Proverbs 11: 27 Favor or Trouble...

What you seek determines what you will find…

Proverbs 11: 27 (NKJV)

27 He who earnestly seeks good finds favor,
But trouble will come to him who seeks evil.

All definitions are found on http://www.thefreedictionary.com

earnestly: 1. With a purposefully or sincere intent 2. Seriously; determined

seek: 1. To try to locate or discover; search for. 2. To endeavor to obtain or reach

favor: 1. To perform a kindness or service for 2. To treat or regard with friendship, approval, or support 3. To be or tend to be in support of 4. To make easier or more possible; facilitate 5. To treat with care; be gentle with:

trouble: 1. A state of distress, affliction, difficulty, or need 2. A distressing or difficult circumstance or situation 3. A condition of pain, disease, or malfunction:

evil: 1. Morally bad or wrong; wicked 2. Causing ruin, injury, or pain; harmful 3. Characterized by or indicating future misfortune; ominous 4. Bad or blameworthy by report; infamous 5. Characterized by anger or spite; malicious

Using these definitions, we can see that the first part of verse 27 tells us that a person who is seriously determined or has the sincere intent to locate and obtain the virtue of “goodness,” will find the friendship, approval, and/or support of God and/or those men that work or live around them.

The second part of this verse goes on to contrast what the person that is determined to be wicked, harmful, spiteful, or malicious will find. They will find distress, affliction, difficulty, need, pain, disease and/or other malfunctions in their lives.

Many of these things come to those that ignore God and His ways, as we have seen before, but they also come to those that DO follow His ways, at times, through the problems that sin in this world has caused. The difference is that God will take you around or through the problems that arise if you are truly seeking “good” or His ways.

This was the whole point of the book of Job. That book shows us things about problems from a heavenly point of view. Horrible things come to wonderfully good people for reasons that we don’t understand and that others might believe are some kind of “judgment” on us, but God has His own reasons for the things that He allows: Isaiah 55:8 (NKJV) “ For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” says the LORD.

Job also tells us that after God’s point was proven to Satan, then He “restored” him:

Job 42:10-17 (NKJV)

10 And the LORD restored Job’s losses when he prayed for his friends. Indeed the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before. … 12 Now the LORD blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning; for he had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, one thousand yoke of oxen, and one thousand female donkeys. 13 He also had seven sons and three daughters. 14 And he called the name of the first Jemimah, the name of the second Keziah, and the name of the third Keren-Happuch. 15 In all the land were found no women so beautiful as the daughters of Job; and their father gave them an inheritance among their brothers. 16 After this Job lived one hundred and forty years, and saw his children and grandchildren for four generations. 17 So Job died, old and full of days.

Proverbs 11: 19 Life or Death…

Today’s verse summarizes and reiterates the theme of this Book of Proverbs and simply restates it.



Proverbs 11: 19 (NKJV)



19 As righteousness leads to life,
So he who pursues evil pursues it to his own death.




We’ve seen that “righteousness” means someone who is living morally, virtuously, and without guilt or sin, and today’s verse says that this type of living leads to life. I believe that, in the context given, this is talking about eternal life.



The second half of the verse shows the negative of the picture given in the first part. IT restates the theme that “pursuing evil” will lead to the pursuer’s eternal death.

Proverbs 11: 5 & 6 Righteousness vs Wickedness/Lust

Both of our verses today, speak to us of those that are righteous as opposed to those that are wicked or lustful. As we have seen throughout our study of this book, this is the main theme of Proverbs, and is repeated in many different ways to emphasize it’s importance.

Proverbs 11: 5 & 6 (NKJV)

5 The righteousness of the blameless will direct

(Or make smooth or straight) his way aright,
But the wicked will fall by his own wickedness.

6 The righteousness of the upright will deliver them,

But the unfaithful will be caught by their lust (or their own desires).

As we have seen before, those that follow Godly paths in their lives are blessed by God. They are given wisdom and guidance from God which directs them in the ways they should go, and delivers them from problems that come up in their lives.

We have also seen that those who choose NOT to follow God, but their own lusts of the flesh, become more and more wicked. God has two definitions for the word, “unfaithfulness.” The one, most everyone is familiar with, speaks of one spouse betraying the other by having a lustful relationship with someone else.

The other definition has to do with not being faithful to God and His ways of love. We see this clearly in the following verses:

Leviticus 6:2-5 (NIV)

2 "If anyone sins and is unfaithful to the LORD by deceiving his neighbor about something entrusted to him or left in his care or stolen, or if he cheats him, 3 or if he finds lost property and lies about it, or if he swears falsely, or if he commits any such sin that people may do- 4 when he thus sins and becomes guilty, he must return what he has stolen or taken by extortion, or what was entrusted to him, or the lost property he found, 5 or whatever it was he swore falsely about. He must make restitution in full, add a fifth of the value to it and give it all to the owner on the day he presents his guilt offering.

In verse 6 of our verses today, we are told that the “unfaithful” WILL be caught, because their lust will lead them on, deeper and deeper into their sinful ways. The verse in Leviticus tells us what types of sin God considers “unfaithfulness” to Him, but it also speaks of being able to make restitution. The verses after this section speak of the blood sacrifices required to pay for these sins, and those of us that have accepted Christ as our Savior, know that He paid that price for our sins.

ALL of us have sinned, and God knows about it, so we have been caught. If we continue to go down the sinful paths, we will fall, but if we turn from them, accept what Christ did for us and choose to be righteous through Him, then we will be blessed and “delivered.”

Proverbs 11:2 Pride vs Humility

Today’s verse is about being prideful and, in contrast, about being humble.

Proverbs 11:2 (NKJV)

2 When pride comes, then comes shame;
But with the humble is wisdom.


The Book of Proverbs has a lot to say about “pride,” or a “haughty spirit.” Proverbs 6:17 lists this as another of the Seven Deadly Sins. Proverbs 8:13 (NKJV) states: “The fear of the LORD is to hate evil. Pride and arrogance and the evil way, and the perverse mouth I hate. Proverbs 13:10a says, “By pride comes nothing but strife...”

The Online Dictionary defines the type of “pride” spoken of here as: 1. Arrogant or disdainful conduct or treatment; haughtiness 2. An excessively high opinion of oneself; conceited.

Proverbs 16:18, a VERY well known verse, warns us that, “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. Today’s verse tells us tells us approximately the same thing! “When pride comes, then comes shame…” If we put ourselves up on a pedestal, sooner or later, God will have to knock us off, for He is to be our God and we are to have NO OTHER god’s above HIM!

Pride was Satan's sin. Isaiah 14:12-14 (NKJV) tells us about this:

The Fall of Lucifer

12 “ How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer,[literally, Day Star] son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, You who weakened the nations! 13 For you have said in your heart: ‘ I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation On the farthest sides of the north; 14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’

This certainly makes it clear that it is best to not allow this type of “pride” into our lives, but to recognize that our God is sovereign and HE is the one that has brought us everything that we might allow ourselves to be prideful over!

The word “humble” is defined as: 1. Marked by meekness or modesty in behavior, attitude, or spirit; not arrogant or prideful. 2. Showing deferential or submissive respect. When we KNOW and acknowledge, that everything good that we have has come from God and His work in our lives, then we are wise, and can easily be humble, showing “deferential or submissive respect” toward God and others.

Proverbs 11:1 Don’t Cheat Others!

Hi, fellow Wisdom Seekers! Today we will be starting a new chapter. Let’s see what the Lord has to teach us for today!

Proverbs 11:1 (NKJV)
1 Dishonest scales are an abomination to the LORD,

But a just weight is His delight.

The note in my NIV Bible says that, “In a culture with no bureau of weights and measures, cheating in business by falsification of standards was common…” God calls those that follow HIM to be very careful NOT to cheat others in any way! He says that cheating is an “abomination” to Him. The word, “abomination,” as defined in the Online Dictionary, means, 1. Abhorrence; disgust. 2. A cause of abhorrence or disgust. 3. an action that is vicious or vile; an action that arouses disgust or abhorrence.

This would be another form of lying, and John 8:44 (NKJV) says, that if you lie, 44 You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it. Proverbs 6: 17 lists lying as one of the “Seven Deadly Sins” that God hates!

As we can see, God feels quite STRONGLY about cheating and lying, which go hand in hand. Revelation 22:14-15 (NKJV) makes this VERY clear! It says, 14 Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city [speaking of heaven]. 15 But outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie.

Lying and cheating are the exact opposites of everything the Lord wants of His people. This verse concludes with “a just weight is His delight” because God’s ways are ways of love, caring, help, and truth toward our “neighbors.” These things build up trust and confidence between His children (those that choose to follow Him), and eventually, we will all be living together in His kingdom, so we need to start building the type of relationships here that we will live with, forever, there!

Proverbs 10:30 - 32 More Righteous vs Wicked

Today we will look at the last three verses of chapter 10. These verses, as so many others in this chapter, are contrasts between those that are righteous and those that are wicked (or perverse.) Here are today's verses:

Proverbs 10:30 - 32 (NKJV)

30 The righteous will never be removed,

But the wicked will not inhabit the earth.

31 The mouth of the righteous brings forth wisdom,

But the perverse tongue will be cut out.

32 The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable,

But the mouth of the wicked what is perverse.

The first part of each of these three verses speaks of those that God calls “righteous.” These are people who, as we have seen before, are “morally upright and without guilt or sin.” They have decided to follow God and His ways with their whole hearts, souls, and minds. They have accepted Jesus’ sacrifice that paid for their sins and have been “made righteous in God’s eyes.”

Verse 30 tells us that the righteous “will never be removed,” and, since it is contrasted by the words, “the wicked will not inhabit the earth,” it sounds like this is another way of saying what it says in Psalm 37:29 (NKJV), “The righteous shall inherit the land, and dwell in it forever.” Isaiah 60:21 (NKJV) also says something about this when talking about the end times: “Also your people shall all be righteous; They shall inherit the land forever, The branch of My planting, The work of My hands, That I may be glorified.”

The first parts of verses 31 & 32 also talks about those that are righteous, but concentrate on the way these people speak and what they say. Verse 31 says that people that have lived a life of following God will have gained wisdom as they have walked this path, and when they speak to others, that wisdom will show in what they have to say. Verse 32 says that these people will “KNOW” what is acceptable to speak, probably because of that wisdom they have gained.

Conversely, the second parts of these verses speak of wicked or perverse people. These types of people will not “inhabit the earth.” This means that they, and their type, will die off sooner or later. Not only will they be cut off from the earth in the future, but they, eventually, will not be allowed to speak at all. Verse 32 tells us that the “wicked” speak perverse things, and verse 31 even says that “the perverse tongue will be cut out.”

Proverbs 10:27 Choose the Length of Your Life

Today’s verse is about the length of your life. You can choose to prolong or shorten it.

Proverbs 10:27 (NKJV)

27 The fear of the LORD prolongs days,

But the years of the wicked will be shortened.

As we have seen, “the fear of the Lord…” doesn’t mean terror of what He will do to us. It means to have awe and reverence or respect for His authority in our lives. When we look at God… the one that created everything, including us, we should be in awe of the fact that He has CHOSEN to love us though He knows EVERYTHING about us… every evil thought, or word, or action in our hearts and minds. He loved us so much that He didn’t want to lose us to the evil one and everlasting death.

If you have someone or something that is the most beloved thing in your life, would you be able to give that beloved one to others to torture and kill so that someone who hates, despises or simply doesn’t care about you could be saved? THIS is what God did for us because He loves us. We had sinned and separated ourselves from Him and He wanted us back, so He gave His precious Son to pay for our sins. THIS deserves our awe and respect. There is nothing that He can do that shows His love for us more than this.

When we have this kind of “fear/awe/reverence” and choose to learn of His ways, and follow them, then He will prolong the days that He has given us. We’ve seen how He has done this in the past for Hezekiah (2 Kings 20:1-11) when he prolonged his life 15 years.

Those that refuse to acknowledge that He is GOD, our creator, and choose to reject the way that HE, AS GOD, chose to be the only pathway to Heaven, are sinners (not doing as God wants them to do) and are “wicked.” These people don’t choose wise pathways, and end up having their “years shortened.”

Proverbs 10:18 Watch Your Mouth!

Today’s verses are about the words we allow out of our mouths…

Proverbs 10:18 (NKJV)
18 Whoever hides hatred has lying lips,

And whoever spreads slander is a fool.

The first part of this verse speaks of those that have hatred in their hearts. Many of these people try to hide this hatred when they are speaking to others, and to do this, they end up speaking lies. We need to let God clean up our hearts so that we can have a truly forgiving heart, and then we will not have “lying lips” when we speak of others.

The second part of this verse is not in contrast to the first part as many of the verses that we have studied have been. In this verse, the second part compliments, or comes at the subject of our words from a different angle. Those that have hatred or malice in their hearts, will often spread “slander” about others. The Online Dictionary gives this definition of slander: 1. Oral communication of false statements injurious to a person's reputation. 2. A false and malicious statement or report about someone.

This verse says that those that go around spreading “slander” are fools. Often, gossip is another form of “slander,” as well. We need to keep a close watch on our words! Here is what Jesus has to say about this subject.


Matthew 12:33-37 (NKJV)

33 “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit. 34 Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. 35 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things. 36 But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. 37 For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

Proverbs 10:17 Be teachable…

Today’s verse contrasts between those that are teachable, and those that aren’t.

Proverbs 10:17 (NKJV)

17 He who keeps instruction is in the way of life,

But he who refuses correction goes astray.

Jewish children were supposed to be taught God’s ways from the time they are very young at the time these proverbs were written. Since this verse is based on this premise, following these Godly instructions would lead the young person into paths of blessing and life.

Conversely, those that don’t follow the instructions of their youth, are then corrected and disciplined, but refuses to accept that correction and learn from it, will end up going astray. If they continue to follow THAT pathway, as we have seen in prior verses, they will end up falling away from God and that will lead them to the opposite of abundant life. They will lead lives of pain, despair, etc. --- since THEY have CHOSEN to turn away from the God that wants to bless them. If they continue to turn their back on God and the only way to eternal life, THEY make the CHOICE to reject Heaven after this life and CHOSE to make Hell their eternal “home.”