in Proverbs chapter 31 and verses
8 and 9. Turning to these words this morning
for our text, Proverbs chapter 31 and verses 8 and 9. Open thy mouth for the dumb in
the cause of all such as are appointed to destruction. Open
thy mouth, judge righteously, and plead the cause of the poor. I want us to consider then something
of an advocate for the dumb. And this is the Lord Jesus Christ,
of course, who is that only advocate. Open thy mouth for the dumb in
the cause of all such as are appointed to destruction. Open
thy mouth judge righteously and plead the cause of the poor and
needy. The Lord Jesus Christ is to be
found in all the scriptures. Therefore Christ is here in the
wisdom literature as he is in the Old Testament prophets, in
the Old Testament Psalms. In fact, he's throughout the
Old Testament as well as being there of course in the New Testament
Scriptures and here we have the writings of King Solomon and
yet the chapter begins the words of King Lemuel the prophecy that
his mother taught him who is this Lemuel we might ask and
I want to say something initially about the significance of names
we've spoken of this or mentioned it in times past so often with
the prophets the names that they bear or the names that they give
to their children is part and parcel of that message that God
is sending to the people of Israel And of course, when we come to
the New Testament, the name that is given to the Lord Christ in
his human nature, they shall call his name Jesus, says the
angel to Joseph, they shall call his name Jesus, that's the human
name, for he shall save his people from their sins. But to say something
about the significance of names as we see them here at the end
of the book of Proverbs, who is Lemuel, the words of King
Lemuel surely this must be another name for Solomon because the whole of
this book, this wisdom literature and it continues through Ecclesiastes
and into the Song, the Song of Solomon Remember the opening
words of the book of Proverbs, the Proverbs of Solomon, the
son of David, king of Israel, to know wisdom and instruction,
to perceive the words of understanding, to perceive the instruction of
wisdom, justice and judgment and equity, to give subtlety
to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion and
so forth. the book the human author of
the book is this man Solomon and this is another name that
is given to him Lemuel and we'll come to the meaning of that name
presently but if we go back to the previous chapter and we read
the opening words the opening verses of chapter 30 also there
in the first verse we read the words of Agor, the son of J.K.,
even the prophecy. The man spake unto Ithiel, even
unto Ithiel and Uchel. We have a number of names here. What is the meaning of the names?
Well, the name Agor means gatherer. The words of the gatherer. The
name J.K. means the hearer. the words of
the gatherer, the son of the hearer and again here surely
the reference is to this man Solomon what does he do? well
he hears and he gathers when we turn over to the book of Ecclesiastes
see how he is seeking things and gathering things There in
chapter 1 verse 13, I gave my heart to seek and search out
by wisdom concerning all things that are done under heaven. This
so travail hath God given to the sons of man to be exercised
therewith. And then again in chapter 2,
and verse 8 he says, I gathered me also silver and gold and the
peculiar treasure of kings and of the provinces, I got me men
singers and women singers and the delights of the sons of men
as musical instruments and that of all sorts. He's ever gathering
things together and then when we come to the end what do we
read there in in chapter 12 verse 9, Yea, he
gave good heed, and sought out, and set in order many proverbs. He hears and he gathers. He gave good heed, and sought
out, and set in order many proverbs. The preacher sought to find out
acceptable words, and that which was written was upright, even
words of truth. The words of Egil, the son of
Jacob, the gatherer, who is the son of the hearer. And Solomon is that one then
who is hearing things and gathering things and gathering in particular
all the wisdom, all the proverbs that we find in this particular
book. But Solomon is also one who is
a type of the Lord Jesus Christ. His very name, Solomon, indicates
that. It means peace. It means peace. And isn't that the name of Christ?
His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor of the Mighty God,
the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace, says the prophet Isaiah
in reference to the Lord Jesus Christ. And again, Micah 5, verse
5, this man shall be the peace. Referring to the Messiah. When
we come to the Psalms, of course, we see the Lord Jesus time and
again. So many of those Psalms are clearly
messianic, they are prophecies of Christ, and you know the words,
the title that we have at the beginning of Psalm 72, a Psalm
for Solomon. But who is this Solomon? Give
the king thy judgments, O God, and thy righteousness unto the
king's son. He shall judge thy people with
righteousness and thy poor with judgment. The mountain shall
bring peace to the people and the little hills by righteousness
and so forth." And in Watts' paraphrase of that psalm, of
course, he speaks so clearly, he interprets it in terms of
the Lord Jesus. Jesus shall reign. where'er the
sun doth his successive journeys run, his kingdom stretch from
shore to shore, till moon shall wax and wane no more." Solomon,
a type of Christ, and this name that we have here at the beginning
of chapter 31, the words of King Lemuel, it's another name that
belongs to Solomon. What does it mean? Well, literally
the name means to God. or God-ward. As Solomon means
peace, and Christ is the Prince of Peace, so this other name,
Lemuel, has the idea of God-ward. And he speaks of Christ surely
therefore as that one who is the mediator. There is one God,
one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. He
only is the way, the truth and the life. No man cometh to the
Father but by Him. He is the one by whom we approach
Godward. And this is what the name Lemuel
sets before us, that particular aspect of Christ's offices. He is the mediator. And then,
I said we'd consider some of these names. Let's go back to
the opening verse there in chapter 13. It's the words of Agor, the son
of Ak, even the prophecy the man spake unto Ithiel, even unto
Ithiel and Ukal. But what are these names? Well,
Ithiel literally means God with us. What is Joseph speaking of? He is speaking of the Lord Jesus
Christ, God with us. We know that, of course, in the
name Immanuel, but also this other Hebrew name, Isaiah, speaks
of God with us, it speaks of the Incarnation, and the name
Ukal, as the meaning of the Mighty One. He is God with us, He is
the Mighty One. And how does He continue there
in verse 4 of chapter 13? "...who hath ascended up into
heaven, or descended, who hath gathered the wind in his fist,
who hath bound the waters in a garment, who hath established
all the ends of the earth." All these mighty works. Who is the
one that has done all these things? What is his name? And what is
his son's name? If thou canst tell. It's the Lord Jesus Christ who
is that mighty one. And then it goes on there at
verse 5 in chapter 30. Every word of God is pure. He
is assured unto them that put their trust in him add thou not
unto his words, lest he repudiate thee, and thou be found a liar."
Isn't the Lord Jesus Christ that one who comes to reveal God,
to make God known? The mystery of God, we see it
in the face of the Lord Jesus Christ. In the beginning was
the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The
same was in the beginning with God, and the Word, we're told,
was made flesh. and dwelt among us, and we beheld
His glory, the glories of the Only Begotten of the Father,
full of grace and truth." Here we have the Word of God
that is pure. In this fifth verse of chapter
30, we are not to add to these words were to submit rather to these
words. This is the word of the Lord
Jesus Christ, the scriptures and the Lord being one tremendous
name. The written and incarnate word in all things are the same. These strange verses then, these
strange names and yet all the time ever always directing us
to the person and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. We're
coming to the words that we have here and I announce them just
now as our text in chapter 31, 8 and 9. Open thy mouth for the
dumb in the cause of all such as are appointed to destruction.
Open thy mouth, judge righteously, plead the cause of the poor and
needy. want us to take up these words
and to consider how the Lord Jesus Christ is the one again
being spoken of and here we see him as an advocate an advocate
for the dumb for those who cannot speak for themselves and I want
us to consider the verses in a twofold sense first of all
how the God's people need an advocate And they need that advocate
because when under conviction of their sins they are dumb.
And when in the midst of God's chastenings they are again in
the second place dumb. A twofold division then. As God's
people are first of all made dumb when God begins His work
of grace in their souls and they are made to see and to feel something
of what they are as sinners before a holy God. Now there is a sense
in which at the end of time in that great day of judgment that
will be true of all. And is there not some mention
here of that last day in verse 9? Open thy mouth, it says, judge
righteously. Lord, when the Lord comes, he
is to come as that one who will judge righteous judgment. Shall not the judge of all the
earth do right? And all that judgment has been
committed into the hands of the Lord Jesus Christ. Our God's law, you see, will
in that day condemn men as the transgressors. God gave the Lord
to the children of Israel, as we see back in Exodus chapter
20. He brings them out of Egypt,
He brings them to the mountains of Horeb, He brings them to Mount
Sinai in particular, He descends upon the mount, He speaks the
words, the 10 commandments. And yet, though that law is given
to the children of Israel, it does have a universal application. And we are told that quite clearly
in Romans 3.19, What things whoever the law saith, it saith to them
who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all
the world become guilty before God. All the world is to be brought
in guilty before God and so there is some reference surely to that
fearful day, that great day of judgment. If we go right to the
end of scripture in Revelation and there in Revelation 20 and
verse 12 or verse 11, John says, I saw a great white throne and
in that sat on it from whose face the earth and the heaven
fled away and there was found no place for them. And I saw
the dead, small and great, stand before God, and the books were
opened, and another book was opened, which is the book of
life. And the dead were judged out of those things which were
written in the books according to their works." And there, men's
mouths will be stopped. They will not be able to, in
any sense, defend themselves. All we're told quite clearly
in the book of Psalms, the mouth of them that speak lies shall
be stopped. Those who are in unbelief, those
who are deniers of God, those who are speaking lies, they'll
have no plea in that great day. They're doing, of course, the
very bidding of Satan, who is the father of lies. Oh, he's
the father of lies. He's a liar from the beginning,
is he not? Do we not see Him there in the Garden of Eden,
the Paradise of God, when He comes to Eve? You remember what He says to
her? He flies in the very face of the commandment of God. God
had said to Adam, to Eve, quite clearly concerning that tree
of the knowledge of good and evil, that they were not to eat
of it. In the day that they eat thereof,
ye shall surely die. Ye shall surely die. Dying they
shall die. And Satan comes here in Genesis
3, 4 and says, ye shall not surely die. Ye shall not surely die. Oh, he is a liar. And he is to
be that one who will be cast ultimately into the bottomless
pit. But that's where all liars will
be. It is a day of judgments and men will then call on mountains
and rocks to fall upon them and cover them and hide them from
the wrath of God and of the Lamb. They will not be able to defend
themselves, there'll be no advocate for them. They'll be silenced and condemned. but here in the text we're thinking
of course of the Lord Jesus Christ himself as that one who is the
advocate of his people open thy mouth for the dumb in the cause
of all such as are appointed to destruction open thy mouth
judge righteously and plead the cause of the poor and needy I referred just now to the words
of of Romans 3.19 those words that speak of the ministry of
the law but in the context there isn't Paul really speaking about
how God is by the law silencing his people making them dumb,
making them see that they have nothing of themselves that they
can plead before him. What things soever the law saith,
it saith to them who are under the law, that every mouth may
be stopped, all the world become guilty before God. For by the
deeds of the law shall no flesh be justified in his sight. For
by the law is the knowledge of sin. That's the context. He's
dealing with the way in which the law brings the knowledge
of sin. And the sinner then is made to
feel that he has no defense before a holy, a righteous, and a just
God. His mouth is stopped. And God
does silence His people. As He comes to them in the day
of grace, as He comes to work that great salvation in their
hearts, He brings them to the complete and utter end of themselves. They have to see that they can
do nothing. They are altogether guilty. and
they are not deserving of the least of the favours of God.
Or doesn't He say there in Exodus 4.11, Who hath made man's mouth,
or who maketh the dumb? Have not I the Lord? Or the Lord
causes His people then to stand before Him dumbfounded? Such
as are appointed to destruction, we read here at the end of verse
8, such as are appointed to destruction these people they are self-condemned
they condemn themselves they recognize that God would be just
to reject them to cast them off forever isn't this true in the experience
of those who come to know the grace of God we're brought to
that where we see that there's nothing in ourselves We roll
together that unclean thing, all our righteousnesses are as
filthy rags. Think of the language that we
have there in the opening words of Ecclesiastes chapter 5. Keep
thy foot when thou goest to the house of God and be more ready
to hear than to give the sacrifice of fools for they consider not
that they do evil. Be not rash with thy mouth Let
not thine heart be hasty to utter anything before God, for God
is in heaven, and thou upon earth therefore let thy words be few.
Or what can we say? What can we say under conviction
of sin? We feel ourselves to be those
who are utterly condemned. We're the transgressors. We have
broken that law of God, that law which is holy, that commandment
which is holy and just and good. There's nothing wrong with the
law of God. all the wrong is with us, the transgressors and
yet it's not only the law that condemns the sinner, silences
the sinner is another sense in which also the gospel or when
the gospel comes it shuts the mouth of the sinner those are
remarkable words that we find at the end of Ezekiel 16 it's
a remarkable chapter, Ezekiel 16, it's a long chapter and what does it say there at
the end in verse 63 that thou mayest remember and be confounded
and never open thy mouth any more because of thy shame when
I am pacified towards thee for that which thou hast done saith
the Lord God God's grace causes his people
to be so dumbfounded that God doesn't deal with them according
to their just deserts or that there is a provision made for
the sinner there is pardon for those appointed to destruction
those who are poor and needy God himself has made such a gracious
provision in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, that Prince
of Peace And so they stand there confounded, unable to open their
mouth anymore because of their shame, when they see that God
is truly pacified towards them. Oh, it's by that bloody sacrifice
of the Lord Jesus Christ, that great sacrifice, that propitiation,
how the wrath of God has been satisfied. because Christ himself
has borne that punishment that was the sinners just deserved. You see, time and again our mouths
are shut before God, we're dumb before Him. The law shuts our
mouth, that's what we are told there in Romans 3, 19. Every
mouth stopped, all the world guilted, we're guilted. That's
the world of the elect, they're all guilted. but not just the
law, also the gospel and how often how often when we come
to pray it's as if our mouth is shut and we know not what
to pray for as we ought we can't express ourselves adequately,
words fail us and this is why God has appointed one to be an
advocate and to speak for his people And who is that one who
is the advocate? It's the Lord Jesus Christ. It's
the Lord Jesus Christ. If any man sin, we have an advocate
with the Father. Jesus Christ the righteous. and
He is the propitiation for our sins. That's the amazing thing.
The one who is our advocate is the one who is our propitiation.
Says John there in the opening words of that second chapter
of his first epistle. It's the Lord Jesus. The advocate
is that one who speaks up, of course, on behalf of another. I suppose here in England we
would speak of it as being the work of the barrister in the
law of courts. In Scotland, they call him an
advocate. But it's that one who speaks up in defense of the criminal. And it's the Lord Jesus. And
we sang it, of course, in our opening praise. A lovely hymn
of Isaac Watts on the various offices of the Lord Jesus Christ. Such a long hymn, but so many
offices that Christ fulfills. My advocate appears for my defense
on high the father bows his ears and lays his thunder by not all
that hell or sin can say shall turn his heart his love away
for there is one then who is an advocate for the sinner in
heaven the Lord Jesus Christ but then also there is one who
is an advocate here upon the earth when he comes to prayer.
Isn't that the ministry of the Holy Spirit? When we know not
what to pray for as we ought, the Spirit helpeth our infirmities,
and He makes intercession for us, says Paul, with groanings
that cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts
knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because He maketh intercession
for the saints according to the will of God. or what a ministry
is that that the Spirit fulfills in the souls of His people. These
who are the poor and the needy, open thy mouth, judge righteously,
plead the cause of the poor and needy. There is that provision
then that is made by God. There's one as an advocate in
heaven. There's one, even an advocate
here upon earth in the in the hearts, in the lives of these
people who feel themselves deserving only rejection and destruction
from God. But believers are not only dumb
when it comes to that sense of their sinnership when they're
under conviction of sin. Is it not also true at times
that God's people are dumb when God deals with them in the way
of chastenings they are dumb under the chastenings that God
meets upon them because of their sins look at the language of the psalmist
in the 39th psalm in verse 9 I was dumb and I opened not my mouth
because thou distance. Now, the context there makes
it quite clear that the Psalmist is speaking of God's chastenings
and David certainly knew something of chastenings after he had sinned his great
sin in the matter of Bathsheba and her husband Uriah adultery,
murder The sword shall never depart from thy house, David,
for thy sin be forgiven. And now the Lord deals with him.
The context there in Psalm 39, I was dumb. I opened not my mouth
because thou didst it. Remove thy stroke away from me,
Christ. I am consumed by the blow of
thine hand. When thou with rebukes dost correct
man for iniquity, thou makest his beauty to consume away like
a moth. Surely every man is vanity."
That's the context, you see. David is feeling the stroke of
God's wrath. David is laying his hand upon
him. Blow upon blow. It's chastening. Whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth.
and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth." And what does
David say? I was dumb. I was dumb. I opened not my mouth because
thou didst it. All be still and know that I
am God. And yet there is one, you see,
that we are able to look to who is given this office of the Advocate.
and will speak on behalf of his people the Lord Jesus Christ
himself. Open thy mouth for the dumb.
Open thy mouth. Judge righteously. And isn't
Christ not only the advocate, he's a great example, a great
pattern to the child of God. we're to look to Him, or we're
to look to Him of course as that One who is our salvation but
we're to look to Him also as that One who is also the pattern,
we're to walk in His steps that's the mark of His sheep, they know
His voice and they follow Him they walk in the way in which
He walks and look at what we read in the first epistle of
Peter And there in chapter 2, verse 20, What glory is it, says
the apostle, if when ye be buffeted for your faults ye shall take
it patiently? But if when ye do well, and suffer
for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God.
For even hereunto were ye caught, because Christ also suffered
for us, leaving us an example that you should follow his steps
who did no sin neither was guile found in his mouth who when he
was reviled reviled not again when he suffered he threatened
not but committed himself to him that judges righteously who
his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree and
so forth all but he is a pattern you see and when we think of
that trial, that awful trial that he had to endure, that mockery
of a trial his death of course was to be a judicial death and
therefore there must be the lawful procedure that one would expect
and so there's a trial but it's a mock trial really and his arraign
before the Roman governor who has the authority to condemn
a man to death but remember when Pilate comes with his questions
we're told how the Lord gave no answer to Pilate there in
John 19 verse 9 following he gave no answer to Pilate he didn't
seek to defend himself Why? Because he is willingly going
that way of the cross. No man is able to take his life
from him. He is the one who has power to
lay his life down and he has power to take it again. This
is the commandment he has received of the Father. He will go that
way of the cross. And he's done. Not defending
himself. Silent. Isaiah 53.7, he was oppressed,
we're told. and he was afflicted yet he opened
not his mouth he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter and as
a sheep before her shearers is done so he openeth not his mouth
or to know something of that spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ
not always wanting to defend ourselves to justify ourselves
to speak up for ourselves but to have that meekness of spirit
that submissive spirit without looking to the Lord Jesus Christ
now he is one who truly is able to to sympathize with his people
all we know is we have not a high priest which cannot be touched
with the feeling of our infirmities he knows the feeling of our of
our sinless infirmities. His human nature is a real human
nature. He was tempted in all points
like as we are, Paul says, yet without sin. And here, are we not reminded
of the blessed truth of the human nature? The words of King Lemuel,
the prophecy that his mother taught him, What my son, and
what the son of my womb, and what the son of my vows but are
we reading of here in the opening words of the of the chapter this
isn't a Mary olatory but it's a language of Mary isn't it?
the son of my womb but what does it remind us of? it reminds us
of the reality of that human nature of the Lord Jesus what
was conceived in the Virgin's womb. It was a real human nature. And that human nature was joined
to the eternal Son of God. That's a mystery of godliness. The God was manifest in the flesh. For as much as the children were
partakers of flesh and blood, we're told, he likewise took
part of the same. He took upon him not the nature
of the angels, oh no he's made a little lower than the angels
lower than the angels for the suffering of death he comes and
he willingly takes upon him the seed of Abraham that's what we're
taught Abraham's seed well he is Abraham's seed but all those
who are in him they're Abraham's seed there's a real union between
Christ and his church, he has a human body but of course he
also has a body which is the church, the church is his body
what a blessed union it is without God sends his son and he sends
him in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin and so he understands
us, he feels for us and he is that one who will come
and speak on behalf of his people. He is their advocate. And that's
how we have him set before us this morning in the words of
this text. These words are being addressed
to him, are they not? They're in that second verse,
what my son what the son of my womb what
the son of my vows and then as we come to the verses he has
this instruction open thy mouth for the dumb in the cause of
all such as are appointed to destruction open thy mouth judge
righteously plead the cause of the poor and it isn't isn't that
the very thing that he does now of course he has accomplished
his great priestly work here upon the earth, he has made that
one sacrifice for sins forever. He has risen from the dead, he
has ascended on high, entered into that within the veil and
there he ever lives. And he ever lives to make intercession
for all that come to God by him. Oh, here is the only way whereby
we can come to God. When we look to this one, but
what a ministry it is that he exercises. is concerned for those
who are appointed to destruction those who under the conviction
of their sin feel that they have no plea at all they are dumbfounded
before God but He speaks on their behalf these are the ones He
died for and He speaks up in the cause of those poor and needy
ones when they are under God's chastening hand and God is dealing
with them and His dealings seem to be so severe and at times
God's people are bewildered by the Lord's dealings. And has
He not also given us of His Holy Spirit to come and to dwell in
the hearts of all His people, and to help them in all their
infirmities, and also to be another advocate, making intercession
for them with those groanings that cannot be uttered? O the
Lord, then, be pleased to so teach us that we might look for
the Lord Jesus Christ, and desire to know Him in every one of His
offices and particularly to know Him as that One who is our Advocate
with the Father, even Jesus Christ, the Righteous. Let the Lord be
pleased to bless His Word to us.