Keep Trusting God to Keep Living Wisely

Proverbs 24 gives the summer’s picture: by wisdom a house is built. The fear of the Lord lays the foundation. Trusting God raises strong walls, and guarding the heart puts doors on the house, because everything in life is downstream of the heart.

The rooms, Proverbs says, are filled with precious and pleasant riches. Wisdom commonly leads to good choices, and good choices often make life better. But the riches become dangerous when they become the point. The thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy, and blessings become an easy mark when they are carried out from the safety of fearing, trusting, and following God.

Agur comes in Proverbs 30 worn out by the pursuit of wisdom. His words do not insult his intelligence. His words admit his limits. Agur cannot ascend to heaven, gather the wind in his fists, wrap up the waters, or establish the ends of the earth. God alone knows all things, and every word of God proves true.

God becomes a shield, not for people chasing the goodies, but for those who take refuge in Him. God’s words also forbid additions. A person who makes exceptions, creates a personal code, or decides that circumstances make disobedience okay is living like he knows better than God.

Jesus gives the better code in the wilderness: “As it is written.” Satan offers bread, public glory, and the kingdoms of the world, but Jesus refuses to be ruled by appetite, self-protection, or shortcuts. Jesus trusts the Father’s word. The code of Christ blesses those who curse, refuses to return wrong for wrong, and stays faithful even when faithfulness costs something.

Agur’s prayer then asks for two things: remove falsehood and lying, and give neither poverty nor riches. Riches can make a person full enough to ask, “Who is the Lord?” Poverty can tempt a person to steal and profane God’s name. Agur asks for his portion, the food that is needful, because he wants God Himself more than either comfort or escape.

The gospel begins where self-made codes end. Sin sets personal rules over God’s word, but Christ lived God’s code perfectly and bore God’s wrath at the cross. The new covenant then writes God’s law on the heart. Proverbs can be lived by faith when God’s people admit they do not know better, ask for help, and keep trusting God.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Blessings can become spiritual bait. Wisdom’s riches are good gifts, but they are never meant to replace the God who gives them. A life can become more comfortable while its heart becomes less dependent. The danger begins when gain becomes the reason for obedience. [31:29]
• 2. God’s word outranks personal codes. Personal creeds can sound strong, honorable, and reasonable while still contradicting Christ. Jesus answered temptation with “As it is written,” not with self-protection or personal preference. Faithfulness starts by admitting that God knows better. [42:14]
• 3. Refuge is better than self-help. God proves true in every word, and He becomes a shield for those who take refuge in Him. Proverbs cannot be reduced to techniques for getting a better life. Wisdom works rightly when trust in God stays at the center. [36:01]
• 4. Ask God for a faithful portion. Riches can produce forgetfulness, while need can become an excuse for compromise. Agur asks for what is needful because he wants neither abundance nor hardship to pull his eyes away from God. Contentment seeks enough grace to remain faithful. [49:02]
• 5. The gospel rewrites the heart’s code. Christ bore judgment for people who had lived by their own rules, and His righteousness is given to those who trust Him. The new covenant does more than forgive past rebellion. God writes His law on the heart so that His people can keep following Him.
  
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Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [29:17] - Building a House by Wisdom
• [30:37] - When Riches Become the Focus
• [32:42] - Keep Trusting God
• [33:44] - Agur Admits His Limits
• [36:01] - Every Word of God Proves True
• [37:50] - Job and Words Without Knowledge
• [39:34] - John Wayne’s Code Versus Jesus’ Code
• [43:50] - Agur’s Prayer for Faithfulness
• [46:05] - The Danger of Forgetting God
• [49:53] - When Experience Replaces Dependence
• [52:18] - The Gospel for Those Living Their Own Way
• [55:05] - The New Covenant Written on Hearts
• [56:12] - A Practical Call to Keep Trusting

1. The sayings of Agur son of Jakeh—an inspired utterance. This man’s utterance to Ithiel: “I am weary, God, but I can prevail.” [33:40]
2. Surely I am only a brute, not a man; I do not have human understanding. [33:56]
3. I have not learned wisdom, nor have I attained to the knowledge of the Holy One. [34:12]
4. Who has gone up to heaven and come down? Whose hands have gathered up the wind? Who has wrapped up the waters in a cloak? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is his name, and what is the name of his son? Surely you know! [34:53]
5. Every word of God is flawless; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him. [36:18]
6. Do not add to his words, or he will rebuke you and prove you a liar. [36:51]
7. Two things I ask of you, Lord; do not refuse me before I die: [43:50]
8. Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. [44:00]
9. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, “Who is the Lord?” Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God. [44:26]

1. By wisdom a house is built, and through understanding it is established; [29:20]
2. through knowledge its rooms are filled with rare and beautiful treasures. [30:24]

1. Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. [40:39]
2. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. [40:39]
3. The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” [40:47]
4. Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” [41:14]
5. Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. [41:29]
6. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written: ‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’” [41:29]
7. Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” [41:46]
8. Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. [41:55]
9. “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.” [42:02]
10. Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’” [42:14]
11. Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him. [42:14]

1. “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,” declares the Lord. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.” [55:35]

1. In Proverbs 24:3–4, what builds and establishes the house, and what fills its rooms?
2. What kinds of things does Agur say human beings cannot do in Proverbs 30:4, and what do those questions reveal about his limits? [34:53]
3. According to Proverbs 30:5–6, what two responses should follow from knowing that every word of God proves true?
4. What are the three temptations Jesus faces in Matthew 4, and what repeated words does He use in response? [41:14]

1. Agur does not pretend to know everything about God, yet he confidently calls God’s words flawless. How can humility about personal understanding make someone more ready to trust Scripture?
2. Proverbs 30:5 says God is a shield for those who take refuge in Him. How is taking refuge in God different from using biblical wisdom mainly to gain a more comfortable life? [36:32]
3. Why might riches tempt a person to forget God, while poverty might tempt a person to excuse disobedience? What do both dangers have in common? [45:54]
4. Jesus answers the devil with, “It is written,” even when He is hungry, offered public recognition, and offered power. What does this show about the kind of obedience God desires when His commands are costly? [42:14]

1. What “precious and pleasant riches” has God placed in your life—such as comfort, health, money, ability, relationships, or experience? In what way could one of those good gifts begin to matter more to you than dependence on God? [31:11]
2. Where are you most tempted to add a personal exception to God’s Word? Is there an area where you tend to say, “My situation is different,” in order to make compromise feel acceptable? [43:08]
3. Jesus does not live by the code, “I will not be wronged” or “I will not be insulted.” When you are hurt, disrespected, or treated unfairly, what would it look like to trust God rather than return wrong for wrong? [42:32]
4. Agur asks God to remove falsehood and lies from him. What is one lie you are prone to believe when you strongly want something—for example, “I need this to be happy,” “God will not provide,” or “This sin is understandable”? [44:38]
5. What blessing, skill, experience, or resource sometimes makes God seem less necessary to you? How could you make dependence on Him more visible in that part of your life this week? [50:37]
6. What present need or pressure could tempt you to compromise your obedience? What would it look like to ask God for your “daily bread”—enough grace and provision to remain faithful—rather than taking matters into your own hands? [49:02]
7. Jeremiah 31:33 promises that God writes His law on the hearts of His people. What is one area where you need not merely better self-control, but God to reshape what you love and desire? [56:06]