Let’s take our Bibles together and turn to the Book of Proverbs. Proverbs 28 isn’t about wisdom directly, or foolishness directly. Instead, the proverbs in this chapter are grouped around the ideas of wickedness and righteousness. The wicked person avoids God’s laws, ignores God’s ways, and defies God’s heart. The righteous person fears God, loves God, and obeys his Word. That’s the contrast that is constructed here in Proverbs 28. 

And what I want to argue for this morning is the power of pursuing God-honoring righteousness. 1 Timothy 6:11 says, “But as for you, O man of God, flee these things [all kinds of evils]. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness.” Yes, we have righteousness that is imputed to us in Christ Jesus. Even so, we are called to pursue a righteousness that imitates Christ. 

 And there’s power in that! There’s even a deep satisfaction that is found in that. There’s even … can I say it? … a deep abiding joy that comes from pursuing righteousness. I want you to have that. I want more of that! How do we get there?

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Go ahead and write this down as #1 in your notes. 

The pursuit of God-honoring righteousness involves…

1) A Submission to God’s law (28:1–9)

Why do I emphasize “God’s law” with this first point? Well look at the number of times the law is referenced in verses 1–9. It’s mentioned four times. It’s mentioned twice in verse 4. It’s mentioned once in verse 7. And once in verse 9. Why is it mentioned so many times here? Because there’s no God-honoring righteousness without submission to God’s law. And God’s law is good. We’ll get into that more in just a moment. 

But first, Solomon says in verse 1,

"1 The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are bold as a lion."

The wicked are paranoid. The wicked have a guilty conscience and it makes them crazy. The righteous, on the other hand, don’t have to run. They don’t have to fear. They are confident. They rest easy. 

A lion, by the way, could be used to describe something good or something bad. In just a few verses, it’ll be used for something bad. Here it’s good. You want to be bold like a lion. And the righteous are that. 

Look at verse 2.

"2 When a land transgresses, it has many rulers, but with a man of understanding and knowledge, its stability will long continue."

There’s an Arabic curse that goes like this, “May God make your sheiks many.” There’s nothing worse in the ancient world than “many rulers.” The ideal in the ancient world was a good ruler who ruled for a good long time. King Hezekiah was a great example of this. 

Sometimes you have good kings that don’t rule for very long. Think King Jotham in the OT (see 2 Kgs 15:32–34). He reigned for only sixteen years. Think King Josiah, who died suddenly in a battle at the height of his reign (see 2 Kgs 23:29–30). 

Sometimes you have a bad king who rules for a long time. Think King Jeroboam II over Israel who ruled for forty-one years (see 2 Kgs 14:23–24). Think King Manasseh who ruled in Judah for fifty-five years (2 Kgs 21:1–9)! Those are bad kings who ruled for a long time.

But the ideal is a good king who rules for a long time. Think King David (see 1 Kgs 2:10–11). Think King Asa (see 1 Kgs 15:9–11). Think King Azariah, who ruled for fifty-two years in Jerusalem (see 2 Kgs 15:1–3). And think King Jesus whose reign will be one thousand years and then forevermore (see Rev 20:1–10).

And notice the emphasis with this proverb. The proverb essentially says that the people get what they deserve—they get many rulers and instability. The emphasis of this proverb is not to look for rulers who will rule well. The emphasis is on the people. It’s on the land that transgresses. Solomon is telling us to be the kinds of righteous people that will be worthy of a righteous ruler. “How can I be righteous, Pastor Tony? I’m swimming in the sea of my own unrighteousness.” We’ll get to that in a moment. Stay tuned. 

Look at verse 3.

"3 A poor man who oppresses the poor is a beating rain that leaves no food."

When poor people oppress poor people, that destroys a community. And that destroys the local economy. When people loot and burn businesses in their community, that doesn’t enrich anyone. That impoverishes everyone. It’s like a driving rain that destroys the crops instead of hydrating them. 

Look at verse 4.

"4 Those who forsake the law praise the wicked, but those who keep the law strive against them."

Okay, now we get to the remedy for wickedness. Now we see where Solomon is driving this wickedness/righteousness motif. He’s driving us towards the law. He’s invoking the torah! 

You see when Solomon was just a little guy, his dad would read the law to him. And his dad, King David, would do that for the entire people. He would take the five books of Moses, and he would read God’s Word out loud to the people (see Deut 17:14–20). And the people of Israel would bask in those instructions. It would wash over them as David would read, not unlike how we do it here at VBVF every Sunday. 

And Hezekiah, in his days, would do the same thing. He would study the torah. He would copy the torah. He would read the torah. And the people of God were blessed to have a king who would do that. 

Coincidently, Hezekiah had a son named Manasseh, who was so wicked, and he was so despicable morally, that he essentially banished the Scriptures from the people. And once that happened, all hell broke loose in the kingdom of Judah. It was so bad that Manasseh actually sacrificed his own son on the altar of Molech (2 Kgs 21:6). 

And by the time Manasseh had come and gone after a fifty-five year reign, and after his son Amon had died too, Manasseh’s grandson Josiah began to reign. And in Josiah’s day they found the law of the Lord buried somewhere deep and forgotten in the temple. The people of Israel had been so wicked and irreligious, that they had essentially forsaken God’s Word. And Josiah had the sense to bring it back and restore it to its proper place in the Israelite community (see 2 Kgs 22:1–23:27). 

This is a great lesson in Scripture that we have to constantly submit ourselves to God’s law. And it only takes one generation or less to lose our commitments. Ronald Reagan said once, “Freedom is a fragile thing and it’s never more than one generation away from extinction. It is not ours by way of inheritance; it must be fought for and defended constantly by each generation.”    

Look at verse 5, 

"5 Evil men do not understand justice, but those who seek the Lord understand it completely."

The Hebrew word for “justice” here is the word מִשְׁפָּט (mishpat). Why do those who seek the Lord understand justice? Well, because the Lord is the author of justice. 

I read that passage to you last week from Jeremiah 9 about boasting. The Lord says that we don’t boast in ourselves. We boast in him! Why? Because, says the Lord, “I am the Lord who practices steadfast love [חֶ֛סֶד], justice [מִשְׁפָּט], and righteousness [צְדָקָה] in the earth” (9:24). Why do those ridiculous social justice warriors (SJWs) out there misunderstand the nature of justice? Because they don’t understand and acknowledge the Lord. He is the author of justice.

Look at verse 6, 

"6 Better is a poor man who walks in his integrity than a rich man who is crooked in his ways."

There’s nothing wrong with wealth and prosperity. In fact, that’s a positive thing in the book of Proverbs. Those who work hard and treat people well oftentimes accumulate wealth. But if you had to choose between wealth and integrity, choose integrity. It’s better to be righteous and poor than unrighteous and rich.  

Remember the taxonomy that I gave you months ago. In Proverbs, there’s 1) the righteous rich, 2) the unrighteous rich, 3) the righteous poor, and 4) the unrighteous poor. The righteous rich earn their wealth honorably and give their wealth generously to others. The unrighteous rich are crooked in their ways. They earn their wealth dishonorably and are stingy towards others. The righteous poor walk in integrity. They fear God, work hard, and make do with what they’ve been given. They know that their greater treasures await them in eternity, and they are never lazy. The unrighteous poor are lazy, vengeful, and sometimes violent. They blame others for their circumstances and play the victim card to their own advantage. 

You don’t always have to choose between integrity and wealth. In America today, there are plenty of opportunities to earn good wages and earn them honorably. But if you ever have to choose between the two, choose honor. Choose integrity. 

Look at verse 7.

"7 The one who keeps the law is a son with understanding, but a companion of gluttons shames his father."

Notice the antithetical parallelism here. There’s a son who keeps the law. There’s the son who is teachable and wants to know God’s Word. That is a son with understanding. 

On the other side of the ledger is a companion of gluttons. The word for “gluttons” here (Hebrew זוֹלְלִים from the verb זָלַל) is probably better translated “profligates.” It doesn’t just describe those who eat too much. It describes those people who are defiantly lazy and self-indulgent. They live off mom and dad. Maybe they go to school somewhere and riot on campus for ridiculous causes. They leech off society. They leech off their parents. And they shame their parents. They are the opposite, the antithesis, of a child who has understanding, who keeps the law. 

"8 Whoever multiplies his wealth by interest and profit gathers it for him who is generous to the poor."

Here’s another example of the righteous rich and the unrighteous rich. The unrighteous rich multiplies his wealth by oppressive and exploitative usury. The righteous rich, on the other hand, is generous to the poor. 

Does the righteous rich always gather profits that go to those who are generous? No. This is a truism, not a promise. But rest assured, God is watching, and God knows how to reward those who are righteous, and punish those who are wicked, in his own time and in his own way. 

"9 If one turns away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination." 

In other words, if a person refuses to listen to God, why would God listen to him or her? That’s a word of caution to someone out there who says, “I’m going to live a wicked, sinful life, and then pray to the Lord when I need him.” That’s not a good strategy! “I’m going to live a life of utter God-defiance, and then when I find myself in a jam, I’ll just pray a prayer for deliverance.” Because God is like a rabbit’s foot in my pocket. God is my genie in a bottle. God is my talisman. I keep him and his law at arm’s length, but when I need him, he’ll be there for me. 

We have a term for that in our day. In theological circles we call people like this “carnal Christians.” I don’t like that term very much. It’s a person who lives like hell and claims heaven along the way. It’s a person who continually defies God and his holy Word, and yet superstitiously thinks that they are good with God. Why? Because God is beholden to them. 

Now, I do want to say this. This is different from someone who cries out to God in a spirit of repentance. That person isn’t turning away from hearing the law. They are instead cut to the quick by the truth of God’s word, and the truth of the gospel. And that person’s prayer is not an abomination to the Lord. God is always responsive to cries of repentance. Let me say it this way: “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (Prov 3:34; Jas 4:6; 1 Pet 5:5). And God-honoring righteousness involves submission to God’s law.

Now some of you might ask, “Why do we need to submit to the law? Isn’t the law fulfilled in Christ? Isn’t the law a tutor, who punishes us, and shows us our sinfulness? Isn’t that what Galatians and Romans teaches us in the NT?”

Let me answer that before we move on to our second point. The law has a three-fold purpose. The first purpose was to serve as schoolmaster. It shows us our sin and how far we fall short of God’s perfection. And it drives us into the arms of Christ. 

The second purpose of the law is to restrain evil. The law gives humanity justice. That’s why aspects of the OT law are still present even in our modern day court system. It’s an aspect of common grace.

The third purpose of the law is to reveal what is pleasing to Christ. There are civil and ceremonial laws of Christ that are fulfilled in his death and resurrection. But there are ongoing moral aspects to the law that we are still called to obey. We should obey them. And we should delight in them even. 

In that way, we can think of the law as a synonym for God’s Word. That’s how David uses the term in Psalm 119. That’s why he says in 119:97: “Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day.” 

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Write this down as #2 in your notes. The pursuit of God-honoring righteousness involves submission to God’s law. It also involves…

2) An aversion to sin (28:10–18) 

You might say, “Yeah, but I like sin, Pastor Tony. Sin is fun.” I don’t disagree. Sin is fun. But you know what else is fun? Killing sin is fun! Maybe it’s not as immediately gratifying as indulging your flesh. But there is nothing more satisfying long-term in the Christian life than growing in holiness in loving response to our Savior. Paul tells us in Romans to present our “bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is [our] spiritual worship” (12:1). That is satisfying! That is more satisfying than feeding your flesh.    

Solomon says in verse 10,

"10 Whoever misleads the upright into an evil way will fall into his own pit, but the blameless will have a goodly inheritance."

This is another proverb that speaks to poetic justice. When someone falls into his own pit, that’s ironic. But there’s a cost associated with that. They caused the upright to stumble along the way.  

Sometimes with addicts, they have to cut off relationships with people that they used to get high with in order to maintain sobriety. Why is that the case? Because oftentimes people who are using drugs will try to lure those who are sober back into drug use because it assuages their guilty consciences. The idea that someone who was an addict could sober up is convicting. But if they can get that person to fall back into addiction, then they can prove that sobriety is an impossibility. 

So what do you do if you are a recovering drug addict? Or an alcoholic? Or a pathological gossiper? You sever those relationships with people who are bad influences on you. 

Look at verse 11.

"11 A rich man is wise in his own eyes, but a poor man who has understanding will find him out. 

12 When the righteous triumph, there is great glory,"

Another way to translate this clause is as follows: “When the righteous triumph, there is great [beauty]!”

but when the wicked rise, people hide themselves. 

"13 Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy."

O wow, that’s good. Don’t move past verse 13 too fast. That verse is a gem! Here we are, twenty-eight chapters into the book of Proverbs, and just now we find this imminently applicable proverb that almost sounds like the NT.  

"13 Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy."

That sounds like 1 John 1:9, doesn’t it? “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Confession, from an NT perspective, isn’t just good for the soul. Confession is necessary for the salvation of your soul. Before you can be saved, you have to admit that you need saving. 

And does that mean that you stop confessing after you get saved. No, I don’t think so. James tells us to “confess your sins to one another and pray for one another” (Jas 5:16). John describes this as walking in the light. He says, “if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). Those who do that… those who shine light on the dark places of their hearts experience the healing effect of confession and repentance. Those who hide sin… those who conceal transgressions… have stunted lives full of guilt and insecurity. When you hide your sin, it’s as if your spiritual walk is stuck in molasses. 

Look at verse 14.

"14 Blessed is the one who fears the Lord always, but whoever hardens his heart will fall into calamity."

By the way, there’s a little bit of controversy with verse 14. In Hebrew, the word “Lord” or “Yahweh” isn’t found in this verse. So literally verse 14 reads like this: “Blessed is the one who fears always.” And the word for “fear” here isn’t the word that is typically used for the fear of the Lord. That Hebrew word is יִרְאָה (yirah). But this word here is פָּחַד (paḥad), which is typically translated “tremble.” 

So the debate involves whether or not to supply “the Lord” here in the verse. Is this verse telling us that trembling is always good, and leads to blessing? Or is this telling us that trembling before the Lord is always good and leads to blessings? Well the debate is complex, but I’m inclined to agree with the ESV here. I think trembling just for trembling’s sake is not good. And implied in this verse is a trembling fear of the Lord. That actually does lead to blessing. Because one of the motivating factors for righteous living and the mortification of sin is the fear of the Lord. 

I ask all the time of Christians behaving badly, “How could they do that? Don’t they fear the Lord?” I ask that all the time of pastors especially who are behaving badly. “How could they do that? Don’t they fear God?” 

And what’s the opposite of the fear of the Lord here in verse 14? It’s the hardening of one’s heart. That happens! That happened in the OT with OT believers. That happens in the NT with NT believers. And my prayer for us and for myself is this: “God, please soften our hearts and grow our fear of the Lord. And may we not harden our hearts before you!”

Look at verse 15.

"15 Like a roaring lion or a charging bear is a wicked ruler over a poor people."

“Are lions good or bad in the OT, Pastor Tony?” Well, it depends. Remember what I said earlier—sometimes a lion is a good thing. Look at verse 1. You want to be like that lion. But sometimes a lion in the Bible is a bad thing. Case in point, verse 15! You have to interpret according to context.

That’s true in the NT too. Sometimes lions are good. Jesus is described as the lion of the tribe of Judah in the book of Revelation (5:5). But also the devil prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour (1 Pet 5:8). And what is the roaring lion likened to in this passage? A wicked ruler.

Proverbs 19:12 says, “A king’s wrath is like the growling of a lion, but his favor is like dew on the grass.” Now imagine if that king is a wicked ruler over his people? That’s doubly detrimental to a people!

And speaking of wicked rulers, look at verse 16. 

"16 A ruler who lacks understanding is a cruel oppressor, but he who hates unjust gain will prolong his days. 

17 If one is burdened with the blood of another, he will be a fugitive until death; let no one help him.

18 Whoever walks in integrity will be delivered, but he who is crooked in his ways will suddenly fall."

What’s another way to describe “an aversion to sin?” It’s walking with integrity. It’s living with a commitment to God-honoring righteousness. Yes, righteousness that saves is imputed to us through Christ. Let us never forget that. We are not saved by our own righteousness. We are saved by Christ’s righteousness. 

But we are not saved by Christ’s righteousness in order to live lives of unrighteousness. Paul told Timothy in 1 Timothy 6:11 to “Pursue righteousness.” Let me say it this way. We are not saved by a Christ, who has impeccable integrity, so that we can live lives that reject integrity. That is a perversion of the gospel. Imputed righteousness inevitably produces empirical righteousness in the lives of believers.  

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And speaking of integrity, write this down as #3. The pursuit of God-honoring righteousness involves a submission to God’s law, an aversion to sin, and thirdly…

3) The cultivation of integrity and hard work (28:19–28)

Solomon says this in verse 19.

"19 Whoever works his land will have plenty of bread, but he who follows worthless pursuits will have plenty of poverty." 

Verse 19 is wonderfully sarcastic! You will have plenty of poverty. That’s good. Which one do you want? Plenty of bread or plenty of poverty? Keep following worthless pursuits and you will be satiated with plenty of crippling poverty! 

I met a guy once who was living with his parents, and he had several kids. And when I asked him what he did for a living, he said, “I’m writing a novel.” 

I have a friend who is a graphic designer, who’s been really successful in his field. And he was telling me about this local college that was recruiting future video game designers. And they advertised to students, “We have a 100% placement rate for our graduates.” And I remember him saying, “Where are these kids that want to be video game designers getting jobs? 100% placement rate? Where? At Starbucks?” They’re chasing fantasies. 

If you want to chase rainbows, go right ahead. But do that after you put in a good day’s work doing something profitable and that feeds your family. 

Look at verse 20.

"20 A faithful man will abound with blessings, but whoever hastens to be rich will not go unpunished."

There’s chasing fantasies, and then there’s also chasing fast riches. Solomon condemns both of those. And sometimes those two things work in concert. 

I’m sure everyone in here has that family member who is constantly promoting the latest get-rich-quick pyramid scheme. You learn to ignore that family member. 

"21 To show partiality is not good, but for a piece of bread a man will do wrong. 

22 A stingy man hastens after wealth and does not know that poverty will come upon him." 

The actor Jim Carrey said once, “I think everybody should get rich and famous and do everything they ever dreamed of so they can see that it’s not the answer.” Lots of rich people in this world have what you might call “poverty of soul.” They may have money. But they are poor.

Look at verse 23.

"23 Whoever rebukes a man will afterward find more favor than he who flatters with his tongue. 

24 Whoever robs his father or his mother and says, “That is no transgression,” is a companion to a man who destroys."

In ancient Israel, parents were to be revered. They were to be respected and honored in accordance with the fourth commandment. It’s bad enough to mooch off your parents as they age. That’s shameful. What’s worse than that? To steal from them. That’s worse. That’s despicable. 

In fact, there’s actually a Biblical principle that parents are allowed to mooch off their children as they get older. Paul calls it “recompense” in 1 Timothy 5. So parents, there you go. You can hold that over your children as they get older. 

Look at verse 25.

"25 A greedy man stirs up strife, but the one who trusts in the Lord will be enriched." 

Have you ever spent time with a greedy person? It’s exhausting. They never have enough. They never work enough. They never rest. They never let you rest. They don’t trust people, because they think other people are just like them—lacking in integrity and greedy. That’s exhausting. 

You know what’s more valuable than money? You know what’s more satisfying to the soul than always having more? Contentment. Contentment is satisfying. Contentment is stabilizing.

The Hebrew term used here for a “greedy man” is literally someone who has a wide throat. It’s someone who is greedy and has an ever-expanding appetite that can’t ever be filled. 

And someone who is like that, someone who has an insatiable appetite for more and more stuff just wears people out. He stirs up strife. He’s never content. 

And what’s the other side of that antithetical parallelism?  One who trusts in the Lord. “The one who trusts in the Lord will…” literally fatten up. That person will get fat on God’s goodness. 

Speaking of trust, look at verse 26. There’s trusting in the Lord, and then there’s trusting in one’s own mind. And…

"26 Whoever trusts in his own mind is a fool, but he who walks in wisdom will be delivered. 

27 Whoever gives to the poor will not want, but he who hides his eyes will get many a curse."

“He who hides his eyes” is a reference to someone who is intentionally oblivious to the suffering of the world. He builds bigger and bigger houses to store more and more stuff. And he turns a blind eye to the suffering in this world. This is the unrighteous rich. The unrighteous rich earn their wealth dishonorably, and they are stingy towards others.

And finally, verse 28…

"28 When the wicked rise, people hide themselves, but when they perish, the righteous increase."

Notice if you will how so much of Proverbs 28 is communicated in the context of a community. It’s as if Solomon is encouraging a set of ethics that’s not just good for the individual, it’s good for the whole community. We might say it this way, “What’s good for the goose is good for the geese. It’s good for the flock!” And when communities and societies embrace these principles—integrity, hard work, righteousness, an aversion to sin—that has residual effects on a whole society. 

When a church embraces these principles, then you have a church that is blessed and radically impacting those around it. When churches don’t do that… when churches are full of sinful and worldly and lazy people who lack integrity, that negatively impacts societies around them. 

God has not called us to that. God has called us to be men and women who pursue righteousness. The church should be full of righteous people. People who are reckoned righteous by the blood of Jesus! But also people who are pursuing Christ-like righteousness, God-honoring righteousness, from now until Christ returns. 

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And let me close with this. There’s an old expression that is used of the church, which goes like this: “The church is not a museum for saints, it’s a hospital for sinners.” I want to affirm that quote. But I want to challenge it, just a bit. 

When people quote that maxim, I think sometimes they mean, “We’re all just a bunch of hypocritical and sick sinners. Let’s just admit that. Let’s just deal with that. Let’s not worry about how sick and sinful we are. That’s why we go to church. Let’s celebrate our messiness. Let’s celebrate how broken we are just like the rest of the world.” 

Okay, there’s something in that that I appreciate. We just read in verse 13, 

"13 Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses … them will obtain mercy."

But here’s my problem with this “the church is a hospital” mentality. Nobody goes to a hospital to celebrate their sickness. Nobody goes to a hospital just to hang out with other sick people so that they can relish their shared sickness together. Why do you go to a hospital? To get well!  

In fact, I left an important part out of verse 13. Some of you might have noticed that.

"13 Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy."

So why do we go to church? Let me give you an answer to that question from J.I. Packer. I think this will help. Packer writes this in his book A Quest for Godliness: The Puritan Vision of the Christian Life: “Truth obeyed, said the Puritans, will heal. The word fits, because we are all spiritually sick—sick through sin, which is a wasting and killing disease of the heart. The unconverted are sick unto death; those who have come to know Christ and been born again continue sick, but they are gradually getting better as the work of grace goes on in their lives. The church, however, is a hospital in which nobody is completely well, and anyone can relapse at any time… All Christians need Scripture truth as medicine for their souls at every stage [of life].”

Yes, the church is a hospital for sinners. Some sinners need the medicine of the gospel to save their souls. If that’s you, this morning, take that medicine and be saved. Others of us, who are saved followers of Christ, the church is a hospital for us too. We take the medicine of God’s Word, and it heals the sin that infects our souls. Take that medicine, church. Take it and be healed. And continue pursuing God-honoring righteousness in your life.