You can turn with me in your Bibles to the book of Proverbs, Proverbs chapter 30. We've got a few things coming up in the next several weeks. So God willing, we'll return to our study in John's gospel in a few weeks time. This morning, our emphasis will be on Proverbs 30 verses 24 to 28, a passage that we have looked at in the past, but I wanna begin reading in Proverbs 30 at verse 15 to the end of the chapter.

So Proverbs chapter 30, beginning in verse 15, the leech has two daughters, give and give. There are three things that are never satisfied. Four, never say enough. The grave, the barren womb, the earth that is not satisfied with water.

And the fire never says enough. the eye that mocks his father and scorns obedience to his mother. The ravens of the valley will pick it out and the young eagles will eat it. There are three things which are too wonderful for me. Yes, four, which I do not understand.

The way of an eagle in the air, the way of a serpent on a rock, the way of a ship in the midst of the sea, and the way of a man with a virgin. This is the way of an adulterous woman. She eats and wipes her mouth and says, I have done no wickedness. For three things the earth is perturbed.

Yes, for four it cannot bear up. For a servant when he reigns, a fool when he is filled with food, a hateful woman when she is married, and a maidservant who succeeds her mistress. There are four things which are little on the earth, but they are exceedingly wise. The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their food in the summer.

The rock badgers are a feeble folk, yet they make their homes in the crags. The locusts have no king, yet they all advance in ranks. The spider skillfully grasps with its hands, and it is in king's palaces. There are three things which are majestic in pace, yes, four which are stately in walk, a lion which is mighty among beasts and does not turn away from any, a greyhound, a male goat also, and a king whose troops are with him.

If you have been foolish in exalting yourself, or if you have devised evil, put your hand on your mouth. For as the churning of milk produces butter, and wringing the nose produces blood, so the forcing of wrath produces strife. Amen. Well, let us pray.

Opening Prayer

Our gracious God and Holy Father, we thank you for this beautiful day. Certainly, as the psalmist says, the heavens declare the righteousness of God Most High. We bless you for your work of creation, for your providence, as well for redemption, by grace alone, through faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone. We pray that even now you would forgive us of all of our sin and unrighteousness.

We pray that you would cleanse us in that precious blood. We pray for any and all here dead in their trespasses and sins, that the voice of God Most High would come, and that you would call them out of darkness into marvelous light, confessing faith in our blessed Savior. Forgive us, wash us, and cleanse us. Guide us now by your Holy Spirit, and may we learn the lessons from these little things that are exceedingly wise.

And we pray through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Introduction

Well, as I said, our focus will be on those wise little things in verses 24 to 28, but just a couple of thoughts by way of introduction. First of all, Solomon was skilled in the natural sciences, so it shouldn't surprise us that he evokes these images. Now, this particular chapter is ascribed to Agur, but ultimately Solomon would be responsible for the book itself. We know that other authors wrote certain Psalms, but the writer in the book of Hebrews refers to the book of Psalms saying in David.

So David oversaw the entirety of the Psalter. I would suspect that Solomon oversaw the entirety of the book of Proverbs. But in 1 Kings 4, at verses 33 and 34, we read, Also he spoke of trees from the cedar of Lebanon, even to the hyssop that springs out of the wall. He spoke also of animals, of birds, of creeping things, and of fish, and men of all nations, from all the kings of the earth who had heard of his wisdom.

They came to hear the wisdom of Solomon. We saw last Sunday morning that our Lord Jesus invokes the very created order to teach us lessons about carnal anxiety. We're to be like those lilies of the field. We're to be like those birds of the air.

We need to trust in God's provision and in God's kindness. Bridges makes the observation that God instructed Job by Behemoth and Leviathan in Job 40 and 41. Here he instructs us by the ants and the conies. And indeed, in the minute creation, his splendor shines as gloriously as in the more majestic.

I think that's absolutely positively true, and it's one of the things that God does in terms of instruction to us, is He appeals to the created order, things that we see in nature. And that is precisely what we see Egert doing here in verses 24 to 28.

The Title Line: Little but Exceedingly Wise

I want to look first at the title line in verse 24, and then the four little things in verses 25 to 28. Notice a similar structure in this section, verses 15 and 16. The leech has two daughters, Give and Give, and then it goes on to explain or draw out that principle. There are three things that are never satisfied, four never say enough, the grave, the barren womb, the earth that is not satisfied with water, and the fire never says enough.

Look at verses 18 and 19. There are three things which are too wonderful for me. Yes, four, which I do not understand. There's the title line, and then it's developed in verse 19.

The way of an eagle in the air, the way of a serpent on a rock, the way of a ship in the midst of the sea, and the way of a man with a virgin. Notice in verses 21 to 23, for three things the earth is perturbed. Yes, for four, it cannot bear up. There's your title line, and now he fills in the blanks. for a servant when he reigns, a fool when he is filled with food, a hateful woman when she is married, and a maidservant who succeeds her mistress.

And then notice in verses 29 to 31, there are three things which are majestic in pace. Yes, four which are stately in walk. a lion which is mighty among beasts and does not turn away from any, a greyhound, a male goat also, and a king whose troops are with him. So it's a very effective teaching device to give us this title line specifically in verse 24 and then draw out particular concrete applications in verses 25 to 28. Now with reference to verse 24, notice it first states their weakness and then highlights the way that they compensate.

So verse 24, there are four things which are little on the earth, but they are exceedingly wise. And then as you move through those four things, that's precisely the way that Eger treats the subject matter. Now, when it says there are four things which are little on the earth, the primary emphasis isn't stature. Now we know that ants are little.

We know that conies or rock badgers are little. We know that locusts are little in terms of stature and spiders. But he's talking about their significance, or rather their insignificance. We see that in Exodus 18, 22.

Then it will be that every great matter they shall bring to you, but every small matter they themselves shall judge. So it's something that's insignificant. 1 Samuel 15, 17, when you were little in your own eyes, were you not head of the tribes of Israel? So again, it's significance and not stature that is in view. That's the emphasis in the title line.

There are four things which are little on the earth, but they are exceedingly wise. So the unifying feature of these creatures is that they're little. But another unifying feature of these creatures is that they overcome their insignificance by this compensatory wisdom. And we'll turn to that now.

So there's four little things. You probably already heard me say Coney. Coney's not in the new King James, that's the old King James. But you have first, the diligent ants of verse 25.

Secondly, the cautious Coney's, using the old King James so I can alliterate there, in verse 26. The united locusts in verse 27. And then the persistent spider or lizard in verse 28.

The Diligent Ants

So let's look first at the ants. So again, corresponding to the title line, it gives you their weakness, and then it underscores their strength, or the way that they overcome their weakness. So it says, the ants are a people not strong. By referring to ants as people, I think that Edgar shows that he wants the natural order to function as a pattern. in order that he may demonstrate that their weakness is something that they overcome.

So if that's intrinsic to an ant, certainly the image bearer of God Most High can do likewise. In other words, if the ant has this whole sort of array of things against him, but he's able to manage and overcome those things, what Edgar wants you to do is to think likewise. He wants you to overcome as well. He wants you to be diligent.

He wants you to be persistent. He wants you to engage in preparation. So the answer of people not strong. Drop down to verse 30.

A lion which is mighty among beasts and does not turn away from any. The ant does not have that wherewithal. The ant cannot best any other animal in the animal kingdom. The lion can.

It's the king of the forest. It's the king of the wilderness. It is that one that is able to overcome, by sheer force and power, whatever obstacle lie in its way. But not so with the ants.

So the answer of people not strong, they're insignificant, they're little, they're not a people that have the wherewithal that the lion does to be able to overcome the various difficulties and challenges. So how do they compensate for that? It says, yet they prepare their food in the summer. So because they're not lions, because they cannot go out and kill wildebeests on the Serengeti, so that they are not equipped with that facility, they have to think ahead.

Now, I'm predicating events probably more than Egger would be happy with here, but follow the logic. They understand that we can't just go out in January and kill a wildebeest in order to sustain our lives. If we don't go out prior to a cold January, this is a January I've never seen before here in Canada, it's quite beautiful, but if the ants were to rely on their prowess, their power, and their ability, it's obvious that they would starve to death in the winter months. So how do they compensate for that littleness?

How do they compensate for that lack of strength or that insignificance? They compensate by preparation. They compensate by diligence. They compensate by giving that attention necessary to overcome the obstacles that life has presented to them.

If you turn back for a moment to Proverbs chapter 6, you see another emphasis on the ands and their ability. Proverbs chapter six at verse six, go to the aunt you sluggard, consider her ways and be wise, which having no captain overseer or ruler provides her supplies in the summer and gathers her food in the harvest. How long will you slumber, oh sluggard? When will you rise from your sleep?

A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep. So shall your poverty come on you like a prowler and your need like an arm mat. Again, the ant can't think that way. The ant can't love its bed.

The ant has to go out and gather up the food such that the ant will be prepared to face the trials that nature brings. As Waltke says, their exceptional achievement, which is out of proportion to their seemingly inadequate size and power, provides a model for God's people to exercise prudent foresight, discipline, and industry in a timely manner. So in other words, when Agar specifies this, he's not saying, oh, I just want you to marvel at the ants. I want you to stand amazed at the ants.

He's telling you he wants you to imitate the ants. He wants you to be diligent. He wants you to be a prepper, not a prepper in the sense that, well, maybe not a prepper in that sense, but he wants you to be prepared for the various hardships and the trials and the travails that face God's people in this present evil age. Now, as we look at this particular passage, as we consider this particular strength, I think it does yield to us a temporal imitation and a spiritual imitation.

Temporally, we ought to be the sorts of people that are diligent to prepare, that are diligent in our work, that are diligent in doing those things that God has called us to. Turn to Proverbs 27, specifically at verses 23 to 27. Proverbs 27 at verse 23. Be diligent to know the state of your flocks and to tend to your herds.

For riches are not forever, nor does a crown endure to all generations. When the hay is removed and the tender grass shows itself and the herbs of the mountains are gathered in, the lambs will provide your clothing and the goats the price of a field. You shall have enough goat's milk for your food, for the food of your household and the nourishment of your maidservants. Last week, when we looked at Jesus in Matthew 6, 25-34, remember that He's not condemning work.

He's not suggesting lie on your bed and wait for everybody to bring you all the necessities of life. He is condemning their carnal anxiety. He is condemning their an obsessive worry. He's condemning that betrayal of the kingdom principle, seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and then all these things will be added to you.

He's not condemning industry. He's not condemning diligence. He's not condemning preparation. In fact, the scriptures overwhelmingly condemn in the opposite direction.

A man is to provide for himself temporally. Second, Thessalonians 3.10. The apostle Paul says, if a man does not work, neither shall he eat. In other words, there ain't no such thing as a free lunch here on God's green earth.

You've got to labor. You've got to be gainfully employed. Six days you shall labor and do all your work. The seventh is a Sabbath rest unto our God.

Now, with reference to extending that parameter just a bit, 1 Timothy 5, chapter 5, verse 8. If a man does not provide for his own, especially those of his own family or household, he's worse than an infidel. He has denied the faith. Well, honey, God's going to send us manna from heaven.

No, most likely he's not. You need to get up out of bed and quit being like a sluggard and imitate the ant and go do hard work for your employer. It's a pretty obvious example or a pretty obvious application.

Spiritual Application: Preparing for Judgment

But what about the spiritual? These ants are a little folk. These ants are weak. And yet these ants are exceedingly wise.

Why? Because they diligently prepare. What about with reference to the spiritual realm? I mean, you might be a man who provides for himself.

You might be a man who provides for his wife and his children. But have you thought about provision for the age to come? Have you thought about preparation for that day of judgment? Have you reckoned with the fact that we will all stand before the Christ of heaven and earth to give an account of deeds done in the body, whether good or bad?

That's a reality. In fact, that reality is more of a reality than many other realities we govern our lives by. It's appointed unto men, what? To die, and then what?

To come to judgment. Have you, like the aunt, diligently prepared with reference to being safe on that day of judgment? Listen to Ryle. He addresses children specifically.

He says, Dear children, the best time for seeking pardon, grace, and the friendship of God is the time of youth. Youth and childhood are your summer. Now you are strong and well. Now you have plenty of time.

Now you have few cares and troubles to distract you. Now is the best time for laying up food for your souls. I think you should really listen to that. The wise man in the book of Ecclesiastes says, remember your creator when?

In your youth. What's the supposition? If you don't remember him in your youth, if you banish him from your youth, you don't get better, you don't get softer, you don't get more oriented to God most high. You usually double down in your rebellion and your transgression and your iniquity.

But as well, listen to what Bridges says concerning this particular verse. He says, Again, we've settled that. They're not a strong folk, but they lay up food for the winter. He says, what must be the thoughtlessness of making no provision for the coming eternity, whiling away life in inactivity, as if there was no work for God, for the soul, or for eternity?

Shall not we learn to be wise betimes, to improve the present moment of salvation, not to wait for the winter, the verge of life, when that grace offered now shall be offered no more? Sinner, if all be lost by your indolence, will you not be the great loser? What else have you to do but to prepare for eternity? Like, what do you have going on that's so important right now that you don't need to settle accounts with God by grace alone, through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone?

What could possibly be more important in your life or mine than to make peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ? Well, you know I'm too busy for religion. I've got a lot going on on Sundays. I can't really fit those sorts of things in.

Well, anything else you are fitting in is not necessary in the grand scheme of things. It is preparation for the day of judgment. It is to stand before God, clothed in the righteousness of Jesus Christ and cleansed in His precious blood, that is the one thing needful. Get that settled, get that down, then all these other things will be added to you.

This is the emphasis, or this is the spiritual lesson conveyed by these weak ends. He goes on, what hope can you have of heaven at the last if you have never seriously thought of heaven before? Oh, before it be too late, throw yourself at his feet, whose heart overflows with love. You see brethren, that is the main message that these ants convey to us.

Yes, temporally get your house in order, temporally make sure your wife is fed, temporally make sure that your children have feet or shoes on their feet or feet on their shoes, but most importantly, spiritually, you're not strong. You don't have works, you don't have righteousness, you don't have law-keeping on your resume, such that when you stand before God, He says, well, it's been exact, it's been entire, it's been perpetual, well done, good and faithful servant. You don't have that capability. You're dead in your trespasses and sins.

The only hope is to fly to the Lord Jesus Christ. It is to believe on Him and receive that forgiveness of sins and that righteousness that avails with God. So listen to the little ant as he preaches to you, be diligent and prepared, and beware of excuse-making.

Beware of Excuse-Making

Beware of excuse-making. Turn over to Proverbs chapter 26, specifically at verses 13 to 16. Beware of excuse-making. Well, you know, I've got all this other stuff or Religion's not really for me.

Christianity kind of perplexes me, all that sort of thing. Excuses do not avail on the day of judgment. Well, you know, God, I was busy. I couldn't really think about Jesus.

You know, God, I had a lot of time or a lot of hands on my time. I couldn't really think about Jesus. Look at the fool in Proverbs 26 at verse 13. The lazy man says, there is a lion in the road.

A fierce lion is in the streets. No, there wasn't. Do you really think that they would have lived in communities that were marked by lions in the street? In Exodus chapter 23, God says that he will not dispossess the land of the Canaanites too rapidly.

Well, why is that? Because if the land is vacant, guess who comes? All the beasts of the field. So the Hittites, the Hivites, the Jebusites, and all the other Canaanites are dispossessed by Israel.

So the lions that stood at bay when the Hivites occupied the land would have stood at bay while the Israelites were there. Now, brethren, there's oddities. There's things that happen on occasion. I've seen three deer a couple of times on my way from my home.

I take the back route over there right by Menzies and Riverside. There's three deer. I've seen them, you know, several times. That's not common.

I don't usually see them on Yale Road. So there could have possibly, conceivably been a lion in the streets. But that's not this guy's fear. This guy fears hard work.

This guy doesn't want to get his lazy self out of bed. This guy wants excuses as to why he can't prepare, as to why he can't be diligent. Well, there's a lion in the street. No, there isn't, genius.

Get up, get dressed, and go to work. Notice in verse 14, as a door turns on its hinges, so does a lazy man on his bed. There it is. He's not afraid of lions.

He's afraid of work. Notice as well in verse 15, the lazy man buries his hand in the bowl. It wearies him to bring it back to his mouth. The simplest of tasks are overwhelming to him.

What would the ant say? The ants would say, do you know what we need to do to make sure that we eat in the winter? Do you understand the massive undertaking involved to make sure that ants and their wee little ants all get to eat during the winter months? We're not lions.

We can't go out and conquer. We have to be smart. We have to be diligent. We have to be prepared.

And then notice that this is actually the origin of this man's sin. The lazy man, verse 16, is wiser in his own eyes than seven men who can answer sensibly. Pride. It oftentimes is simple pride.

Well, I don't have time for religion. Because why? Because I've already achieved. I've already arrived.

I'm such that God would never cast such a beautiful specimen of humanity like me into the everlasting pit. Oh, yes, he will. And that's absolutely affirmed in scripture. He's given proof of this by raising Jesus Christ from the dead.

He is the man that will be the judge of the living and the dead. So listen to the ants and be diligent in preparation, temporally, but even more so spiritually.

The Cautious Conies

Now notice, secondly, you've got the cautious conies. Same pattern, corresponding to the title line. You get their weakness and then you get their wisdom. Verse 26, the rock badgers, cones in the Old King James, are a feeble folk.

Now this is the rock badger, Hydrax, Leviticus 11.5, Deuteronomy 14.7, Psalm 104.18 refers to these animals. Now, likely, it's Assyrian rock hyrax. They live together in colonies from 6 to 50 and often sun themselves on the rocks. They are difficult to catch because they post guards that make a high-pitched whistle at the approach of any enemies.

Makes sense, right? Look at it. The rock badgers are a feeble folk. So that's their problem, that's their challenge, that's their issue, that's their conundrum, that's their difficulty.

But then notice the compensatory wisdom. Yet they make their homes in the crags. Well, why do they do that? Because they're prey animals.

If they sleep with the predators, they're not going to wake up again. Prey animals here are smart enough to know the pecking order, and as a result, they're not going to nuzzle up to a lion out in the wilderness for their nightly shelter. They're going to put the guards on the perimeter so that during the day they can go out and sun their coney bodies, and they're going to have those guards that announce the penetration of the cordon there by the predator. But where do they make their homes?

They make their homes in the crags. They take their shelter from the predators. They don't want to be vulnerable. They know that they're feeble.

They know that they're weak. They know that they don't have the wherewithal of the lion. So therefore, they hide themselves from the lion. It makes perfect sense.

So the Rock Badgers are a feeble folk, and then their wisdom is seen, yet they make their homes in the crags. John Gill says the Coney make their homes in the rocks to secure themselves from their more potent enemies, and thus what they want in strength is made up in wisdom. You see a recurring theme here that we're gonna visit at the end. It's a concept that used to be, I think, a lot more common than it is today.

You're probably thinking common sense. Well, yeah, that's another victim in terms of just thinking and processing and rationality. But there's another thing that I think leaps off the page from this section. It's called self-awareness.

Self-awareness, be aware of oneself, right? The ant knows its limitations, so what does it do? It diligently prepares. The coney knows its limitations, so what does it do?

It prepares. The locusts understand their limitations, so what do they do? They prepare. The spider understands its limitations, so what does it do?

It prepares. In other words, brethren, let your strengths, let your talents outweigh your baggage. Let them outweigh your liability. We've all got challenges.

We've all got issues. We've all got hardships. We've all got, all have certain difficulties in our lives. But the answer isn't to blame God.

The answer isn't to blame our fellows. The answer is to accept that, and by the grace of God, seek to overcome it. It's kind of been the way that man's always operated from the coming of Adam from the finger of God in creation. So they make their homes in the crags.

Now, again, temporally and spiritually, I think there is application to be made. Terms of temporal. In our studies in the Pentateuch on our Wednesday night Bible study, we saw in Exodus 22, verses 2 and 3, the legitimacy of self-defense. In terms of the temporal application, brethren, no matter what your government may tell you, it is your right to defend yourself.

And Exodus 22, 2 and 3 legitimizes that principle. You can protect yourself, you can protect those around you. And dare I say, you should! You better!

You must! It's your job! It's your response! It's your duty!

This is something temporally that flows from this particular passage. We need to make sure that we are engaged in lawful, godly defense of ourselves in the temporal arena. Again, those passages I invoked with reference to the end. We need to prepare, we need to be cautious when it comes to our food and our shelter.

We need to be diligent in terms of laying up those provisions and in terms of seeking, by the grace of God, to be protected from the various machinations that surround us.

Spiritual Application: Hiding in Christ

But spiritually, again, doesn't the Koni lend itself to a spiritual interpretation relative to the Day of Judgment? We're under the wrath and fury and curse of God Most High. What shall we do? Shall we try to appease Him with our words?

Shall we try to appease Him with our words? Shall we try to appease Him with a newfound religiosity? Or rather, shall we run to that strong tower, which is Jesus Christ, and find our refuge there? If the coney is marked by wisdom for hiding from the predators, then the people of God will be marked by wisdom from hiding from the predators.

That, brethren, is our responsibility. Notice in the book itself. Turn to Proverbs chapter 4. Proverbs chapter 4.

Cautious coneys hide from predators. Cautious believers ought to realize there's a predatorial bent remaining in them. And I think that's what Solomon addresses in Proverbs 4.23. He says, keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life.

Keep your heart with all diligence. This is a 24-7 job. This is constant. This isn't only on Sunday, only at the morning service.

This is a constancy for the people of God, just like Romans 13, 14. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh to fulfill its lusts, right? That's what a cautious Kony does. He hides himself from the potential predator.

And in this particular instance, the predator that resides, or at least remains, in his own heart. Look at Proverbs 22. Proverbs chapter 22. It's not just the heart and remaining corruption that the cautious Kony tries to hide from, but it's the world and it's the devil.

Notice in Proverbs 22 at verse three, a prudent man foresees evil and hides himself, but the simple pass on and are punished. See brethren, there is a sense where imitating the Coney might mean a bit of a change to our lives. If we get right up to the brink of temptation and we realize that when we get right up to the brink of temptation, we're not strong enough to not fall, Here's a bit of encouragement. Don't get right up to the brink of temptation.

Proverbs 5, when Solomon is cautioning his young son from the adulterous woman, he says, do not go near what? The door of her house. He doesn't say bed. He says door.

You're not strong enough to even go near the door of her house. What does James tell us? That pure and undefiled religion in the sight of God and the Father is this, to visit widows and orphans in their distress and to keep oneself unspotted from the world. Well, how do we do that?

We exercise caution. We exercise what the Cones manifest when they try to provide safety for themselves versus the predator. The same proverb is repeated in 27, specifically at verse 12. A prudent man foresees evil and hides himself the simple pass on and are punished.

So spiritually speaking, we look at the ants and they tell us to diligently prepare. We look at the conies and they tell us to diligently hide. and to diligently hide in the Savior King. Foul I to the fountain fly, wash me, Savior, or I die. Nothing in my hand I bring, simply to thy cross I claim." In other words, I realize I don't have the ability and the wherewithal to stand on the day of judgment unclothed, unforgiven.

I don't have the ability because I don't have exact and entire and perpetual and personal obedience to God's law. I'm a mess. I'm a wreck. I'm a lawbreaker.

The reality is, is that God is a holy and righteous God. The reality is, is that we're sinful and rebellious men. And the good news of the gospel is that Jesus comes to rescue rebellious and unrighteous men. He does so by His life, His death, and His resurrection.

He does so in such a way that all those who look to Him in faith will have everlasting life. That's the means by which we hide ourselves from that torrent of God's wrath on the day of judgment. Again, guilt. These are an emblem of the people of God who are a weak and feeble people, unable of themselves to perform spiritual duties, to exercise grace, to withstand the corruptions of their nature, resist the temptations of Satan, bear up under afflictive providences and grapple with spiritual enemies, or defend themselves from them.

But such heavenly wisdom is given them, as to betake themselves for refuge and shelter to Christ, the rock of Israel, the rock of salvation, the rock that is higher than they, a strong one on which the church is built and against which the gates of hell cannot prevail. And here they are safe from the storms of divine wrath and the avenging justice of God, from the rage and fury of men and the fiery darts of Satan. Here they dwell safely and delightfully and have all manner of provision at hand for them. Amen.

Brother, preach it. That's precisely what Edgar is communicating to us as he invokes the example of the ant, as he invokes the example of the coney.

The United Locusts

Now notice thirdly, the emphasis on the locust. Called this the united locusts. Almost sounds like a soccer team in the UK. Manchester United is playing the United Locusts.

But again, let's look at the way it corresponds with the title line. You've got the weakness, verse 27a, and then their compensatory wisdom in verse 27b. The Locusts have no king. The locusts have no king.

Now, while anarchy may suggest itself as a preferable way to live as our current government proceeds, it isn't. God gave civil government for good. In fact, in Proverbs 8, Jesus speaking his wisdom says, by me kings reign. Romans 13, there is no authority except from God and those which exist are established by God.

So civil government in and of itself, in principle, is not a bad thing. In other words, it was instituted by God. Now, what man does with that, he turns it into a bad thing, but that's a sermon series for another day and another age. If you're curious what it looks like to be in an anarchy, you can read Judges 17 to 21.

Judges 17 to 21 shows you life lived without a king. What happened? There was no king in Israel and everyone did what? They did what was right in the eyes of God?

No, they did what was right in their own eyes. Again, not a good place to be. When we devolve to that sort of a mindset, then anything goes. It is chaos, it is not cosmos.

So our prayer ought not to be for the elimination of civil government, but for the elimination of wretches who occupy civil government and the institution of men that fear God. That should be the prayer of the people of God relative to the matter of civil government. But back to our text, the locusts have no king. So what does that mean?

They're going to be challenged. It's going to be tough. God, in his wisdom, this isn't some overarching sort of barbaric hierarchy that God made. God made man to lead and Eve to be his helpmate.

God instituted male leadership in the context of the church. The Bible speaks to leadership. To just say, well, leadership is terrible. No, terrible leadership is terrible.

Leadership in and of itself isn't terrible. It's a good thing. Again, provided that the persons involved in it are doing it in a good way. So when you look at the locusts that have no king, you might start scratching your melon and saying, wait a minute, it's going to be a problem for them.

Again, they're not big, big eagles. They don't have the wingspan. They're not the vulture that can descend from miles away on prey and dead prey and eat it up. No, the locusts have an obvious disadvantage in the grand scheme of things.

So how do they compensate for that? What do they do to sort of correct that? Notice, yet they all advance in ranks. They don't just kind of look at each other and in the locust tongue say, well, we don't have a king, so we're done.

We don't have anybody to lead us, so it's over. We should just be extinct right now, welcome the various things that happen according to nature, under God, and just accept our fate. No, that's not what they do. They've got a weakness, no king, but they compensate for it by advancing in ranks.

And the way that they advance in ranks is most impressive. The Bible speaks about locusts a lot. In fact, in Joel 2, specifically at verse 25, God says, so I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the crawling locust, and the chewing locust, my great army which I sent among you. Why does he call them a great army that he had sent among them?

See, typically we think of armies as Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians with all their weaponry. We think of the Romans with all their weaponry. Well, in the hand of God, the locusts become a great army. And when we asked the question, I actually asked this of Google and this is what I got, a desert locust swarm can be 460 square miles in size and pack between 40 and 80 million locusts into less than half a square mile.

Each locust can eat its weight in plants each day. So a swarm of such size would eat 423 million pounds of plants every day. Like the individual animals within them, locust swarms are typically in motion and can cover vast distances. In 1954, a swarm flew from Northwest Africa to Great Britain.

In 1988, another made the lengthy trek from West Africa to the Caribbean. So the locusts start commiserating. Well, you know, we've got no king, so we're done. We've got no alpha locust, so we're over.

We've got no leader locust, so that's it. No. What do they do? They advance in ranks.

They manage to get along with each other. They manage to do what is necessary to accomplish the mission. They manage to function in a way that overarches their weakness. We don't have a king, so let's do the next best thing.

Let's advance together in ranks. Now, in terms of the temporal imitation, again, just think about your life. You're surrounded by family. You're in a church community, you're in a government or a polity, a civil polity, where there is at least some semblance of order.

But we need to be thankful that God has not left us destitute in this world. Children should be thankful for their parents. The churches should be thankful for leadership. The civil society should be thankful, especially when one or two come along the way that actually have brains and can function.

Those politicians among us that can walk and chew gum at the same time, we ought to praise God that those ones are alive.

Spiritual Application: Unity of the Church

But in terms of the spiritual imitation, the spiritual imitation or application, the church does have a king. The Church does have a head. The Church does have an alpha. And the Church is commanded to endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

In Ephesians 4, 1-6. In fact, previously in the book of Proverbs, in chapter 6, there are six things which Yahweh hates. Yea, seven are an abomination to Him. And then it fills in the blanks for things that you might believe would be on that list.

And then the last section, 19b, says, and one who sows discord among the brethren. The brethren asking questions or chatting or talking or even disagreeing, that's fine. Sometimes people do that. Well, the church, we disagree sometimes.

Show me a human family where they don't disagree from time to time. Maybe you're putting the bar a bit too high. So asking questions or perhaps not agreeing with 100% doesn't mean we're sowing discord among the brethren. But there is a species of men and women that do sow discord among the brethren.

And that is to be repudiated. It is to be rejected. We are to endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. We're to be as one man, with one mind, serving our blessed Savior and King.

Why? Because we're those who have a king, and the king has been very particular and very specific in how he wants us to advance. He wants us to advance in ranks. The locusts got that right even in the absence of a king.

We have a king who's promised to build his church, We have a king who's promised to defend us, to protect us, to rule over us and govern us. We have a king that is everywhere present with us. So therefore, when we hear his commands, we ought to take them to heart. We ought to advance in ranks.

We ought to agree. We ought to be focused on the mission. We ought to be mindful of the reality that this isn't a one-man show, but everybody doing their part, as Paul indicates in 1 Corinthians 12. It's because an eye isn't an ear, doesn't mean the eye is useless.

It's because the foot isn't a hand, doesn't mean the foot is useless. We all have our specific capacities. We all have our specific roles, our specific tasks. And if the locust without king can advance in ranks, Why can't the people of God advance in ranks when we've got the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords?

So the spiritual imitation of this is most necessary. As Gilligan says, it's an emblem of unity, concord, and harmony. And again, that doesn't mean we all see everything exactly the same. A bit of healthy disagreement within the parameters of orthodoxy isn't a bad thing.

As long as we're not heretical, I think Jesus is a creature. Well, you can't disagree on that. I don't think God's triune. Well, you can't disagree on that.

I don't think we're saved by grace through faith a lot. Well, you can't disagree on that. Eschatology? We're going to divide over that?

Put three guys in the room with, you know, a book of Revelation, you'll probably get 30 interpretations from those three guys on what's going to happen in the end. So brethren, there ought to be that healthy cooperation, that unitedness. Waltke makes the point. How much more should God's people under God's King advance God's kingdom by fighting in unison against the enemy?

Not themselves. Each one doing his part within his own rank of peers with the strictest discipline. That's a good observation. We've got enemies.

We got the world. We got the flesh. We got the devil. We don't fight those enemies with weaponry.

We don't, you know, mount up a martial attack. But collectively and spiritually, we pray against those things. We preach against those things. We seek to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, so we can effectively withstand the enemy of Christ's church.

Seems so simple. The locusts are able to function. We ought to go thou and do likewise.

The Persistent Spider

But then that brings us fourthly and finally to the persistent spider or lizard. Notice in verse 28, the spider skillfully grasps with its hands and it is in king's palaces. Now the translation here is difficult. It's either spider or lizard.

It's also difficult to understand the particular metaphor or the particular illustration that is given. Does it mean, or rather... It is difficult to know whether it's the spider skillfully grasping with its hands or the ease with which a spider or lizard can be grasped by the hands of another." Again, there's some degree of ambiguity in the passage, not because of the passage, but because of ambiguous men and the inability to know specifically what's going on here. The ESV translates it almost differently.

The lizard you can take in your hands, yet it is in King's palaces. So whatever the problem and whatever the animal, its compensatory wisdom is that it's in King's palaces. Here's what I think. I think it means that the spider skillfully grasps with its hands to build its web, to do its thing, and in building its webs, and in doing its thing, which seems insignificant.

I mean, there's a surface level appeal of a spider and its web. If you're one of those people, I can't stand spiders, then you might want to shut down for just a moment. Spiders are great. Spiders are wonderful.

Now that means not when they're running over my face. I might sing a different song then, but I'm not the guy that kills spiders. They function well in the world. They kill other things that I like less than spiders.

So spiders are good and the webs are intricate and they're pretty solid and pretty strong. I think the under-girding principle here is that, as insignificant as it may be, if it's just that spider weaving its web, or if it's a lizard or a spider that can easily be grasped into a jar, that's its weakness, its littleness, its insignificance. And yet, where does the spider reside? It's in the king's palace.

I ain't never been in a king's palace, probably will never be in a king's palace, obviously the king of kings and his palace, but the spider demonstrates something here of persistence, and dare I say it, even a godly ambition. Do what you will to that spider. It's in the king's palaces. You ever had that experience?

You've hosed down a spider web one time and the next day you come back and there it is. Either it's still intact or they rebuilt it in the same place. That's persistent. I gotta say, if some big guy with a big hose blasted my house and obliterated it, I'm not sure I'm gonna build again on that site.

I'd be afraid that he's gonna come again with that big hose and blast me into smithereens. But the spider, it's persistent. Spider's ambitious. I want to be in your backyard and you're not going to chase me off.

I want to be in the king's palace and you're not going to chase me off. I think that's what's happening here. It's exceedingly littleness is found in the fact that it's a tiny spider. Gill mentions this in terms of its strength.

Yet such is her constancy and assiduity, and her unwearied application to business, that as fast as they, her webs, are destroyed, she attempts to restore them. In other words, though you get obliterated by a large garden hose, though you get torn down by some meddling child, though you've got the various challenges associated with life in a spider world, you are nevertheless persistent. You are nevertheless ambitious. You're not going to go to the neighbor's house because you don't want to go there.

You're going to stay at this house because that's where you want to be. So the spider demonstrates something to us consistent with these other little things. They've got a weakness, but they've got compensatory wisdom. Now in terms of the temporal application, it should be obvious.

Don't give up. Do what you're supposed to do, even in spite of the challenges, in spite of the hardships, in spite of the trials and the difficulties. Now, there might be a time and place where, you know, if you're five foot two and you can't bounce a basketball, you may need to just accept the reality, the NBA is not in your future. But for the most part, people just give up because they don't like it to be hard.

Sorry, where does God's word ever promised ease? I heard that as a kid. Oh, that's not fair. Who said life was fair?

We need a great big dose of that motto back in modern society, don't we? Who said life was fair? Really? Can you show me chapter and verse?

Life will always be fair for you. I could show you just the contrary. I can show you Asaph in Psalm 73, where basically he throws his hands up in the air and says, life's not fair. The righteous are suffering and the unrighteous are exalted.

That just doesn't seem fair. As for me, he says, my foot nearly slipped. Why? Because of the fairness of the world?

No. because of the heartache and the hardship beset upon the people of God, and by the affluence and the prosperity of the non-people of God. Life isn't fair. How do you deal with it? By whining and grumbling and moaning?

Do you just, you know, sob to tears every time something, I'm not saying there can't be some hurt, there can't be some sorrow, but if your life is punctuated by, if your life is defined by constant misery over the difficulties that this world has, I'm sorry, you may need to charter a rocket and fly to the moon because this world has its challenges. And usually it's at this place because I think it's so fitting and appropriate. I quote a story from Robert the Bruce. He was the king of Scots from 1306 until his death in 1329.

He was on the run after the 1305 Battle of Methven. Bruce hid in a cave where he observed a spider spinning a web. Now you history buffs are going, well, that's apocryphal. It didn't really happen.

I don't care. It's a good story, and I think it illustrates well the point. He was on the run after the 1305 Battle of Methven. Bruce hid in a cave where he observed a spider spinning a web, trying to make a connection from one area of the cave's roof to another.

It tried and failed twice, but began again and succeeded on the third attempt. Inspired by this, Bruce returned to inflict a series of defeats on the English, thus winning him more supporters and eventual victory. Do you know why WD-40 is WD-40? Because there were 39 failed attempts to make WD-40.

So if that guy after number one was, well, just too hard, I can't do it. He and his corporation and his empire wouldn't be the multi-billion dollar empire it most likely is. Brethren, life is tough. This is a good happy sermon.

Life is hard. Life can be unfair. I hope you parents are training your children this way. Oh, Johnny, oh, you know, little whoever, everything's always gonna be roses for you.

Bluebirds will come and they will clothe you. There'll be rose petals as you walk to work. That job, by the way, where you make a handsome salary and you never have any irritating people. Brethren, there is a constant refrain amongst businessmen on how difficult it is to find workers today.

Has the bar ever been so low? Show up and breathe and you'll probably own the company before long. Life isn't fair. And I know this is tough.

I know that there's a lot of baggage in a lot of people's lives, and it has a big effect and impact on them going forward. I don't know how to make that magically disappear, but I can suggest that you bring it to the cross, you bring it to the Lord Jesus, you bring it to the God of absolute glory, power, and mercy, and you lay it at His feet, and you get about the business of life. If the spider has the ambition and the persistence to be in king's palaces, then as Solomon says elsewhere in the Proverbs, do you see a man who excels in his work? He will stand before kings.

Why is that? because that's not the majority report. You got lazy, whining, grumbling people that people this earth. And when the people of God get serious about their God, and they live by grace through faith in the Son of God who loved us and gave himself for us, and we go to not Solomon's school in the book of Proverbs, but Jesus' school in the book of Proverbs, and we hear his wisdom, And we act upon that wisdom. I'm not gonna say all your troubles will be cast away, but you're gonna negotiate, you're gonna work through, you're gonna be diligent.

Spiritual Application: Dwelling in the King's Palace

And of course, the spiritual application. The people of God at certain times in various epochs in history have been seen as insignificant. They have been seen as little. They have been seen as marginal.

They have been seen as the rabble of the earth. But paradoxically, where do we dwell? We dwell in the king's palace, even presently. Ephesians 2.6 indicates that.

Now, we're not already there, to be sure. We're not yet there, but we already enjoy the present benefits of Christ's kingdom right here, right now. So if these spiders, in their persistent ambition, understand the blessedness of being in the king's palaces, When we likewise are tried, or vexed, or oppressed, or should the persecution get turned up, if these things befall us, life isn't over. We are in king's palaces.

We are heaven-bound. We are going to that place that moth and rust cannot destroy. We are going to Emmanuel's land. So whatever they throw at us here, we ought to be able to deal with it because of their...

In fact, Walty again makes this observation. This conclusion points to wisdom's reward of living in a luxurious royal palace. If the son, the one to whom Eger is addressing himself, if the son whom wicked men and women want to capture, exercises caution, though as vulnerable as a lizard or spider, he too will live in the chief residence of the realm. Paradoxically, the people of God who are foolish by the world's standards live in heavenly places. beautiful emphasis and one that we need to keep at the forefront of our minds.

Whatever affects us in the here and the now cannot shake our possession because God in his grace conferred upon us a kingdom. In fact, look at the language utilized by the Savior in Luke's gospel. Luke chapter 22 at the inauguration of the supper according to Luke's gospel. Look at what Jesus says. specifically at verse 28, but you are those who have continued with me in my trials, and I bestow upon you a kingdom.

Here, I would have much preferred a good translation. It is literally, and I covenant upon you a kingdom, just as my father covenanted one upon me. In other words, it isn't simply a bestowal, it is that. But it's a covenantal bestowal, founded on the sure promises of God Most High, who cannot lie, who cannot deny Himself, and will accomplish the purpose for which He sent the Son of His love.

Brethren, we ought to be persistent and ambitious in the spiritual realm in terms of our status in heaven.

Application: Self-Awareness and Imitation

Well, in conclusion, I already sort of foreshadowed this first application, the need for self-awareness, the need to recognize one's own limitations. Again, this is not the most obvious thing in the world today. The five foot two guy that wants to be the NBA center needs somebody in his life honest enough to tell him, no, you can't do it. The guy that's the proudest one in the church or in the home or in the workplace shouldn't write the book on humility.

There is a need for self-awareness. If the ant fancies himself as strong and stately as the lion, he will starve in the winter. If the coney thinks himself as strong and stately as the lion, he will be eaten by the lion. If the locust does not understand that weakness inherent in being a locust and doesn't overcome that, they will be overcome.

And if the spider doesn't understand the reality that it's insignificant, that it's little, it will not be in King's palaces. Self-awareness is an absolutely crucial tool to navigate your life. And again, it's not the wisdom of Solomon in the book of Proverbs, it's the wisdom of Jesus. He gives you tips, he gives you insights, he gives you things for you to ponder and for you to consider.

So understand that inherent weakness that you have. It doesn't do anybody any good to think that they have no weaknesses. Right? Oh, no, I'm eight foot tall and bulletproof.

I can do anything and everything. You meet those people once in a while, don't you? They've done everything. Better than you, by the way.

They just have. They've been to more places. They've done more things. And they've done it very well, if you ask them.

And you're sitting there scratching your head going, that can't be true. Or if it is true, why are you telling me this? Like, what's the end game here? Just to show me what a slob I am?

I mean, come on. That's not cool. Self-awareness, brethren, goes a long way in this world. Again, this isn't non-theological, non-biblical.

If that doesn't scream or leap off the page in this section, I don't know what does. And as I mentioned earlier, one of the challenges to self-awareness is just old garden variety pride. Garden variety pride. Look at 2616. 2616.

The lazy man, we already saw it, is wiser in his own eyes than seven men who can answer sensibly. Seven men who can answer sensibly. Solomon said, that's a good thing. Seven men who can answer sensibly, and then this one dolt thinks he's smarter than the rest of them.

That's not good. Remember Rehoboam? He takes the throne from his father, Solomon. And instead of taking wisdom from his father Solomon's advisors, he listens to his friends.

How'd that work out? Oh, it was great. It was not great at all. It ruptured the kingdom.

It caused a break in the kingdom. It was not a good thing. I mean, Solomon was wise. I've already mentioned that.

I've already established that. Do you imagine that the people that gave counsel to Solomon were probably wise as well? I mean, a wise man doesn't listen to fools. That's why he's a wise man.

A wise man may not be the brightest man, but he's wise in that he surrounds himself with the brightest men. So when push came to shove with Rehoboam, he'd rather listen to his dummy friends than rather listen to the wise men that surrounded his father. And then notice 30.13. We didn't read that section, but here again, it is pride.

Actually, we'll read the section, the subunit. Verses 11 to 14. There is a generation that curses its father. Uncannily parallel to the generation that you and I live in here in verses 11 to 14.

There is a generation that curses its father and does not bless its mother. There is a generation that is pure in its own eyes, yet is not washed from its filthiness. There is a generation, oh, how lofty are their eyes, and their eyelids are lifted up. This is one of the tremendous challenges against a biblical self-awareness, is just being proud and arrogant.

So once you identify that weakness, overcome it by your strengths. Again, the idea is not, I don't have any weaknesses. No, I seek by God's grace to cover those weaknesses with my strengths. Just like the ant, just like the coney, just like the locust, and just like the spider.

And then finally, I just want to end where we were. Imitate these creatures. Imitate these creatures in the temporal sphere. Imitate these creatures in the spiritual sphere.

Because there is a day coming, the judgment of God most high. God doesn't judge on a curve. Well, you gave it your best shot. You get a participation trophy.

You can sit on the bench over here. That's not how God judges. God judges in righteousness. God judges according to his law.

God judges with precision. There's no argument that you can sort of get out of the judgment of God. There's no lawyer that you can hire. There's nobody that will stand in your place, save one, Lawyer Christ, the one who stands in your place, Christ.

That's the beauty of the Christian gospel. I don't have a life of obedience. I'm filled with sin. But Jesus came and rendered a life of obedience.

Jesus came and went to the cross and died as a sacrifice and a substitute. Jesus Christ was raised again the third day. And the promise goes out to every creature on God's earth, that if you believe in Him, you will be saved. If you believe in him, you will be forgiven and you will receive that righteousness, that crag that will hide you from the predator of God's just judgment and vengeance upon those who have transgressed his law.

Come to the Lord Jesus, imitate these little things and know the joy of the Lord as your strength.

Closing Prayer

Well, let us pray. Our God and Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you that nature itself teaches us very valuable lessons. We see it with the ant and the coney.

We see it with the locust and the spider. And we thank you for this, Lord God. Help us to be prepared by grace through faith in our blessed Savior and help us to imitate these little things that are exceedingly wise. And we ask through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Amen. We can turn in your hymn books as we close our service by singing the doxology. 568, we'll stand as we sing together. ♪ Praise Him above the heavenly host ♪ ♪ Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost ♪ ♪ Amen ♪ The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen. Thank you, Father, for this time together.

Thank you for the blessed privilege to worship the God of heaven and earth. Go with us now, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, please be seated for a brief time of meditation.

Scripture References

• Exodus 18:22; 22:2-3; 23:29-30
• Leviticus 11:5
• Deuteronomy 14:7
• Judges 17-21
• 1 Samuel 15:17
• 1 Kings 4:33-34
• Job 40-41
• Psalm 73; 73:2; 104:18
• Proverbs 4:23; 5:8; 6:6-11; 6:16-19; 8:15; 22:3; 22:29; 26:13-16; 27:12; 27:23-27; 30:11-14; 30:24-28
• Ecclesiastes 12:1
• Joel 2:25
• Matthew 6:25-34
• Luke 22:28-29
• Romans 13:1; 13:14
• 1 Corinthians 12
• Ephesians 2:6; 4:1-6
• 2 Thessalonians 3:10
• 1 Timothy 5:8
• Hebrews 9:27
• James 1:27