Let's take our Bibles and turn
with me to the book of Proverbs, chapter 25. Proverbs 25. In chapter one of the book of
Proverbs, I'd like to look at the first three verses of this
chapter, the scriptures declare, these are also Proverbs of Solomon,
which the men of Hezekiah, king of Judah, copied out. Now, in this book, in chapter
1, verse 1, the scripture says this, Proverbs 1.1, the Proverbs
of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel. In chapter 10,
in verse 1, this is what the scripture says. It says, the
Proverbs of Solomon, a wise man maketh a glad father, but a foolish
son is the heaviness of his mother. And then in this chapter, it
says, these are also Proverbs of Solomon. Now, we know that
the Lord is the one that gives any man a word from heaven. The scripture says, 2 Peter 1.21,
the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man, but
holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. So, we understand something.
What we're about to consider for just a few minutes is the
Word of God. God's breath. God-breathed words. But the Lord was pleased to send
these Proverbs through a man named Solomon, but the amazing
thing about it is that the latter part of that verse said, which
the men of Hezekiah, king of Judah, copied out. Now Lord willing,
I'm going to look, maybe next week, maybe next Sunday, at the
king Hezekiah, the blessed king of Israel, a righteous man, and
how he suffered for the sake of the gospel. But for right
now, just the mention of his name, it was under his reign
that some men copied out some proverbs that Solomon had written
down. And I think how merciful is the
Lord to move upon men, frail creatures of the dust, to write
down the mind and the will and the purpose of God that vessels
of mercy like us might be able to hear. God moved on some men
that were in the kingdom that was being ruled over by the good
providence of God under that king, Hezekiah. The Lord is not merciful. We
have the privilege because these guys had a heart to do this,
to write it down. To write down what God had said. So they penned these scriptures
that had been preserved by the Lord for the salvation of God's
elect. Now, the wisdom that Solomon
possessed, that's another thing. It wasn't something. Hold your
place right here. Turn to 1 Kings 3. That wisdom that Solomon was
given by the Lord, it was a miracle of God's grace. 1 Kings 3, verse
5, the scripture says, In Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon
in a dream by night. Now here's Solomon. and he's
asleep, but the Lord is speaking to him. And you know how it's
happened like that. You don't know if you're asleep,
you don't know if you're half asleep, but the things of the
Lord come to your mind and you consider the things of God. Well,
this Scripture says that that God spoke to Solomon in a dream,
and he asked him, what shall I give thee? And Solomon said,
thou hast showed unto thy servant David my father great mercy,
according as he walked before thee in truth and in righteousness,
uprightness of heart with thee. And thou hast kept for him this
great kindness, that thou hast given him a son to sit on his
throne as it is this day. And now, O Lord my God, Thou
hast made thy servant king instead of David, my father, but I am
but a little child. I know not how to go out or come
in, and thy servant is in the midst of thy people which thou
hast chosen, a great people that cannot be numbered nor counted
for multitude. Give, therefore, thy servant
an understanding heart to judge thy people, to judge them, to
defend them, to govern them, to rule over them, to litigate,
you know, that I may judge thy people, that I may discern between
good and bad, for who is able to judge this thy so great a
people? And the speech pleased the Lord
that Solomon had asked this thing, and God said unto him, because
thou hast asked this thing, hast not asked thyself long life,
neither hast thou asked riches for thyself, nor has asked the
life of thine enemies, but has asked for thyself understanding
to discern judgment. Behold, I have done according
to thy words. Lo, I have given thee a wise
and understanding heart, so that there was none like thee before
thee, neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee." So
the Lord blessed that man. In a dream, he asked him, what
do you want me to give you? And he told him. He said, Lord,
would you give me an understanding heart? And it just, I thought
to myself, that is the answer that we all ought to want to
give. That I could have an understanding
heart. As a pastor, I think to myself, the blessing of being
able to have an understanding heart as far as being a pastor,
to know what to say. Someone call and ask you, ask
you a question. There's times that I've had some
ask me, and even when I know they're getting ready to ask
me a question, I'll ask the Lord, Lord, whatever this is gonna
be, would you give me some understanding? To know how to answer whatever's
being said. So here the Lord gave this man
Solomon. He gave him some, Understanding. And it was a marvelous revelation
of God's power to move a man to ask for something like that. Wisdom. Wisdom. He asked for wisdom. And wisdom
that the Lord said exceeds anything anybody's ever had before you
or will ever come after you. In 1 Kings chapter 4. If you're
there, you can look at this, or I'll just read 1 Kings 4,
verse 29 to 34. It says, and God gave Solomon
wisdom and understanding exceeding much, and largeness of heart,
even as the sand that is on the seashore. And Solomon's wisdom
excelled the wisdom of all the children of the East country,
all the wisdom of Egypt. He was wiser than all the men,
than Ethan, the Ezraite, Heman, Charcoal, Darda, the sons of
Mayhall and his fame was in all nations round about. He spake
3,000 proverbs and his songs were 1,005. He spake of trees from the cedar
tree that's in Lebanon even unto the hyssop that springeth out
of the wall. He spake also of beast and of
fowl and of creeping things and fishes And there came of all
people to hear the wisdom of Solomon from all kings of the
earth, which had heard of his wisdom. So here's a man that
God just, he blessed with wisdom. To be able to speak what God
was pleased to give him. Wisdom. James says in 1.5, James
1.5, if any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God that giveth
to all men liberally and upbraideth not. He doesn't chide or taunt
or rail at people that ask for wisdom. And he said, it shall
be given you. I think when I read these scriptures,
the first thing I truly want to do is say, Would you give
me some understanding into this truth? Lord, prepare my heart
that I might preach. And then when I preach, would
you bring back to my memory the things that you've taught me?
I've said so many times, this is not mechanical. It's not just
automatic. It's just, you're standing here
and you're preaching to God's people. You're preaching in the
name of the Lord of glory. And you truly want to know. I want to know. Help me. So Solomon spoke according to
the wisdom that God had given him. And many heard. They came from all over the world.
You know, I just want to hear what you've got to say. What a blessing to be able to
hear from God. But whenever Solomon spoke, God
had given him. We have to realize, according
to Proverbs 8 verse 1 we've read, that the truth that is set forth
right now, in the little bit of understanding that I would
have, or whether it was Solomon that was given more wisdom than
any other man before or after him, that it is truly the Lord
that speaks. Let's just get right down to
it. Proverbs 8 does not wisdom cry. An understanding put forth her
voice. Men speak the wisdom of God,
but they speak as ambassadors for Christ. We preach, Paul said,
in Christ's stead. So the Lord, by His Spirit, speaks
through His Word. These are not my words, these
are the words of God. And so what we're hearing right
now, I need to hear them too, what we're hearing is we're hearing
from on high. This is the Word of the Lord.
He speaks in creation, He speaks in providence, He speaks in salvation,
but He speaks with all men. When we see, you look at, everybody
can see this. That's God speaking. But there
are some to whom he speaks in mercy and compassion, objects
of his everlasting love through the proclamation of the gospel. And if by the grace of God they
hear and see through new ears and new eyes, have understanding,
It's because the Lord has been pleased to reveal what's being
said. So here we have verse 1. These
are the Proverbs of Solomon which the men of Hezekiah, king of
Judah, copied out. Now here's the wisdom of God. Verse 2. It is the glory of God
to conceal a thing. but the honor of kings is to
search out a matter. The scripture declares it's the
glory of God to conceal a word or a matter. When he says a thing,
that word thing means it's the glory of God to hide a word or
a matter. Now, the scriptures bear out
that it is God's honor, it's God's splendor, it's God's weight
to keep, according to His good pleasure, that which He has been
pleased to conceal. That's His glory. Concerning
the things of salvation, you think about this. The Lord Jesus
Christ thanked the Father concerning salvation. because he had hid
these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them unto
babes. Someone says, well, why would
God be pleased to hide the things of salvation from some and reveal
them unto others? Wisdom says that's his glory. Concerning prophecy, you know
how people like to look into prophecy. We look at the book
of Revelation. Let's look at the book of Daniel,
Ezekiel. Let's look at these books of prophecy. Daniel 12,
9, the Lord had told Daniel, write down, write down, write
down. Then something happened, and Daniel said, and I started
to write it, and the Lord spoke to him in Daniel 12, 9. He said,
go thy way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed. till the time of the end. You
say, well, I wonder why the Lord would be
pleased to tell Daniel, don't write down what I just told you.
That's sealed until the end time. Why would he do that? Because
it's his glory to do so. Of his second coming, The Scripture
says, "...but of that day and that hour knoweth no man. Know
not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father."
Why would God conceal when He's coming? We know He's coming back.
But when is He coming back? You know, it's not for us to
attempt to explain why. God has been pleased to reveal
or conceal that which He does. We're left to the revelation
of God's Spirit concerning His words and His works that He's
been pleased to unveil, to open up, to reveal. And the mysteries
of God's will and purpose to show mercy and compassion to
whomsoever He will, to leave another to Himself, that defies
all human understanding or wisdom. But God Almighty, in sovereign
grace, does as He willed in the army of heaven and among the
inhabitants of His earth, and we don't have any right to question
that. We just believe God, we just walk by faith. So whether
the book of Proverbs that we're reading, the scripture says,
he wrote down thousands of Proverbs, over a thousand songs, and we
read them in Song of Solomon, we read them. Now, but whether
or not we're reading all that God spoke to Solomon, or whether
it's a portion of the ones that God hid, we don't know. But all we do know is that whatever
songs and proverbs God was pleased to allow Solomon to write down,
or the men of Hezekiah, maybe they found some that he had written
down and they copied them out, but I don't know. But all I know
this, it is the glory of God to conceal a thing, to hide it. But did we not read this concerning
the Lord Jesus Christ, John 21, 25, and it says, and there were
many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should
be written, every one, I suppose that even the world itself could
not contain the books that should be written. Amen. Can you? What? I wonder why. because it's the glory of God. So truly, the scripture says
it is the glory of God to conceal a thing. Psalm 77, 19 says, Thy
way is in the sea, and thy path in the great waters, and thy
footsteps are not known. His counsel, His wisdom cannot
be plumbed. Romans 11.33, oh the depth of
the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God. How unsearchable
are His judgments and His ways past finding out. Who can explain
the oneness of God Almighty and His tri-unity of persons? That's still I heard one say, I think it was
Brother Henry, he said, the more we try to explain the Trinity,
the more we tarnish it. He said, we believe it. One God,
three persons, God Almighty. How about the depth of his people,
his elect being foreknown? predestinated be conformed to
the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among
many brethren, them being called, and the Scripture says, already
glorified. That means already in glory.
How do you explain that? Our brains are not capable of
knowing that, but we believe it. We believe it. If the Lord
says we're glorified, then we're glorified. The only way I know
how to say it is we're going through, Jeff, right now, what's
already been accomplished. How do you enter into that? Psalm
97, 2. Clouds and darkness are round
about him. Righteousness and judgment are
the habitation of his throne. There's so many things that God
withholds from man in his present state right now According to
God's wisdom, man obviously does not need to know it. And it was better that He didn't
tell us. He told His disciples in John
16, 12, I have yet many things to say unto you, but you cannot
bear them now. He just knew it was better. I'm
not going to tell you. Why? What are we going to do?
We're going to walk by faith. That's what we're going to do. We're
just going to believe the Lord. But though there are many things
that the Lord has concealed, that does not mean that we don't
strive to seek Him out that we might know those things that
He may be pleased to reveal. Deuteronomy 29.29 says, The secret
things belong unto the Lord our God, but those things which are
revealed belong unto us and to our children forever that we
may do all the words of this law. So Proverbs 25 says it's
the glory of God to conceal a thing, but the honor of kings is to
search out a matter. It's the glory of God according
to his infinite wisdom to conceal that which he's been pleased
to conceal and what he's pleased to conceal. We're not going to
find it. I can tell you right now. We're not going to know. If He's pleased to reveal some
things, it's His glory also that His people seek them out. He says it's the glory of kings
to search out a matter. Now if it's just, speaking of
earthly kings, I'm talking about wise, good earthly kings like
David was, Solomon was, Hezekiah was. If it's the pleasure, the
heart of a king to search out a matter for the betterment of
his kingdom, that's good, that's good. But especially if those
being spoken of here are enlightened sinners. The scripture says that
he's made us kings and priests unto God. But as far as spiritual
kings, his people robed in his righteousness, heirs of God,
joint heirs with Christ, spiritual kings, or spiritual priests,
God's people, who offer unto the Lord the sacrifices of praise
continually, then it's for God's glory. that we've been given
a heart to search out those things. It's honorable for those to search
out the things of God for God's glory and for the good of God's
people. The only example I can think
of at the moment is relating to the calling that I have here. How many times have I told you,
especially in the book of Proverbs, Revelation, any of them, But
Proverbs to me, hardest book I've ever preached out of. Because
I read these Proverbs and often when I read them, I read them
just like you read them. And I don't know. I don't know. I don't know what it means. I know the Gospels in it. I know that because the Lord
declared All scriptures given by inspiration of God. He said
all these scriptures speak of me, Him, and I know where I'm
going with, but how do I get there? How do I find it? You ask the Lord, Lord, would
you open this thing up? But here's the thing that's wonderful. Finding, by the grace of God,
the meaning and seeing the gospel in it, it's profitable for me
and it's profitable for you. And it's for God's glory. The
Scripture declares, Psalm 66, 16, listen to this. Come and
hear all ye that fear God, and I will declare what He has done
for my soul. The Scripture declares that it's
the honor of kings, his people, especially speaking of, to search
out a matter. It's good. We speak one for another,
and iron sharpeneth iron, and it's profitable. So it's a good
thing. And the Lord honors that which
he has moved his people to do, to seek him with a heart for
his glory and the good. Matthew 13, Matthew chapter 13. The scripture declares Matthew
13, 10 to 12. His disciples came and said unto
him, why speakest thou unto them in parables? unto them, because
it's given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven,
but to them it's not given. Whosoever hath, to him shall
be given, and he shall have more abundance. But whosoever hath
not from him shall be taken away, even that he hath. Therefore
speak I to them in parables, because they seeing see not,
and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. But he said,
for you. It's given. concerning the Lord's instruction
to His people. He said, ask, and seek, and knock. And it will be given. It will
be open. You're going to know. So the
promise that we have from the Lord is this. It is His glory
to conceal a thing, but it's the honor, or the same word,
It means glory. It's the honor of kings to search
out a matter. I know the Lord is the one in
whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. But
where the Lord is pleased to reveal something, here's how
He's going to reveal it. He's going to reveal it through
His Word, blessing it to the understanding of His people and
it's going to be for His glory, and it's going to be for their
good, but they're going to seek Him. You're going to seek Me. And
He said, when you seek Me, you'll find Me, when you search for
Me with all of your heart. So, knowing that only in Him
is found wisdom, only in Him whom are all the treasures of
wisdom and knowledge, God is pleased to bless some that He
been pleased to call out of darkness with an understanding. And then
the promise that we're taught concerning our searching. Here's a promise that we're taught. We're going to be taught only
what is needful. That's what we're going to be
taught right here. He says in verse 3, the heaven
for height, the earth for depth, and the heart of kings is unsearchable. Here's what we know. It's God's
glory to conceal a thing. It's the honor of kings that
he's given a heart to seek after him, to search out a matter. I'm going to withhold something
from you. But it's to the honor of people to search him out.
But here's the last point right here, and I'll close. God is
going to reveal only that which he's pleased to reveal, and it's
going to be for our good. He says, the heaven for height,
the earth for depth. Now let me ask you something.
How deep is the earth? I tried to look and find out
what it is, and I'm telling you, that went nowhere fast. How high
is the heaven? I just kind of looked to just
find out what, well, just our little solar system, and then
it showed our solar system in the Milky Way, the galaxy of
the Milky Way, and we were just a speck, just a speck on the
Milky Way galaxy. Then it started showing all the
galaxies, and I thought, I'm lost. How high is the heavens? How deep is the earth? I mean, you know, I looked at
this, it showed this earth, and they know how the diameter, and
here was the, it was bald about that big, and the crust was about
that big right there, and that was just the outer crust, and
then the rest of it's supposed to be something else, and I'm
thinking, they don't know what's down there. How deep is it? But the heart of Kings is unsearchable. Let me ask you something. We
speak of the heart of kings, those that God's raised up if
they're earthly kings, but anybody. Look at me. Can you tell me what
I'm thinking? Why don't you let me look at
you and then you tell me if you're able to search out and understand what
I'm thinking. How about the king of kings? If you can't figure out this
speck of dust, what I'm thinking, how about the Lord of lords? Job 11.7 says, canst thou by
searching find out God? Can a man find out the depth
of his will and his purpose? We know something of His good
pleasure to reveal, that which He's been pleased to reveal of
Himself and of ourselves, but the Scripture says He's unsearchable. 1 John 2.20 says though concerning
God's people, but you have an unction from the Holy One, and
listen to this, and ye know all things. God's people are anointed by
the Holy Spirit to know, in part, the truth of God's sovereignty
in creation and in providence and salvation. We know all things,
but we know as we see through a glass darkly. We know! We know! Well, we see vaguely the truth
of man's frailty and inability to reconcile himself back to
God and to keep himself from falling. And we know that the
Lord has saved us by His grace and shall soon come back to receive
us unto Himself, that where He is, there we may know also. But we don't know when. We know
all things. by faith. We know all things
that he's been pleased to reveal to us. He's given us understanding
into everything we need to know. And by the grace of God, he's
been pleased to reveal that which he's been pleased to reveal for
his glory and for our eternal good, the little bit that we
know. is what he's been pleased to show us, and he said, you
know it all. You know it all. But one day,
very soon, the scripture declares that we're gonna see him as he
is, and we will know as we are known. Now that one right there
is just too high for me. That's just too deep for me,
but I know it's so. May the Lord be pleased to bless
this word to our hearts for His glory and our good. Amen.