Proverbs 25:28 “Like a city whose walls are broken down is a man who lacks self-control.”
One of the personal life and practice issues I’ve been working through the past few months is uprooting anger out of my life, and this verse is one of the verses I’ve been meditating on throughout that process. I would like to share with you just a few of the observations I’ve had while meditating on this verse.
The first observation I made is that this proverb likens a man to a city. Which was interesting to me because I tend to focus on the negative connotations of cities and this proverb forced me to consider some of the positive aspects of cities. Cities are places of community, they promote commerce, trade, the exchange of ideas, and ultimately, they promote human flourishing. And through Scripture we know that history will culminate in the heavenly city of Revelation 21, which is the pinnacle of human flourishing under submission to God.
For the Old Testament reader, the city that would most likely come to their mind is Jerusalem. God built Jerusalem and protected Jerusalem (Ps. 46:4; 87:5; 127:1), and not only that, but the Temple was there, as a symbol of God’s presence with His people (Deut. 12:11; 1 Kings 8). And just as God once dwelt in Jerusalem, God now dwells within us. 1 Cor. 3:16 says that “Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you?”
The primary image of a city that this proverb is
communicating, however, is one that is left defenseless. “Like a city whose
walls are broken down is a man…” Consider those things mentioned before that a
city does well, and how a city promotes flourishing: they are impossible for a
city to accomplish if it is left defenseless, if the city walls are broken
down.
Before I continue, I would like to make one caveat. I think that for most of us, regarding our spiritual walls, the primary danger we face is not that our entire wall lies in ruins and that we are completely open to getting steam rolled by the enemy. It is much more likely that we have cracks in our walls, points of weakness. Allow me a quick military tactics primer: an infantry platoon in the attack first sends out recon to identify points weakness in the enemy’s defenses. The platoon next exploits those weaknesses to create a gap in the enemy’s defenses which it can then focus its main effort on. You don’t just throw your main effort against the entire enemy defensive line. In the same way, the enemy is going to be reconnoitering us to discover our spiritual points of weakness, and then the enemy is going to attempt to exploit those weaknesses. So, I want to challenge you today to ask God to show you where your points of weaknesses are, and to give you the strength, through His grace, to shore up your defenses.
Now, if our walls are broken down, the next question we should ask is why. Proverbs 25:28 tells me it is because I lack self-control. I like how the New King James Version puts it: “whoever has no rule over his sprit...” To rule over your spirt is to exercise authority over it, to command it, to have it obey you. Matthew Henry says that a man who does have rule over his spirt is a man who “maintains the government of himself, and of his own appetites and passions, and does not suffer them to rebel against reason and conscience. He has the rule of his own thoughts, his desires, his inclinations, his resentments, and keeps them all in good order.” So, conversely, a man who lacks self-control is one who is NOT maintaining the government of himself. He does not have rule over his thoughts, desires, etc. and, I would submit, it is likely that these things are exercising rule over him.
As an example, one of the things that I have been learning about in my study on anger are inordinate desires. They are desires for good things, but the desire is out of proportion, you desire them too much. So, for example, you could have the desire to maintain a hobby, which is good, but you could desire it so much that thoughts of the hobby consume you and distract your mind from other more product pursuits; or it could consume you to the extent that you are willing to sin to “enjoy” the hobby, such as lying to your wife about how you are spending your time. That is an example of your thoughts and desires exercising rule over you, and when that happens, you get cracks in your wall and you start opening yourself up to spiritual attack.
So far, we have drawn out the analogy between a man and a city, and we understand why our city walls are important, and we have gone over at least some contributing factors as to why our city wall could be broken down. And maybe, like me, you’ve realized that your city wall is broken. Very well, but your wall cannot just stay broken; we got to get that thing rebuilt. There is too much at stake to let our walls lay in ruins.
Thinking about rebuilding walls, my mind went to Nehemiah. I want to share with you four principles out of Nehemiah that I think we can use in helping to rebuild our spiritual walls. The first principle is Nehemiah’s brokenness over the state of Jerusalem’s walls. Neh. 1:4 says that “As soon as I heard these words [about the broken walls] I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven.” Likewise, James 4 says to “Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.” Revival starts with repentance, and if we are not willing be broken over our own brokenness, to mourn over our sin, and humbly seek God’s face, our efforts to rebuild our walls are not even going to get started.
The second principle out of Nehemiah, is that before beginning the building process, Nehemiah surveyed the wall in order to draw up a plan and discover which areas needed the most focus. Practice self-confrontation and ask God to show you where your areas of spiritual weaknesses are.
The third principle that we can use to help rebuild our walls is that Nehemiah didn’t rebuild the wall of Jerusalem himself. He used the people of God. Part of the reason for the body of believers is so that we may edify one another. Hebrews 10 says “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” If your walls are broken, go confess as much to someone and ask them for help.
The fourth principle out of Nehemiah for rebuilding spiritual walls is that the enemy did not like the people of God rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem and wanted to stop them by any means necessary. Therefore the Israelites, in order to defend themselves while they were rebuilding the wall, had to be armed. The enemy wants you to be week and defenseless. The enemy wants to keep you from defending others. The enemy does not want you rebuilding your wall. Therefore, if you are in the process or rebuilding your spiritual walls, you must expect attack and therefore you must be armed. We must be armed with many things, but I think primarily with the Word of God. Scripture testifies to itself as weapon in Hebrews 4:12 - “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” So the word is a weapon and we must be armed with it.
And not only must we be armed with the word, but we must also bear arms with the word. To bear arms means to use those arms in a military manner. If I am going to use a weapon in a military manner, in a fight, where people’s lives are a stake, then I had better know how to use that weapon well. Likewise, let us be well trained and practiced in the skillful use of the spiritual weapons that we have been given. Engaging in Spiritual Warfare well is something that I am trying to learn how to do currently.
Finally, all this talk of cities and walls and weapons reminded me of my time in the Marine Corps standing watch (of which I stood many). And it reminded me of one of the verses I memorized then. Psalms 127:1 says “Unless the Lord builds the house, They labor in vain who build it; Unless the Lord guards the city, The watchman stays awake in vain.” If anything I just said applies to you, and you’ve got some work to do rebuilding your walls, realize that all of your efforts will be in vain unless they are done in the strength of the LORD, and unless you trust in the Lord God for the victory. Let us do so.