Favour With God Prov. 22: 1 CLICK TITLE FOR AUDIO

Prov 22:1 “A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favour rather than silver and gold.”

According to this verse, loving favor is better than silver and gold.  Well, most people wouldn’t turn down a little silver and gold.  My memory from banking is that most people spent a great deal of time chasing a buck.  But they didn’t spend much time cultivating favor with God.  Solomon, who had both, said that loving favor was better.

One of the outstanding characteristics of some of the most notable figures in the Bible is that they obtained favor with God.  Look at this list:

• Jesus – Lk 2:52 And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.
• Mary – Lk 1:30 And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.
• David – Acts 7:46 Who found favour before God, and desired to find a tabernacle for the God of Jacob.
• Daniel – Dan 1:9 Now God had brought Daniel into favour and tender love with the prince of the eunuchs.
• Abraham – Gen 18:3 And said, My Lord, if now I have found favour in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant:
• Samuel – 1 Sam 2:26 And the child Samuel grew on, and was in favour both with the LORD, and also with men.

Those are some of the top people in the Bible.  If we can discover how they obtained favor with God and do what they did, then, perhaps, we can find favor with God, as well.  A person obtains favor with the Lord by:

Righteousness – Ps 5:12 For thou, LORD, wilt bless the righteous; with favour wilt thou compass him as with a shield.

Our righteousness comes from the righteousness of Jesus Christ, given to us at our new birth.  When we yield to his righteousness, and have the fruit of righteousness in our lives, we have favor with God because “the righteous Lord loveth righteousness,” [Ps 11:7].

Mercy and Truth – Prov 3:3-4 Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart: So shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man.

We are saved according to God’s mercy [Titus 3:5] and we are sanctified by his truth [Jn 17:17].

Therefore to have favor with God, we first need to be saved and sanctified.  Then, we need to extend mercy to others [Eph 4:32; Matt 18:24-33].  the Bible says, “with the merciful thou wilt show thyself merciful,” [2 Sam 22:26].  And we need to walk in the truth and be truthful.  We should not be not false witnesses, exaggerators, liars, or those who withhold truth.  We need to be true with God, with ourselves, with our family, with our friends and with our acquaintances.  Paul said in 1 Tim 2:7, “I speak the truth in Christ, and lie not.”

Wisdom – Prov 8:35 For whoso findeth me findeth life, and shall obtain favour of the LORD.

Wisdom comes from fear of the Lord and it is impossible to obtain apart from the words of God.  But you have to “find” it; you must “seek” it, [Prov 8:17].  Lazy people won’t work [2 Tim 2:15] at studying and so they are not approved by God.

Wisdom also comes from good counsel.  Thus we need to spend time in the Book and we need to have godly counsellors.  These will keep us in good favor with God.

Understanding – Prov 13:15 Good understanding giveth favour: but the way of transgressors is hard.

Understanding is different than wisdom in that you have to live it and work with it and do it and grow in it.  Understanding comes from time applying wisdom.  A person can have the wisdom to know that suffering accompanies fellowship with God.  But until you have lived this suffering, you don’t really understand it.

Goodness – Prov 11:27 He that diligently seeketh good procureth favour: but he that seeketh mischief, it shall come unto him.

This favor comes from “seeking good.”  Today’s society seeks pleasure and mischief.  Just look at the things they watch, hear and say.  What we want to do is seek “good.”  God is good, his judgments are good, his ways are good, his words are good, his provisions are good, and his people are good [a lover of good men].  When you seek good, you find favor with God.

Marriage – Prov 18:22 Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favour of the LORD.

This is true when you find “a prudent wife (who) is from the Lord,” [Prov 19:14].  Of course, you don’t wait until you’re married to “find out” if she’s prudent and from the Lord.  Finding the right wife indicates that the fellow is careful in his pursuit and choice in this matter.  When you get the right one, you obtain favour of the Lord.

Conclusion: Favor with God is more important than the pursuit of favor with men or the pursuit of wealth.  But favor with God is not on your terms.  Rather it is on God’s terms.  And these are the ways we obtain favor with him.