The Lips of the Righteous

The Proverbs of Solomon dispense wisdom as a father to a son. They freely move from one subject to another, often contrasting righteousness and wickedness.

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The Lips of the Righteous

Proverbs 10:24-32

  • We’re discussing one of the Proverbs of Solomon today
  • He speaks a father to a son
  • And his words of wisdom transition freely from subject to subject
  • We’ll talk about the fear of the Lord today
  • The hope of the righteous
  • The way of the Lord
  • And our theme phrase “The Lips of the Righteous”
  • It’s Proverbs 10:24-32 today
  • We see a contrast between wickedness and righteousness throughout this chapter
  • And in this section as well
  • And the real-world consequences of doing wrong versus the blessing of doing right
  • Notice our first verse of the day…

Proverbs 10:24

24  The fear of the wicked, it shall come upon him: but the desire of the righteous shall be granted. 

  • The wicked person dreads what will come upon him
  • And he has good reason for this
  • Evil complicates his life
  • It makes everything worse
  • It gives him an initial feeling of enjoyment or success, but eventually crashes
  • Sin makes him unhappy in the long-term
  • And solves none of the short-term problems the enemy deceives him into thinking it can
  • The tenuous nature of a wicked life causes anxiety
  • But the desire of the righteous will be granted
  • To clear up any confusion, a righteous person tends to have righteous desires
  • Never sinful desires
  • Never selfish and self-centered desires
  • Those that are righteous
  • Those God is eager to grant
  • And does so, by His grace
  • The wicked have another issue to deal with…

Proverbs 10:25

25  As the whirlwind passeth, so is the wicked no more: but the righteous is an everlasting foundation. 

  • This is a key point about wickedness
  • It leads to destruction
  • To soon loss of life
  • And eternal death, never eternal life
  • Those who are declared righteous, because of Jesus’ sacrifice for sin
  • Have their lives built upon an eternal foundation
  • Which cannot fall
  • We look ahead to everlasting life with Him
  • A tempest passing may shake our house, but the foundation will hold
  • This provides tremendous confidence for everyone who believes
  • A Proverbs change of topic…

Proverbs 10:26

26  As vinegar to the teeth, and as smoke to the eyes, so is the sluggard to them that send him. 

  • A lazy person causes quite real irritation
  • There is pain and frustration for the righteous and diligent working with a sluggard
  • We can almost feel the sensations in the text
  • The boss expects work to be completed, but the lazy man fails
  • These Proverbs of Solomon go on…

Proverbs 10:27

27  The fear of the LORD prolongeth days: but the years of the wicked shall be shortened. 

  • There are genuine benefits for the man who recognizes who the Lord really is
  • Who has a clear enough (and Biblical enough) picture of Him to gain proper reverence
  • This will mean adjusting our attitudes and our actions to conform to His will
  • When this happens, life will be prolonged
  • Not just because of the physical-world benefits of righteous living
  • But because God makes the pro-active promise to the God-fearing
  • The wicked are not so
  • Evil shortens life
  • And makes the short time men have much worse
  • Any wicked person who makes it to old age does so, by the grace of God
  • There are other benefits to fearing the Lord…

Proverbs 10:28

28  The hope of the righteous shall be gladness: but the expectation of the wicked shall perish. 

  • The hope God grants to every righteous person brings gladness
  • That hope is what every believer clings to
  • It is not a vain hope in the unknown, but a confident assurance of the truth
  • Which is provided by scripture
  • That our future is secure in Christ
  • And this is true
  • The wicked may have a fanciful hope in many things
  • That good works will be enough to save
  • Though this is false
  • That membership in an organization or keeping of some catechism or dogma will save
  • But it does not
  • Only Christ saves
  • Whatever expectation a wicked man has perishes with him
  • For it is not based upon the truth
  • Next…

Proverbs 10:29

29  The way of the LORD is strength to the upright: but destruction shall be to the workers of iniquity. 

  • There is strengthening and energizing in righteous living
  • The way of the Lord is the right way
  • It is not a way of no resistance – there is often much resistance
  • But it is the way of blessing and joy
  • The very opposite comes to those walking the evil way
  • Doing iniquity
  • More proverbs of Solomon

Proverbs 10:30

30  The righteous shall never be removed: but the wicked shall not inhabit the earth. 

  • There is a constancy to righteousness that the wicked can never have
  • It is the firm foundation believers stand upon
  • It is the stronghold they have in God
  • It is the promised future – eternal life in Christ
  • It is the confidence in God’s word that tells us the truth about ourselves and about God
  • We remain, because God’s grace and Christ’s sacrifice make it possible
  • But a future of eternal death awaits the wicked
  • We return to a familiar theme of this chapter next…

Proverbs 10:31

31  The mouth of the just bringeth forth wisdom: but the froward tongue shall be cut out. 

  • There is wisdom in the mind and heart of the just, of the right
  • And therefore wisdom in their speaking
  • A perverse tongue, it says here, will be cut out
  • We speak what is in our hearts
  • And God hears and responds accordingly
  • Our final bit of wisdom in Proverbs 10…

Proverbs 10:32

32  The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable: but the mouth of the wicked speaketh frowardness. 

  • When we know God
  • When we are walking in His ways
  • Understanding His words
  • There is an understanding of exactly what to say
  • What is acceptable to speak
  • What is right to speak
  • There is only perverseness in the mouth of the wicked
  • A crookedness, a twisted nature to their words
  • Of course, this does not mean the righteous only speak righteously
  • And the wicked only speak wickedly
  • But this is their pattern
  • Believers in Christ speaking that which is acceptable to God
  • And those outside Christ, walking their own way
  • Speaking in their own way, which can only be twisted and perverse
  • How are we speaking?
  • Where do we find ourselves?
  • Righteous, because Christ has made it possible?
  • Or remaining in our wickedness?

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