Pastor Nate continues our study through the Bible in the book of Proverbs.
[00:00:00] You are listening to the Through the Bible Studio Series with Pastor Nate Holdridge.
[00:00:13] Join us as we continue our study through the Old Testament book of Proverbs.
[00:00:18] Here's Nate.
[00:00:20] Well, everyone builds their lives upon Proverbs.
[00:00:26] Not necessarily the Proverbs found in Scripture, but saying words of wisdom, concepts that
[00:00:33] people will build their lives upon.
[00:00:35] The big question of course is who is the author of the Proverbs that you are building your
[00:00:41] life upon?
[00:00:43] Who is the one who is giving you the concepts for living and the philosophies of life?
[00:00:51] So today we turn to the book of Proverbs where we get 31 chapters of wisdom directly from
[00:00:58] the hand of God to us as his people.
[00:01:03] For this reason the book of Proverbs is an incredibly life-giving kind of book.
[00:01:09] There's just so much vitality that is found within it.
[00:01:14] We start out in the first verse with the Proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of
[00:01:22] Israel.
[00:01:23] Now Solomon of course was the second king after David.
[00:01:30] So you had first Saul, then David and the Davidic line then began and then you had
[00:01:37] Solomon.
[00:01:38] And Solomon built the kingdom of Israel into great glory.
[00:01:42] Of course his latter days were spent in rebellion and sin but God gave him incredible
[00:01:48] wisdom.
[00:01:49] One of the first 29 chapters of the book of Proverbs can easily be ascribed to Solomon
[00:01:56] while the final two chapters are actually written by two other men and we'll get to
[00:02:01] them when we get to chapter 30 and chapter 31.
[00:02:07] A proverb very simply means to be like or to be compared with.
[00:02:13] A proverb is an object lesson based on usually a comparison or an analogy.
[00:02:20] There's a lot of parallelism in the book of Proverbs.
[00:02:24] They are usually short and pithy and they're designed to help us choose the right way
[00:02:30] for life.
[00:02:31] They are wise and insightful pronouncements.
[00:02:35] Someone said that they are brief maxims.
[00:02:38] The verses in Proverbs are distilled to the point sentences about life.
[00:02:45] The book of Proverbs includes for us about 900 precepts dealing with subjects such as
[00:02:53] success, self-control, honesty, fairness, honor, purity, peace, generosity, joy, friendship,
[00:03:04] romance, love, contentment, marriage, parenting, citizenship, the impoverished diet, work ethic,
[00:03:14] true femininity and masculinity, leadership, anxiety or worry, substance abuse, money,
[00:03:22] life and death.
[00:03:24] So you can see that the book of Proverbs really touches on the practical nature
[00:03:29] of everyday living here on earth.
[00:03:34] It's been noted that the book of Proverbs really doesn't give much attention to the afterlife.
[00:03:40] This is not the life with God eternally but the life with God here on earth in the here
[00:03:48] and now.
[00:03:51] A couple of things to note before really jumping into the book of Proverbs.
[00:03:56] You should note I think that many of the Proverbs should be regarded as guidelines or generalizations,
[00:04:05] not ironclad promises or universally binding premises.
[00:04:10] You know for example maybe this one would be a good one to illustrate this point with
[00:04:15] but Proverbs 22 verse 6 says train up a child in the way he should go even when he is
[00:04:21] old he will not depart from it and taken as a universally binding premise or an ironclad
[00:04:31] promise any parent who watches their child grow older and then walk away from the Lord
[00:04:38] has to assume that they did not train up their child in the way that he should go,
[00:04:44] that somehow the failure is with themselves.
[00:04:49] But actually probably the better way to take that is it is a general truth and guideline
[00:04:56] for life.
[00:04:57] In general you train children up in the way that they should go and as you give them
[00:05:02] that training in their early years of life it's going to be very difficult for them
[00:05:07] to depart from it later on in life.
[00:05:11] However they are free moral agents and even with some of the best training they may walk
[00:05:17] away from the Lord and the rest of scripture seems to bear out that reality.
[00:05:24] So it's good for us as we go through the book of Proverbs to understand these are
[00:05:28] incredible truths that govern the world in general but as rules go there will always
[00:05:37] be those who are exceptions to the rule but these are the wisdom that you can look out and
[00:05:45] say in general this is the way life works here on earth.
[00:05:52] Now also as well the question we could ask is how should a Christian read the book of
[00:05:59] Proverbs?
[00:06:00] I think that a Christian should read the Proverbs with the understanding that Jesus Christ is
[00:06:08] our ultimate wisdom.
[00:06:10] It says in Colossians 2 verse 3 that in Jesus are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and
[00:06:18] knowledge.
[00:06:19] Proverbs is a very human book but Christian faith I think goes even beyond the beautiful
[00:06:27] thing that the book of Proverbs describes.
[00:06:30] Taken by itself there are moments where Proverbs might appear calculating in comparison with
[00:06:39] the sacrificial self giving of Christian love and I think Christians also should read the
[00:06:46] book of Proverbs not only seeing the ultimate wisdom is found in the cross of Jesus and
[00:06:52] the fulfillment of wisdom found in the life of Jesus but we also must read the book of
[00:06:57] Proverbs with a healthy dose of humility lest we become whiny about the world that
[00:07:05] we live in and the folly that we see inside of it and arrogant or phariseical about our
[00:07:15] success in this world as we live according to the Proverbs.
[00:07:20] Remember that the law is spiritual and so it goes down into the very heart of who we are
[00:07:27] so even if we are keeping a proverb externally internally we still need the help of the Holy
[00:07:33] Spirit to heal our hearts and conform us into the image of Jesus.
[00:07:39] Now in verse 2 we get a statement concerning the beautiful benefits of wisdom.
[00:07:46] It says this to know wisdom and instruction to understand words of insight.
[00:07:53] I love the word wisdom found there in verse 2 it basically is a word that means skill
[00:08:00] in other places in the Bible this word for wisdom is used to describe the abilities of
[00:08:06] the tabernacle craftsmen or seasoned mariners or those with administrative ability or
[00:08:14] excellent singers or counselors basically is a word that means skill and he says this
[00:08:23] book will give you the skill for life and also instruction or discipline or training.
[00:08:33] In other words one of the major benefits of this book is the ability as we glean
[00:08:40] the wisdom found inside of it to live life with incredible skill.
[00:08:47] I'm sure you've all had the experience of trying to cut something with a dull knife while
[00:08:54] living life by the Proverbs is a sharp knife kind of life and I find that life is hard
[00:09:01] enough as is and so to ignore the Proverbs makes life even more difficult and I want
[00:09:09] the simplest easiest life I can possibly live.
[00:09:12] I don't want to invite unnecessary pain into my life and so the Proverbs actually help
[00:09:19] you up here to live a life of great skill then he expands on that concept or that benefit
[00:09:28] that life of doing life with skill in verse 3 through 6 when he says to receive instruction
[00:09:35] and wise dealing in righteousness justice and equity to give prudence to the simple
[00:09:43] knowledge and discretion to the youth let the wise hear and increase in learning and
[00:09:50] the one who understands obtain guidance to understand a proverb and is saying the words
[00:09:56] of the wise and their riddles.
[00:09:58] Here we have a few additional benefits of this wise life that is held out to us in the book
[00:10:06] of Proverbs.
[00:10:07] First of all did you notice there in verse 3 he says you get from this book instruction
[00:10:14] in wise dealing.
[00:10:16] The new living translation says the ability to live a successful life and so not only
[00:10:24] is this a life of skill but that life of skill that skilled life is going to lead to good
[00:10:31] success instruction and wise dealing just knowing how to do things well knowing how
[00:10:38] to be successful knowing how to make it here on earth and to understand he says things
[00:10:45] like righteousness what is right justice what is just an equity what is fair we
[00:10:52] need the truth of God's word to be able to see how to live successfully here on earth
[00:10:59] according to God.
[00:11:01] Not only that not only is there the benefit of living successfully but did you also notice
[00:11:07] in verse 4 he said to give prudence to the simple knowledge and discretion to the
[00:11:15] youth.
[00:11:16] Now the simple is someone who is naive and untaught not quite the fool that we'll see
[00:11:22] later on in the book of Proverbs he does have the ability to comprehend but he's just
[00:11:29] limited in his experience limited in his exposure the Proverbs can give a person who is limited
[00:11:38] in their experience can give them wisdom can give them experience and not only that
[00:11:45] not for the just the simple but a second group as well in verse 4 also to the youth to the
[00:11:53] youth.
[00:11:54] So with the simple and the youth you have two camps of people who are inexperienced and
[00:12:01] they haven't been exposed to very much life yet and the beautiful thing about the Proverbs
[00:12:07] is that the Proverbs will give the person without actually having to go through the
[00:12:12] things in life will give the person experience.
[00:12:16] I like to say it gives them experience the easy way gives them wisdom the easy way it's
[00:12:23] one of the blessings of the book of Proverbs you don't have to go out and live it and
[00:12:28] go through the school of hard knocks you can actually just glean from God's word
[00:12:34] great truth which will help you in life and then also another great benefit here
[00:12:41] in verse 5 and 6 he says let the wise here in increase in learning and the one who
[00:12:48] understands obtain guidance so not only are the Proverbs helpful for those who are simple
[00:12:55] or youthful or inexperienced for one reason or another but the Proverbs can also help
[00:13:03] those who are wise they can actually he says increase in learning so they can continue
[00:13:11] to grow and really basically compound the wisdom and the knowledge that is already theirs
[00:13:20] and what is the beautiful thing that they receive in verse 5 and 6 did you see it the
[00:13:26] word there at the end of verse 5 they receive guidance guidance like sailors steering a ship
[00:13:34] in the open waters guidance the benefit of being guided and so of course this means that
[00:13:43] we must humbly come to the book of Proverbs to get the guidance and the help that we
[00:13:47] need in this life now in verse 7 we have really a key verse in the book of Proverbs
[00:13:55] he says the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge fools despise wisdom and instruction
[00:14:06] now the fear of the Lord is a concept that we're going to see 15 times in the book of
[00:14:13] Proverbs and this is helpful to us because right away we see that this book is a different
[00:14:21] kind of book than other wisdom literature from ancient times or even wisdom literature
[00:14:28] from modern times in other words it's wisdom that is not separate from God but is very
[00:14:36] much connected to and actually begins with God now of course the question is what is
[00:14:44] the fear of the Lord it sounds a little scared doesn't it it sounds a little paranoid of
[00:14:51] God but to fear God is to reference God to respect God to stand in awe of his righteousness
[00:14:59] or his majesty his holiness his power and to not run from him but to trust him by
[00:15:07] humbly depending upon him now of course we would say well why is this the beginning of
[00:15:16] knowledge why can't we just receive some common sense sayings that are pithy and short and
[00:15:24] tweetable that we can just you know think about and receive and you know in life just
[00:15:31] kind of apply them to life whether or not we're walking in step with God or not well the
[00:15:38] reason that that isn't really possible is because Proverbs describe a skilled and sensible
[00:15:46] life God made the world with wisdom so when you begin with these Proverbs you'll
[00:15:54] eventually be led back to God because he's the author of these Proverbs he's the author
[00:16:00] of what a skilled and sensible life looks like he created the laws of the universe so you
[00:16:06] must regard God a fear of God a reverence for God is the bedrock of life of wise
[00:16:15] living now it says here that he's it's the beginning of knowledge the start or the
[00:16:21] essence of knowledge is found in the fear of the Lord and if that's the beginning of
[00:16:27] knowledge I think I would say the cross of Christ is the depth of knowledge and to
[00:16:34] you know fear the Lord daily but to remember ultimately the cross of Jesus and all attempt
[00:16:41] to highlight that as we move through the entirety of the book of Proverbs now verse
[00:16:46] eight we really actually are now are jumping into the book of Proverbs where we have a long
[00:16:53] section all the way through the ninth chapter where we're dealing really with a father
[00:16:59] speaking to his son here my son verse eight your father's instruction and for
[00:17:06] sake not your mother's teaching for they are a graceful garland for your head and
[00:17:11] pendants for your neck now one thing that we get from scripture and one thing that
[00:17:17] we get from the cross of Christ is we get a father in heaven disciplining us
[00:17:24] training us and speaking to us and for that we ought to rejoice a pure father a
[00:17:30] perfect father an all wise father who always has our best interest in mind
[00:17:36] and here this father says to his son if you receive this instruction and your mother's
[00:17:44] teaching they will be a graceful garland for your head and pendants for your neck
[00:17:49] the speaks of an honorable life you're going to win in life and be decorated
[00:17:57] for the winning that you're doing in life if you take heed to these Proverbs
[00:18:02] my son he says in verse 10 if sinners entice you do not consent if they say
[00:18:09] come with us let us lie and wait for blood let us ambush the innocent without reason
[00:18:15] like she'll let us swallow them alive and hold like those who go down to the pit
[00:18:20] we shall find all precious goods we shall fill our houses with plunder
[00:18:25] throw in your lot among us we will all have one purse my son he says
[00:18:31] do not walk in the way with them hold back your foot from their paths for their feet
[00:18:37] run to evil and they make haste to shed blood so one of the first things that
[00:18:44] this father tells his son is listen sinners will try to entice you and
[00:18:50] when they do do not walk in the way with them their feet run to evil stay
[00:18:56] away from their lives now this of course is necessary to say because there is
[00:19:03] something initially attractive about sinners and their lifestyle we might
[00:19:10] remember in Hebrews 11 it says of Moses that he chose rather to be mistreated
[00:19:15] with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin there is
[00:19:22] something initially attractive and pleasurable about sin the reason why
[00:19:27] it's so tempting is because there's fun in it there's an experience in it that
[00:19:32] is pleasurable but for a moment it's fleeting pleasure and here Solomon is
[00:19:40] telling his son watch out for that personal pressure you don't want to run
[00:19:45] with the wrong crowd or mix with the wrong people and I think for us we
[00:19:51] would realize that there is a pressure from individuals and so we must watch out
[00:19:56] for the people that we connect ourselves to firstly and primarily but
[00:20:01] secondarily there is also a pressure from the world isn't there there are
[00:20:07] sinners enticing us who we don't even know who project to us through the
[00:20:12] airwaves or onto screens and we must make sure that we aren't being
[00:20:18] enticed by that sinful life we must guard our hearts he says of them in verse
[00:20:24] 17 for in vain is a net spread and the sight of any bird but these men lie
[00:20:30] and wait for their own blood they set an ambush for their own lives such
[00:20:36] are the ways of everyone who is greedy for unjust gain it takes away the
[00:20:41] life of its possessors now the idea here is that a bird who sees the net stays
[00:20:50] away from it but not these sinners they are actually setting a trap for
[00:20:56] themselves and the beautiful thing is that a personal walk with God can
[00:21:02] give you the backbone to reject this crowd and an infatuation with the
[00:21:08] cross of Christ can give you a desire not only to reject this kind of life
[00:21:13] but actually to live the opposite kind of life one thing that you notice here
[00:21:18] is that all these people want to do in this paragraph is take but we aren't
[00:21:25] people who just say well I want to abstain from that kind of sin no we
[00:21:31] want to run towards actually giving our lives much as Jesus gave his life
[00:21:39] we're not just wanting to avoid taking blood like these men were doing but
[00:21:45] we want to find ways to actually spill our blood in the proverbial sense to
[00:21:50] lay down our lives to give our lives to lose our lives that we might find them
[00:21:55] now in verse 20 wisdom is actually personalized wisdom he says cries allowed
[00:22:03] in the street in the market she raises her voice at the head of the noisy
[00:22:08] street she cries out at the entrance of the city gates she speaks how long
[00:22:14] most simple ones will you love being simple how long will scoffers delight
[00:22:19] and their scoffing and fools hate knowledge if you turn at my reproof
[00:22:23] behold I will pour out my spirit to you I will make my words known to you now
[00:22:29] here we have a picture of a city streets markets a gate of the city and wisdom
[00:22:36] like a woman going out and raising her voice and inviting people to receive
[00:22:41] from her if you would just receive from me I'd give my spirit to you
[00:22:45] I'd make my words known to you in other words if you received from
[00:22:50] me you'd get more wisdom wisdom when he did be gets more wisdom there's this
[00:22:56] circular a compounding multiplying kind of flow one thing that you should see
[00:23:02] there though is that she cries out in the street and the markets and at the
[00:23:07] entrance of the city I think this speaks of the reality that the wisdom
[00:23:11] of God is so applicable on a street level she continues to cry out in
[00:23:17] verse 24 and say because I have called and you refuse to listen
[00:23:22] I've stretched out my hand and no one is heated because you've ignored all my
[00:23:27] counsel and would have none of my reproof I also will laugh at your calamity
[00:23:32] I will mock when terror strikes you when terror strikes you like a storm
[00:23:37] and your calamity comes like a whirlwind when distress and anguish come upon
[00:23:41] you then they will call upon me but I will not answer they will seek
[00:23:46] me diligently but not find me because they hated knowledge and did not
[00:23:51] choose the fear of the Lord would and would have none of my counsel
[00:23:55] and despised all my reproof therefore they shall eat the fruit of their
[00:23:59] way and have the fill of their own devices for the simple are killed
[00:24:04] by turning away and the complacency of fools destroys them
[00:24:08] but whoever listens to me will dwell secure and will be at ease without
[00:24:13] dread of disaster now here wisdom again personified this is an idiom or a
[00:24:21] literary device she basically says look you don't receive from me I'm
[00:24:27] going to laugh at you I'll mock you when terror strikes you now this isn't
[00:24:31] God laughing he doesn't take delight in the folly of the world or the
[00:24:37] judgment that he has to bring upon them it is as the Bible says his
[00:24:41] strange or his foreign work but this is a picture to say that the
[00:24:47] spurned advice will come back to hunt a person and so to submit to
[00:24:54] it leads in general to a life of ease without dread now in chapter 2 he
[00:25:01] goes on to say my son if you receive my words and treasure up my
[00:25:07] commands with you making your ear attentive to wisdom and incline
[00:25:12] your heart to understanding yes if you call out for insight and
[00:25:16] raise your voice for understanding if you seek it like silver and
[00:25:20] search for it as for hidden treasures then you will understand the fear of
[00:25:25] the Lord and find the knowledge of God here we have a real heart to
[00:25:31] heart chat from father to son and what he highlights here in these five
[00:25:37] verses is really worth noticing he says son you've got to and notice
[00:25:43] all the words receive my words you've got to treasure my words
[00:25:49] you must be attentive to wisdom you must incline your heart you must call
[00:25:57] out for insight you must raise your voice for understanding you must
[00:26:03] seek it like silver you must search for it as hidden treasures and if
[00:26:10] you do then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the
[00:26:14] knowledge of God it appears that one of the things that needs to be
[00:26:19] highlighted here is that effort here we must know this must be
[00:26:25] expended for one to become wise now for some of us who so cling
[00:26:31] to justification by faith and that the just actually live by
[00:26:37] faith it might be hard for us to consider effort but faith without
[00:26:42] works is a dead kind of faith no real legitimate fate causes us to
[00:26:49] with strong efforts say I want to I desire to I long to and I will
[00:26:56] pursue the wisdom of God in my life consider these cross references
[00:27:02] Isaiah 55 verse 6 seek the Lord while he may be found call upon
[00:27:08] him while he is near Luke 13 verse 24 Jesus strive to enter through
[00:27:15] the narrow door Revelation 3 verse 20 behold I stand at the door
[00:27:21] and knock and if anyone hears my voice and opens the door I will
[00:27:25] come into him and eat with him and he with me so it's important
[00:27:30] for us to have a strong desire for this wisdom from God then
[00:27:36] he goes on to say in verse 5 if you do then you'll understand the
[00:27:41] fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God in other words
[00:27:48] as you live out this wisdom one thing that happens is you just
[00:27:54] find such joy and pleasure in living this kind of life and
[00:27:58] that joy and pleasure gives you a even deeper respect and love
[00:28:03] and admiration for God that clean feeling within causes you to
[00:28:09] worship the Lord even more fully he goes on to say in verse 6
[00:28:14] for the Lord gives wisdom and from his mouth comes knowledge
[00:28:20] and understanding this is part of the reason why we want to be
[00:28:24] a people who are all about the Bible who love the word of God
[00:28:29] because it saturates our minds and it gives us the wisdom and the
[00:28:34] knowledge of God he stores up verse 7 sound wisdom for the
[00:28:39] upright he is a shield to those who walk in integrity guarding
[00:28:44] the paths of justice and watching over the way of the saints
[00:28:48] then you will understand righteousness and justice and
[00:28:52] equity every good path for wisdom will come into your heart
[00:28:58] and knowledge will be pleasing to your soul so victory or
[00:29:05] success or sound wisdom is given as we apply the truth of God's
[00:29:10] word and notice there that it actually comes into our heart
[00:29:14] that something the Holy Spirit is able to do and it is
[00:29:18] pleasant to our soul the beautiful thing is that the
[00:29:22] stuff that God tells us to do the requirements of his word
[00:29:27] it's actually to our benefit it's so wise and discerning
[00:29:32] and over and over again as you go through God's word you
[00:29:35] discover that his dictates are actually for the great blessing
[00:29:39] of his people discretion he says verse 11 will watch over
[00:29:44] you understanding will guard you delivering you from the
[00:29:49] way of the evil from men of perverted speech who forsake the
[00:29:53] paths of uprightness to walk in the ways of darkness who
[00:29:57] rejoice in doing evil and delight in the perverseness of
[00:30:01] evil men whose paths are crooked and who are devious in
[00:30:06] their ways so the word of God the wisdom of God actually
[00:30:11] guards you from people have turned away from that which
[00:30:15] is normal that's what it means to be a man of perverted
[00:30:18] speech so the wisdom of God actually guards you from
[00:30:22] wicked people now one of example of that is mentioned in
[00:30:27] verse 16 so you will be delivered from the forbidden
[00:30:31] woman from the adulterous with her smooth words who
[00:30:35] forsakes the companion of her youth and forgets the
[00:30:38] covenant of her God for her house sinks down into death
[00:30:43] and her paths to the departed none who go to her come back
[00:30:48] nor do they regain the paths of life so as Solomon is
[00:30:54] warning his son he says son you must watch out for
[00:30:58] the forbidden woman now if he was writing to his
[00:31:01] daughter he would say watch out for the forbidden
[00:31:04] son so for the for the for the forbidden man so both
[00:31:09] are true it's just that he's speaking to his son so he
[00:31:12] speaks of the forbidden woman now this is going to be
[00:31:16] dealt with later more fully in the book of Proverbs but
[00:31:21] here you basically have two types of women describe
[00:31:27] really that are the same person one is the forbidden
[00:31:31] woman that means she's outside of the covenant
[00:31:34] community and then you have the adulterous
[00:31:37] that means she's outside of her covenant marriage and
[00:31:41] notice some of the elements of this adulterous woman
[00:31:45] she uses smooth words you know she's gives flattery
[00:31:51] she's seductive she's suggestive she's flirtatious
[00:31:57] she forsakes the companion of her youth she just
[00:32:00] forgets about him she forgets the covenant of
[00:32:04] her God even worse she forgets God and ultimately
[00:32:09] where she's going to lead a man is towards death
[00:32:13] that's what's happening in her house now this
[00:32:17] probably isn't speaking of literal death but
[00:32:20] something even more costly than that death of
[00:32:25] the soul sexual immorality is a kind of sin
[00:32:29] that leads to real harm of the soul it says in
[00:32:33] 1st Corinthians 6 verse 18 that we are to flee
[00:32:37] sexual immorality every other sin a person commits
[00:32:41] is outside the body but the sexually immoral
[00:32:44] person sins against his own body here in the
[00:32:49] Proverbs it's painted as a point of no return
[00:32:52] death and the place of those who have
[00:32:55] departed but fortunately Jesus comes and
[00:32:59] gives us the grace to know that there is a path
[00:33:02] forward he told the woman caught in adultery
[00:33:06] neither do I condemn you go and from now on
[00:33:10] sin no more and even in the Old Testament
[00:33:14] we do see shadows and hints of that beautiful
[00:33:19] grace of God there was after all the author
[00:33:22] of this book Solomon who was the son of David
[00:33:27] but also the son of Bathsheba and was
[00:33:30] beloved by God so verse 20 you will walk in
[00:33:36] the way of the good and keep the paths of
[00:33:38] the righteous for the upright will inhabit
[00:33:41] the land and those with integrity will
[00:33:43] remain in it but the wicked will be cut off
[00:33:46] from the land and the treacherous will be
[00:33:49] rooted out by it for the people of Israel
[00:33:52] their version of God's blessing was to
[00:33:57] inhabit their land you and I have
[00:34:00] different versions of God's blessing
[00:34:02] there is a spiritual land and spiritual
[00:34:05] vitality that we can receive but we
[00:34:08] cannot receive all that God has for our
[00:34:11] lives when mired in disobedience so we
[00:34:16] want to cling to his word and walk in a
[00:34:20] way that is honoring to him we must pray
[00:34:24] for God's grace to give us the wisdom
[00:34:28] that we need that we might walk in the
[00:34:31] ways of God God bless you and amen