Proverbs 22

Proverbs 22

1 A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, and favor is better than silver or gold. 2 The rich and the poor meet together; the Lord is the Maker of them all. 3 The prudent sees danger and hides himself, but the simple go on and suffer for it. 4 The reward for humility and fear of the Lord is riches and honor and life.[a] 5 Thorns and snares are in the way of the crooked; whoever guards his soul will keep far from them. 6 Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it. 7 The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is the slave of the lender. 8 Whoever sows injustice will reap calamity, and the rod of his fury will fail. 9 Whoever has a bountiful[b] eye will be blessed, for he shares his bread with the poor. 10 Drive out a scoffer, and strife will go out, and quarreling and abuse will cease. 11 He who loves purity of heart, and whose speech is gracious, will have the king as his friend. 12 The eyes of the Lord keep watch over knowledge, but he overthrows the words of the traitor. 13 The sluggard says, “There is a lion outside! I shall be killed in the streets!” 14 The mouth of forbidden[c] women is a deep pit; he with whom the Lord is angry will fall into it. 15 Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline drives it far from him. 16 Whoever oppresses the poor to increase his own wealth, or gives to the rich, will only come to poverty.

Words of the Wise

17 Incline your ear, and hear the words of the wise, and apply your heart to my knowledge, 18 for it will be pleasant if you keep them within you, if all of them are ready on your lips. 19 That your trust may be in the Lord, I have made them known to you today, even to you. 20 Have I not written for you thirty sayings of counsel and knowledge, 21 to make you know what is right and true, that you may give a true answer to those who sent you?

22 Do not rob the poor, because he is poor, or crush the afflicted at the gate, 23 for the Lord will plead their cause and rob of life those who rob them. 24 Make no friendship with a man given to anger, nor go with a wrathful man, 25 lest you learn his ways and entangle yourself in a snare. 26 Be not one of those who give pledges, who put up security for debts. 27 If you have nothing with which to pay, why should your bed be taken from under you? 28 Do not move the ancient landmark that your fathers have set. 29 Do you see a man skillful in his work? He will stand before kings; he will not stand before obscure men.

Devotional

Introduction

Today's the day we complete the main collection of wise sayings and move to the thirty sayings of the wise. So I want this post to be more of a reminder and encouragement for what we already know. I want us to be encouraged, because wisdom is not an easy thing to gain. Of course, we always need the Lord's help if we are to grow as his people, and the Lord has the power to transform more than we realise, but this journey is a hard one.

All along, these proverbs have been a reminder of a few things:

1. That we cannot be fully wise - everyday you will find at least one proverb that will find you the fool.

2. That the Lord is truly wise - it is his very own attribute, one he displays in his perfect holiness

3. That we can turn to Christ, the very wisdom of God who offered us salvation

4. That we must continue along the path of wisdom, even when the other path looks enticing

5. That we will have help from the spirit to become more and more wise

I'm sure you have learnt so much more than just these things. But the point is to become more wise, because in becoming wise, we become more like the Lord. In fact, we will likely lead a better life, and maybe even be blessed in our life to come. So let's be encouraged by Proverbs 22 today.

Study

1) Drive out folly (vs.6,10,15)

"Train up a child in the way he should go;  even when he is old he will not depart from it." (vs.6)

"Drive out a scoffer, and strife will go out,  and quarreling and abuse will cease." (vs.10)

"Folly is bound up in the heart of a child,  but the rod of discipline drives it far from him." (vs.15)

I wouldn't say wisdom is the absence of folly, because we can make wise choices even when foolish. A verse in proverbs says that too, just as it states that the righteous can make foolish choices themselves. Perfect wisdom, only found in God, would be the absence folly, because our holy God is always wise and never foolish.

However, this does not mean that we should continue to foolish things, whilst God is making us increasingly wise. Proverbs 22 uses a child as an example. In a child's heart, there is sin (or folly in this case). We would call this original sin - they are born foolish. However, not only are we to train them to know the right way, we should discipline them in order that they might be rid of foolish behaviour.

We have talked about the discipline of children. But the way verse 15b describes it seems almost abusive. I don't think it literally wants us to physically abuse the child, but the means of discipline can help to stop a child being foolish.

Verse 10 says that if we were to remove a scoffer from a community (for example), their foolish ways would no longer disturb the peace. So getting rid of folly is not only necessary, it is good.

Driving out folly or sinful ways are some of the reasons the church does excommunication. It seems the harshest thing, it seems the most unkind to drive a member from the community. But God calls such discipline love. You see, when we get rid of foolish behaviour, it is not only good for church life, but for the individual themselves. In their loss of community, the person might more clearly see the error of their ways and turn back. Driving out folly is done through discipline and it is a very kind and loving thing - even if it seems unkind, perhaps "un-Christian" at the time.

2) Do wise things (vs.9,16)

"Whoever has a bountiful eye will be blessed,  for he shares his bread with the poor." (vs.9)

"Whoever oppresses the poor to increase his own wealth,  or gives to the rich, will only come to poverty." (vs.16)

Pretty simple idea, but it often is more complicated than that. Our own hearts usually get in the way. We are made in the image of God, and yet by our very nature, we desire to do bad things.

I've highlighted this example of the poor. Now, those who oppress the poor (vs.16) will actually be cursed with poverty, whereas those who share with the poor will be blessed. It's a direct contrast.

Instead of going through reasons why we should be charitable, I would rather indicate that wisdom is demonstrated in our actions. Your ever-changing heart will pour forth in actions that are wise because your heart is becoming ever wise. I would say that the fact you are doing so is evidence of the grace of God in your life.

I think the fact that you want to do wise things, and actually do them is an indication of the salvation we only find in God, in the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. The fact that our sanctification by the spirit will write many of the actions of our lives is a miraculous work only God can oversee.

3) Listen and these good things will happen (vs.17-21)

"Incline your ear, and hear the words of the wise, and apply your heart to my knowledge, for it will be pleasant if you keep them within you,  if all of them are ready on your lips. That your trust may be in the Lord,  I have made them known to you today, even to you. Have I not written for you thirty sayings of counsel and knowledge, to make you know what is right and true, that you may give a true answer to those who sent you? (vs.17-21)

[This little excerpt occurs after the finale of Solomon's main proverbs (congratulations on making it through, by the way). And it provides a prelude to the next section of the thirty sayings of the wise. Much of this next part will sound a little like the previous, but it goes into a little more depth. We might talk about this a little later]

Once again, Solomon is appealing for his son to listen to the words of the wise. But he doesn't just leave his son there. He says that you should listen to these next thirty sayings for four reasons:

1. it will be pleasant to keep them (vs.18)

2. That his trust will be in the Lord (vs.19)

3. So that he might know what is right and true (vs.21)

4. So that he will be able to have an answer to those who sent him (vs.21)

If the son would continue to listen, then he will be blessed with these things. Things will be pleasant, he will trust, he will know, and he will have an answer. The latter is similar to 1 Peter 3:15 which says:

"...in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect..." (1 Peter 3:15)

To be wise from God is considered folly by the world. However, if we listen to wisdom, if we gain knowledge and understand, we will better be able to explain why we believe so much.

For me, one of the greatest blessings of coming to know the wisdom of God, is not just that he has saved me (which is incredibly amazing), its that he doesn't just leave us to fend for ourselves in a sinful world. His spirit is transforming us to become more knowledgeable and wise. In doing so, the spirit also becomes our guide for when we must account for why we trust in the Lord and follow the narrow way of wisdom.

Conclusion

Seeking after wisdom is not easy, because our hearts don't want to. Doing wisdom is even harder because we face criticism from those who claim to be wise, but are fools. I hope you are feeling increasingly encouraged. I hope that you have seen your actions transform even in the past three weeks. You are more than 3/4 of the way through this book now. But you have the rest of your life to seek after God and his wise ways.

Why not feel encouraged to continue to do it!

Love y'all and thanks for joining me on day 22 of #31daysofproverbs