Proverbs 12:25

A tale of two words

Good evening. As Ben said, we will be continuing our series on encouragement. So we'll be looking at Proverbs 12.25, and you can go ahead and turn there in your Bible, or follow along as I read. Proverbs 12.25 says this,

anxieties in a man's heart weighs him down, but a good word makes him glad.

As we consider the passage, it is important to note that this verse is from the book of Proverbs, which falls within a larger category of what we would call wisdom literature in the Bible. Biblical wisdom is often a very relational task. In fact, part of the book of Proverbs is essentially us getting to listen in on a conversation between a father and a son. It has much to do with how to navigate the brokenness that we find within us and around us, and to interact with that in ways that bring about goodness and righteousness and flourishing. In particular, this verse from Proverbs, we find a tale of two words. We find an anxious word and a good word. As we paint the picture of this proverb, we see a man with two different words and two different outcomes. A man with anxieties that weigh him down and that man with a good word that makes him glad. And if there's one thing that I would like you to take away from this passage tonight, is that in the midst of brokenness and anxiety and discouragement, there is a good word for you that is able to make you glad. But in order to convince you of this, let's follow our passage and take a look at anxieties that weigh down. With my new job, my morning often consists of sleeping until 5.30 when my alarm goes off, at least my first one anyway. And then I realized that I am repeatedly hitting snooze until closer to six when I finally gained consciousness. So I turned my alarm off and roll over for the last time and orient myself and it hits me. Like a wave on a windy day at the beach, when you're not paying attention and the next thing you know, you are coughing up salt water and shaking the sand out of your swimsuit. The anxiety hits me. Am I sure I checked the expiration on the stent yesterday before it went on the wire and into the patient's artery? What if that patient has an expired stent? And how could I have not said something in that situation yesterday? How can I have so little love for the Lord and for those around me? And my finances feel so fragile. I see the ways that God has provided for me, but am I being irresponsible? Sometimes all before I make it the 12 steps from the foot of my bed to the shower head. And if you're a human being, you have also experienced anxiety in your own context to some degree. So then what does our text teach us about an anxious word and what does it tell us? What does it sound like and what does it produce? Our text gives us a clue with its description of weighed down. Anxiety weighs a man down. Anxiety feels like a heavy burden. It makes life laborious and strenuous. It commands us to carry things that we cannot carry or control things that we cannot control. It makes us absent-minded. Instead of our focus being on what is in front of us, Instead of what our focus is on in front of us, we pace through our daily activities while most of our energy is spent on the inward battle for peace. Anxiety is like a drain. It finds the sweet and good things in life and pokes a hole in them until they are drained of their blessing and even the good things feel like vanity. Its voice starts as questions that can't really be answered, and then moves to its more mature state, where it sounds more like statements of despair and condemnation. To some of us, this experience of anxiety and discouragement may feel central and defining, and to others, it may seem like a peripheral experience. Whatever the case may be, it is hard to overestimate the depth to which anxiety and discouragement has shaded our existence in this world. From the low-grade fear of man we may have when talking to someone in conversation, to financial stresses, to the future of our jobs, or even the direction of governments. Anxiety has tainted every part of our existence. In fact, anxieties have so infused our fallen nature that we probably don't realize it most of the time. And if we don't see that, we won't see how good the next word is. But before we get there, I think there's one more piece that our text gives us to understand discouragement and anxiety, and that is where it originates. According to our text, anxieties are in a man's heart. That is where they come from, and why do they come from their hearts is the question. And it's the corruption and unbelief that came from sin and separation from God. To say it another way, the root of all anxieties is that God is not for me. I'm sure it is with much anxiety that Adam sewed his fig leaves together and hid from the Lord. From the heights of glory to the depths of gnawing and constricting anxiety. But praise God, this is not where our text ends. As we look further at our passage, we see the author in wisdom acknowledges and describes the reality of anxiety and discouragement. He articulates that, but then comes to a transition with the word but. In no way discounting the reality of anxiety, but declaring that there is something more. He has more to say to us. So let's take a look at where wisdom leads.

But a good word makes him glad.

So what is a good word? Should we just tell each other that everything will be okay? Or don't worry about it? Or things aren't that bad or that frightening? Anyone who has ever been made truly glad by a good word of encouragement knows that the encouragement has to actually be able to address the anxiety. I think our text acknowledges that. Adequate encouragement will bring about gladness. There's nothing like being a kid and telling your parents that you're afraid that something is in the dark. Only for them to tell you that nothing is there. Even though you're pretty sure that their eyesight is no better than yours and probably worse. They don't know for sure that there isn't anything out there and so I'm not fooled into comfort. Or coming off the sports field after losing the game and your mom telling you that you'll win the next one. It just doesn't land. Despite the good intentions, the encouragement is not adequate to make glad. So how can we find a good word that brings gladness and does not devolve into platitudes as it relates to our relationships? Well, if we go back and look at the root of every anxious word from our previous definition, which is that God is not for me, or at least may not be for me, then a good word is one that is able to truly address that, and praise God, his word will suffice. And it is his word and testimony regarding his son, ultimately, who came down from heaven not to give platitudes about how to feel better about ourselves or some steps to follow to be less anxious or discouraged, but came in love and power to put to death any possibility for separation from God. Anything that could keep the direct smile and affection of God from us, Christ hated to the point of taking it on himself and bringing it to death through his death on the cross. All the sin and brokenness and rebellion. So now it is not just unlikely but impossible that God would not be for us. And then he sent his spirit to build a people and a place where he will dwell with them forever, where anxiety and discouragement will not only be non-existent, but unfathomable. There will not be a capacity for it. Like the perfect peace and confidence of a child who has no anxiety or of danger because of their father's protection. Or the joy and calm of a wife in the presence of her husband, who has done everything to protect her and love her. or the boldness of a beggar taking a seat at the king's table. All of these are the pictures that we are given to see the reality of our relationship to God because of Christ. And all of these pictures, there's no anxiety. God is completely for us in Christ. It is not probable or hopeful or even a wait and see. It is a certain one. And that is a truly good word. And every other good word of encouragement is an echo of this word. In work, or finances, or parenting, or school, or frustrations that happen over the course of the day, it's all grounded in this word and acknowledges this word of Christ for us. This is how we should encourage one another. Echo these words, reminding each other of what is true by faith in Christ. This truth is too good to be true if we try to convince ourselves alone. Anxieties come from a man's heart, but we can trust scripture and each other for the assurance of God's love and be repeatedly convinced that we can be encouraged, sufficient for now and for eternity. So with that said, let's take a look at a couple of considerations for application. The first is encouragement glorifies God. The God of restoration and redemption and perseverance is magnified by encouragement. Encouragement should not just be our plan B for when we aren't glorifying God. We should be proactive with it. Encouragement strengthens, it builds confidence, binds one another together and builds up. All of these things are what Paul describes as spirit accomplishing in Ephesians. So being spirit led to some degree at least is to be an encourager. In a certain sense, Christ's church is built by one encouragement at a time. And finally, for the person who hears all of this and is still resistant to encouragement, Go back to the context of encouragement in this book of Proverbs. If you summed up the book of Proverbs in a word, it could be listen. Listen to instruction. Listen to God's people around you. They are acting as prophets, speaking God's good word that brings gladness to you with his own authority behind it. Don't take some of God's word serious, but not all of it. Be encouraged. Take seriously his instruction of encouragement. He is that good that he would command broken people to be glad in him. Don't bring any self-humiliating exclusions or excuses. Just listen to the truth and keep listening until you're glad. I also want to thank many of you for your encouragement to me. So many of you have held me up, kept me going, and pushed me forward in the grace of the Lord. You have encouraged me in so many ways and has sustained my faith. As I conclude, I will finish with a quote from Martin Luther, who I think was a tremendous encourager in church history. He was writing to a brother that was discouraged from a previous sin that he had committed, and Luther was writing a letter in response and said this,