Congratulations, you have made it through the final week of this study! This week we finished Solomon’s proverbs collected by Hezekiah, and read two more chapter of Proverbs by two different authors.

Chapter 28 began by contrasting the wicked and the righteous. The wicked have a guilty conscious that keeps them constantly looking over their shoulder, but the righteous, who have had their guilt removed by God, can be confident and courageous like the lion.

Verses 4, 7, and 9 all address the law. Verse 4 says there are “those who forsake the law,” or are disobedient, and by being disobedient or disregarding the law, they are, in effect, praising the wicked. In contrast, those who keep the law, or are obedient, strive against the wicked. Verse 7 begins with the obedient who keeps the law, and says this is proof of wisdom. This time he is compared with “a companion of gluttons,” or one who keeps company with the disobedient and brings shame, rather than wisdom, to his family. Verse 9 addresses the person who turns a deaf ear to God and calls his prayer “an abomination.” If we are not listening and living in obedience to God, our prayers are probably not lining up with His will. If we don’t hear Him, what cause does He have to hear us? I think we can sum up these three verses by saying our response to God’s law shows our character, whether it be good or evil.

Verse 5 tells us “evil men do not understand justice.” Justice is one of God’s attributes, so those who oppose Him cannot comprehend it. It is only “those who seek the Lord” who understand it, because they have the wisdom that comes from God.

Verse 6 says it is better to have integrity than wealth, and verse 11 calls the rich “wise in his own eyes.” If we remember back to chapter 26 verse 12, we saw it was better to be a fool than to be wise in our own eyes.  Our character, not our dollar signs, are what define us.

Verse 10 echoes a commonly repeated theme of Proverbs, that the evil person will be exposed and, in the end, destroy themselves. When we have been wronged, we can trust in God’s divine justice.

Verse 13 is an important lesson on honesty. God will only deal with our sin if we do. If we sweep it under the rug, it will fester, and we “will not prosper.” But if we “confess and forsake” it, He responds with mercy. No one knew this better than David. In Psalm 32, he writes, “Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. . . . For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,’ and you forgave the iniquity of my sin” (v. 1, 3-5). The one who “fears the Lord always” (Pr. 28:14) will respond this way to his sin. But the one who “hardens his heart” hides his sin and falls into calamity.

Verse 17 is a dramatic picture of someone with a guilty conscious, and the instruction Proverbs gives is “let no one help him.” Although difficult, we must sometimes allow people to experience the consequences of their sins if they are to learn. Sometimes these consequences will cause them to bring their sin into the light so they can obtain the mercy verse 13 talked about. Sometimes these consequences serve to teach a lesson and provide wisdom. If we are always stepping into rescue someone who gets themselves into trouble, they will never learn to depend on God, which is the greatest lesson they need to learn.

The rest of this chapter I think teaches some principles about prosperity. Verse 19 tells us those who work hard will prosper. Verses 20-24 show that integrity and honesty are the way to prosperity. This takes patience, because those who hasten to be rich (v. 20) are often willing to compromise in order to gain wealth. As verse 21 shows, people will go to great lengths for even the smallest reward. And verse 24 paints the picture of an entitled child who robs his parents in order to prosper. Verses 25-26 tell us it is trusting in God’s wisdom, however, that leads to true prosperity. Those who trust in the Lord and walk in wisdom are not greedy or foolish. One of God’s wise principles, given in verse 27, is that generosity will lead to prosperity. Those who are kind to the poor will have that kindness paid back to them, and likewise those who are stingy will be repaid in the same way.

Chapter 29 begins with a warning to the prideful person who refuses to accept reproof. As we have seen all throughout Proverbs, correction is one way we learn wisdom, so those who are stubborn and stiff necked in the face of this will never learn.

Verse 2 echoes the last verse of chapter 28. A just, fair, and righteous government is better for the people than a wicked one. This is also seen in verse 4, where a just king brings stability to the land, and a greedy one destroys.

Verse 3 contrasts “he who loves wisdom” and “a companion of prostitutes.” Sexual immorality is another topic Proverbs has warned against over and over again, and it is just one example of a foolish life.

Verse 8 tells us “scoffers set a city aflame.” It is easy to get caught up in scoffing or mocking when you are surrounded by people who are doing the same. This type of attitude is contagious. A wise person would leave the company of scoffers, and not be tempted by their loose talk. Verse 9 follows up by telling us it is useless to argue with these fools because they refuse to listen.

Verse 11 would be another good verse to memorize, because we all have those short temper moments. There is wisdom in showing self-control with our anger. When the fool can’t keep their spirit in check, we can use wisdom in what we share and who we share it with.

Verse 13 tells us that the life of all people comes from the Lord, so rather than oppressing the poor, we should treat them with justice because we are all equal before God. In the next verse we see a king rewarded for faithfully judging the poor. This does not mean they receive any sort of special treatment, but that we show impartiality no matter a person’s standing.

Another theme we have seen throughout Proverbs is that of discipline. Verse 15 tells us that discipline leads to wisdom and rest, while a lack of discipline brings shame. A disciplined or undisciplined child does not just affect himself, but also his parents. For those of us with young kids, the work we are putting in now will be a delight to our hearts later.

Verse 16 starts by stating the obvious: when there are more wicked people, there is more sin, but the second part of the verse gives the righteous hope. We will see their downfall because God is sovereign. He will not let the wicked rule for long.

Verse 20 is a warning to be patient, rather than impulsive, with your speech. As we have seen previously, fools show no self-control over their words, and so they are hopeless.

Verse 22 is another warning about anger. Those who are characterized by wrath carry that around in their interactions with others, so those interactions are marked by strife and transgression. It is only when we trade our anger for God’s peace that we can interact with others the right way.

Verse 25 is always a convicting one for me, because I struggle with putting more trust in human power than God. When we worry more about what people think about us and what we’re doing than God, we have fallen into the snare that is fear of man. Rather than considering other’s opinions, we should consider what is right and do that, trusting that God will take care of the rest.

The last two verses of this chapter end with the topic of justice. As we have said before, justice is one of God’s attributes, so we trust that ultimate justice comes from Him. Because of this, the righteous who are following after God see injustice as an abomination, just as the one doing wrong sees the righteous as an abomination. The point is we all must choose. We cannot do both evil and righteousness. Just as we must choose the path of wisdom over foolishness, we must choose justice and righteousness over wickedness.

Chapter 30 contains the sayings of Agur. Nothing is really known about him, but we can still learn a lot from his words of wisdom, and trust that, as a part of the Bible, they are inspired by God.

Unlike many typical proverbs, such as those of Solomon, Agur begins writing from a place of humility. He recognizes that he has not mastered the all of wisdom, which in itself is wise. We have learned in Proverbs that wisdom and humility go hand in hand, so it is wise to recognize that you don’t know everything. I love the questions he poses in verse 4, because the only answer could be God. We humans are limited, and we depend on God to reveal any knowledge we do have. As verse 5 says, we can find truth and safety in God’s word. Both Deuteronomy and Revelation contain similar warnings as verse 6 to not add to God’s words. Paul also tells us “not to go beyond what is written” (1 Corinthians 4:6). We must let His wisdom speak for itself.

In the rest of this chapter, Agur makes ample use of numbers and lists. He begins in verse 7 by praying for two things: that he can avoid dishonesty and live a life of moderation. Just as he recognized in verse 5 that God’s words are true, he also wants to be a man of the truth. “Feed me with the food that is needful for me” (v. 8) also sounds very similar to “give us this day our daily bread” (Matt. 6:11) in the Lord’s prayer. Agur wants to remain content with God’s provision, never dishonoring God by having too much or too little. These are two things we would also do well to echo in our prayers.

Verses 11-14 give a list of four types of people, each verse beginning “there are those…” These are four groups whose example we do not want to follow. In verse 11 there are those who dishonor their parents, breaking the fifth commandment. In verse 12 there are those who are prideful and self-righteous. In verse 13 there are those who are arrogant and conceited. And in verse 14 there are those who are harsh and oppressive. I think we can all agree that we do not want to find ourselves in this list, and if we do see some of these traits start to creep in, we should do as Proverbs 28:13 said and confess.

Just like the four things never satisfied in verse 16, the leech is insatiable as well. It’s two daughters make me think of a toddler saying “gimmie gimmie!” Like with the last list, we don’t want to be found with this greedy, displeased attitude.

I read a few different commentaries on verses 18-19, and it seems no one can agree on what makes the four things from this list so wonderful. I wish I could peek in on your study to see what you came up with, but I think the main lesson we can learn from this list is just to be humbled by the way God has orchestrated everything to work. We can look at everything around us with wonder towards the Creator, which should lead us into praise.

Verses 21-23 are a list of four people who have experienced a substantial reversal. In each one, I think we can imagine the person forgetting their former situation and becoming intolerable in their new circumstance.

Verses 24-28 contain some great lessons I hope you were able to pull out of the lives of these small creatures. Again, this list leads me to amazement at how our God has created everything. First, the ants are hard working and organized. They accomplish together what could never be done on their own in order to provide for their futures. The rock badgers find a safe place to make their home where they can dwell securely. The locusts, like the ants, work together in an orderly fashion. And the lizard, a lowly creature, can be found running in the high circles of society.

Finally, Agur gives a list of three animals that give us a picture of the power and majesty of a king in verses 29-31. He ends his chapter with some final advice: to stay humble and avoid starting conflict.

Finally we arrive at the last chapter of Proverbs, which is attributed to someone named King Lemuel. Really, we learn these words of wisdom have come from his mother, and he has recorded them for our benefit. Like with Agur, not much is known for certain about King Lemuel, but we can still learn from the wisdom in this chapter.

King Lemuel’s mother begins with a warning against women and wine, which we have already been warned about in other sections of Proverbs, but as a ruler, he needed to be especially careful. She concludes this section of wisdom by telling her son to rule justly. Although we don’t rule as this king did, we can still find ways to use the positions and power we do have to help those around us, rather than only looking out for ourselves.

The last section of this chapter is the piece of Proverbs most often quoted at and taught to women. While this “excellent wife” possesses many attributes and qualities we should desire to develop, we should remember that this was not written as a checklist for women to see how they are measuring up. It was written as advice from a mother to her son on what an excellent wife would look like. So really, this is a teaching for men! But again, there is a lot we as women can learn from it.

His mother begins by praising the excellent woman, saying “she is far more precious than jewels” (v. 10). Some character traits you may have pulled out as you read through this passage were that she is trustworthy (v. 11), reliable (v. 12), hardworking (vs. 13-15, 19, 22, 24, 27), joyful in her service (v. 13), generous (v. 20), compassionate (v. 20), and confident (v. 21, 25). In this passage we see her serving her husband (vs. 11-12, 23, 28), her household (vs. 15, 21, 27), her servants (v. 15), the poor and needy (v. 20), her children (v. 28), and the Lord (v. 30). Everything she does embodies the principles of wisdom we have learned from the previous 30 chapters of Proverbs, and this is summed up in this week’s memory verse, verse 30: “Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.” Remember how our first memory verse, Proverbs 1:7, began? “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.” Her fear of the Lord is where she derives the wisdom to be “an excellent wife” (v. 10). So before you go looking at this list and getting overwhelmed by qualities you don’t yet possess or are just starting to develop, remember that the Lord is the source of it all. If He is your first priority, and you are seeking wisdom by seeking him, all the rest will come.

I hope you have enjoyed this study of Proverbs, and that your life is starting to reflect some of the wisdom principles you have learned over the past 8 weeks. May your life be one of wise worship to the Lord of all.