Proverbs 12: 15 Seek Wise Counsel…

This verse is another contrast between those that God sees as being foolish and the ones He sees as being wise.

Proverbs 12: 15 (NKJV)

15 The way of a fool is right in his own eyes,

But he who heeds counsel is wise.

Here are the definitions of the main words in these verses: 

the way: the path

fool: One who is deficient in judgment, sense, or understanding; opposite of wise

right: Most favorable, desirable, or convenient

heeds: pays attention to; listens to and considers

counsel: Advice or guidance, especially as solicited from a knowledgeable person

wise: 1. possessing, showing, or prompted by wisdom or discernment 2. prudent; sensible

Using these definitions, we see that people who are deficient in judgment and understanding choose paths that THEY feel is most favorable or convenient for them. They base their path in life on their feelings instead of sound judgment.

In contrast, the person who shows wisdom or discernment and is sensible, will listen to and pay attention to advice or guidance from a knowledgeable person.

As we saw in the first several chapters of Proverbs, God illustrated that the wisdom that comes from Him and studying His Word is the true wisdom available in this world. Since He created this world, He knows what will help us get through our life in it, in ways where He can lead and bless us.

We must be very careful to base the way we act and the things we do in this life, on what God says and not on what we “feel like doing” from one minute to the next. 

Proverbs 3:1-12 (N I V)

Benefits of Wisdom 

1 My son, do not forget my teaching,

but keep my commands in your heart,

2 for they will prolong your life many years

and bring you prosperity.

3 Let love and faithfulness never leave you;

bind them around your neck,

write them on the tablet of your heart. 

4 Then you will win favor and a good name

in the sight of God and man.

5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart

and lean not on your own understanding;

6 in all your ways acknowledge him,

and he will direct your paths.

7 Do not be wise in your own eyes;

fear the LORD and shun evil.

8 This will bring health to your body

and nourishment to your bones.

9 Honor the LORD with your wealth,

with the firstfruits of all your crops;

10 then your barns will be filled to overflowing,

and your vats will brim over with new wine.

11 My son, do not despise the LORD's discipline

and do not resent his rebuke,

12 because the LORD disciplines those he loves,

as a father, the son he delights in.

Proverbs 11: 30 Fruit of the Righteous

Proverbs 11: 30 (NKJV)

30 The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life,
And he who wins souls is wise.

The following definitions were taken from the Online Dictionary…

fruit: Result; outcome (in this usage of the word)

righteous: Morally upright; without guilt or sin

tree of life: A tree in the Garden of Eden whose fruit, if eaten, gave everlasting life

wins: To achieve success in an effort or venture

soul: 1. The animating and vital principle in humans, credited with the faculties of thought, action, and emotion and often conceived as an immaterial entity. 2. The spiritual nature of humans, regarded as immortal, separable from the body at death, and susceptible to happiness or misery in a future state. 3. A person considered as the perfect embodiment of an intangible quality; a personification 4. A person's emotional or moral nature:


Using these definitions, we see that this verse tells us, those that follow a life of righteousness will have the result of gaining everlasting life. Also, they are wise if they achieve success in bringing another person’s immortal, moral nature into a relationship with God so that they can become morally upright and without sin (through the salvation Christ offers).

Proverbs 11: 16 Graciousness vs. Ruthlessness

As I read today’s verse. I was dismayed at what MY understanding came up with. The second part of the verse sounded like it totally went against the things that God teaches, so I decided to look up each of the important words so that I would be able to get a complete understanding of the meanings behind the words that upset me. First, let’s read the verse:

Proverbs 11: 16 (NKJV)

16 A gracious woman retains honor,
But ruthless men retain riches.

The word, “gracious” has the root word of “grace” which is defined as: 1. A disposition to be generous or helpful; goodwill; To show mercy or clemency. 2. A favor rendered by one who need not do so 3. (Christian theology) a state of sanctification by God; the state of one who is under God’s divine influence.

The word “gracious,” itself, means: 1. To be characterized by: kindness, warm courtesy, tact, propriety, charm or beauty; gracefulness, elegance and good taste 2. To be of a merciful or compassionate nature. 3. (Archaic meaning) Enjoying favor or grace; acceptable or pleasing. These characteristics fit the example, at the end of Proverbs, of the “perfect” woman in God’s sight where it also says that this woman will be honored.

The word “retains” means: 1. To maintain possession of 2. To keep or hold 3. To keep in mind; remember.

The word, “honor” is defined as: 1. High respect, as that shown for special merit; esteem: 2. Good name; reputation. 3. Glory or recognition; distinction.

Our last main word in this verse is “ruthless” which means: Having no compassion or pity; merciless: without mercy or pity; "a monster of remorseless cruelty"

The first part of our verse says that a woman (or person) that shows compassion, mercy, gentleness, courtesy, and tact, even when they don’t HAVE TO, will enjoy favor and be acceptable or pleasing to God. Someone with these traits will keep in mind, or hold onto, their good name and reputation. People will recognize them them by giving them a LOT of respect. An excellant example of a person like this was Mother Theresa.

Think of those people who have shown these qualities that you know, and how you feel about that person. This would be something I would want to strive for in MY life because I want people to see God’s work in my life.

The second part of this verse is what caused me to be confused because, through a cursory reading, it seemed to say that you need to be “ruthless,” or "a monster of remorseless cruelty," that has NO compassion, pity or mercy toward people if you want to be rich. If you look further, though, at the verse, it says these types of people will RETAIN their riches. They will NOT share them or use them to help others, no matter how badly it is needed.

I came to see that God was “reporting” on what happens in this world. By remembering so many of the rest of the verses that we have been studying in Proverbs, I know that those “riches” are doing NOTHING for the soul of that person. He would have NO peace, love or joy in his heart, for you only get those by giving them away to others. An example of this was Hitler who ended up going mad and killing himself.

I also remembered that several of the verses that we have studied essentially were “boiled down” by Christ into these words in Mark 8:36 -- For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?”

Proverbs 10 : 13 & 14 Wise or Foolish Lips...

Today’s verses give us some more attributes of those that are wise, and those that are foolish.

Proverbs 10: 13 & 14 (NKJV)

13 Wisdom is found on the lips of him who has understanding,

But a rod is for the back of him who is devoid of understanding.

14 Wise people store up knowledge,

But the mouth of the foolish is near destruction.

Both of our verses today start out speaking about wisdom. Verse 13 tells us that a person that is wise and understanding, speaks wise words… wisdom is “found” on his lips, and verse 14 goes on to tell us that a wise person will “store up knowledge.” They don’t just “hear” it, they seek after it and put it into their heads, hearts and actions, so that they will remember it.

The second part of both of these verses show contrasts to the first parts. Verse 13 contrasts those who are “devoid of understanding” to those that “have understanding.” “A rod is for the back…” speaks of people who are caught and punished for doing foolish, ungodly things. All of us do these types of things at different times of our lives… especially when we are young. Hopefully these incidences become less frequent as we grow in knowledge and understanding of God and His ways.

God also tells us that “those He loves, He chastens…” when they need it, and there are several places in the Bible that speak about this principle. Just as we give our children the choices to choose between following our rules and not following them, if they will eventually NOT be safe if they don’t follow, then we will, if we are wise parents, discipline them so that they will stay on “safe paths.” God does the same for us, because He loves us even MORE than we love our own children.

The first part of verse 13, which as we saw, speaks of having wisdom on his lips, contrasts with the last part of verse 14 which tells us that people that speak foolishness are near destruction. As we have studied before, our words flow from what is in our hearts, and if they are full of ungodly things (The fool says, in his heart, there is NO God…) then each time the “foolishness” flows, it draws us closer to destruction because it draws us AWAY from God.

Proverbs 10: 6 & 7

Our two verses for today give more contrasts between the righteous and the wicked.

Proverbs 10 6 & 7 (NKJV)

⁶ Blessings are on the head of the righteous,
But violence covers the mouth of the wicked.
⁷ The memory of the righteous is blessed,
But the name of the wicked will rot.

When we studied verse 3, a few studies ago, we found that to be “righteous,” means to be morally upright, or without guilt or sin. These verses tell us that if we follow God’s path for us and “seek… His righteousness,” which is only found by letting Him cover our sins with His blood sacrifice, the we will have blessings put on us, and I assume that means on our lives, and it also says that our “memory” will be blessed.

I find that last to be very interesting, and three thoughts came to my mind. I would love for that to mean that I could claim this verse and get rid of my “faulty” memory, and I think I will pray about that!

It could also mean that if you lead a “righteous” life, you will have wonderful memories of all those blessings that have been given to you. The last thought, was that those that remember us… those family and friends or people we might have mentored, will receive blessings when they remember the things our lives have taught them. It might be a mixture of these things, for they are all supported by other Biblical principals.

The second parts of both of these verses speak of “the wicked.” One commentary I read on the meaning of this verse was that the violence spoken of through their lips will eventually overwhelm them. They will follow the lead of their lips and words because out of the hearts of men, come their words, and the death that comes from a sinful life, will cause even their name to rot. No one will WANT to remember an evil person, so it will “rot” and disintegrate into nothing as time goes on (in a “forever” timeline). Also, while something is in the process of “rotting,” it stinks and those that have to deal with it will be affected by the “smell.”

Proverbs 9: 7 - 12

Today’s verses speak of how we should handle scoffers. They also speak of the differences between scoffers and wise men. The Online dictionary defines a "scoffer" as: "someone who jeers or mocks or treats something with contempt," and in this case it would be someone who is treating God's Word and wisdom this way.

Proverbs 9: 7 - 12 (NKJV)

7 “ He who corrects a scoffer gets shame for himself,

And he who rebukes a wicked man only harms himself.

8 Do not correct a scoffer, lest he hate you;

Rebuke a wise man, and he will love you.

9 Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be still wiser;

Teach a just man, and he will increase in learning.

10 “ The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom,

And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.

11 For by me your days will be multiplied,

And years of life will be added to you.

12 If you are wise, you are wise for yourself,

And if you scoff, you will bear it alone.”

I found verses 7 & 8 to be very interesting. They tell us NOT to even try to correct scoffers because, apparently it very rarely, if ever, does any good, and all it DOES do is cause arguments that bring “shame” on the person who is trying to help and drives the “scoffer” away from you.

It may even cause him to “hate” you. Worse, if you try to rebuke a “wicked man,” you might even come to bodily harm yourself!

I know that there are people like David Wilkerson, that wrote “The Cross and the Switchblade,” that have been given special grace and power by the Holy Spirit to work with people of this “nature,” but they have received a specific “call” of God. For the average person, I think that we should remember that arguing with someone like these that are mentioned, just causes more problems. I think the best thing we can do is to keep them in prayer, until, or unless they come "seeking"!

The end of verse 8, and all of verse 9 tells us that those that are “seeking” wisdom, or “wise men” react quite differently to rebukes (done properly), instructions, and teaching. THESE type of people will see the wisdom in your “help” and end up loving you, becoming “still wiser” and add to his “learning.”

The principle from Prov. 1:7, which says “7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction. (NKJV)” is sort of repeated in verse 10 of this chapter, and this verse goes on to say that “the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” As I mentioned when we studied Proverbs 1:7, This is a scripture that is quoted quite often… and we see this one illustrated way too often in our world today… at least the part about “fools.” (For those that weren’t with us at the beginning of our study of this book, I will repeat the paragraph from that study)

The Hebrew words that are translated as “fool” in Proverbs, and often elsewhere in the Old Testament, denote one who is “morally deficient,” which is the ultimate end of those who turn away from seeking to become wise and/or those who reject discipline in their lives. It is easy to see that more and more of our young people are turning away from seeking wisdom from their elders, and are rejecting discipline in their lives. This verse tells us that this is the reason that our country is becoming more and more devoid of morals in so many of our youth.

Verse 11 also repeats a principle that has been put forth in our earlier studies in Proverbs 3:2. It states, again, that having “wisdom” will add to the life that we are given. We also learned in that study, that King Hezekiah DID ADD YEARS (15 to be exact) to his life because he understood God and His principles. (See 2 Kings 20: 1 – 6)

Our last verse today tells us that we can’t “make” anyone else wise… we can only work on making ourselves wise. We can help those who are also searching for wisdom, but it is up to them to seek, search for, ask, and then put the principles into their lives so that they can grow in wisdom. It goes on to say that being a scoffer, will ALSO be up to you and the way you decide to live, and you will have to bear the results of that choice.

Proverbs 8: 32 – 36

These verses conclude chapter 8 of Proverbs. They pretty much repeat that “Wisdom” should be listened to because those that follow “her” will be blessed. We should ask for, and seek, “her” diligently where she is to be found… in this case, as has been discussed, in the gates of the cities where the elders met. Speaking with wise elderly people and really listening to them shows wisdom.

Proverbs 8: 32 – 36 (NKJV)

32 “ Now therefore, listen to me, my children,

For blessed are those who keep my ways.

33 Hear instruction and be wise,

And do not disdain it.

34 Blessed is the man who listens to me,

Watching daily at my gates,

Waiting at the posts of my doors.

35 For whoever finds me finds life,

And obtains favor from the LORD;

36 But he who sins against me wrongs his own soul;

All those who hate me love death.”

As you can see, our verses go on to say that those that find “Wisdom,” find life, AND will gain the “favor” of God. This is something that I really want to do. I want to stay in God’s will so that I may find His favor, and I don’t want to find myself “fighting” wise ways because the last verse for today warns me that if I do, I will “wrong” my own soul.

Since sin causes the soul to die, and sin is the opposite of being wise, which equates to seeking and following God’s ways, then this makes a lot of sense to me. It would, logically follow, that anyone who “hates” following God, would “love death…” for death ultimately equals separation from God.

Proverbs 8: 1 - 3

Today we start chapter 8 of Proverbs. This chapter is all about the “Excellence of Wisdom.” It goes over the attributes of wisdom and the things that result from following Godly wisdom. There are many principles in this chapter that, if followed, will bring prosperity in body, soul and spirit, and it even speaks of the possibility of getting “wealth” as well. This is a totally uplifting chapter with only the final verse again stressing the warning of NOT following wisdom.

Proverbs 8: 1 - 3 (NKJV)

The Excellence of Wisdom
1 Does not wisdom cry out,

And understanding lift up her voice?

2 She takes her stand on the top of the high hill,

Beside the way, where the paths meet.

3 She cries out by the gates, at the entry of the city,

At the entrance of the doors:

Chapter 8 again portrays wisdom as a woman calling out to those who would listen to her. As we saw in chapter 7, foolishness was portrayed as an adulterous woman who leads into the “lusts of the flesh” and this contrasts with those verses.

Verses 1 and 2 portray the call of “Wisdom” as a call to an abundant life of God’s blessings. It is a call that God wants all of His people to listen to and follow. It is there… out in the open… in obvious places… loudly proclaiming itself to any that would open their hearts to God’s call upon their lives.

Verse 3 continues with this idea and is also based on the Jewish customs of the day where the older men would gather by the gates and in public places to discuss important matters. The young person that wanted to gain knowledge and understanding would be free to go to these places and sit and listen, or be taught, about important issues of life, area news, etc. from men that had lived long lives and gained knowledge and wisdom through those lives.

By the time they reached this age, especially in those days, only the wiser men would still be around to be at these discussions. The ones that hadn’t learned wisdom, would have died, been incarcerated, or wouldn’t be interested in speaking in a group such as this.

I think that having respect for older people that have lived much of their lives and come to a place of peace and comfort through following God was God’s original plan for young people to learn. The book of Timothy in the New Testament covers some of these areas. If we take the time to learn from older people that have lived through “youth’s mistakes,” learned from them, then went to God and found Him to be a forgiver of those sins and a lover of their souls, then we can avoid many of the pitfalls that they have gone through.

In previous chapters and verses, we have seen that God’s plan was that parents started their children out young, teaching them at home to have respect for their elders, and guiding them to wise, interesting people of God. A young person that is taught that kind of love and respect from a young age, will tend to gravitate toward wise, older people throughout their lives. That would be what God would want for us as parents of very young children. Once they hit adolescence, it is much harder for them to talk to their own parents, but if they have been taught properly, through this principle, then they will gravitate toward other older people that they have grown to trust.

If we are older, now, ourselves, then we need to take the time to sit with younger people and share, WHEN THEY ask for advice or want to talk. Wisdom can’t be pushed on another, but it can be shared. These men, which sat at the gates, were available. They didn’t go out seeking and chasing down young people to preach at them.