Proverbs 10:29-30
Strong and Unmovable
Introduction:
1. These two passages make yet another contrast between the righteous and the wicked.
2. The righteous are strong and unmovable. The wicked will be destroyed and removed from the land.
1. The way of the Lord.
a. Way: road, distance, journey, manner; course of life; path
b. It speaks of a way of life…
c. It is the way of the Lord… the right way to live… with the Lord as LORD of your life…
d. Those who have set their affections on things above and have given the Lord the place He deserves in our hearts are on the way of the Lord.
e. Ps. 119:1 – those who are in the way of the Lord are those who walk in obedience to His Word. If we are disobedient, then we are out of the way… off course… The word of God is designed to get us back on course when we wander.
f. This is the straight and narrow way… the way that refuses to walk with the ungodly… or stand in the way of sinners. It is a holy, separate way…
2. The way of the Lord is strength… power…
a. Strength: place or means of safety, protection, refuge, stronghold; fortress…
b. Isa. 25:4 – Speaking of the Lord, Isaiah describes Him as a place of strength and safety… for the poor… for those in distress…
• Those who walk in the way of the Lord find that they are in the way of this kind of strength and safety.
• God Himself is our strength… (Ps. 6:1)
c. Ps. 32:8-9 – if we are walking in the way of the Lord, the Lord promises to lead and guide us in that way.
• We are challenged not to be stubborn…when God leads, follow!
• Don’t make God FORCE us to follow in the way…
• The way of strength is the way of being yielded…led… surrendered…
• When that is the case, we are in a stronghold… safe in the will of God. THEN God can strengthen us with might in the inner man. And we NEED a strong inner man or we could crumble!
d. Prov. 2:7-9 – God preserves the way of His saints, and He gives them wisdom and discernment enough to stay ON that right way… that good path.
3. Being strong is a choice.
a. Everyone wants to be strong… especially in those days when we really NEED to be strong.
b. BUT, not all people are strong. Not all believers are strong… but that need not be the case with you.
c. Neh. 8:10 – the joy of the Lord is our strength.
• Cf. Prov.10:28 – gladness is their hope. Joy is their strength!
• Strong people have hope and joy.
• When sorrow and grief seem to overwhelm, there is something even MORE overwhelming—the joy of the Lord.
• If the spirit is broken… through grief or discouragement or depression, then we are weak.
• Prov. 17:22 – a broken spirit dries the bones.
• Prov. 18:14 – a wounded spirit, who can bear? It will crush you… it will defeat you… feelings take over…
• Ps. 32:3-4 – we are weak in the inner man when sin is tolerated… not confessed and forsaken.
• Sin will take away all our joy in the Lord… and our confidence in Him. That makes us an easy target for the adversary.
• Ps. 38:2-10 – a picture of spiritual weakness as a result of sin. That is the condition of the soul when sin is not dealt with… like a body with a disease…
• I John 1:4 – these things were written that our JOY might be full.
» What did he write about? The WAY of the Lord!
» Walking in the light… (vs. 7)
» maintaining fellowship (vs. 9)
» When we walk in the light; maintain fellowship with God, we have the joy of the Lord and we are strong in the Lord.
» We walk by faith and we are safe from all the fiery darts of the wicked one.
» If the Lord be for us, who can be against us?
• BUT if we forsake the way of the Lord, it is presumptuous to think that we can still experience the power of the Lord in our life.
» If we forsake the way of the Lord, we have NO strength.
» We are left to ourselves… to the power of the flesh… and the arm of flesh will fail us!
» As believers, our strength lies “in the Lord.” (Eph. 6:10)
» That strength is ours as we walk in the way of the Lord…
» The way of the Lord is strength to the upright…
» Isa. 41:29-31 – The Lord gives power and strength to those who are faint…strength comes from the Lord.
» If we step out of the way, we have stepped out of the way of safety, protection, and strength.
29b But destruction shall be to the workers of iniquity.
1. There is another way… the way of the enemy of the Lord. (Eph. 2:2-3) This is the course of the world.
a. The way of the world is a course of life… the general direction of one’s life.
b. It has nothing to do with where you live, or what one’s occupation is. It is a matter of the affections of the heart.
c. Our heart sets the whole direction of our life… it directs the feet down this pathway or that…
d. Those whose hearts are full of the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life and on the course of this world.
2. Those believers who walk in that other way… (The way of iniquity) will find themselves without strength.
a. A worker of iniquity doesn’t necessarily mean a murderer, adulterer, or bank robber.
b. Iniquity is simply any step OUT OF THE WAY of the Lord!
c. We may still be coming to church regularly… even reading our Bible and teaching Sunday school. But if there is unconfessed sin in the heart, we have lost our strength… like Samson after his hair was cut.
3. Destruction: destruction, ruin, terror, a breaking…
a. Those who chose not to walk in the way of the Lord have wandered away from the place of safety and refuge.
b. They have wandered into a way that leads to destruction and ruin.
c. The believer who departs from the way of the Lord opens the door for ruin and destruction to enter his life.
d. Those who chose the life of sin will soon find themselves in a mess… a mess of their own making.
e. When believers walk away from the Lord and make a mess of their lives, they sometimes discover that the grass is NOT any greener on the other side… the way of the transgressor is hard…
• Then they come to the pastor and want him to recite a Bible verse and make the mess go away.
• It doesn’t work that way.
• Prov. 1:31 – here is a principle that applies: “you make a mess, and you have to eat it!”
• There are consequences to walking away from the Lord… and while God will forgive our sins, there are often many consequences that just don’t go away.
• It’s like pouring salt on your field. You may repent later… but it’s going to be a long time before that field grows any fruit…
• Prov. 14:14 – the backslider is filled with his own ways…
• Prov. 22:8 – he that sows iniquity will reap vanity.
30a The righteous shall never be removed:
1. This verse is quite similar to verse 29.
2. Removed = slip — it speaks of insecurity. The righteous shall NEVER be insecure.
3. Vs. 29 states that the righteous will be strong. Vs. 30 states that the righteous will be immovable.
4. Prov. 10:25 – the wicked are tossed about like a whirlwind. But the righteous are an everlasting foundation… solid… secure… not about to be blown away!
5. Eph. 4:14 – the righteous will grow in the Lord… as he keeps on walking in the way of the Lord.
a. In that pathway, he will mature and become discerning.
b. He will NOT be tossed to and fro…
c. He will be on a solid foundation.
6. Ps. 16:8 – the one who sets the Lord before him always shall not be moved!
a. Other people may be shaken from their footings… but not the one who sets the Lord before him.
7. Ps. 112:5-8 – the good man… the righteous man…
a. Vs. 5 – He is gracious and guides his affairs with discretion.
b. Vs. 6 – He will not be moved! He is solid!
c. Vs. 8 – He is not full of fear because he is FIXED on the Lord.
d. This ought to be a goal for all of us… and for our children — that we would be gracious, discerning, and stable… steadfast… like a rock!
e. That’s not impossible. We have rock solid believers in this church… praise the Lord… stable and steadfast in the faith for many, many years! Discerning and gracious too!
f. Not all believers are that way. Others are not so stable and solid.
g. BUT—they could be… if they walk in the way of the Lord and keep their heart with all diligence.
1. Some choose to walk in the way of the world… in the way of the wicked.
2. They shall not inherit the earth… they shall be cast out.
3. Prov. 2:22 – eventually, wicked men will be rooted out of the earth… even if it does take the Great Tribulation Period and the Second Coming of Christ to accomplish this.
4. Solomon wants his sons (and us) to follow his wisdom… and to follow the way of the Lord. If so: we will live long (vs. 27), be glad (vs. 28), strong (vs. 30), and stable and steadfast!