfulness of which you live. It's the delight. See, when God's good treasure fills your heart, and you live and speak from the beautiful work that God is doing in your soul, you will feel his pleasure, and God will delight in you. I want that for my life.
Anybody want to join me? I want that for my life. Father, thank you for your beautiful word of Proverbs filled with treasures of wisdom helping us to see God the root of the righteous, and the result that comes in life of those who delight in what God is doing in their soul. That their soul is right, that they speak good words, the fruit is good, and they're filled with your delight. God, we want to live our lives that you would be pleasing, that you would be pleased, that you would delight in the way we live.
God, we want our soul like that, so filled that it transforms us. Deeply rooted in the glory, in the presence of God, that it transforms us, that we live out of it. It comes back to us. Church, how many would say to the Lord today, that's what I want. That's my desire. I want that which God would do in my heart, my life. Be the foundation of my life. Lord, let my life be deeply rooted in the glory, in the majesty of the Almighty, that I would live out of it.
Be transformed by it that the very words I speak, very life I live is from that which you are doing, that beautiful work that you are doing. I want to live my life out of that. That's what I want. That's my heart. That's my prayer. Church, is that you who you just raised your hand as a way of saying to the Lord, that's my heart, that's my desire. That's what I'm asking. I want a life like that. I want my soul filled. I want to be deeply rooted in the glory