Proverbs

 I think one of the main reasons people read the bible is that they want direction. So many people feel lost, and they just want to open the bible randomly and they expect that God will provide a miracle and have them somehow turn to the exact page that they need to get the answer they want. A quicker way might be to just read through the book of Proverbs as often as possible. I've heard of people who read through the books of Psalms and Proverbs every month. It works out really well because the book of Psalms has 150 chapters and Proverbs has 30, so read four chapters every day and by the end of every month, you are good. Let's start out by looking at what it says at the start of the book in Proverbs chapter one.

1 The Purpose of Proverbs

These are the proverbs of Solomon, David’s son, king of Israel. 2 Their purpose is to teach people wisdom and discipline, to help them understand the insights of the wise. 3 Their purpose is to teach people to live disciplined and successful lives, to help them do what is right, just, and fair. 4 These proverbs will give insight to the simple, knowledge and discernment to the young. 5 Let the wise listen to these proverbs and become even wiser. Let those with understanding receive guidance 6 by exploring the meaning in these proverbs and parables, the words of the wise and their riddles. 7 Fear of the LORD is the foundation of true knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline. 

What else can I add to that? People spend thousands of dollars every year on getting this kind of information. So, I wanted to just take a look at 20 of the chapters of the book and let the bible give you some advice.

Proverbs 1:10

10 My child, if sinners entice you, turn your back on them!

Proverbs 2:1-6

The Benefits of Wisdom

1 My child, listen to what I say, and treasure my commands. 2 Tune your ears to wisdom, and concentrate on understanding. 3 Cry out for insight, and ask for understanding. 4 Search for them as you would for silver; seek them like hidden treasures. 5 Then you will understand what it means to fear the LORD, and you will gain knowledge of God. 6 For the LORD grants wisdom! From his mouth come knowledge and understanding. 

Proverbs 3:1-4

Trusting in the Lord

1 My child, never forget the things I have taught you. Store my commands in your heart. 2 If you do this, you will live many years, and your life will be satisfying. 3 Never let loyalty and kindness leave you! Tie them around your neck as a reminder. Write them deep within your heart. 4 Then you will find favor with both God and people, and you will earn a good reputation. 

Proverbs 4:23-27

23 Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life. 24 Avoid all perverse talk; stay away from corrupt speech. 25 Look straight ahead, and fix your eyes on what lies before you. 26 Mark out a straight path for your feet; stay on the safe path. 27 Don’t get sidetracked; keep your feet from following evil.

Proverbs 5:21-23

21 For the LORD sees clearly what a man does, examining every path he takes. 22 An evil man is held captive by his own sins; they are ropes that catch and hold him. 

23 He will die for lack of self-control; he will be lost because of his great foolishness. 

Proverbs 6:6-11

6 Take a lesson from the ants, you lazybones. Learn from their ways and become wise! 7 Though they have no prince or governor or ruler to make them work, 

8 they labor hard all summer, gathering food for the winter. 9 But you, lazybones, how long will you sleep? When will you wake up? 10 A little extra sleep, a little more slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest— 11 then poverty will pounce on you like a bandit; scarcity will attack you like an armed robber. 

So far what I am hearing is Get Wisdom, Listen to God and work. When you listen to God and follow what he says and work hard, you will have a good life. It doesn't mean it will be perfect, but so many of the issues that people have you can avoid.

Proverbs 9:8-9

8 So don’t bother correcting mockers; they will only hate you. But correct the wise, 

and they will love you. 9 Instruct the wise, and they will be even wiser. Teach the righteous, and they will learn even more. 

Proverbs 10:19

19 Too much talk leads to sin. Be sensible and keep your mouth shut.

Proverbs 12:1

1 To learn, you must love discipline; it is stupid to hate correction. 

Proverbs 13:10

10 Pride leads to conflict; those who take advice are wise. 

Proverbs 14:12

12 There is a path before each person that seems right, but it ends in death.

Proverbs 15:16-17

16 Better to have little, with fear for the Lord, than to have great treasure and inner turmoil. 17 A bowl of vegetables with someone you love is better than steak with someone you hate. 

So much great advice in such small sentences. I feel like these verses are telling me to shut my mouth, listen to others and be around good people. When you keep running your mouth you stop listening to others, that leads to pride. You might be sitting at the table with a huge steak in front of you, but you won't be happy, and you won't like who you are sitting with.

Proverbs 16:1-3

1 We can make our own plans, but the LORD gives the right answer. 2 People may be pure in their own eyes, but the LORD examines their motives. 3 Commit your actions to the LORD, and your plans will succeed. 

Proverbs 17:9

⁹ Love prospers when a fault is forgiven, but dwelling on it separates close friends. 

Proverbs 18:1-2

1 Unfriendly people care only about themselves; they lash out at common sense. 2 Fools have no interest in understanding; they only want to air their own opinions. 

Proverbs 19:3

3 People ruin their lives by their own foolishness and then are angry at the LORD. 

Proverbs 20:1

1 Wine produces mockers; alcohol leads to brawls. Those led astray by drink cannot be wise. 

Proverbs 21:5

5 Good planning and hard work lead to prosperity, but hasty shortcuts lead to poverty. 

Proverbs 23:17-18

17 Don’t envy sinners, but always continue to fear the LORD. 18 You will be rewarded for this; your hope will not be disappointed. 

I want to focus on three of these verses really quickly because I think they are so impactful.

Proverbs 17:9, Love prospers when we forgive. Proverbs 19:3, People ruin their lives, then get angry at the Lord. Finally, Proverbs 23:17, Don't envy sinners. I think we fall into this trap way more than we want to admit. Someone wrongs us, and we hold onto it forever, then we can't figure out why we wake up grumpy every morning. When we envy sinners, we mess up our lives, then we take it out on God. We blame him for every bad decision that we made.  We have talked about this before, but people are going to hurt you. If you ever want to move on, you have to forgive. 

Proverbs 24:15-16

15 Don’t wait in ambush at the home of the godly, and don’t raid the house where the godly live. 16 The godly may trip seven times, but they will get up again. But one disaster is enough to overthrow the wicked. 

Proverbs 25:2-3

2 It is God’s privilege to conceal things and the king’s privilege to discover them. 3 No one can comprehend the height of heaven, the depth of the earth, or all that goes on in the king’s mind! 

I want to finish on this last one, way too often we think that if we could just understand everything about God and what he does we would be faithful. We can't and you won't! The bible is very clear that God is so amazing, we just can't understand it or comprehend it. I encourage everyone to read through Proverbs on a regular basis, Gain wisdom!