IT’S THE HEART

Proverbs 23:7 (KJV)

For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee.

The general theme I have been following for Sunday nights has been to study the personalities or character of the book of Proverbs.

I want to press that theme just a little bit. As I researched and prepared for this message, I noticed that the subject of the heart comes repeatedly to the surface in the 23^rd chapter of Proverbs.

While not technically a personality, let me pretend it is, just for this message.

Let’s begin with

I. SOME GROUNDWORK LAID

Proverbs 23:7 (KJV)

For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee.

There are two things that are worth mentioning right off the start:

A. First, this passage is intricately woven into the text just previous and after it.

A lot of time we use this first phrase

As he thinketh in his heart so is he and teach that means I can “think and grow rich.”

Or, more practically

“If I think about happy things I will be a happy person.”

I do not want to discount that completely, but that is certainly not the primary lesson of the text.

The context has more to do with our association with someone from whom we desire to have a need met.

We need to understand his need before we can expect him to meet our need.

B. Second, the word heart is found twice in this verse.

It is fascinating to me that the Hebrew word is not the same for the two references.

Both of them have to do with pleasure. That’s why I imagine the translators used the word heart in both cases.

The first word is used just this once in the chapter

It literally means “breathing.”

Be implication is refers to the animal, the flesh, that part of us that connects to the world around us.

In this case it would mean raw animal pleasure.

All of us have those sorts of pleasures:

·   The enjoyment of a sports game

·   The taste of a well prepared meal

·   Spinning cookies in a snow covered church parking lot

Those things bring us pleasure but it is a very shallow and transitory one. We enjoy it, but it serves no enduring purpose.

The second word is the one used throughout the rest of the chapter

It means “feelings.”

It is also translated

·   Mind

·   Emotions

·   Intellect

The pleasures this term references might better be called, affections.

Maybe a way to illustrate the difference would be like this:

·   I love hamburgers cooked on my BBQ vs

·   I love Anita, Louise McKenzie

Both of them might be true, but they are in no way comparable.

With that as our foundation let’s see,

II. SOME WARNINGS MADE

Two of our remaining six verses warn us what not to give our hearts too:

A. To Envy Sinners

Proverbs 23:17 (KJV)

Let not thine heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the LORD all the day long.

This is a common theme in the Bible and one that many if not most Christians wrestle with at one time or another in their life.

If I may put it in Biblical terms it would sound something like this,

·   Why was the rich man rich and

·   Lazarus begged for bread?

It is obvious that Lazarus was a godly person and the rich man wasn’t.

Why did God reward[1] the rich man and punish Lazarus?

David wrestled with it in his own days,

Psalms 73:2-16 (KJV)

But as for me, my feet were almost gone; my steps had well nigh slipped.

For I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

For there are no bands in their death: but their strength is firm.

They are not in trouble as other men; neither are they plagued like other men.

Therefore pride compasseth them about as a chain; violence covereth them as a garment.

Their eyes stand out with fatness: they have more than heart could wish.

They are corrupt, and speak wickedly concerning oppression: they speak loftily.

They set their mouth against the heavens, and their tongue walketh through the earth.

Therefore his people return hither: and waters of a full cup are wrung out to them.

And they say, How doth God know? and is there knowledge in the most High?

Behold, these are the ungodly, who prosper in the world; they increase in riches.

Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocency.

For all the day long have I been plagued, and chastened every morning.

If I say, I will speak thus; behold, I should offend against the generation of thy children.

When I thought to know this, it was too painful for me;

The answer, in the words of the Proverbs, is found in, Proverbs 23:18 (KJV)

For surely there is an end; and thine expectation shall not be cut off.

Don’t envy the sinner today because the end of their story has not been written yet.

In the end, God will make things right.

And then, don’t give your heart,

B. To Seek Mixed Wine

Really the context begins in verse 20, but for sake of time let’s read,

Proverbs 23:29-33 (KJV)

Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes?

They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine.

Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright.

At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.

Thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thine heart shall utter perverse things.

Alcohol is a pleasure of the flesh that destroys the heart of true affections.

These days I think we ought to add other forms of mind-altering drugs as well.

I am not sure I think we need to legislate or have laws forbidding the use of alcohols or even some substances like marijuana.

I do believe there ought to be laws regulating the safe manufacturing and sale of them – that makes sense to me.

Here is the thing

Just because you can legally do something does not mean it is good to do it.

·   It is not good to smoke or chew tobacco

·   It is not good to take drugs, many times not even when they have been prescribed and

·   It is not good to consume alcohol

Not even little bits of it.

I have already used as an illustration a Pastor Perry Noble who started and led one of the largest modern churches in our country.

Noble would have been considered a leading preacher in the modern movement:

·   A staunch Bible preacher

·   A conservative theologically and yet

·   A liberal socially

Noble’s church disdained the old Fundamentalist’s abstinence policies concerning alcohol.

Drinking wine and beer socially, even at church events, was acceptable in their eyes.

But Noble went too far.

The alcohol got hold of him. He began drinking in excess[2] and he was fired.[3]

Here is the thing about alcohol, any amount of it at any time; you never know when it will steal your heart.

So the Bible teaches us Proverbs 23:31

Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright.

Don’t even entertain the notion of drinking the stuff!

And then there are,

III. SOME APPLICATIONS BADE

(The word “bade” means attempted. It is my attempt at making my outline creative.)

There are three verses grouped together in this heading.

Proverbs 23:12 (KJV)

Apply thine heart unto instruction, and thine ears to the words of knowledge.

Proverbs 23:19 (KJV)

Hear thou, my son, and be wise, and guide thine heart in the way.

Proverbs 23:26 (KJV)

My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways.

Notice that all three verses have to do with

·   Wisdom

·   Instruction and

·   Understanding

I want to take the three in reverse order and say to the young men:

A. Set your affections on your fathers and learn from them

Proverbs 23:26 (KJV)

My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways.

B. Using your father’s example, guide your heart

Proverbs 23:19 (KJV)

Hear thou, my son, and be wise, and guide thine heart in the way.

Notice that you don’t let your heart be your guide, you guide your heart.

Don’t let your heart fall in love.

Choose what you heart will love.

C. Seek instruction and knowledge

Proverbs 23:12 (KJV)

Apply thine heart unto instruction, and thine ears to the words of knowledge.

While you are guiding your heart to love the right things, guide it to love instruction and knowledge.

And finally there is

IV. SOME FRUIT PAID

Proverbs 23:15 (KJV)

My son, if thine heart be wise, my heart shall rejoice, even mine.

The word heart is found twice again in this verse, both of them speaking of our affections.

A. The heart of the son

If thine heart be wise

I think you can define that by the three applications above.

B. The heart of the father

My heart shall rejoice

I can’t help but wonder if our Heavenly Father isn’t speaking through this inspired father….

Do you want to please the heart of God?

Let your heart be wise…

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[1] Apparently

[2] In the minds of his church’s leadership.

[3] https://www.christiantoday.com/article/megachurch-pastor-perry-noble-fired-over-alcohol-abuse/90291.htm

COUNSEL IN CLIMBING THE LADDER

Proverbs 23:1-8 (KJV)

When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what is before thee:

And put a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite.

Be not desirous of his dainties: for they are deceitful meat.

Labour not to be rich: cease from thine own wisdom.

Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven.

Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, neither desire thou his dainty meats:

For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee.

The morsel which thou hast eaten shalt thou vomit up, and lose thy sweet words.

It occurs to me that this passage is not often considered as a whole and that, perhaps because of that, we miss a great lesson presented within it.

I do not think the primary lesson is against gluttony.

Nor it is about the power of positive thinking.

I think what we have here is one man who has a need and another man who may be able to meet that need.

Have you noticed that there are people you are convinced can meet your needs (or wants), if only they were convinced they ought to meet your needs (or wants)?

What we have in our passage is some instructions on how to meet with someone who has the means to help us.

I want to approach this by noting first

*I. THE RULER

The word means

·   To have power

·   To have dominion

·   To rule or

·   To reign

At first blush you might think of a king or a governor and discount it as not pertaining to you.

Is anyone here expecting to one day be invited to eat dinner with

·   President Trump?

·   What about Governor Inslee?

Obviously that isn’t applicable to very many people and it is therefore not very likely that it is the correct application for the passage.[3]

But there are occasions when all of us might sit down to speak with someone who has the power to be a help to us:

·   A banker

·   An employer

·   An instructor/mentor

It could be a city councilman whose help we need to secure a permit.

It might be a remote acquaintance who has the ability to speak on our behalf to someone who has the ability to help us in our cause.

Don’t discount this passage too quickly as having no immediate value to you.

*II. THE NEED

The first thing that comes to our mind when we read this passage is a luxurious spread of food and, if we give in and eat it, we will be trapped in the snare of the ruler.

But the food can also serve here as a simple metaphor for any “dainty” we perceive this person to have.

·   It might be money

·   It might be influence

·   It might be power to sign a paper and make all our problems disappear

·   It might be a promotion or a raise

So my first and second points are meant merely to ask you to maintain an open mind. You might find many more ways to apply this than I could imagine as I prepared for the lesson.

*III. THE COUNSEL

Proverbs 23:1-8 (KJV)

When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what is before thee:

And put a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite.

Be not desirous of his dainties: for they are deceitful meat.

Labour not to be rich: cease from thine own wisdom.

Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven.

Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, neither desire thou his dainty meats:

For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee.

The morsel which thou hast eaten shalt thou vomit up, and lose thy sweet words.

The picture that most vividly presents in my mind is a meeting with a loan officer. I am going to use that then as my example.

Five “C”s

A. Consider

Proverbs 23:1 (KJV)

When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what is before thee:

Imagine that you are sitting at the Old Country Buffet, only this one is at the White House.

There is every sort of food you have ever dreamed of, and some you have never heard of.

They all look good:

·   Some of the old favorites

·   Some things you would like to try to see if it might be a new favorite

But you can’t eat them all.

·   Good sense says it would not be healthy

·   Good manners says it would not be polite and

·   Goodness, you would be sick if you tried

Wisdom says, to consider it all diligently. Know what is on the table and choose carefully.

Back to the bank –

·   There will be options, study them all

·   There will be fine print – read it

*B. Curb

Proverbs 23:2-3 (KJV)

And put a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite.

Be not desirous of his dainties: for they are deceitful meat.

I spoke with a friend not long ago who told me the story about getting his house.

He said he did not think he could afford a house at all and so had not really even tried. But then an opportunity presented itself and he was encouraged to at least talk to a banker.

He’s watching cartoons with his kids the next morning when there is a commercial for a loan company.

He took that as a sign from God and called.

And hour later the baker called him back and said, “We can’t give you what you asked for. We can give you $20,000 more than you asked for.”

Just because you can get more does not mean you ought to take more.

Seek the reasonable, not the ridiculous

*C. Content

Proverbs 23:4 (KJV)

Labour not to be rich:

There are things more valuable than extravagant gain.

There is something inherent in us I think that we always want bigger and better than we have.

Once we have what is bigger and better than what we had, we want what is bigger and better than that.

A pastor told me once that he had a neighbor to his church complain to him that he wanted to buy all the houses in the neighborhood for his church.

He replied, “I don’t want all the land in the neighborhood. Just the land adjacent to the church.”

And then he jokingly told me, “Of course, once I have it, new land will be adjacent to the church.”

There are people hard wired to be growth oriented and they are needful. But they are not everyone.

Be careful not to be discontent.

*D. Control

Proverbs 23:4-5 (KJV)

….. cease from thine own wisdom.

Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven.

Don’t lose your head.

It is easy to lose control when presented with options you never dreamed could ever be available to you.

Know what you need and stop when you get it.

*E. Conclude

Proverbs 23:7 (KJV)

For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee.

He wants to win too.

Here where that applies to the banker:

If he can he wants to give you more than you need because that puts more in his pocket.

His heart isn’t really with you.

·   He might be a nice guy.

·   He might be genuinely interested in your success.

But at the end of the day – he does what he does to win.

If you let him, he’ll feed you so much dessert you get sick of it before it’s done.

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[1] I think a great title would have been Counsel Climbing the Corporate Ladder but it is a little too long and it probably limits the extent of the lesson some.

[2] You, of course, know that this whole scenario is an absolute joke, right? I do not really think Pastor Caleb should do that and I do not really think we need someone like a Pro Football player’s money to do the work of the Lord. It is meant as an illustration.

[3] Since the Bible is written to apply to us all.