December 8, 2025 • 30 mins
Work can feel like a battleground where unfair treatment, clumsy policies, and flawed leadership test our convictions. We walk through Ecclesiastes 8 to explore how authority truly works, why obedience matters, when to say no, and how patience and wise speech can turn tense moments into redemptive ones. Along the way, a World War II story of a farm-shattering bomb that uncovered a life-giving stream reframes setbacks as surprising channels of provision—and challenges us to look for God’s quiet work beneath loud disruptions.
We dig into three anchors for your nine-to-five: obey God first, honor legitimate authority, and trust providence when outcomes are beyond your control. You’ll hear why loyalty to the office doesn’t mean endorsing evil, how to choose the right time, tone, and words, and how refusing to retaliate can become a powerful witness. We also map the hard limits of power—no one commands the wind, chooses their day of death, escapes the battles of life, or dodges the consequences of sin—and how those truths free both leaders and followers to act with humility and courage.
This conversation blends practical workplace wisdom with spiritual clarity, offering a calm, grounded way to navigate bosses, teachers, and governing officials. If you’re wrestling with bad leadership, bureaucratic frustration, or ethical gray zones, you’ll find steady guidance for responding with integrity and hope. Listen, share with a friend who needs perspective at work, and if this helped you, subscribe and leave a review so others can discover it too.
Stephen's latest book, The Disciples Prayer, is available now. https://www.wisdomonline.org/store/view/the-disciples-prayer-hardback
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_01 (00:06):
Solomon is essentially saying that even in
the lives of those who haveeverything they cannot get away
from the battles of life.
Even the person that seems to beat the top of the Fuji, even
that individual who seems tohave their way, if you get
behind, you know, the curtain,you'll discover they're facing
(00:28):
the battles of life.
In fact, that's good to rememberwhen that supervisor unloads on
you, it may be nothing more thanan indication that they have
other battles they're failingin.
SPEAKER_00 (00:52):
What does wisdom look like from 9 to 5?
How do you respond to unfairtreatment, bad leadership, or
frustrating circumstances atwork?
Today on Wisdom for the Heart,Stephen Davies shares Solomon's
inspired advice for navigatinglife under human authority.
(01:13):
Whether you're dealing with aboss, a teacher, a government,
or anyone in leadership, thismessage will help you develop a
wise, godly response.
You'll learn why obediencematters, when to speak up, and
how to engage in justice.
This message is called BringingWisdom to Work.
SPEAKER_01 (01:38):
Years ago, the devotional magazine Our Daily
Bread illustrated the need forthe believer to face their
problems and their challengeswith greater deepening trust in
the Lord's provision.
Who was at work behind thescenes during World War II,
(01:58):
which is where the illustrationcomes from, a family in Sussex,
England sent some money to amissionary society and enclosed
a letter that they would like itto have been more, but the
harvest on their farm was beingthreatened by the lack of rain,
water, unable to irrigate theirfarm.
(02:21):
And they were fearful of Germanbombs adding to the problem
being dropped in their area,putting their farm, their crops
at risk, not to mention theirown lives.
They asked the staff of thismission to pray specifically
that no bombs would fall ontheir land.
(02:43):
The director of the missionarysociety wrote back and wisely
responded that while they didn'tbelieve they could pray that
exact prayer, they would indeedpray that this family would
trust the Lord as his willunfolded in their lives.
(03:04):
And when you know it, shortlythereafter a German bomb landed
on their property, exploding.
No family member was hurt.
The livestock were fine, thebarn still standing.
But that bombshell created sucha crater in the ground that it
liberated an underground stream.
(03:28):
And that stream yielded enoughwater to irrigate their entire
property and the other farms intheir area.
The Daily Bread ended theillustration by writing,
sometimes even bombs ourblessings.
Yes, they seem to fall fromheaven and make a lot of noise
(03:48):
and create confusion and chaos,but ultimately they liberate
within us a new stream of trustand faith in the provision of
God.
God has a way of usinginconveniences and trials and
difficulties to draw us to trustHim even more.
(04:08):
Perhaps one of the moredifficult areas of life in which
we trust Him and we have tocarefully navigate through life
is on the job.
Even working from home, perhapsthere are still challenges with
staffing or authorities.
(04:28):
Maybe you've come in here withsome rather explosive problems,
combustible, unreasonabledemands, difficult assignments,
individuals in your world thatmay have authority over you
trouble you, make life difficultfor you.
How do you take wisdom to workwith you?
(04:51):
How does wisdom work, so tospeak, from nine to five?
How do you respond to those inauthority over you?
Well, God through Solomon isgoing to address the issue.
So let's go back in our study toEcclesiastes.
(05:11):
In the writings of King Solomon,we're in chapter 8 and in verse
2, is where we pick up ourstudy.
The Bible reads at verse 2, Isay, keep the king's command
because of God's oath to him.
(05:33):
Now, since Solomon is a king,he's going to illustrate the
principle of responding toauthority to this kind of level
of authority.
He's going to start with a kingand move on down.
He starts at the top.
This is the highest power in theland.
And that's really a great placeto draw insight from, because if
(05:54):
you know how to respond to thehigher authority in the land,
you'll know how to respond toall the lesser authority in your
life.
And everyone, of course, is atany time surrounded by
authority.
It might be a teacher, it mightbe a parent, it might be some
(06:17):
governing official, might be acoach, might be a supervisor or
a CEO.
And the first principle he laysdown here for us is this: it's
the principle of obedience toauthority.
Solomon raises this fundamentalissue that the king's command,
(06:39):
you could translate that Hebrewphrase, from the mouth of the
king, the word of the king is tobe obeyed.
Solomon writes this, on accountof God's oath to him.
That's why.
In other words, the king'sauthority happens to be
(07:00):
delegated, given to them by God.
We're obeying the king'scommands because ultimately God
is commanding the king.
It might not look like it.
It might look like the kingisn't representing God, and he
might not immediately, butindirectly, we're told that God
(07:22):
is moving the heart of the king.
Proverbs 21 and verse 1 is whereSolomon reminds us that the
heart of the king is in the handof God.
It might seem like you'reobeying an earthly supervisor,
but ultimately you're obeyingGod.
(07:42):
In fact, Paul will reinforcethis to the Colossians.
He says, while you're servingearthly masters, earthly
supervisors, earthlyauthorities, know that you are
serving, you're actually servingthe Lord Christ.
Now that doesn't make it easy,by the way.
(08:04):
That doesn't mean it's going tobe convenient, especially as it
relates to your Christianity atwork.
But just as an ordinaryindividual, you might be
summoned for jury duty and youplan vacation.
You might have to pay more taxesthan you wanted.
(08:27):
You might have to submit to somezoning authority or ordinance.
That's costly and inconvenient.
And you might even argueunnecessary.
We're meeting here today on thiscampus because we're evaluated
(08:51):
annually by the fire department.
And we receive a permit.
Those doors have to be a certainthickness, or we can't be in
here.
All of those windows in ourfacility have to be a certain
width, or they don't pass code.
They have to have glass with acertain thickness.
(09:13):
Hallway doors have to beexpensively wired so that they
automatically shut if there's afire.
Classrooms on the second floorcannot be used for children
under the age of two.
Do you know how expensive thatmakes children's ministries?
Parking spaces have to be acertain width, a certain width.
(09:37):
If it were up to me, they'd beabout this wide, but you gotta
make them wide enough to get inand out of, which is a good
thing.
And then every so often in thatparking lot, they require that
you put in an island.
And then you have to plantgreenery, and you gotta plant
trees along the road.
Those are demands and ordinancesof our authority.
(09:58):
That church sign out front couldonly be so tall and so wide,
which is why that sign isabsolutely useless.
People think that we're someuniversity or college.
Paul writes, let every person besubject to the ordinances of
(10:19):
governing authority.
And then he adds in Romans 13:1,for there is no authority except
from God.
It might look like a governingauthority is in charge.
He calls believers to go onestep further.
This is Jesus before Pilate.
And Pilate says, Why aren't youanswering these questions I'm
(10:40):
asking you?
Because don't you know I haveauthority to put you to death?
And Jesus speaks and he says,The only authority you have is
the authority delegated fromabove.
You might think, oh, well, theseare terrible days.
I've heard believers talkingabout, well, now's the time to
stop paying taxes.
(11:02):
I'll visit you.
We're not where the early churchwas 1900 years ago, where
believers were covered with tarand used as torches to light the
garden parties of Nero.
We're not where the Anabaptistswere 500 years ago who said, you
know what, we're gonna followthe scriptures, and the
(11:24):
scripture says that baptismisn't for babies, it is for
believers.
And the word means to immerse asin Jesus died, was, buried, and
rose again.
So we're gonna be baptizingagain.
And the governing officialssaid, well, if you love water
that much, we'll put you in it,and they drown many of the
(11:44):
Anabaptists for doing what we dohere without any thought of
persecution.
There are some countries to thisday where being a Christian is a
matter of life and death.
One of our problems, I believe,as believers, especially in a
free country, is that we forgetwe're in exile here.
We think we're home.
(12:06):
We're trying to get comfortablein the wrong living room.
We're citizens of heavenassigned to the embassy of earth
for the time being.
There's a second principle here.
It's the principle of patiencein the process.
Notice the first phrase of verse3.
(12:26):
Be not hasty to go from hispresence.
Let's stop here.
Solomon is referring more thanlikely to a culture of respect,
and that will change fromculture to culture.
It's patience being shown by thesubordinate as he endures his
authority.
He says here, do not be hasty toleave his presence.
(12:50):
He's not telling you how fastyou're supposed to leave that
place of authority if they callyou in.
If your supervisor calls you in,or that authority in your life
demands your audience, he's nottelling you, you know, now don't
run out of there.
Only so fast should you walk.
(13:17):
Bide your time.
He's not telling you how fast towalk away from the White House.
Be careful, be respectful.
Wait for an opportunity to speakwith wisdom.
So he isn't talking aboutphysically moving slowly.
He's talking about respectfullyresponding slowly.
(13:42):
Thirdly, there's this principleof loyalty to the office.
Notice the last part of verse 3.
Do not take your stand in anevil cause, for he, that is the
authority, does whatever hepleases.
For the word of the king issupreme.
Who may say to him, What are youdoing?
Now, Solomon is essentiallyreminding us here that on a very
practical level, if you don'tlike the word of the king, you
(14:04):
might be tempted to talk back.
You might be tempted to say,Well, what do you think you're
doing?
Who do you think you are?
Show a respect for the office ofthat authority, that coach, that
teacher, that governingofficial.
Notice he says here at thebeginning, don't take up an evil
cause.
What he's telling you to do is,in whatever way you choose to
(14:27):
respond to the authority, it'snot going to be right to strike
back by taking up evil.
You don't strike back at sin bydoing sin.
You don't strike back at evil bydoing evil.
Your supervisor says or doessomething unkind, you don't look
(14:49):
for an opportunity to give itback to them.
Your neighbor yells at you, thatdoesn't mean you get to yell
back.
Somebody throws mud at you, thatdoesn't give you the right to
throw mud.
That's the point.
By the way, this is the way thepower brokers of the world
launch their agendas.
(15:10):
This is the way the world works.
This is the way you demonstratepower.
You're able to yell louder.
You're able to forcefullypromote your agenda.
You're just a little higher onthe food chain.
In fact, I was reading recentlyon the political battles that
(15:31):
have taken place over the last200 years, just reading about
some of these election cycles inour own country.
I had actually pulled this outof a magazine two years ago.
And it came back to my mind as Iwas working through this text on
how to respond to the king.
But it was interesting to me howthe world works and this
(15:52):
illustrated it so well.
It talked about in the late1800s when Grover Cleveland was
running for president.
He was from Buffalo, New York.
And it was discovered that hehad fathered a child out of
wedlock.
His opponent, James Blaine, ofcourse, made this front page
(16:14):
news and even nicknamedCleveland the beast of Buffalo.
Cleveland's party, of course,retaliated, and they created a
little poem that they would usethe heckle hymn, and it went
like this (16:31):
Blaine Blaine, continental liar from the state
of Maine.
Blaine's party retaliated bycreating her own little poem.
It referred to Cleveland'simmorality.
And they would chant it at himand they would plaster it all
over when he came into town, andit simply read the question,
(16:51):
Mama, where's my pa?
Then Cleveland wins theelection.
And his party got the final wordby writing one more line to the
chant that they adopted.
And it went like this Mama,where's my pa?
He's gone to the White House.
Ha ha ha.
(17:14):
I'll have the last word.
That's the way of the world.
Now, Solomon reinforces hiscomments about a wise person
responding to authority.
And I'm sure you're wondering,yeah, but what about this and
what about that?
Well, he's not going to answerall the questions.
But he does give a couple ofprohibitions that are helpful.
Number one is the prohibition ofsinning against God.
(17:38):
Verse 5, whoever keeps a commandwill know no evil thing.
He isn't going to be related toevil.
He reinforces this.
This is a sort of a fundamentalprinciple here of obedience to
the commands of your authority.
There is a boundary line.
There is a line you will notcross, and that is you will not
(17:58):
obey the command of yourauthority if their command
requires you to disobey thecommand of God.
This is where you will be likethose early apostles in Acts
chapter 5, where they said totheir leaders, we will obey God
rather than man.
(18:21):
Relationships have ended,careers dissolved because a
believer would not violate thescriptures.
There is this principle, thisprohibition of not sinning
against God.
Secondly, Solomon reinforceswhat he said earlier now, the
(18:43):
prohibition of speaking out ofturn.
Notice verse 5 and movingforward, he says, the wise heart
will know the proper time andthe just way, the right way, the
right time.
For there is a time and a wayfor everything, although man's
trouble lies heavily on him, forhe does not know what is to be,
(19:05):
for who can tell him how it willbe?
In other words, you're in themiddle of the dilemma, you're
under authority, you need to saysomething, but what?
You pray about it.
This is where you ask God forwisdom.
There's got to be the right timeand the right message and the
(19:26):
right motive.
You're gonna have the rightspirit because you're ultimately
representing a higher authority.
You're representing God.
And a wise heart ought to knowthat you probably ought to
choose at that moment silenceand then remain that way, asking
(19:48):
the Lord for the right momentand the right message in the
right manner to deliver it.
And this comes really from anunderstanding and a trust, a
statement of faith of whatSolomon says here in verse 7,
that we do know, we do not knowwhat God is planning in the
future.
We don't know what he's doing.
(20:09):
We know what it looks like rightnow, but we don't know what he's
doing.
I sort of live, don't you, withan anticipation of I wonder what
God's doing now.
Look around.
I wonder what God is, how is hesetting the table for ministry?
What is he doing for thegospel's sake?
(20:30):
How is he moving along hispurposes?
There is this sense of patiencebased on trust.
And we have no idea how the Lordis preparing us for the days to
come.
And you might think right now,well, Lord, you know, the worst
(20:52):
thing that could ever happen isfor a bomb to fall on my farm.
And it falls.
And a stream of water emerges,which God had planned all along.
Solomon now ends thisdiscussion.
He's going to remind us thatthere are limitations to power.
(21:15):
And for those of you who are inauthority, these are good
reminders.
For those of you who are underauthority, these are also good
reminders.
There are limitations to power.
And Solomon rattles off four ofthem fairly quickly.
Each of them in the Hebrewlanguage begins with a little
negative no or not, so we knowthat they are progressing
(21:41):
proverbs, so to speak.
Here's the first limitation.
Number one, no one can controlthe wind.
Notice the first phrase of verseeight.
No man has power to retain thespirit, which I think ought to
be translated wind.
(22:02):
Context decides that the Hebrewword for wind and spirit is the
same word, ruach.
And since many assume that thisphrase goes with the next phrase
about death, then it must be areference to someone's inability
to control their death.
Well, that will be true, andhe's gonna talk about that in
the second one, but let's notmiss the impact of this one.
(22:24):
Hebrew scholars refer to theseprogressive proverbs, and one of
them says, more than likely,Solomon is simply referring to
the weather.
He says, no matter how powerfulthat person is in your life,
guess what?
Remember, they can't move onecloud in the sky.
They cannot make it rain, theycan't make it cold, they can't
(22:46):
make it hot, they can't doanything as it relates to the
weather except report it.
That's it.
In other words, the mostpowerful person on earth can't
make the breeze blow, can't makethat hurricane stop.
They look powerful.
(23:07):
They can't even change thatlittle breeze out there.
Here's the second limitation (23:11):
no one can determine their
lifespan.
The next phrase reads, No onehas power over the day of death.
No matter how powerful, nomatter how authoritative, no
matter how many people bow atthe word or command of this
(23:32):
individual, death does not bowto their command.
Death is in the hand of God.
He determines life and breath.
I thought it was interesting inmy study to come across the
illustration of King Louis XIV,who was a powerful king.
(23:56):
But on his deathbed, he calledhis son into the room, and his
last words to him were theselisten, son, profit by my errors
and remember, kings die likeevery other man.
Here's a third reminder of thelimitation of power.
(24:19):
No one can get away from thebattles of life.
He writes here in verse 8.
There's no discharge from war,or you could render it from the
midst or the middle of battle.
This can refer to a war orbattle, you might think of in a
traditional sense, or it couldrefer to something broader,
(24:43):
which I think would be correctto this context.
Solomon is essentially sayingthat even in the lives of those
who have everything, theycannot, they just cannot get
away from the battles of life.
Even the person that seems to beat the top of the food chain,
(25:04):
even that individual who seemsto have their way, if you get
behind, you know, the curtain,you'll discover they're facing
the battles of life.
In fact, that's good to rememberwhen that supervisor unloads on
you, it may be nothing more thanan indication that they have
other battles they're failing inand they're taking it out on
(25:26):
you.
There isn't any way you can getaround or away from the battles
of life.
Fourthly, no one can get aroundthe consequences of sin, no
matter how powerful.
Look at verse 8, the last part.
Nor will wickedness deliverthose who are given to it, who
are given over to it.
(25:46):
It's woodenly translated,wickedness will not deliver its
masters, those who master evil,those who master sin, those that
seem to control everything bythe dictate of their power.
And people in power often becomemasters at wickedness.
Nobody steps up, nobody seems toever speak, they live
(26:09):
unaccountable lives, they havetheir way.
Solomon is saying, don't forget,even they will face the day of
judgment coming.
By the way, the only hope forany of us is the forgiveness of
our sin through the death andresurrection of Jesus Christ,
(26:30):
right?
The only hope any of us have,because all of us have hurt
others.
All of us have probably had atsome point in time some
authority we didn't use,righteously or wisely or kindly.
So we, after reading somethinglike this, let's make sure we
just don't point fingers.
(26:51):
Our hope is in the grace of Godthrough Christ, who pays for our
crimes and sins.
He not only gives us the gift ofsalvation, which we can never
earn, James chapter 1 tells ushe gives us the gift of wisdom
to know how to live now that youbelong to him.
(27:11):
This is wisdom you take to work.
This is wisdom nine divided.
This is wisdom in responding tothose in authority over you.
This is wisdom to know that evenif a bomb falls on your farm,
your life, God might just beopening new streams of deep
(27:35):
water, new depths of character,and your greatest statement of
faith will be to trust him andto continue to honor him and
walk with him.
And who knows?
Maybe that supervisor, maybethat coach, maybe that parent,
(27:57):
maybe that teacher will see inyour response something so
distinctively different, theywill have to say, that person
has something I don't have.
They know a God I do not know.
May God give us wisdom.
SPEAKER_00 (28:24):
Even when you can't control the outcome, you can
walk in wisdom.
Obey God, honor authority, andtrust Him to direct your steps.
Even when it feels likeeverything is upside down.
Thanks for joining us today hereon Wisdom for the Heart, the
Bible teaching ministry ofStephen Davy.
(28:46):
Today's message is entitledBringing Wisdom to Work.
It's part of Stephen's seriescalled Pursuing Wisdom Under the
Sun.
You can listen to this messageagain or learn more about our
ministry online atwisdomonline.org.
You'll be able to access thecomplete archive of Stephen's
(29:07):
Bible teaching ministry, as wellas each day's broadcast.
Our ministry, WisdomInternational, publishes a
monthly magazine called Heart toHeart.
Next month, Stephen deals with avery important issue.
What is our biblical obligationto support the nation of Israel?
(29:28):
Is it okay to be critical ofIsrael?
Well, God bless us if ourgovernment supports the
government of Israel.
It's important to know what Godreally says about issues like
these.
And Stephen will help you in theJanuary issue of Heart to Heart.
If you don't receive it, be sureand sign up to receive a free
(29:50):
issue on our website.
It's wisdomonline.org.
You can also call us today at866 48 Bible.
Join us next time here on Wisdomfor the Heart.
unknown (30:23):
That is one thing I've got.
Solomon is essentially saying that even in
the lives of those who haveeverything they cannot get away
from the battles of life.
Even the person that seems to beat the top of the Fuji, even
that individual who seems tohave their way, if you get
behind, you know, the curtain,you'll discover they're facing
(00:28):
the battles of life.
In fact, that's good to rememberwhen that supervisor unloads on
you, it may be nothing more thanan indication that they have
other battles they're failingin.
SPEAKER_00 (00:52):
What does wisdom look like from 9 to 5?
How do you respond to unfairtreatment, bad leadership, or
frustrating circumstances atwork?
Today on Wisdom for the Heart,Stephen Davies shares Solomon's
inspired advice for navigatinglife under human authority.
(01:13):
Whether you're dealing with aboss, a teacher, a government,
or anyone in leadership, thismessage will help you develop a
wise, godly response.
You'll learn why obediencematters, when to speak up, and
how to engage in justice.
This message is called BringingWisdom to Work.
SPEAKER_01 (01:38):
Years ago, the devotional magazine Our Daily
Bread illustrated the need forthe believer to face their
problems and their challengeswith greater deepening trust in
the Lord's provision.
Who was at work behind thescenes during World War II,
(01:58):
which is where the illustrationcomes from, a family in Sussex,
England sent some money to amissionary society and enclosed
a letter that they would like itto have been more, but the
harvest on their farm was beingthreatened by the lack of rain,
water, unable to irrigate theirfarm.
(02:21):
And they were fearful of Germanbombs adding to the problem
being dropped in their area,putting their farm, their crops
at risk, not to mention theirown lives.
They asked the staff of thismission to pray specifically
that no bombs would fall ontheir land.
(02:43):
The director of the missionarysociety wrote back and wisely
responded that while they didn'tbelieve they could pray that
exact prayer, they would indeedpray that this family would
trust the Lord as his willunfolded in their lives.
(03:04):
And when you know it, shortlythereafter a German bomb landed
on their property, exploding.
No family member was hurt.
The livestock were fine, thebarn still standing.
But that bombshell created sucha crater in the ground that it
liberated an underground stream.
(03:28):
And that stream yielded enoughwater to irrigate their entire
property and the other farms intheir area.
The Daily Bread ended theillustration by writing,
sometimes even bombs ourblessings.
Yes, they seem to fall fromheaven and make a lot of noise
(03:48):
and create confusion and chaos,but ultimately they liberate
within us a new stream of trustand faith in the provision of
God.
God has a way of usinginconveniences and trials and
difficulties to draw us to trustHim even more.
(04:08):
Perhaps one of the moredifficult areas of life in which
we trust Him and we have tocarefully navigate through life
is on the job.
Even working from home, perhapsthere are still challenges with
staffing or authorities.
(04:28):
Maybe you've come in here withsome rather explosive problems,
combustible, unreasonabledemands, difficult assignments,
individuals in your world thatmay have authority over you
trouble you, make life difficultfor you.
How do you take wisdom to workwith you?
(04:51):
How does wisdom work, so tospeak, from nine to five?
How do you respond to those inauthority over you?
Well, God through Solomon isgoing to address the issue.
So let's go back in our study toEcclesiastes.
(05:11):
In the writings of King Solomon,we're in chapter 8 and in verse
2, is where we pick up ourstudy.
The Bible reads at verse 2, Isay, keep the king's command
because of God's oath to him.
(05:33):
Now, since Solomon is a king,he's going to illustrate the
principle of responding toauthority to this kind of level
of authority.
He's going to start with a kingand move on down.
He starts at the top.
This is the highest power in theland.
And that's really a great placeto draw insight from, because if
(05:54):
you know how to respond to thehigher authority in the land,
you'll know how to respond toall the lesser authority in your
life.
And everyone, of course, is atany time surrounded by
authority.
It might be a teacher, it mightbe a parent, it might be some
(06:17):
governing official, might be acoach, might be a supervisor or
a CEO.
And the first principle he laysdown here for us is this: it's
the principle of obedience toauthority.
Solomon raises this fundamentalissue that the king's command,
(06:39):
you could translate that Hebrewphrase, from the mouth of the
king, the word of the king is tobe obeyed.
Solomon writes this, on accountof God's oath to him.
That's why.
In other words, the king'sauthority happens to be
(07:00):
delegated, given to them by God.
We're obeying the king'scommands because ultimately God
is commanding the king.
It might not look like it.
It might look like the kingisn't representing God, and he
might not immediately, butindirectly, we're told that God
(07:22):
is moving the heart of the king.
Proverbs 21 and verse 1 is whereSolomon reminds us that the
heart of the king is in the handof God.
It might seem like you'reobeying an earthly supervisor,
but ultimately you're obeyingGod.
(07:42):
In fact, Paul will reinforcethis to the Colossians.
He says, while you're servingearthly masters, earthly
supervisors, earthlyauthorities, know that you are
serving, you're actually servingthe Lord Christ.
Now that doesn't make it easy,by the way.
(08:04):
That doesn't mean it's going tobe convenient, especially as it
relates to your Christianity atwork.
But just as an ordinaryindividual, you might be
summoned for jury duty and youplan vacation.
You might have to pay more taxesthan you wanted.
(08:27):
You might have to submit to somezoning authority or ordinance.
That's costly and inconvenient.
And you might even argueunnecessary.
We're meeting here today on thiscampus because we're evaluated
(08:51):
annually by the fire department.
And we receive a permit.
Those doors have to be a certainthickness, or we can't be in
here.
All of those windows in ourfacility have to be a certain
width, or they don't pass code.
They have to have glass with acertain thickness.
(09:13):
Hallway doors have to beexpensively wired so that they
automatically shut if there's afire.
Classrooms on the second floorcannot be used for children
under the age of two.
Do you know how expensive thatmakes children's ministries?
Parking spaces have to be acertain width, a certain width.
(09:37):
If it were up to me, they'd beabout this wide, but you gotta
make them wide enough to get inand out of, which is a good
thing.
And then every so often in thatparking lot, they require that
you put in an island.
And then you have to plantgreenery, and you gotta plant
trees along the road.
Those are demands and ordinancesof our authority.
(09:58):
That church sign out front couldonly be so tall and so wide,
which is why that sign isabsolutely useless.
People think that we're someuniversity or college.
Paul writes, let every person besubject to the ordinances of
(10:19):
governing authority.
And then he adds in Romans 13:1,for there is no authority except
from God.
It might look like a governingauthority is in charge.
He calls believers to go onestep further.
This is Jesus before Pilate.
And Pilate says, Why aren't youanswering these questions I'm
(10:40):
asking you?
Because don't you know I haveauthority to put you to death?
And Jesus speaks and he says,The only authority you have is
the authority delegated fromabove.
You might think, oh, well, theseare terrible days.
I've heard believers talkingabout, well, now's the time to
stop paying taxes.
(11:02):
I'll visit you.
We're not where the early churchwas 1900 years ago, where
believers were covered with tarand used as torches to light the
garden parties of Nero.
We're not where the Anabaptistswere 500 years ago who said, you
know what, we're gonna followthe scriptures, and the
(11:24):
scripture says that baptismisn't for babies, it is for
believers.
And the word means to immerse asin Jesus died, was, buried, and
rose again.
So we're gonna be baptizingagain.
And the governing officialssaid, well, if you love water
that much, we'll put you in it,and they drown many of the
(11:44):
Anabaptists for doing what we dohere without any thought of
persecution.
There are some countries to thisday where being a Christian is a
matter of life and death.
One of our problems, I believe,as believers, especially in a
free country, is that we forgetwe're in exile here.
We think we're home.
(12:06):
We're trying to get comfortablein the wrong living room.
We're citizens of heavenassigned to the embassy of earth
for the time being.
There's a second principle here.
It's the principle of patiencein the process.
Notice the first phrase of verse3.
(12:26):
Be not hasty to go from hispresence.
Let's stop here.
Solomon is referring more thanlikely to a culture of respect,
and that will change fromculture to culture.
It's patience being shown by thesubordinate as he endures his
authority.
He says here, do not be hasty toleave his presence.
(12:50):
He's not telling you how fastyou're supposed to leave that
place of authority if they callyou in.
If your supervisor calls you in,or that authority in your life
demands your audience, he's nottelling you, you know, now don't
run out of there.
Only so fast should you walk.
(13:17):
Bide your time.
He's not telling you how fast towalk away from the White House.
Be careful, be respectful.
Wait for an opportunity to speakwith wisdom.
So he isn't talking aboutphysically moving slowly.
He's talking about respectfullyresponding slowly.
(13:42):
Thirdly, there's this principleof loyalty to the office.
Notice the last part of verse 3.
Do not take your stand in anevil cause, for he, that is the
authority, does whatever hepleases.
For the word of the king issupreme.
Who may say to him, What are youdoing?
Now, Solomon is essentiallyreminding us here that on a very
practical level, if you don'tlike the word of the king, you
(14:04):
might be tempted to talk back.
You might be tempted to say,Well, what do you think you're
doing?
Who do you think you are?
Show a respect for the office ofthat authority, that coach, that
teacher, that governingofficial.
Notice he says here at thebeginning, don't take up an evil
cause.
What he's telling you to do is,in whatever way you choose to
(14:27):
respond to the authority, it'snot going to be right to strike
back by taking up evil.
You don't strike back at sin bydoing sin.
You don't strike back at evil bydoing evil.
Your supervisor says or doessomething unkind, you don't look
(14:49):
for an opportunity to give itback to them.
Your neighbor yells at you, thatdoesn't mean you get to yell
back.
Somebody throws mud at you, thatdoesn't give you the right to
throw mud.
That's the point.
By the way, this is the way thepower brokers of the world
launch their agendas.
(15:10):
This is the way the world works.
This is the way you demonstratepower.
You're able to yell louder.
You're able to forcefullypromote your agenda.
You're just a little higher onthe food chain.
In fact, I was reading recentlyon the political battles that
(15:31):
have taken place over the last200 years, just reading about
some of these election cycles inour own country.
I had actually pulled this outof a magazine two years ago.
And it came back to my mind as Iwas working through this text on
how to respond to the king.
But it was interesting to me howthe world works and this
(15:52):
illustrated it so well.
It talked about in the late1800s when Grover Cleveland was
running for president.
He was from Buffalo, New York.
And it was discovered that hehad fathered a child out of
wedlock.
His opponent, James Blaine, ofcourse, made this front page
(16:14):
news and even nicknamedCleveland the beast of Buffalo.
Cleveland's party, of course,retaliated, and they created a
little poem that they would usethe heckle hymn, and it went
like this (16:31):
Blaine Blaine, continental liar from the state
of Maine.
Blaine's party retaliated bycreating her own little poem.
It referred to Cleveland'simmorality.
And they would chant it at himand they would plaster it all
over when he came into town, andit simply read the question,
(16:51):
Mama, where's my pa?
Then Cleveland wins theelection.
And his party got the final wordby writing one more line to the
chant that they adopted.
And it went like this Mama,where's my pa?
He's gone to the White House.
Ha ha ha.
(17:14):
I'll have the last word.
That's the way of the world.
Now, Solomon reinforces hiscomments about a wise person
responding to authority.
And I'm sure you're wondering,yeah, but what about this and
what about that?
Well, he's not going to answerall the questions.
But he does give a couple ofprohibitions that are helpful.
Number one is the prohibition ofsinning against God.
(17:38):
Verse 5, whoever keeps a commandwill know no evil thing.
He isn't going to be related toevil.
He reinforces this.
This is a sort of a fundamentalprinciple here of obedience to
the commands of your authority.
There is a boundary line.
There is a line you will notcross, and that is you will not
(17:58):
obey the command of yourauthority if their command
requires you to disobey thecommand of God.
This is where you will be likethose early apostles in Acts
chapter 5, where they said totheir leaders, we will obey God
rather than man.
(18:21):
Relationships have ended,careers dissolved because a
believer would not violate thescriptures.
There is this principle, thisprohibition of not sinning
against God.
Secondly, Solomon reinforceswhat he said earlier now, the
(18:43):
prohibition of speaking out ofturn.
Notice verse 5 and movingforward, he says, the wise heart
will know the proper time andthe just way, the right way, the
right time.
For there is a time and a wayfor everything, although man's
trouble lies heavily on him, forhe does not know what is to be,
(19:05):
for who can tell him how it willbe?
In other words, you're in themiddle of the dilemma, you're
under authority, you need to saysomething, but what?
You pray about it.
This is where you ask God forwisdom.
There's got to be the right timeand the right message and the
(19:26):
right motive.
You're gonna have the rightspirit because you're ultimately
representing a higher authority.
You're representing God.
And a wise heart ought to knowthat you probably ought to
choose at that moment silenceand then remain that way, asking
(19:48):
the Lord for the right momentand the right message in the
right manner to deliver it.
And this comes really from anunderstanding and a trust, a
statement of faith of whatSolomon says here in verse 7,
that we do know, we do not knowwhat God is planning in the
future.
We don't know what he's doing.
(20:09):
We know what it looks like rightnow, but we don't know what he's
doing.
I sort of live, don't you, withan anticipation of I wonder what
God's doing now.
Look around.
I wonder what God is, how is hesetting the table for ministry?
What is he doing for thegospel's sake?
(20:30):
How is he moving along hispurposes?
There is this sense of patiencebased on trust.
And we have no idea how the Lordis preparing us for the days to
come.
And you might think right now,well, Lord, you know, the worst
(20:52):
thing that could ever happen isfor a bomb to fall on my farm.
And it falls.
And a stream of water emerges,which God had planned all along.
Solomon now ends thisdiscussion.
He's going to remind us thatthere are limitations to power.
(21:15):
And for those of you who are inauthority, these are good
reminders.
For those of you who are underauthority, these are also good
reminders.
There are limitations to power.
And Solomon rattles off four ofthem fairly quickly.
Each of them in the Hebrewlanguage begins with a little
negative no or not, so we knowthat they are progressing
(21:41):
proverbs, so to speak.
Here's the first limitation.
Number one, no one can controlthe wind.
Notice the first phrase of verseeight.
No man has power to retain thespirit, which I think ought to
be translated wind.
(22:02):
Context decides that the Hebrewword for wind and spirit is the
same word, ruach.
And since many assume that thisphrase goes with the next phrase
about death, then it must be areference to someone's inability
to control their death.
Well, that will be true, andhe's gonna talk about that in
the second one, but let's notmiss the impact of this one.
(22:24):
Hebrew scholars refer to theseprogressive proverbs, and one of
them says, more than likely,Solomon is simply referring to
the weather.
He says, no matter how powerfulthat person is in your life,
guess what?
Remember, they can't move onecloud in the sky.
They cannot make it rain, theycan't make it cold, they can't
(22:46):
make it hot, they can't doanything as it relates to the
weather except report it.
That's it.
In other words, the mostpowerful person on earth can't
make the breeze blow, can't makethat hurricane stop.
They look powerful.
(23:07):
They can't even change thatlittle breeze out there.
Here's the second limitation (23:11):
no one can determine their
lifespan.
The next phrase reads, No onehas power over the day of death.
No matter how powerful, nomatter how authoritative, no
matter how many people bow atthe word or command of this
(23:32):
individual, death does not bowto their command.
Death is in the hand of God.
He determines life and breath.
I thought it was interesting inmy study to come across the
illustration of King Louis XIV,who was a powerful king.
(23:56):
But on his deathbed, he calledhis son into the room, and his
last words to him were theselisten, son, profit by my errors
and remember, kings die likeevery other man.
Here's a third reminder of thelimitation of power.
(24:19):
No one can get away from thebattles of life.
He writes here in verse 8.
There's no discharge from war,or you could render it from the
midst or the middle of battle.
This can refer to a war orbattle, you might think of in a
traditional sense, or it couldrefer to something broader,
(24:43):
which I think would be correctto this context.
Solomon is essentially sayingthat even in the lives of those
who have everything, theycannot, they just cannot get
away from the battles of life.
Even the person that seems to beat the top of the food chain,
(25:04):
even that individual who seemsto have their way, if you get
behind, you know, the curtain,you'll discover they're facing
the battles of life.
In fact, that's good to rememberwhen that supervisor unloads on
you, it may be nothing more thanan indication that they have
other battles they're failing inand they're taking it out on
(25:26):
you.
There isn't any way you can getaround or away from the battles
of life.
Fourthly, no one can get aroundthe consequences of sin, no
matter how powerful.
Look at verse 8, the last part.
Nor will wickedness deliverthose who are given to it, who
are given over to it.
(25:46):
It's woodenly translated,wickedness will not deliver its
masters, those who master evil,those who master sin, those that
seem to control everything bythe dictate of their power.
And people in power often becomemasters at wickedness.
Nobody steps up, nobody seems toever speak, they live
(26:09):
unaccountable lives, they havetheir way.
Solomon is saying, don't forget,even they will face the day of
judgment coming.
By the way, the only hope forany of us is the forgiveness of
our sin through the death andresurrection of Jesus Christ,
(26:30):
right?
The only hope any of us have,because all of us have hurt
others.
All of us have probably had atsome point in time some
authority we didn't use,righteously or wisely or kindly.
So we, after reading somethinglike this, let's make sure we
just don't point fingers.
(26:51):
Our hope is in the grace of Godthrough Christ, who pays for our
crimes and sins.
He not only gives us the gift ofsalvation, which we can never
earn, James chapter 1 tells ushe gives us the gift of wisdom
to know how to live now that youbelong to him.
(27:11):
This is wisdom you take to work.
This is wisdom nine divided.
This is wisdom in responding tothose in authority over you.
This is wisdom to know that evenif a bomb falls on your farm,
your life, God might just beopening new streams of deep
(27:35):
water, new depths of character,and your greatest statement of
faith will be to trust him andto continue to honor him and
walk with him.
And who knows?
Maybe that supervisor, maybethat coach, maybe that parent,
(27:57):
maybe that teacher will see inyour response something so
distinctively different, theywill have to say, that person
has something I don't have.
They know a God I do not know.
May God give us wisdom.
SPEAKER_00 (28:24):
Even when you can't control the outcome, you can
walk in wisdom.
Obey God, honor authority, andtrust Him to direct your steps.
Even when it feels likeeverything is upside down.
Thanks for joining us today hereon Wisdom for the Heart, the
Bible teaching ministry ofStephen Davy.
(28:46):
Today's message is entitledBringing Wisdom to Work.
It's part of Stephen's seriescalled Pursuing Wisdom Under the
Sun.
You can listen to this messageagain or learn more about our
ministry online atwisdomonline.org.
You'll be able to access thecomplete archive of Stephen's
(29:07):
Bible teaching ministry, as wellas each day's broadcast.
Our ministry, WisdomInternational, publishes a
monthly magazine called Heart toHeart.
Next month, Stephen deals with avery important issue.
What is our biblical obligationto support the nation of Israel?
(29:28):
Is it okay to be critical ofIsrael?
Well, God bless us if ourgovernment supports the
government of Israel.
It's important to know what Godreally says about issues like
these.
And Stephen will help you in theJanuary issue of Heart to Heart.
If you don't receive it, be sureand sign up to receive a free
(29:50):
issue on our website.
It's wisdomonline.org.
You can also call us today at866 48 Bible.
Join us next time here on Wisdomfor the Heart.
unknown (30:23):
That is one thing I've got.
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
The Bobby Bones Show
Listen to 'The Bobby Bones Show' by downloading the daily full replay.