Audio Download

“It is the glory of God to conceal a thing:
but the honour of kings is to search out a matter”

Part 1 (Pro 25:1-4)

[Study Aired January 22, 2026]

Pro 25:1  These are also proverbs of Solomon, which the men of Hezekiah king of Judah copied out.
Pro 25:2  It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings is to search out a matter.
Pro 25:3  The heaven for height, and the earth for depth, and the heart of kings is unsearchable.
Pro 25:4  Take away the dross from the silver, and there shall come forth a vessel for the finer.

Verse two of this section of proverbs is very thought-provoking as it reminds us that all glory and honour is our God’s, even the glory that we initially take unto ourselves when we are yet carnal Christians, as explained in (1Co 4:7).

1Co 4:7  For who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?

Mankind has been shapen in iniquity (Jer 18:4, Psa 51:5), and that iniquity which is self-righteousness (Eze 33:13) has a form of glory or light, likened unto the moon that represents the law of Moses (2Co 3:9-14, 1Ti 1:9, Exo 34:29-35), which follows us right into our relationship with our Father and Christ, who is intent on destroying that self-exalting man of perdition, within the elect, first (2Th 2:3-7).

Eze 33:13  When I shall say to the righteous, that he shall surely live; if he trust to his own righteousness, and commit iniquity, all his righteousnesses shall not be remembered; but for his iniquity that he hath committed, he shall die for it.

2Th 2:7  For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.
2Th 2:8  And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:

2Co 3:14  But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ.

If we continue in the truth, the truth will crush that iniquity within us, or rip that veil of self righteousness to the glory of God, and the life of Christ that is concealed, will be revealed by the man of perdition being “taken out of the way” (Joh 8:32, Mat 21:44).

Joh 8:31  Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
Joh 8:32  And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

Mat 21:44  And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.

The honour for God’s people is in knowing that it is Christ doing the work, and that we are His workmanship (Luk 17:10), who are the first to trust in God in this life, to the praise of His glory (Eph 1:11-12). That trust is developed through much tribulation (Act 14:22), that comes with this blessed honour of knowing God the Father and Jesus Christ (Mat 13:16, Rev 20:6, Rom 8:18).

Luk 17:10  So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do.

Our great King is working in us both to will and to do of our Father’s good pleasure which is to give us the kingdom (Luk 12:32), resulting in our understanding the relationship that we have with them both, “At that day “ (Joh 14:20, Joh 17:3).

The things that God has concealed must be laboured for mightily in order to unearth them, and have them refined, by the fiery trials of this life (1Ti 6:12,  Joh 6:27, 1Pe 4:12).

1Ti 6:12  Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.

Joh 6:27  Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed.

This gift of God of being judged in this age (1Pe 4:17) is an ongoing process that is expressed in this proverb, “It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings is to search out a matter”. Christ is leading the way within the body of Christ as our head in seeking the kingdom of God first and his righteousness (Mat 6:31-34). We are laboring together to unearth those things which He has concealed, and God is rewarding the body of Christ for this ongoing workmanship that we are, in the Creator’s hands (Heb 11:6, Php 2:12-13, Eph 2:10). It takes the whole body of Christ for this endeavor to be fulfilled, and this is the great cloud of witness that the world is going to one day understand that God is forming now, and was forming, and will be forming until our last breath (Eph 4:16, Eph 3:20-21).

Here are ‘the matters’ that matter, that God has hidden from the world (Eph 2:8-19), and that we are blessed to be given a hunger and thirst for (Mat 5:6) as we search out, through the life of Christ, “the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings is to search out a matter”, resulting in the manifold wisdom of God being “known by the church the manifold wisdom of God”(Eph 3:10).

Eph 2:8  For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Eph 2:9  Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Eph 2:10  For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

Mat 5:6  Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

Pro 25:1  These are also proverbs of Solomon, which the men of Hezekiah king of Judah copied out.

God has used the prophets and kings of this earth (Luk 10:24, 2Pe 1:21), and moved them to write words to be unearthed for their deeper spiritual meaning, when the holy spirit would be given to the body of Christ (1Pe 1:12, 1Co 10:11).

Luk 10:24  For I tell you, that many prophets and kings have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.

2Pe 1:21  For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

1Pe 1:9  Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.
1Pe 1:10  Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you:
1Pe 1:11  Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.
1Pe 1:12  Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.

1Co 10:11  Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.
1Co 10:12  Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.
1Co 10:13  There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
1Co 10:14  Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry [flee from the idol of our heart that thinks we can stand without Christ and His body].

Pro 25:2  It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings is to search out a matter.

As we just read, God has concealed the truth from all who cannot see with spiritual eyes and hear with spiritual ears (Mat 13:16). They are sacrificed in their unbelief for God’s elect, so that He can show mercy to all, in time (Rom 11:32). The honour given in this age is for the body of Christ, the kings of our Lord, to “search out a matter” today, and that ‘matter’ is the gospel of Jesus Christ, which is “the power of God unto salvation” (Rom 1:16).

Mat 13:16  But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.

Rom 11:32  For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.

Rom 1:16  For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

Pro 25:3  The heaven for height, and the earth for depth, and the heart of kings is unsearchable.

Pro 25:3 Who can fully understand the thoughts of a ruler? They reach beyond the sky and go deep in the earth. (CEV)

Jesus declared, “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth” (Mat 28:18), “The heaven for height, and the earth for depth”, which represents our minds in the Lord that are sealed with the holy spirit, and being worked with in this life (Eph 1:13).

Eph 1:13  In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,

God is working within the kings and priests He is preparing to rule and reign under Christ (Rom 11:33-36), and now we have the mind of Christ that makes it possible for us to continue to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and saviour (1Co 2:14-16, 2Pe 3:17-18), a mind that is declared to be “unsearchable”, “how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!”

1Co 2:16  For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.

Rom 11:33  O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!
Rom 11:34  For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor?
Rom 11:35  Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again?
Rom 11:36  For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.

Pro 25:4  Take away the dross from the silver, and there shall come forth a vessel for the finer.

Pro 25:4  Remove the dross from the silver, and a silversmith can produce a vessel. (NIV)

Dross is the scum that forms on the surface of molten metal; and consists of the impurities that only rise to the surface as a result of great heat (1Pe 4:12).

1Pe 4:12  Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:

One of many spiritual lesson in this physical process for God’s elect to observe, is to not despise that fiery process but rather rejoice that God is dealing with us as with sons who are being received through that very hot scourging and chastening process (1Pe 4:17, Rom 2:4, Heb 12:6, 1Pe 4:13).

1Pe 4:13  But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings;(Rom 8:18) that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy

Every sacrifice shall be salted with the salt of (Mar 9:49), and it is all for the purpose of turning us into vessels that are “meet for the master’s use [through our Father who is the Spiritual Silversmith, and a Consuming Fire Heb 12:29], and prepared unto every good work” (2Ti 2:21, Rev 19:7).

It’s instructive to note that in the physical realm sodium hydroxide, which has the element of salt in it, is used to accelerate that process of extracting the dross during the refining process. That salt, symbolizing the holy spirit, is the key component in the lives of God’s children that makes it possible for us to endure, and bear all things, and hope all things, and go through this refining process until the end (1Co 10:13, Rom 8:9, Php 4:13, 1Co 13:7).

1Co 10:13  There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

Rom 8:9  But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.

Php 4:13  I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

1Co 13:7  Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.

Smelting and a refiner’s fire are related but not the same; smelting is the process of extracting metal from its ore by heating, while a refiner’s fire specifically refers to the purification of metals by removing impurities through intense heat. Both processes involve high temperatures, but smelting focuses on extraction, whereas refining emphasizes purification.

This refining process is analogous of the spiritual process God’s elect have been called unto (Rom 8:30-33).

Rom 8:30  Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.
Rom 8:31  What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
Rom 8:32  He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?
Rom 8:33  Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth.

Rom 5:10  For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.

These two processes [smelting and the refiner’s fire] help us understand how we can see judgement unfolding in the world, but it is only the necessary first stage of what will lead to the refiner’s fire that purifies the metal in question (Mat 21:44). God permitting that is us in this age (Heb 6:1-3). Clearly, we go unto perfection by a process of judgement that takes our entire life if we are God’s first fruits in this life (Luk 13:32).

Heb 6:1  Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection;(Luk 13:32) not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God,
Heb 6:2  Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.
Heb 6:3  And this will we do, if God permit.

Luk 13:32  And he said unto them, Go ye, and tell that fox, Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures to day and to morrow, and the third day I shall be perfected.

God is humbling His children in this age through the relationship that we have with the Pearl of great price, Jesus Christ (Mat 13:45-46). It is to God’s glory that we are hidden in Christ, and baptized into his death (Col 3:3-4, Rom 6:3-4), concealed from the world, and it is our honour to seek out this matter of the life of Christ within us, our hope of glory, who is revealed through the refining process of filling up what is behind of the afflictions of Christ for his body’s sake (Col 1:26-27, Col 1:22-24).

Col 3:3  For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.
Col 3:4  When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.

Col 1:26  Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:
Col 1:27  To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:

In this first part of chapter 25 the main point I want to emphasize is that “It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings is to search out a matter”.

Only Christ can open up the seals in the book of revelation within us (Rev 5:4-5), where the knowledge of the Kingdom of God has been concealed and hidden from the world. It is also to God’s glory that Satan can be used to blind all the nations (2Co 4:4), and at an appointed time for every man, Christ can enter into our life via the holy spirit so that “the honour of kings is [can be] to search out a matter” (Php 2:12-13).

Rev 5:4  And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon.
Rev 5:5  And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.

Php 2:12  Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
Php 2:13  For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.