Week five continues with the short wisdom sayings in the book of Proverbs. We will continue to hit some highlights in these chapters, but please look more in depth at anything we don’t cover here.

Chapter 16 begins by encouraging us to depend on the Lord, not ourselves. The Lord “weighs the spirit” (v. 2). He knows what’s really going on with us, we aren’t able to fool Him. Verse 3 reminds me of one of my favorite verses in the Psalms. Psalm 37:5 says, “Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act.” When we depend on God and trust Him with everything we are doing, we can also trust that He is working with us and for us.

I find great encouragement in verse 4: “The Lord has made everything for its purpose.” God doesn’t do things for no rhyme or reason; He has a plan in it all.

When the word “abomination” shows up in Proverbs, it always makes me stop and pay attention. Verse 5 calls the “arrogant in heart” an abomination to the Lord. This is automatically something I know I want to avoid. But more than that, I want to make sure I am developing the opposite characteristic, which is humility. The main way to do this is found in verse 6: “by the fear of the Lord one turns away from evil.” Having that right foundation with God will keep me from falling into sin, and help me develop Godly character that pleases Him. And “when a man’s ways please the Lord, he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him” (v. 7).

For a type-A person who likes to make plans, verse 9 is both convicting and freeing. My plans are something I need to hold with loose hands, humbly allowing God to change them should He think it best. God’s sovereign plan is way better than any plan I make with my limited knowledge, so I should always leave the control in His hands.

Verse 11 shows us that justice comes ultimately from God. He is the source of all that is right, fair, and true. The word abomination appears again in verse 12, this time referring to a king doing evil. God wants all governments to rule in righteousness, which includes ruling with justice. Not only does our king, or ruler, need to lead with righteousness, but they need to be surrounded by people who will speak with “righteous lips” (v. 13) who will advise them with truthfulness.

Verse 18 was our memory verse for this week, and just a good reminder that pride leads us nowhere good. When I think of the two greatest commandments that Jesus gave us, to love God and love others, I think it is impossible to fulfill those while being full of pride, so this is definitely a sin we need to search our hearts on and allow God to work on so we can be fully pleasing to Him.

Verses 21-24 were all about the words of the wise, while verses 27-30 described the worthless man’s speech. I hope you were able to see the contrasts in the way these groups talk, and hopefully you found that your words line up more with those of the wise! I did want to point out one verse in between these two sections. Verse 25 is word for word the same as Proverbs 14:12, which we read last week. Keeping in mind that anything repeated must be important, I wanted to call attention to this verse again. As sinful humans, our perception of what is right is often skewed. It is always safer to follow what we know God says is right (by reading His Word), than to let ourselves be led by our emotions or whatever we think or feel is right at the time.

Chapter 17 begins with some words of wisdom about peace and contentment. Having more, “a house full of feasting” (v. 1), does not make for a perfect world. It is better to have little and peace, than abundance and strife.

Verse 2 would have been a shock in the culture it was written, but it is making the point that your character is the most important attribute. Status and privilege fall short when compared with someone who acts wisely.

In the last chapter we looked at the evil person’s speech, and in verse 4 of this chapter we see that not only do they tell lies, but they love to listen to them as well. The evil coming out of their mouths flows out from their hearts, and part of that could be because they spend their time listening “to wicked lips” and “a mischievous tongue.” Verse 7 tells us that even when they try to speak well, it just doesn’t work, because it is not coming from an honest place.

Verse 9 presents us with a choice when we are offended: we can choose the path of love and forgiveness, or we can bring division by spreading gossip. The first response seeks to restore a broken relationship, while the second is only concerned with getting back at the offender.

Verse 10 reminds me that discipline is only effective if you learn from it. As we have seen previously in Proverbs, the “man of understanding” is willing to learn from a rebuke, but not even “a hundred blows” will make the fool learn his lesson.

I wish I could hear what connections you drew between the she-bear and the fool in verse 12, but here’s what I came up with. Both put you in a dangerous position. It is just as much of a risk to get involved with “a fool in his folly” than it is a mama bear who has lost her babies. I don’t want to put myself in a position with either one!

Verse 14 compared strife to “letting out water,” but I thought of it as a snowball. Once an argument gets started, there is no stopping or controlling it. The water flows like it wants, the snowball is just going to keep growing. So the advice in the second part of the verse is perfect and practical: “so quit before the quarrel breaks out.” This takes humility and wisdom, and will yield way better results than letting things get out of hand.

Verse 15 uses that word abomination again, this time in relation to matters of justice. Not only does God hate to see the wicked set free, but He also hates when the righteous are punished. Neither is acceptable to Him, and you can see this again in verse 26.

Verses 21 and 25 describes the effect a fool has on his parents with words like “sorrow,” “no joy,” “grief,” and “bitterness.” We have to remember that our attitudes and behaviors effect more than just ourselves. In this case, the parents are experiencing the consequences of having a foolish child.

For those who were going crazy trying to think of the modern saying that was similar to verse 22, here it is: “Laughter is the best medicine.”

Verse 24 is something we all need to evaluate ourselves on.  Where are our eyes? What are we looking at? The fool’s eyes are always wandering, looking at the wrong things, but the discerning keeps his eyes on God, which leads to wisdom. If you did my first study, Opportunities for Obedience, you saw this play out with Abraham and Lot when choosing their lands.

The end of this chapter touches on the idea of silence. We don’t always have to fill the space with something to say. This is especially hard in the heat of an argument, but in order to apply the advice from verse 14, we need to restrain our words and close our lips.

Chapter 18 begins by calling out those who isolate themselves because they seek their own desires. These are people who refuse to humble themselves in order to get along with others, so they end up alone.

Verses 2 and 13 both refer to a fool who just likes to hear himself talk. The fool is not interested in the wisdom he could get from others, he is only focused on sharing his own thoughts and ideas.

Verse 5 echoes some of the wisdom from the last chapter about injustice. When we remember that God is just, it makes sense that the sin of injustice is such a big deal to Him.

Verses 6 and 7 contain more wisdom about the fool’s speech. It is his own speech that gets him into trouble because he is careless with his words.

Verse 10 is one of my favorites. Anytime the phrase “the name of the Lord” is used, it is referencing God’s character. In this verse, we see that God’s character “is a strong tower,” which should conjure up images of a secure defense where we can find safety. This is immediately contrasted in the next verse with a rich man’s wealth, which provides a false sense of security that is only “in his imagination” (v. 11).

The simple principle of verse 12 makes me think of the passage about Jesus from Philippians 2:5-11 that says, “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Jesus displayed humility, and He was honored by God. That is much more desirable than the destruction that comes from pride.

Verse 18 references using a “lot” to put an end to quarrels, and I want to give a little background for those who may not know what this is. In the Bible, casting lots (sort of like rolling dice or flipping a coin) was a way people determined the will of God. We read this in chapter 16, verse 33: “The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord.” The idea is that God is sovereign over how the lot falls, so people used this method to hear decisions from God. The last recorded incident in the Bible of people casting lots was when the apostles were choosing someone to replace Judas in Acts 1:26.

So in Proverbs 18:18, by using the lot to put an end to quarrels, they were essentially giving the argument over to God. This took humility to not continue to fight to be right, but to basically give God the last word, which is always going to bring peace and reconciliation. Because as the next verse says, you’re not going to get anywhere with “a brother offended” (v. 19).

Verse 21 is a good principle to remember about “the power of the tongue.” James chapter 3 is also full of wisdom about the tongue, so if destructive speech is something you struggle with, I would encourage you to read and study that passage as well.

From verse 22 I want us to see that a wife is a gift from God to man. It was that way in Genesis, and it is still that way today. But lest we get too haughty ladies, we must remember that to be a “good thing” and bring “favor from the Lord,” we must be a good, wise wife, not like the wife we will see in verse 13 of the next chapter.

Chapter 19 begins by putting forth integrity as a key virtue to be desired above all else. Wealth means nothing without integrity, especially if it is acquired through deceptive speech or other foolish behavior. We need to take time to think through our actions and their consequences, because “whoever makes haste with his feet misses his way (v. 2).

You saw in the lesson verses 5 and 9 were almost word for word the same. We know that repetition is important, and these verses are repeating a warning we have seen all over Proverbs about liars. The only difference is verse 5 says they “will not escape” and verse 9 says they “will perish.” Although different wording, these carry the same idea. Those who lie will face the judgment of God. In Matthew 12:36 Jesus says, “I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak.” If only we let that verse guard our mouths all the time!

In the last chapter, we saw that a wife was a good thing that brings favor from the Lord, but in this chapter we see two different kinds of wives. Verse 13 presents a wife who is constantly arguing, while verse 14 presents a wife who is wise. I think it is obvious which is the good wife who brings favor, and which one we should model ourselves after.

How did you feel about verse 16? I think a lot of times when we read all of God’s commandments, especially those first few books of the Old Testament, we can feel a sort of heaviness. But we must remember that God’s commands are not purposeless. They are meant to lead us towards life. When we remember He has our good in mind, it frees us to obey fully.

I also want to call attention to the word “repay” in verse 17. Although being “generous to the poor” usually equates to giving monetarily, that does not necessarily mean God will repay us monetarily. We have to get away from the idea that all of God’s blessings come in the form of money, because that is often not the case.

Verse 19 is a great verse for parents, friends, or anyone who knows someone who struggles with self-control. Sometimes we have to let the people in our lives face the consequences of their own actions so that they can learn from them, because as the proverb says, “if you deliver him, you will only have to do it again.”

Verse 21 is one that I, as a planner, have to constantly remember. It also reminds me of the wisdom from James 4:13-15: “Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit’— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.’” This does not mean that we stop making plans entirely, just that we hold them will a loose hand as we submit them to God to carry out or not.

Verse 24 is an almost humorous picture of laziness. Here we have someone who reaches down to pick up some food, but is too lazy to bring his hand “back to his mouth” and feed himself. Work left half done serves nothing, so don’t let laziness keep you from finishing what you set out to do.

Verse 27 contains another idea we haves seen repeated in Proverbs. To remain on wisdom’s path takes care and attention. Wise choices do not happen automatically. We must constantly have ears to hear instruction and learn from reproof if we are to stay on the right path.

So as we close this week, how are you doing with staying on this path? Is your life characterized by the worship and wisdom of God? If not, think and pray about what steps you need to take to get on this path, and consider sharing with your group so they can help support you in prayer and hold you accountable.