Proverbs
1 The proverbs of Solomon, the son of David, king of Israel. 2 To know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding; 3 To receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, judgment, and equity; 4 To give good sense to the naive and knowledge and discretion to the young man. 5 A wise man will listen, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding will attain to wise counsels:
- Notice that God has put His own introduction and purpose statement in every book of scripture.
- It is direct and quickly to the point.
- Many people give up on Bible study before they get started because of lengthy and boring introductions.
- Job 36:22 Behold, God exalts by his power: who teaches like him?
6 To understand a proverb, and the interpretation; the words of the wise, and their dark sayings. 7 The fear of the LORD is the principal part of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction. 8 My son, hear the instruction of your father, and do not forsake the law/teaching of your mother: 9 For they will be an ornament of grace to your head, and chains about your neck. 10 My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent. 11 If they say, Come with us, let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk secretly for the innocent without cause: 12 Let us swallow them up alive as the grave; and whole, as those that go down to the pit: 13 We will find all precious substance, we will fill our houses with plunder: 14 Cast in your lot among us; let us all have one purse: 15 My son, do not walk in the way with them; keep your foot from their path: 16 For their feet run to evil, and hurry to shed blood. 17 Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird. 18 And they lay wait for their own blood; they lurk secretly for their own lives. 19 So are the ways of every one that is greedy of gain; which takes away the life of its owners.
- Fear of the Lord—when you fear the One who is all-powerful and all-knowing, that is the start of a good life because you will listen to Him.
- If you steal, you will be stolen from; if you kill, you will be killed.
- Each man builds his life with the choices that he makes.
- Psalm 1:1 Blessed is the man that does not walk in the counsel of the ungodly or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of the scornful. 2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law he meditates day and night. 3 He will be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that brings forth his fruit in his season; his leaf will not wither; and whatever he does will prosper.
- Psalm 14:1 The fool has said in his heart, there is no God.
- Matthew 7:12 Therefore all things whatever you would have men do to you, you do that to them: for this is the law and the prophets.
20 Wisdom cries without; she utters her voice in the streets: 21 She cries in the chief place of concourse, in the openings of the gates: in the city she utters her words, saying, 22 How long, naive ones, will you love being simple-minded? And scoffers delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge?
The Lord pours out His Spirit; He will make known His words to us
23 Turn at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit to you, I will make known my words to you. 24 Because I have called, and you refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded; 25 But you neglected all my counsel, and did not want my reproof: 26 I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear comes; 27 When your fear comes as desolation, and your destruction comes as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish come on you. 28 Then they will call on me, but I will not answer; they will seek me early, but they will not find me: 29 For they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD: 30 They would not accept my counsel: they despised all my reproof. 31 Therefore they will eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices.
- Galatians 6:7 Do not be deceived; God is not mocked: for whatever a man sows, that is what he will also reap.
- Proverbs 2:6 the LORD gives wisdom: out of his mouth comes knowledge and understanding.
God keeps safe those who listen to Him
32 For the turning away of the simple will kill them, and the prosperity of fools will destroy them. 33 But whoever listens to me shall dwell safely, and will be quiet from fear of evil.
- God promises safety and quiet to those who listen to His wisdom.
- What a wonderful promise for this day of alarm systems and security devices. The Creator of the universe will be your security system.
- He will keep you safe in the midst of the worst possible circumstances, like Daniel in the lion’s den (Daniel 6).
Proverbs 2
1 My son, if you will receive my words, and hide my commandments with you; 2 So that you turn your ear to wisdom, and apply your heart to understanding; 3 Yes, if you cry after knowledge, and lift up your voice for understanding; 4 If you seek her as silver, and search for her as for hid treasures; 5 Then you will understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God.
- God is the greatest treasure in existence.
- He is the source of all that is valuable.
- How much is infinite knowledge worth?
- How much is infinite power worth?
God gives wisdom
He is a shield to those that walk uprightly
6 For the LORD gives wisdom: out of his mouth comes knowledge and understanding. 7 He lays up sound wisdom for the righteous: he is a shield to those that walk uprightly.
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He guards the paths of judgment and preserves the way of his saints
8 He guards the paths of judgment, and preserves the way of his saints. 9 Then you will understand righteousness, and judgment, and equity; yes, every good path. 10 When wisdom enters into your heart, and knowledge is pleasant to your soul; 11 Discretion will preserve you, understanding will watch over you: 12 To deliver you from the way of the evil man, from the man that speaks perverse things; 13 Who leave the paths of uprightness, to walk in the ways of darkness; 14 Who rejoice to do evil, and delight in the perverseness of the wicked; 15 Whose ways are crooked, and they are devious in their paths:
- In Eden God forbad man to partake of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and evil.
- Evil has a good side—good that leaves out God, the Source of all things.
- When they listened to the serpent they listened to evil. They followed a path to darkness.
16 To deliver you from the strange woman, even from the adulteress who flatters with her words; 17 Who forsakes the companion of her youth, and forgets the covenant of her God. 18 For her house inclines unto death, and her paths to the dead. 19 None that go to her return again, neither do they take hold of the paths of life. 20 That you may walk in the way of good men, and keep the paths of the righteous. 21 For the upright will dwell in the land, and the perfect will remain in it. 22 But the wicked will be cut off from the earth, and the transgressors will be rooted out of it.
- Many people fall into the trap of evil that says happiness is found in forbidden relationships.
- No happiness is found there, only ruin and an unquenchable thirst for more that will not satisfy.
- John 6:35 And Jesus said to them, I am the bread of life: he that comes to me will never hunger; and he that believes on me will never thirst.
Proverbs 3
1 My son, do not forget my law; but let your heart keep my commandments: 2 For length of days, long life, and peace, they will add to you. 3 Do not let love and truth forsake you: bind them about your neck; write them on the tablet of your heart: 4 For then you will find favor and good understanding/success in the sight of God and man.
- Remember Solomon wrote these for his proverbs for his son but ‘all scripture is given by inspiration of God (2 Timothy 3:16),’ and ‘holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:21).’
- Therefore, by application, these are from God to you as His beloved child.
- In these proverbs is the key to long life, blessing, and health.
- The world today provides means apart from God such as proper nutrition, exercise, fresh air, psychology etc.
- Favor with God isn’t automatic but the result of right choices to cling to God’s truth and avoid evil.
God directs all our paths if we trust Him and do not lean to our own understanding
5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart; and do not lean unto your own understanding. 6 In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will direct your paths. 7 Do not be wise in your own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil. 8 It will be medicine to your navel, and water/moistness to your bones.
- This is God’s stated the key to health.
9 Honor the LORD with your substance, and with the first fruits of all your increase: 10 For then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your presses will burst out with new wine.
- This is the key to prosperity.
- 1Samuel 2:30 those that honor me I will honor...
The LORD corrects those He loves
11 My son, do not despise the chastening of the LORD; neither be weary of his correction: 12 For whom the LORD loves he corrects; even as a father the son in whom he delights. 13 Happy is the man that finds wisdom, and the man that gets understanding. 14 For its profit is better than the profit of silver, and its gain than fine gold.
- Gold can buy material things of this life.
- Wisdom gains eternal things and more important, a relationship with the giver of all things as well as the material things of life.
- 1Corinthians 2:9 Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither has entered into the heart of man, the things that God has prepared for them that love him.
15 She is more precious than rubies: and all the things you can desire are not to be compared to her. 16 Length of days is in her right hand; and in her left hand riches and honor. 17 Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace. 18 She is a tree of life to them that lay hold on her: and happy is every one that retains her.
- “Length of days” means long life plus good long days
each day of your long life.
- Psalm 91:16 also reveals this truth.
19 The LORD by wisdom has founded the earth; by understanding has he established the heavens. 20 By his knowledge the depths are broken up, and the clouds drop the dew. 21 My son, do not let them depart from your eyes: guard sound wisdom and discretion: 22 They will be life to your soul, and grace to your neck.
- The world is full of false wisdom and error that puffs up pride and leads us to spend our lives chasing things that don’t satisfy or last. Don’t be deceived.
- Ecclesiastes 12:12 And further, by these, my son, be admonished: of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh. 13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. 14 For God will bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it is good, or whether it is evil.
God's
path of wisdom is safe and secure
23 Then you will walk in your way safely, and will keep your foot from being taken. 24 When you lie down, you will not be afraid: yes, you will lie down, and your sleep will be sweet. 25 Do not be afraid of sudden fear, or of the desolation of the wicked, when it comes. 26 For the LORD will be your confidence, and will keep your foot from being taken.
- As we draw closer to the coming of the LORD, disasters will become more frequent and more intense (Matthew 24).
- Do not fear. You are safe in God.
- Psalm 4:8 I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for you, LORD, only make me dwell in safety.
27 Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in the power of your hand to do it. 28 Do not say to your neighbor, Go, and come again, and tomorrow I will give; when you have it by you. 29 Do not devise harm against your neighbor while he lives securely by you. 30 Do not strive with a man without cause, if he has done you no harm. 31 Do not envy a man of violence, and choose none of his ways. 32 For the perverse are an abomination to the LORD: but his closeness is with the righteous. 33 The curse of the LORD is in the house of the wicked: but he blesses the dwelling of the just. 34 Surely he scorns the scorners: but he gives grace to the humble. 35 The wise will inherit glory: but shame will be the promotion of fools.
- Revelation 21:7 He that overcomes will inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he will be my son.
Proverbs 4
1 Hear, children, the instruction of a father, and attend to know understanding. 2 For I give you good doctrine, do not forsake my law. 3 For I was my father’s son, tender and only beloved in the sight of my mother. 4 He taught me and said to me, Let your heart retain my words: keep my commandments, and live.
- King David was Solomon’s father. David had a heart for God like few in history. By application this is from God our heavenly Father to us.
- 2Timothy 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration (God-breathed) of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
- 2Peter 1:21 For the prophecy did not come in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.
5 Get wisdom, get understanding: do not forget it; neither pull back from the words of my mouth. 6 Do not forsake her, and she will preserve you: love her, and she will guard you. 7 Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all your getting get understanding.
- Soon this life will end for each of us and we will stand before God.
- Psalm 90:12 So teach us to number our days, That we may present to You a heart of wisdom.
God’s wisdom brings us to honor
8 Exalt her, and she will promote you: she will bring you to honor, when you embrace her. 9 She will give to your head an ornament of grace: she will surround you with a crown of glory. 10 Hear, O my son, and receive my sayings; and the years of your life will be many.
- 1Peter 5:4 And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.
- Psalm 91:16 With a long life I will satisfy him, And let him behold My salvation.
11 I have taught you in the way of wisdom; I have led you in right paths. 12 When you go, your steps will not be hindered; and when you run, you will not stumble. 13 Hold strongly to instruction; do not let her go: guard her; for she is your life. 14 Do not enter into the path of the wicked, and do not go in the way of evil men. 15 Avoid it, do not pass by it, turn from it, and pass away. 16 For they do not sleep unless they do evil; and their sleep is taken away, unless they cause someone to fall. 17 For they eat the bread of wickedness, and drink the wine of violence. 18 But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shines more and more to the perfect day.
- Psalm 119:105 Your word is a lamp to my feet, And a light to my path.
His words are life and health
19 The way of the wicked is as darkness: they do not know what causes them to stumble. 20 My son, attend to my words; lean your ear toward my sayings. 21 Do not let them depart from your eyes; keep them in the midst of your heart. 22 For they are life to those that find them, and health/medicine to all their flesh.
- John 6:63 It is the spirit that makes alive; the flesh profits nothing: the words that I speak to you, they are spirit, and they are life.
- Matthew 4:4 But He answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.
23 Guard your heart with all diligence/above all guarding; for out of it are the issues of life. 24 Put away from you a stubbornly disobedient mouth, and put perverse lips far from you. 25 Let your eyes look right on, and let your eyelids look straight before you. 26 Ponder the path of your feet, and let all your ways be set right. 27 Do not turn to the right hand or to the left: remove your foot from evil.
- 1Peter 5:10 But the God of all grace, who has called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that you have suffered a while, make you perfect, establish, strengthen, settle you.
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SUMMARY: Proverbs 1-4
- The Lord pours out His Spirit
- He will make known His words to us
- God keeps safe those who listen to Him
- God gives wisdom
- He is a shield to those that walk uprightly
- He guards the paths of judgment and preserves the way of His saints
- God directs all our paths if we trust Him and do not lean to our own understanding
- The Lord corrects those He loves
- God's path of wisdom is safe and secure
- God’s wisdom brings us to honor
- His words are life and health
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