Wisdom in the Traffic Patterns of Life

So, in these five dangerous assignments, Solomon is encouraging us to use wisdom. The average person doesn't show up to work with this kind of wisdom.

They're not perceptive, they're not patient, they're not punctual, they're not prepared, they're not protective. You know, it's just kind of the quickest job. Let's just get it done.

Give it to the lowest bidder who can do it in the shortest amount of time, and never mind the details. Sounds like our country. You know, it's often in the details of life where true wisdom is displayed. It doesn't always seem that way, does it? But it's often the smallest temptations and the simplest of details that get us hung up in bad patterns. A wise life is made up of a multitude of small things.

The little conversations you have are probably more impactful than the speeches you make. Today on Wisdom for the Heart, we'll learn that it's through the little things that a life is lived wisely. Here's Stephen Davey with a message called, Wisdom in the Traffic Patterns of Life. I invite you back to Ecclesiastes chapter 10, where God's Spirit through Solomon's life experiences is going to reveal for us some great advice for traveling in what we'll simply call the normal traffic patterns of life. Solomon is going to give us down-to-earth, simple, common-sense advice for three routine situations. The first area is in responding wisely to people in authority who frankly aren't as wise as you are.

You probably work around them, right? He tells us here in verse 4, if the anger of a ruler rises against you, do not leave your place, for calmness will lay great offenses to rest. Let's just refer to this as misguided anger. By the way, the Hebrew word for ruler here doesn't limit the context to a king.

This can be broadly applied to multiple levels of authority. So let's just talk in plain terms. Your boss has blown his top again. Maybe you've come to live with this. It's a pattern. He's hot-headed.

He's given to anger, which by the way, Solomon writes in his collection of Proverbs that this is a signal that he's a self-centered sinner, just in common terms. But we won't worry with that for now. But he's done it again. And as far as you're concerned, this is the last straw. You've had it. You're done.

This job isn't worth it. And maybe for the rest of your shift, you're composing a resignation letter that resembles a blowtorch. And you can't wait to respond with fire to fire.

Now, maybe you're thinking, well, I'm a Christian. So what I need to do is attach a verse at the end of this resignation letter, you know, that'll just torch them. And so you inadvertently, you're flipping through it on lunch, and you come to Ecclesiastes 10, verse 4, and Solomon writes, do not leave your place. Respond with calm self-control. Well, that verse isn't going to work, so you're going to keep looking.

Actually, it's the verse to apply here and now. One author paraphrases this advice to read, let your cool composure calm down a hot temper. Don't quit.

Don't leave your post. Your boss might be a fool. That anger represents battles he's fighting you don't know anything about. You're just at the tip of his spear. Don't overreact, Solomon is saying, to your boss's overreaction.

Stay cool. I couldn't help but think of Rudyard Kipling's famous lines composed a century ago where an older man is giving advice to his son. He writes, if you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs, remember that, and blaming it on you, if you can wait and not be tired by waiting, or being lied about, yet not respond in lies, or being hated, yet not give way to hating, you'll be a man, my son. In the normal traffic pattern of life, you're going to encounter misguided anger.

When everyone around you is steamed up, wisdom is going to be revealed in the person who keeps a cool head and a calm spirit. Now, Solomon moves on to talk about misguided appointments. Look at verse five. There is an evil that I have seen under the sun, as it were, an error proceeding from the ruler.

Again, the Hebrew word for ruler can refer broadly to somebody in authority. The word here for evil, there is an evil, I've seen, refers to something that's improper. You could translate it, it's unjust.

It's not right. And the word for error refers to a thoughtless mistake. You could actually understand it as an administrative oversight. That's the context.

He's taking you right into the business world. Now, notice verse six. Folly is set in many high places.

Here's the error. Here's the administrative oversight. The rich sit in a low place. I've seen slaves on horses and princes walking on the ground like slaves. These are misguided appointments. Now, you need to understand, in Solomon's day, ordinary citizens didn't own horses.

They were reserved for political leaders, nobility, royalty. Don't get carried away here with the illustration and miss the point. He isn't making the point that rich people ought to be able to ride a horse everywhere and slaves ought to walk everywhere. What Solomon is doing here is describing a culture that has been turned upside down because of unwise appointments. In other words, people have been promoted by the authority who don't deserve it.

That's his point. Somebody who deserves to ride instead of walk is walking instead of riding. Those who should be promoted who deserve it, represented by riding a horse, they don't get the job. The job goes to someone who is less deserving, somebody who doesn't belong on a horse. We would say they're the one in the saddle. They don't deserve to be in the saddle.

They don't deserve that position of authority and somebody walking really ought to be riding. This principle happens in every generation, in every segment of society, in every culture. Maybe it happens because of connections. The person who got promoted knew the boss. Maybe there's some kind of money under the table or a favor or flattery. This is an unjust oversight and before you know it, the person at your job who is least deserving is now in the saddle, so to speak. Maybe it's because a friend knew a friend who knew a friend. Maybe it's even a little cheating on the resume. Solomon now moves on, and I've got to move quickly, to a second area where wisdom is needed in very practical terms.

This is another one of those traffic patterns of life. We need wisdom in preparing for dangerous assignments. He's going to mention five of them here in this text fairly quickly and we'll go as quickly. Look at verse 8. He who digs a pit will fall into it and a serpent will bite him who breaks through a wall. Solomon is essentially saying take precautions, that is, be protective.

Let me tell you ahead of time, keep in mind that these verbs in this list are to be understood as possibilities, they're not predictions. So understand this as this might happen, this may happen if you don't take care. You're digging a pit, you need to put something up that reminds you, maybe the next day when you go back to it, where the edge of that pit is located. OSHA wasn't created yet.

That happened after the fall. There's no yellow tape. There are not all these guidelines and codes and ordinances. So the wise worker is actually going to appreciate OSHA, all the standards that are put in place. Be protective. The last part of verse 8 brings up another danger. A serpent may bite him who breaks through a wall. This is the idea of being patient.

In the Near East, if you've been over there, you'll know even to this day, loose rocks are used to create a typical fence or wall for borders. Snakes love all those crevices. So don't just jump in there, be patient enough to survey the scene, to look for danger hidden in those dark crevices. That's the idea. Be patient.

The third assignment appears in verse 9. He who quarries stones may be hurt by them. In a word, this advice is simply be perceptive. Think ahead is the idea. Think ahead. Think about what you're doing that might affect something else that's going to happen because of what you're doing. As I studied this, it reminded me of the little board game we're playing with our grandson called booby trap. All those little plastic things are kind of scrunched together on this spring loaded board. If you pull out the wrong piece without thinking about how it's going to affect all the other pieces, the trap springs and those pieces go flying everywhere, which is his favorite part.

He loves to lose at this game. This is about as down to earth advice as you can get. Be perceptive. Notice the latter part of verse 9, he brings up another dangerous assignment and he who splits logs is endangered by them.

Here's how we make it worse. If the iron is blunt and one does not sharpen the edge, he must use more strength. But wisdom helps one to succeed. The counsel here is be prepared. If you haven't sharpened that axe, you're not prepared for the job. And if you haven't sharpened it, it's dull. What does that mean?

That means you're going to have to swing a lot harder. He adds here in verse 11, if the serpent bites before it is charmed, there is no advantage to the charmer. The advice here would be to be prompt. This is an issue of timing.

Be punctual. Snake charmers were common entertainers in Solomon's day. To this day in parts of the world, I've watched a young snake charmer on the streets of India playing his flute and swaying and that serpent swaying with him.

Man, I stayed 20 feet away. Evidently, the snake charmer in Solomon's illustration is in a hurry to gather his money. The snake isn't fully charmed. That is, it isn't over.

It's not safely back in the wicker basket. And that snake charmer is not prompt or punctual on time, timing. He's missed it. And timing for a snake charmer is vital to surviving. So in these five dangerous assignments, Solomon is encouraging us to use wisdom.

He says, essentially, look, I've been around. I've seen one situation emerge after another. The average person doesn't show up to work with this kind of wisdom. They're not perceptive. They're not patient. They're not punctual. They're not prepared.

They're not protective. You know, it's just kind of the quickest job. Let's just get it done. Give it to the lowest bidder who can do it in the shortest amount of time and never mind the details. Sounds like our country. Don't worry about the details.

Maybe no one will notice. I read recently that a library in Boston led a commemoration of the 100th anniversary of what was called the Great Molasses Flood. On January 15, 1919, a little over 100 years ago, an enormous steel vat, 50 feet high, 240 feet around, containing 2.3 million gallons of processed thick molasses burst open. Waves of thick molasses, 30 feet high, raced like tidal waves through town.

It'd be comical if it wasn't so tragic. It destroyed buildings. It crushed freight cars, destroyed automobiles. It drowned 21 people.

An investigation began. It revealed that this company had ignored the warning signs where this tank had begun leaking molasses and had for years. They refused to let it be known, and they weren't about to halt production because that's dollars and cents. Over the years, get this, the report said they simply repainted the tank to match the color of the leaking molasses. Maybe that's where we get the expression, let's just paint over it. Let's just paint over it rather than do the job.

Well, maybe nobody will notice. Well, let's just keep the paycheck coming. Even though we're doing a poor job, we're painting over things. We're not working with wisdom.

We're doing the quickest job we can do. Solomon introduces us now to a third routine traffic pattern of life where wisdom needs to show up. Not only do we need wisdom in responding to difficult leaders, wisdom in preparing for dangerous assignments, third, we need wisdom in guarding daily conversations. Solomon describes in detail now the words of a foolish person. He begins by first making a statement of a wise person's words.

Notice the first part of verse 12. The words of a wise man's mouth win him favor. You could woodenly translate that phrase, the words of a wise man's mouth are grace. They're grace. They're gracious.

They are appropriate, favorable, which returns favor. Now, Solomon drops that statement and he really wants to spend time contrasting it with the words of a foolish person. He does it four ways. First, their words are destructive. Look at verse 12, the latter part. The lips of a fool consume him. You could render that the lips of a fool swallow him up. A fool falls into his mouth, is rough translation.

It might be, in fact, it occurred to me, perhaps, the background to our expression today of someone putting their foot in their mouth. That is, they are essentially beginning to consume themselves with their foolish words. Their words are destructive. Secondly, their words are devious. Verse 13, he goes on to say, the beginning of the words of his mouth is foolishness and the end of his talk is evil madness.

It just gets worse. Their words ultimately are devious. Thirdly, their words are delusional. Look at verse 14, a fool multiplies words. Though no man knows what is to be, that is in the future, who can tell him what will be after him?

Only God knows the future, not mankind. Here's the foolish person multiplying words. They don't know when to stop talking. Solomon is highlighting the fact they love to talk about the future as if they know. They love to talk about some global disaster on the horizon or here's what's going to happen in the world of economies or technologies or the future of their own business plans, their own physical health. They've got everything buttoned down. They talk about the future as if they figured it all out. That's foolish talk. Reminds you of the wildly successful farmer, Luke's gospel records for us in chapter 12.

I'll paraphrase. He's the one who says, man, I've had one bumper crop after another. I'm going to have to tear down my little barns. I'm going to have to build bigger barns. I can finally say to myself, you've got it made for the rest of your life as long as you can see. You'll never have to work again, just eat, drink, and be married.

Just eat, drink, and be married. But God comes to him and says, foolish talker tonight, you're actually going to die. He planned for everything in the future, but the inevitable future of dying. The wisest thing you could ever do with your future is entrust it to God who alone knows. The wisest thing you could ever say about your future, and you can know this with confidence, is that you believe the gospel. You have spoken those all important words of faith and trust in Jesus Christ. You've asked him to forgive your sin and write your name in the Lamb's Book of Life. Those are the wisest words you will ever speak, which means the wisest thing you could ever do about your future is make sure you've entrusted it to the Lord where you're going to end up, and you can know that.

Everything between now and then entrust it to the Lord. The words of a foolish person are destructive, they're devious, they're delusional. Fourthly, they are distracting. Notice verse 15, the toil of a fool wears him out, wearies him, for he does not know the way to the city. Now in this context, the foolish person is busy talking about themselves. It's as if that's their toil.

Their job is to talk about themselves. If I could just stop for a moment and summarize our study through chapter 10 thus far. I'd like to do it by giving you three simple principles of application.

Let me boil it down to just a few statements. Number one, pay attention to the smallest temptations. You remember Solomon began this chapter by telling us that just a few dead flies ruin an expensive bottle of perfume.

So, likewise, just a little sin, a little sin here and there, can ruin a reputation. Be careful. Watch your walk.

Pay attention to the smallest temptation. Secondly, pay attention to the smallest details. Watch your work. Take wisdom to work with you. Go against the grain of your culture and actually care about details. Don't paint over poor work.

Think it through. Ask the Lord for wisdom in your sacred vocation, your calling, which is the job he's given you to do. Your work is more important than a paycheck. In fact, the most important thing you'll take home from work is not your paycheck.

The most important thing you'll take home from work is you. Watch your walk. Watch your work.

Thirdly, pay attention to the shortest conversations. Watch your words. Guard even the smallest word. Let even the smallest word be a word of grace.

Word of grace. I was reading one pastor who illustrated this point with a lady in his congregation who was a kindergarten teacher. It snowed a lot there in Illinois where they lived. Snow suits for children in school were standard equipment. So, one afternoon after a long day, she helped one of the little boys in her class into his snow suit. He writes, it was one of those infernal kind with snaps and buttons and laces.

It just didn't fit him very well. It was too small and it took her 10 minutes to squeeze him in. Finally, she finished and he looked up at her and meekly said, this isn't my snow suit. She didn't say anything. The words that came to her mind were not words of grace. By the way, and I'll add this, kindergarten teachers among us, you deserve medals of honor.

You survive students like me. Thank you for doing it. So, she pushed and pulled and untied and unsnapped and finally got him out of the suit. He looked up at her again and said to her, this is my sister's snow suit.

My mother said I could wear it today. If I'd have been that teacher, there'd be one less kid on the planet. That's at least in my classroom. How do you respond when life happens? Remember earlier that Scottish pastor and author I quoted, he essentially summarized our study. He said it this way, a wise life is made up of a multitude of small things, little words, not eloquent speeches. It is not one heroic effort, but through little things that a life is wisely lived. It's another way of saying wisdom is to be demonstrated out there in the routine traffic patterns of life. You may have some really big issues that are facing you today, but you definitely have a whole lot of small things facing you. Today we've seen that how we handle these little things reveals our commitment to live wisely or not. In the traffic pattern of your life today, I hope you'll choose wisdom.

Thanks for tuning in. This is Wisdom for the Heart with our Bible teacher, Steven Davey. You can learn more about us if you visit our website, wisdomonline.org. We'd enjoy hearing from you. Our email address is info at wisdomonline.org. If you want to send us a card or letter, our address is Wisdom for the Heart, PO Box 37297, Raleigh, North Carolina, 27627. Let us know how God's using his word to change your life. Thanks for joining us today and be back next time for more wisdom for the heart.