Understanding is a fountain of life to one who has it, But the discipline of fools is folly. Proverbs 16:22
There is an artery that carries the blood from our hearts to the rest of our bodies. We know it as the aorta. The passage for today from proverbs uses a phrase, "fountain of life" which is "mekor chaiyim" in the Hebrew. This was the phrase used often as an allusion to this artery which carries the blood from the heart to distribute it to all the extremities of our bodies. It is used here though in reference to the one who has "understanding." As the aorta is the life-giving channel to the whole body phsyically - so understanding is the life-giving vehicle to our moral and spiritual well-being. Therefore it is pretty important that we know what it means to have understanding in our lives. The word "understanding" here is the Hebrew word "sekel." This word means, "having intelligence and good sense." But the intelligence mentioned here is more than just book learning about various subjects. It means to have understanding and insight into things that comes from more than just mere educational learning. The Bible says in 1 Chronicles 22:12 that only the Lord can give us insight and understanding. This is given so that we can obey God and please Him - which is the greatest understanding of things in light of eternity. Job 17:14 reminds us that God can give this understanding and insight - or - take it away whenever He so chooses. The result of having this kind of godly, God-given insight and understanding is that it helps us to be patient and forgiving (Proverbs 19:11). Those who have such insight will be praised - and will turn from perversity in their lives (Proverbs 12:8). You come away from the definition of this word seeing that God grants this insight as we get into His Word - understand it - and gain insight into both His character and the character of mankind. The knowledge of both of these things is what grants us patience to deal with the failings of others patiently. We grasp the power of forgiveness as we experience it from God at levels that will infinitely dwarf any forgiveness that we will ever have to give others for their trangressions against us. We will also find that such biblical insight gained from our heavenly Father will turn us to godly, holy lives - and turn us from lies, deceit, and anything which perverts and twists our path from God's ways and plans. In this end - this is a conduit for life - God's life in its fullness. The discipline of fools is folly. The general agreement on the scholars is that "musar" which is the word here for "discipline" has the idea of instruction. It is how we use the word discipline when refering to a field of study. We are in the discipline of Mathmatics. That means that we are studying this field - and intentionally harnessing ourselves to a disciplined practice of doing math every day - so that we learn the field of study - or in this cast the discipline of Mathmatics. The passage says that the learning or instruction of the fool is folly. This is why a fool is such a pathetic figure in Proverbs. He remains a fool because that is all he disciplines himself to be - a fool. He so delights in his folly that is it all that he ever learns and pursues. In the end - he only becomes a bigger and bigger fool. Since folly is his life-blood, the flow of his choices, attitudes, and actions only solidify the result that he will be a bigger fool tomorrow than he is today. His only real hope is that the grace of God rescues him from his foolishness - and brings him to the place where he values wisdom and understanding. There must be a heart change for him to begin to experience an "aortic-change" in what flows through him as his life-blood. Honestly - this is the gospel - God reaching into the hearts of fools - changing them by His grace. Taking out their heart of stone (the heart of a fool). Granting them by His mercy and infinte kindness a new heart of flesh. This heart values wisdom and understading . . . and then, seeing the change as this new heart values understanding - which then becomes the new life-blood that flows throughout him. Only that kind of change - changes the hearts of fools. Otherwise, their discipline of study remains folly - which confirms them as lifelong fools. Their end is the ultimate place of all fools - next to the ultimate fool of all eternity - in a lake of fire that is wholly popluated by all the fools who said in their hearts, "There is no God." Better to have life - and to have a heart that because of grace and the gospel pumps out understanding - insight - biblical knowledge - and discretion. Thanks be to God for the "aortic-change" that brings life to us - and causes life to flow into every apsect of our entire moral and spiritual being!
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My son, let them not vanish from your sight; Keep sound wisdom and discretion, Proverbs 3:21
Two things are mentioned to us in this proverb - and we are told to always keep these things in sight as we walk through life. The two things mentioned here are sound wisdom and discretion. Because these are such important things, it would be very wise for us to define both of them. Sound wisdom is the Hebrew word, "tushiyah" and it means, the essence or substance of a thing. The place where we receive such foundational level wisdom is from God Himself. He is the ultimate essence of substance of all things. To know this and to think and reason from this is sound wisdom. When we embrace this world view of life - we embrace seeing all things from His perspective - and reason all things from the counsel of His Word. Here, dear saints is the very sustance and essence of wisdom. All other things are infinitely less than this and they are infinitely inferior to the wisdom and direction that God brings us as we turn to Him and listen to Him. We do this by studying His Word and doing so under the tutelage of the Holy Spirit. Do not let God's Word and the instruction of His Spirit depart from your sight as you walk in this world. This is a difficult thing because there are so many different things clamoring for our attention in this world. To listen to them and to heed them is NOT wisdom - and will lead to our lives being lived for that which is not the substance and essence of why we are alive. We will live a small life - and one that will not last. Staying focused on God and His Word is the way to live a life of meaning and purpose. The second word used here is discretion. This is the Hebrew word, "umezimmah" and it means, "to resolve to act according to the directions of God's wisdom. What is fascinating here is that discretion is setting our lives practically on the foundation of God's wisdom and Word. It speaks of taking the lofty purposes and intentions of God that come from the sound wisdom gained in His Word - and then using those to make every day decisions and plans which help us to live our lives according to His will. We must be able to take the information we gain in understanding God and His ways - and boil it down to practical application in our lives. If we do not do this - then all we have are lofty thinking and high principles in our heads with no action upon them in our lifestyles. Though it is nice to have lofty thinking - it is useless if it is not put to practice in choices every day. Solomon is telling us that God wants both lofty and deep thinking on Who He is and what He desires in our lives - as well as very practical ways of taking that knowledge and making it a part of our choices every day. This is truly the whole picture of Godly, wise living. It does not shun the foundational thinking that makes a worldview - yet it also does not make a wise and godly lifestyle a matter of mental exertion only. God has set the two things that will truly bless our lives here in front of our faces. We have therefore a choice - to embrace both the instruction in deep, wonderful theological thinking about life - as well as the very practical activities that will make that knowledge a part of how we live every day. A man's discretion makes him slow to anger, And it is his glory to overlook a transgression. Proverbs 19:11
What is it that can give us the ability to be patient with others? What would we need to develop in our lives and our thinking that would make us someone who is quick to forgive and gracious to those who provoke us? That is actually what Solomon, through the Holy Spirit, is about to tell us. I don't know about you - but when I read this particular proverb, I get excited. Unbeknownst to everyone except all those who are around me - I can become impatient. When I get impatient, unfortunately other sins are soon to follow, like anger, resentment, and unforgiveness. Therefore knowing the thing that will allow me to be slow to anger and forgiving is vital to me. Let's take a look and see that that thing is. Discretion is what the Bible says will make us slow to anger. And of course our very next question is, "What is discretion - and how does someone have it in their lives. Discretion is the Hebrew word, "sekel" and it means discretion received due to intelligence and good sense. But Zhodiates goes further in his definition describing just what this is. He says, "This intellegence is more than just mere book knowledge or learning about a particular subject. It has a greater significance and means insight or understanding. It is having this intelligence and insight that gives a person that ability to have patience." (Complete Word Study Dictionary, Zhodiates) This intelligence and insight is ascribed to Abigail in the Word of God in 1 Samuel 25:3. She was said to be a beautiful women who had intelligence. That intelligence kept her entire family from being destroyed when her husband treated David with contempt. She found out about her husband's sin and lack of graciousness and quickly rode to meet David with a generous gift (which should have been given in the first place). David, for his part, was riding with a large group of valient men to avenge himself because of the anger that rose up within him when he was spited by Abigail's husband. It was Abigail's ability to discern what was about to happen to her family - that moved her to calm David's anger with a proper apology and gracious gift. Anger tends to make us not think about what we are doing. It is usually a reaction to the fact that we cannot control our own situation and the people around us - or - it is a reaction to how we view the way we have been treated by others. Discretion makes us slow to anger. There are still times when we should be angry about how we've been treated - or - how others have acted. But it is better when we are slow to anger. That way our anger is not a reaction (esepecially the ones where we blow up at someone) - but a clear decision that is guided by reason and understanding - not just passion and perceived slight. We take a moment or how many moments are necessary to step back and think through what we are about to say or do. We take time to consider the other person - and to consider their situation. The old addage of walking a mile in their shoes is appropriate here. The other thing that this understanding and knowledge will help us to consider is that it is a glory to overlook a transgression. Think for a moment what life would be like if everyone demanded instant justice on all matters where they think something wrong has been done to them. The world would be filled with vigilante justice everywhere. Life would consist of moving from one slight to another - demanding that there be payment for how we've been wronged. There would be no peace - and very few relationships would go well. Thus it is better for us to simply overlook a transgression (real or imagined). It is far better for most relationships to have a measure of grace and forgiveness (often the more the better!) than for them to demand instant justice at all times. Taking these two things - discretion when faced with a wrong done - and forgiveness and grace when we experience another's transgression - are key to productive, happy relationships. It is so helpful to remember the grace given to us when these things happen. God did not demand instant justice with reference to our transgressions. He chose to show mercy - and later to forgive when the payment had been made by His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. This has been to His everlasting glory for ages. How we need to see this - and seek to emulate it in all our relationships in life. That, dear saints, is wisdom - and it is to the glory of God. Discretion will guard you, Understanding will watch over you, Proverbs 2:11
In our world a great number of people purchase a security system. They do so because they are wanting someone to watch over them and the things that they own so that they are safe. What we read in Proverbs today tells us that when we walk in wisdom, we are guarded and watched over by God Himself. Now that is security! As we open ourselves up to God for Him to do His work in our lives, we will begin to watch two very helpful things begin to happen in our thinking. The first is that we will begin to have biblical discernment. The word used here for discernment is "mezimmah." It means to have prudence and discretion. When God's wisdom comes into our lives - we begin to live with prudence. This means that we begin to look things over before doing them. We are prudent in that we think about the end of the matter before doing something. The ungodly just jump into an action because it is what they want to do. But when wisdom begins to guide our way - we think about what this is going to do in the end. We ask the question, "If I do this, what is the result going to be?" If we see a bad result or a costly one, we choose not to do it. This is how we are guarded by discretion. We are guarded from making a quick decision that is not thought out beforehand. This keeps us from many problems. The second thing we begin to experience is understanding. This is the often used word "tebunah" which refers to someone with insight. They receive the information God gives them from the Word and from His Spirit and begin to understand all things from that perspective. Their understanding will watch over them - because as with discernment - they are loathe to do something just because it is what they want - or what others want for them. They see things from God's perspective - and having seen that - they avoid danger and stupidity like the plague. A wise man listens to God through the Word of God. That Word speaks a myriad of things to him - and helps him begin to see the world as God sees it. When that happens - he will also begin to discern the best course of action - and takes it. This habit will help make that young man or worman - a person who is protected from evil - and will watch over them for good as they learn to follow God with all their heart and soul. "I, wisdom, dwell with prudence, And I find knowledge and discretion.
Proverbs 8:12 How gullible are you? Here is a verse in Proverbs that tells us that being wise and godly are actually the opposite of being gullible. If that has whet your appetite for more - read on. In chapter 8 of Proverbs we have a picture painted for us where wisdom is personified. She speaks to us and tells us about herself. The more we learn of her - the more we are to desire her. In the midst of this description we have wisdom saying to us that there is a companion that she dwells with. Her companion's name is "prudence." If we will stay with these two, wisdom and prudence. we will be influenced in such a way that we will also find knowledge and discretion. Let's take a closer look at this friend of wisdom. Prudence is the Hebrew word, "ormah." This word means to be crafty or prudent. We're pretty much OK with the second of these two words, but crafty presents an interesting picture. We don't usually view someone who is crafty as a positive thing, but here it is used in a positive way. The idea here is that of someone who is crafty with wisdom and with seeing things from God's perspective. Whereas the wicked would use craftiness to trick someone and gain an unfair advantage of them, God is using it to speak of the inability to be caught by someone's trickery. It is a wisdom and cautiousness that keeps us from being gullible. We are not speaking of someone who is always thinking the worst of people - but we are speaking of someone who knows men. It was said of Jesus that he did not entrust himself to men - because He knew what was in a man. Let me use a biblical illustration to make this clearer. Joshua was tricked into making a treaty in the book of Joshua chapter 9. The Gibeonites used trickery to make it look like they were from a far away country. They put on worn-out clothes and sandals, took worn-out sacks, and dry and crumbled provisions to make Israel think they were not Canaanites. Israel was snookered by all this - only because her leaders did not walk according to wisdom. The Scriptures tell us that their failure was in not seeking and asking God about their situation. They took everything at face value - and believed their eyes. They did not seek the Lord and submit themselves to Him. In the end - their lack of prudence led to their being too gullible. Wisdom dwells with prudence. Wisdom is found with those who do not make "snap" judgments and decisions. They stand back from things long enough to ask questions - and more importantly - to ask God about what their eyes see and what their minds seem to be comprehending. Thus, when we walk with this wise cautiousness - we are led to find knowledge. We are led to find out things that a "once-over" mindset and choice will never find. You don't judge a book by its cover - you open it and read a little. You don't make wise decisions by reacting to the outside only - you take time to investigate things, people, and situations. When we walk in this wisdom - prudence will also help us to find discretion. We remember discretion from earlier verses in Proverbs. Discretion is being able to differentiate things. It is seeing two things that may look alike at first, but are not. Closer examination reveals the difference. And the difference often makes all the difference. Being gullible is not something we have to hold onto in life. It is something that reveals a tendency to not turn to God and to Scripture to obtain wisdom - i.e. God's perspective on things. You do not have to suffer from terminal gullibility though. You can learn to step back and examine things closer in the light of God's presence and Word. This will help you to build purdence, knowledge, and the ability to discriminate between that which is good and that which is evil or even not so good. You will find out that gullible is not written on the ceiling. What you will find is that God's Word and Spirit will help you see the difference between your will, the will and way of the world, and God's will. Do not claim honor in the presence of the king, And do not stand in the place of great men; For it is better that it be said to you, "Come up here," Than for you to be placed lower in the presence of the prince, Whom your eyes have seen. Proverbs 25:6-7
There is a real danger of claiming honor in the presence of leaders and people of importance. The danger lies in whether they agree with your evaluation of yourself or not. That is why it is wise to embrace humility when in the presence of leaders and people of importance. We are told not to claim honor in the presence of the king. This is because a king or a great man already has a standing of honor and respect. When we claim one - we may claim something they don't think we should have. We are also told to be careful about standing in the place of great men. Your mother may think you are awesome and great - but that's because she is your mom. Not everyone in the world carries a picture of you in their wallet. The wise man embraces humility and a low view of himself. He is not boastful and full of himself. Instead he chooses to let his works, his attitudes, and his value be evaluated by others who see what he does. He focuses on being a servant and being a person of excellence. Whatever happens as a result of his actions he lets others decide. This way, if he is lifted up and praised, it is due to the words of others and not due to the arrogant braggadocio of his own words. This is what verse 7 presents to us. We are told that is it better for others to say to us that we should, "Come up here." What is being said is that we should leave the praise to others. When we receive it - others are elevating us. We simply receive their praise graciously and gratefully. There is one of the dangers of having too high a view of ourselves. We begin to believe our own press. We think we are awesome and that others really should be praising us and lifting us up. This places us in a very precarious place. We read the final admonition to us in this verse and it is one we should think about very seriously. It's better for someone to say, "Come up here," than or us to be demoted in the presence of the prince. To be humbled is . . . well . . . a humbling experience. It is bad enough to be humbled in a one on one situation - but here we are talking about being humbled before a prince - and probably before his court as well. Arrogance has a very high cost - and that is seen nowhere more clearly than in this one who decided to assume a high place in the court of a king or a prince. The Biblical example of this is found in the book of Esther. Haman was elevated to a high place in Ahasuerus' kingdom. He was given authority which quickly went to his head. Soon Haman decided that everyone should exalt him - like he was king. When Mordecai would not do this - he decided to abuse his authority not just to hurt Mordecai, but to destroy his people as well. This plot seemed like it would succeed, were it not for the prayers of God's people and God's intervention. This process wasn't hindered at all by Haman's exceedingly great pride and arrogance. His fall came when he was asked by the king what should be done for the man who the king desired to honor. Haman's pride was at its highest and worst point when the only thought that came to him was that he was the one whom the king spoke of when asking this. Little did he know that the one the king decided to honor was his rival. Suddenly all the arrogance and pride in destroying an entire people for a slight he felt to his pride was caving in upon him. He faced devastation as a series of events took place where he was no longer asked to, "Come up here," by the king. His was a careening fall from grace to his death by execution. Arrogance does not pay in the end. It will bring about a devastating end for the one who embraces it. But the humble man who does not seek to advance himself will prosper. He will do so in one way or another. Either he will be advanced by the king - a turn of events he will receive with the same grace and attitude with which he served in the first place - or - he will continue to serve graciously because his goal was not honor and glory anyway. His goal was simply to serve those around him in the name of Jesus Christ. If he accomplishes that - he is happy. Do not speak in the hearing of a fool, For he will despise the wisdom of your words. Proverbs 23:9
There are people in life that you cannot speak to or teach. That is one of the irrefutable facts of life that you need to realize and embrace . . . or go crazy. Proverbs addresses this fact today. The fool is a dull, thickheaded, stubborn person who will not welcome or allow God's wisdom into his life. Proverbs 1:7 reminds us that fools despise wisdom and instruction. Three different words are translated fool in the Old Testament, and none of them are particularly flattering to the one who is a fool. The first is the Hebrew word "kesl" which speaks of someone who is spiritually dull and characterized by a mind closed to God and His Word. He is thickheaded and very stubborn in holding to his own ways, his own thoughts, and his own ideas. This person will usually reject information from others - and is especially beligerent toward information from God. This is the word used most often for fool throughout the book of Proverbs - and is the word used here. The second word for fool is "nabal" which refers to one who lacks any kind of spiritual perception or discernment. The third word for fool is "ewl" and speaks of the one who is arrogant, flippant, and mentally dull. he is also hardened in his ways and unwilling to change in response to information from others - and once again even more so when it comes to information from the Word or the Spirit of God. This is the person to whom you are speaking - who is either hearing you speak directly to him - or indirectly hears what you are saying. We need to see here that we are not even to speak in the "hearing" of a fool. This guy will not listen - his mind is closed to the things of God - and thus his ears are too. He is settled in his ungodly and worldly thinking. He will not just reject your words - he will despise them. The word despise is the Hebrew "buz" and means to hold in contempt and utter disrespect. What we have said here in Proverbs 23:9 is the same as we read in chatper 1 verse 7. They hate the wisdom of God. This probably sounds harsh to some who read this and react with the template of being tolerant of everyone's views. The problem though is not with the person who knows and loves God's wisdom - it is with the fool who is anything but tolerant of God's views. It is so important that we remember that God's wisdom is simply seeing things from God's perspective. We learn to look at things the way that God looks at them. We want to have His mindset and His heart. But when the fool hears these things - he reacts with disgust - even hatred! He wants NOTHING to do with God's Word or His ways. We see this in our society more and more. Those who are unsaved are becoming more and more hardened in their ways. They accuse us of intolerance - and yet as we love them and share the truth with them - it is they who are the intolerant. It is not that they just disagree with us - they want our views labelled as "hate speech" and forbidden from public discourse. They radically and hatefully respond to our views of morality - and see them as an afront to their very existance. Therefore when we speak - they will react strongly to us. Some will even become so angry that they will attempt to shout us down or shut us down. Others will go as far as taking our views to court to see them labelled as illegal. Thus they not only reject them - they reject having them spoken out loud even when they are not present. So how do we deal with this? First, we do what Proverbs says. We realize a fool when we run into one - and we don't speak in their hearing. It is not that we hide from them or take our message underground. We just simply speak to others instead of them. This is a tricky thing to manage, because we don't want to refuse the gospel to people. Paul was very harsh toward Christians before he was saved - yet the Lord wanted him to hear the gospel. Some who persectued the church - came to Christ simply because those persectured shared their faith with them. So, we approach this with wisdom and the leadership of the Spirit - not just our own tendency to react to the more strident in their views among the wicked. This being said, we do exercise wisdom and share with those who receive the message. To do otherwise would be to waste the message with those who will reject it outright. Even Jesus told us not to throw the pearls of the gospel before swine. He said that they would trample them under foot and turn to attack us. Kinda sounds like what Solomon is seeking to tell us here. So be wise - share the gospel and the wisdom of God freely - but be wise with those who reject it violently. Share with those who have a heart to hear - a heart where God is granting them ears to hear and a heart to respond to the Spirit's moving. They won't despise the Word or the wisdom of God. They will embrace it and prove it by the change that they experience in their lives. He cuts off his own feet and drinks violence Who sends a message by the hand of a fool. Proverbs 26:6
There are certain things you do not ever give to a fool. One of these things is any message that you want given to another. The fool, who is ultimately concerned with himself, will do a bad job of doing anything given to him. Here we have two amazing statements made about the man who gives the job of communicating a message through the means of a fool. The first is that sending a message through a fool is akin to cutting off your own feet. One expects a fool to take a message and use his own two lets to get the message to another. Seeing that a fool is lazy and undisciplined, this is a very unwise choice. When we send a message through a messenger - we are supplementing the use of our own legs with the legs of the one who carries the message. Here though, the fool is utterly unreliable in this task. Therefore sending a message with him is like cutting off your own two feet. Your chances are if the messages is communicated at all, it is communicated badly. The second picture is of a man who drinks violence. The reason you send a message with another is so that you will be refreshed by their work on your behalf. A message sent by a faithful envoy is like a cool drink - it refreshes you and it lessens your own work load in the time being. Unfortunately, when you send a message by the hands of a fool, that is not going to happen. When you do this it is like drinking violence. You will have to deal with the damage and the scorn of those who have either not received the message at all - or they have not heard what you meant for them to hear. When this happens, you are facing a situation where someone is offended and angry over the "messing-up of the message." Rather than your work being lessened, it is increased - and that with a new problem of someone who is angry with you. Those by whom we send messages to others ned to be those with the highest levels of responsibility and trustworthiness. The communication of that message can either be a delight or a debacle. The wise man makes sure that his messages are carried by those who are wise like him. Better to take the message yourself than to have a fool take it and create a very bad situation. Even better than this is to cultivate good messengers who will truly and selflessly take any message given to them and faithfully transmit it to those to whom it is sent. That they may keep you from an adulteress, From the foreigner who flatters with her words. Proverbs 7:5
We begin to grasp why wisdom and understanding need to be our sister and kinsman redeemer when we see the way that the adulteress seeks to capture men. The wise father here is offering very sage advice to his son - in an effort to rescue him from the snares of immoral women who would capture him with their wiles. Wisdom and understanding keep us from the adulteress. There is something we need to hear in our day - or any day for that matter. If a man does not walk in this world with his spirit open to the Holy Spirit - he will have the normal abnormalcy of walking in his flesh. I call this normal - because it is the state of all who come into this world. I call it abnormalcy because that was not how God originally made man - nor is it where God wants us to be. Too many men, young and old, walk blind to spiritual realities. This makes them sitting ducks for immorality and every other kind of vice common to mankind. It is only seeing things from God's perspective that will guard us from the adulteress. Thus we need to think in cooperation with the Holy Spirit who desires to give us wisdom and understanding - not with our desires and with our labido. We need to be guarded and protected . . . from ourselves. This "strange woman," which is what the Hebrew literally says, is a foreigner. This term may surprise you, but it has more to do with a "spiritual" foreigner than any kind of nationality issues. God warned Israel about the nations that surrounded her because their daughters would intermarry with Israel's sons. God's concern was that this situation would result in Israel's sons worshipping the false god's that these women worshipped. As a result, these sons would turn from the Lord and follow the false gods of the nations instead of the one true God, Jehovah. The adulteress has a secret weapon in her arsenal. It is one that God warns us of - and yet still hundreds and thousands of men fall for it every day. She "flatters" with her words. Men love for their egos to be stroked and pampered. They love it when a woman says nice things about them - compliments them - and tells them how wonderful they are. (As a man, I fear that this comes from the arrogant prideful thought within me that when they do - they are so right - because . . . well . . . because I just so incredibly awesome!) Oh, here is the danger, men! We want the ego strokes because of our pride. When a man has been married for a while - too often these ego-strokes begin to fade in the marriage due to men being doofusses and due to the natural progression of sin. (Just a note to wives . . . ladies, you cannot ever grasp how important it is for your husband to know you appreciate him - and that you still consider him your hero - and a warning as well is needed here. If you don't do this - or think its just dumb to say things like this cause you've been married 5, 10, 20, 30 years. I can promise you that at some point, some other woman may begin complimenting and flattering your husband. He is still responsible to be godly, be pure, and be faithful. But that task becomes all the more difficult - when he receives no encouragement at home - no ego-strokes - no compliments. This makes it harder to resist when someone finally appreciates him. This is not meant to justify unfaithfulness - it just hopefully helps you see that your God-given task of being his helpmate (which includes encouragement and seeing him as your hero) will make it so much easier for him to see the smooth, flattery of the adulteress for what it is . . . a trap!) The adulteress uses flattery to trap a man. She uses compliments and smooth statements as bait for another woman's husband. The word for flattery means words that are smooth and slippery. What a picture of the deception and the lies that are at work here. She worships herself and her own desires - and she is working hard through her slippery, smooth comments to get this poor sap to join her in her worship. He can worship himself and enter into her worship of herself through an illicit relationship. She catches her prey by luring him in through the baited compliments she places into her trap. Wisdom and understanding are essential to delivering us from such things. God's viewpoint is simple men. Are you married? Do you presently have a wife? Then this is totally and completely out of bounds! If this is absolutely outside of God's will for you - then who could be behind such counsel and such temptation? We need to see these compliments for what they are. They are bait on a hook! If you nibble at the bait - a hook is going to tear through the flesh of your lip - possibly rip open your jaw - and no matter how hard you fight, you're going to be reeled in and mounted as a trophy on Satan's wall! My how that description just changed how we view the flattery and slippery speech of the adulteress! We went from being enamored with her beauty and the promise of ecstasy - to feeling sick at our stomachs at the thought of a hook tearing through our skin and the pain that it would yield. Good!! That is what wisdom and understanding are supposed to do. They are supposed to take the silly trappings off of the devil's lies - off of our flesh and its deceptive thoughts - and show us the horror of what truly lies ahead. This is why wisdom is to be our sister - and understanding our kinsman redeemer. They can take the most sensual, inviting situation and show it for what it is. It is going to be horrible! It is going to be bondage! It is going to be regretted in the end! May God give us grace to see these things - to wake up out of the stupor of our fleshly sleep - and see the truth before it is too late. "For my mouth will utter truth; And wickedness is an abomination to my lips. Proverbs 8:7
Wisdom is calling to us to come and learn wisdom from her. Her call is to all places where we walk and live. Her comes everywhere - and if we will listen we will be blessed throughout every day. Wisdom wants to assure us what we will receive when we heed the Spirit's desire to teach and instruct us. Wisdom will utter truth to us. The word "mutter" here is very instructive in how wisdom works in our lives. This word means "to growl, groan, sigh, or mutter." It means figuratively to meditate or to ponder. When wisdom speaks to us - it will often be as we take the time to meditate upon and ponder what God's Word says to us. Psalm 1 and Joshua 1:8 promise blessing and prosperity to those who meditate upon the Word of God. A wise man is one who meditates upon the things of the Lord - who meditate on the Word of God. The Spirit of God will speak to us when we meditate - and He will guide us into wisdom and understanding when He does. Want wisdom? Then learn to ponder and think about the Word when making decisions about your future and decisions. Wisdom also assures us what we WON'T hear when God speaks to our hearts by His Holy Spirit. We are told that wickedness is an abomination to the lips of wisdom. When we listen to the Lord as He teaches us the Word, we can be assured that we will NOT hear anything wicked. This actually will help us to know when the Spirit of God is speaking and when He is NOT speaking. If we hear something wicked - it is NOT the Spirit of God offering His wisdom to us. Too often people make really ignorant decisions when they think they've heard God. But if they are counselled to do something ungodly - something wicked - something unscriptural - it is NOT God speaking. But if we hear truth - and realize the ramifications of what His wisdom would have us do - then we are hearing the Spirit of God. Once again the Word "mutter" is so helpful to us in understanding God's ways here. We will much more likely be receiving God's wisdom when we are taking the time to think and ponder God's Word than in doing any other activity we can do. It is the mouth of God who is speaking truth to us as we mutter to ourselves concerning what the Word of God says. God is wanting to speak truth to us - to lead us in His way. But to hear Him we need to take the time to ponder and seriously think about what the Word of God says to us. When we do - we will enter into the counsel of God as He speaks to us about what is right in God's eyes. |
Proverb a DayEach day, we'll take a look at a verse from the chapter of Proverbs for the day. Our hope is to gain wisdom each day - and from that wisdom - to have understanding to make godly decisions in the throes of everyday life. Thank you for visiting our website! Everything on this site is offered for free. If, however, you would like to make a donation to help pay for its continued presence on the internet, you can do that by clicking here. The only thing we ask is that you give first to the local church you attend. Thank you!
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