Week four of the Wise Worship study was all about the short wisdom sayings in the book of Proverbs. As with last week, we won’t have time to get into all of them, so be sure to study more on your own any that were of particular interest to you.

Chapter 12 begins by commending those who love discipline and disapproving of those who hate reproof. We typically associate discipline with punishment, but here it is used in the same sense as instruction. Those who are humble and teachable demonstrate a love of knowledge, while those who refuse to be taught will never increase their knowledge. Then you will be “like a horse or a mule, without understanding, which must be curbed with bit and bridle, or it will not stay near you” (Ps. 32:9).

“A good man,” one who is living in obedience to the Lord, “obtains favor,” or is pleasing to God, because he is walking in step with Him (Pr. 12:2). The “man of evil devices” builds his foundation on “wickedness” (v. 3), which is a rickety foundation that cannot stand firm. In contrast, the righteous are rooted in the goodness of God. They “will never be moved” because they have built on an unchanging foundation.

The “excellent wife” from verse 4 we will see more in depth at the end of Proverbs, but this verse shows us women we can either bring honor to our husbands, or destruction.

Verse 9 is a somewhat confusing contrast of humility and pride. Essentially, it is better to be humble and comfortable than to lie and act like you have wealth, but you are having to go without basic necessities to keep up the charade.

Verse 11 is another “you reap what you sow” proverb. The hardworking get to enjoy the results of their work, while the lazy waste their time on things that don’t benefit. Verse 14 says it this way: “the work of a man’s hand comes back to him.”

In the lesson you saw the proverb in verse 13 play out in Nabal’s life, and I’m sure you have seen this prove true with people you know as well. The second part of that verse, “but the righteous escapes from trouble” can be tempting to claim as a promise, but we must remember that proverbs are not promises. We can avoid some of the trouble that the evil man finds himself in because of his speech, but Jesus promised “In this world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world” (Jn 16:13). Even the righteous will go through troubling times, but we will come out the other side with Jesus.

Previously we have seen Proverbs encourage an abundance of counselors, and verse 15 echoes this idea of getting advice. Even the wise can have trouble discerning the right way and can benefit from instruction, or discipline (remember verse 1?).

The next few verses in this chapter are all about honest and dishonest speech. Hopefully in the lesson you were able to pull out some good principles, but I think verse 22 sums it up pretty well: God hates lies and loves those who are faithful to the truth.

Verse 24 is a good general truth for the workplace: those who are diligent in their work typically get promoted, while the lazy will always be in a lower position.

Verse 26 warns us to be careful who we associate with, because our friends have influence over us. Righteous friends will guide us in the right way, but the wicked will lead us astray.

This chapter ends with the good reminder that righteousness leads to life, so even when the path we’re taking seems hard, we can hold fast to the knowledge that we are not being led into death.

Chapter 13 begins by reiterating that the wise listen to instruction while the fool does not. I think we can all say we have had moments where verse 3 has proven true. Guarding your mouth is not something that just happens passively. It takes an active effort on your part to watch what you say, as well as a partnership with the Holy Spirit to know what and when to speak.

We see a lot in Proverbs a comparison between the sluggard and the diligent, and this shows up again in verse 4. The sluggard “gets nothing” because they won’t put in the work like the diligent person will. In the material sense, they may crave money or possessions and not get them because they don’t work, but spiritually they may crave a deeper relationship with God and not get it because they won’t put in the “work” to get to know Him better through the study of His Word.

Last week we looked at what it means to be righteous. The righteous are those living in relationship with God. This would explain why “the righteous hates falsehood” (v. 5), because we know that God hates lies.

Verse 7 reminds me of the phrase, “things aren’t always as they appear.” Someone can be putting on a show of wealth and going into debt to do it. Another may live humbly, pretending to be poor, but really is wealthy. At the risk of using another cliché: Don’t judge a book by its cover.

Verse 11 makes me think of someone who wins the lottery verses someone who has worked each day for their income. The lotto winner who “gained hastily” doesn’t appreciate the value of their wealth as much as the person who “gathers little by little” through hard work. Generally, as you slowly build up wealth, you slowly build up the skill to manage it. How many lotto winners find themselves right back where they started a year later because they didn’t learn how to manage their wealth?

In verse 14 we have another mention of the fountain of life. In chapter 10 this was applied to the words of the righteous, and here we see it applied to the teaching of the wise. If we remember that wisdom comes from God, we can see how their teaching would bring life to those who are humble enough to learn from them, and would help them escape “the snares of death.” This verse makes me think of 2 Timothy 2:24-26: “And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.”

I love the simple truth of verse 16. In order to be wise, or prudent, knowledge must go beyond the mind to our actions. Meanwhile, everything the fool says or does proves his folly.

Verse 18 is yet another warning about listing to instruction. Those who refuse to be taught find themselves in “poverty and disgrace,” but honor is for “whoever heeds reproof.” What does this mean exactly? I think there are a couple steps. When someone offers us a correction, we should first accept it with humility and take the time to reflect on it. As we said in verse 16, this refection should go beyond our thoughts into producing a change in us. If we are not changed by reproof, we will be none the wiser for it.

Verse 20 is another concept we have seen before in Proverbs. The people you surround yourself with will influence you, for good or for bad, so choose your friends carefully.

The “good man” in verse 22 who has been wise with his money can leave an inheritance not only for his children, but for his grandchildren. More than this, though, by being a good man he has left them the legacy of a good example to follow after.

Throughout the book of Proverbs so far, we have seen poverty generally linked as a consequence of foolishness. In verse 23, however, Proverbs makes it clear that is not always the case. Sometimes poverty is the result of injustice, and I think we can all agree there are cases of both in our world today.

In verse 24 I don’t want you to get hung up on the imagery of the rod. We’re not going to talk here about whether or not it is right to spank your child. We are going to see the rod as the image of correction that it is and look to the principle this verse puts forth. If we read this as “whoever spares correction hates his son,” we would see that not disciplining your children, by whatever means you have determined is right for your family, displays a lack of love. Discipline develops wisdom, and don’t we all want to raise wise kids?

Finally from this chapter, verse 25 brings to mind the word contentment. “The righteous has enough” and is satisfied, but “the wicked suffers want.” Being content with where you are and what you have is wise.

Chapter 14 begins with a verse that reminds us of the power we have over our homes as women. The question is, how will we use that power? Will we build our homes on God’s foundation, or will we foolishly work to destroy them from the inside?

Verse 2 compares the upright with the devious. One fears the Lord, while the other despises Him. Opposing ways of life will lead to opposing attitudes towards God. The good news for believers is that Jesus has made us upright, so as long as we are obediently walking in that, we will have a right relationship with the Lord.

As with many other chapters we’ve read, this chapter addresses our speech in multiple ways. Verse 3 implies the fool’s words will come back to bite him, while the words of the wise keep them safe. Verses 5 and 25 deal with lies, and verse 7 says there are no “words of knowledge” in “the presence of a fool.” We will be known by what we say, so the question remains, what do your words say about you?

I may have thrown you for a loop by sending you to read a passage from Leviticus in the lesson, but hopefully that helped you understand the guilt offering. Remember that pride is typically associated with fools, and so by mocking the guilt offering, they are refusing to admit any wrong doing or take the steps to make things right. In our new covenant context, this would be like someone who refuses to apologize or ask forgiveness.

Verse 12 reminds me of all the times I’ve prayed for God to show me the way to go. Satan can be so deceptive, making the wrong way seem right. He did it to Eve in the garden, and he is still doing it today. Unfortunately, life doesn’t come with road signs telling us which way leads to life and which way leads to death, but we do have the Holy Spirit as our guide. When we rely on Him, instead of the “way that seems right to a man,” we are sure to end in the right place.

Verses 20-21 can be another confusing section in Proverbs that deserves a little time. Rather than telling us how things SHOULD be, verse 20 is telling us how the world operates. Everyone wants to be friends with the rich, not the poor. If we look to the example of Jesus in the New Testament, we see He lived completely opposite of that. Verse 21 gives us the Biblical truth the refute the world’s system: hating your neighbor is a sin (see Lev. 19:18 & Matt. 22:39) and generosity with the poor will be blessed.

Verse 23 emphasizes that hard work gets things done. People who sit around and talk and plan, but never act, end up with nothing.

I love verse 26, which is the verse you memorized this week. Psalm 46:1 says, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” He is our refuge, and He is our confidence. What better place could we turn to?

In the last chapter, we saw the teaching of the wise was a fountain of life (Pr. 13:14), and now we see “the fear of the Lord is a fountain of life” (14:27). Any teaching of the wise should lead us to fear the Lord, so these work together as a fountain of life.

Verse 30 is a clear teaching on contentment and jealousy. Contentment brings life, envy brings death.

In verse 34, “righteousness exalts a nation” means our righteous acts effect more than just ourselves. Doing justice, showing compassion and kindness to people, and anything else that could be considered “righteous” touches the lives of others, and has an effect. And this is the mark we want to leave on the world.

Chapter 15 has a few relating topics spread throughout the chapter. In the lesson, you looked at verses 1 and 4, which both dealt with the power of our words. The proverbs encourage us not to speak out of anger, but to make a calm response. We can probably all think of situations where we said the right thing, but not necessarily the right way. How you speak, not just the words you speak, matters, but soft or gentle tone should not be used to speak harsh or perverse thoughts. Your words and your tone must work together to encourage and build others up.

Verses 3 and 11 display God’s omniscience, which just means He knows everything. His eyes are actively watching over everything, even “Sheol and Aboddon,” which is the realm of the dead. God can see what we can’t, and He knows what we don’t, even to the very depths of our hearts.

Verses 5, 10, 12, 31 and 32 all deal with our response to reproof, something we have already seen a lot in Proverbs. These verses are more of the same, but it bears repeating because the Bible repeats it, so we know it’s important. Our response to reproof displays wisdom or foolishness. Refusing to accept it is prideful and leads to death. While those who reject reproof “will not go to the wise” (v. 12), those who do listen to it “dwell among the wise” (v. 31) and “gains intelligence” (v. 32). Which category do you want to be in? Respond accordingly.

I love the simple honesty of verse 8. God is not fooled by our actions. As we saw in verses 3 and 11, He sees our hearts, and if they are not sincere, He is not pleased. He wants us to BE righteous, not just put on a show of acting that way for others’ sake.

In verse 16 we get another occurrence of the phrase “the fear of the Lord.” Verses 16 and 17 work together to show that loving God is the most important thing. Being poor and having God is better than all the material wealth. Our ultimate contentment should be found in our relationship with God, not earthly pleasures.

Verse 23 emphasizes the timing of our words. At the beginning of this chapter we saw we need to say the right thing in the right way, but we also need to say it at the right time. “Apt” means “appropriate or suitable in the circumstances.” In order to meet these three conditions with our speech, right words, right tone, right time, we have to rely on the Holy Spirit.

The end of this chapter presents us with more contrasts between the wicked and the righteous. These are in their thoughts/words (v. 26 & 28), their feelings towards injustice (v. 27), the Lord’s response to them (v. 29), and their response to reproof (v. 32). In each of these, you can see the pride of the wicked and the humility of the righteous.

The righteous, humble, and wise could all be synonyms. They are living rightly before the Lord, in both their actions and the attitude of their hearts, and leading a life that worships and reveres God. Does your life fit the mold?