Proverbs 4:20-27

4:20-22 — 20 My son, be attentive to my words; incline your ear to my sayings. 21 Let them not escape from your sight; keep them within your heart. 22 For they are life to those who find them, and healing to all their flesh.

Many of these verses repeat themes and exhortations we have already read in previous chapters. As Kidner says, “The constant repetition of such a call …is deliberate, for a major part of godliness lies in dogged attentiveness to familiar truths.”

Several words stand out from vv. 20-27. The teacher calls us to be full hearted, full bodied in our devotion to wisdom —  EAR (v. 20), SIGHT (v. 21), HEART (vv. 21, 23), FLESH (v. 22), SPEECH (v. 24), EYES (v. 25), FEET (vv. 26, 27). We must utilize every facet of our being. These physical vessels express folly or wisdom. Godliness is full bodied as is wickedness. We are not to present our “members to sin as instruments of unrighteousness” but instead to present our “members to God as instruments for righteousness” (Rom. 6:13).

4:23 — Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.

The heart expresses itself in all that we do (cf. Mk. 7:15-23). The “springs of life” are found in the heart that is full of wisdom and for that reason, it must be kept, guarded “with all vigilance.”  “The father is not interested in just a superficial response from his son, some kind of behavior modification; he desires that his child be wise at his very core.” (Longman) “The ‘heart’ serves as a vault within which the treasures of wisdom are to be guarded and from which they are to be withdrawn and skillfully employed…” (Hubbard)

With a strong hand must the heart be ruled, and it ought to be our constant endeavor to subject to the word of God every imagination and reasoning, every opinion and thought, every inclination and affection. A neglected garden will not be so full of weeds, as a neglected soul of vain thoughts and exorbitant passions, hateful to God, and dangerous to our own happiness and peace. (Lawson)

4:24 — Put away from you crooked speech, and put devious talk far from you.

“As part of the process of guarding the heart, the wise son must keep a perverse mouth/loose lips far from him.” (Longman) “Superficial habits of talk react on the mind; so that, e.g., cynical chatter, fashionable grumbles, flippancy, half-truths, barely meant in the first place, harden into well-established habits of thought.” (Kidner) Our speech expresses our hearts but it can just as well taint our hearts. “It is not enough just to restrain the heart. One must also keep track of the body’s members through which the inner life manifests itself. The list does not aim to be exhaustive but paradigmatic of practical right living.” (Waltke) That is, what we do impacts us and what we do expresses who we are.

4:25-27 — 25 Let your eyes look directly forward, and your gaze be straight before you. 26 Ponder the path of your feet; then all your ways will be sure. 27 Do not swerve to the right or to the left; turn your foot away from evil.

The key verb is found in v. 26. We must “ponder” the path of our feet. As we look straight with our eyes (v. 25), we must consider or ponder where we would go. Both the goal and the steps to that goal must be weighed. The son must take care that every step conforms to the father’s words of instruction. We must not be led astray by going left or to the right; we must heed God’s word. “The wise person will have an unswerving directness, but the fool is easily distracted (17:24).” (Ross) So, the “idea is that one should not be distracted from the way of wisdom (v. 25).” (Garrett) But what if we do go astray? Lawson reminds us of our need for pardoning mercy.

From this whole directory, we may see our need of pardoning mercy; for which of us can say, ‘We have made our hands clean, or kept our tongues from every evil thing?’ But the blood of Jesus is a fountain opened to cleanse from all sin.

Without renewing grace, our labor in guarding our hearts, and restraining our tongues and fee from evil, will be as vain as to attempt washing an Ethiopian white. The old heart cannot be reformed, but God has promised to give us a new heart, and to put a new spirit within us.

With our vigilance, faith and prayer must be joined. (Lawson)

Proverbs 4:10-19

Two paths are presented to us in these verses: the way of wisdom (vv. 10-13) and the way of the wicked (vv. 14-17). The father/teacher continues his lecture on godliness.

4:10-13 — 10 Hear, my son, and accept my words, that the years of your life may be many. 11 I have taught you the way of wisdom; I have led you in the paths of uprightness. 12 When you walk, your step will not be hampered, and if you run, you will not stumble. 13 Keep hold of instruction; do not let go; guard her, for she is your life.

When we accept our father’s words, we will live long (v. 10) and run well (v. 12). Furthermore, as wisdom guards us as we heed (v. 4), so we are required to guard her because “she is your life.” (v. 13). Verse 11 suggests that the son is already walking in the right path — the father reinforces the journey. Regarding verse 12, Waltke says, “The wise are free of debilitating moral obstacles that bring God’s judgment (see v. 19; Job 18:7).”

4:14-17 — 14 Do not enter the path of the wicked, and do not walk in the way of the evil. 15 Avoid it; do not go on it; turn away from it and pass on. 16 For they cannot sleep unless they have done wrong; they are robbed of sleep unless they have made someone stumble. 17 For they eat the bread of wickedness and drink the wine of violence.

We have already met with similar exhortations in 1:10ff. “There is more than irony in this picture of upside down morality, where wickedness has become meat and drink and even duty. It is a warning against setting foot on a path which one might think adventurous and diverting, for it can lead as far as this. The Bible does not hide the fact that one can become as zealous for evil as for good.” (Kidner) Lawson adds these wise words: “We pray to be kept from temptation, and our practice ought not to contradict our prayers; otherwise it is evident, that as one man mocks another, so we mock God, by asking from him what we wish not to have.” (Lawson)

Perhaps we have met people like this? Whether we have or not is not important. Any fellowship with people who will not walk in the way of wisdom can easily lead to this. A seared conscience (as depicted in these verses) began with the first choice to forsake wisdom and the way of godliness. This moral depravity began with a simple defection.

Let us not form the mistaken idea, that the worse they are, we are in the less danger of imitating them, for the heart of man is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked. Of little sins we are not afraid, but say within ourselves, ‘These sins are attended with little danger, are they not little ones? surely our souls shall not die though we fall into them.” We are as little afraid of great sins, because we think them so shocking that we cannot fall into them. Frequently does it happen, that laboring under such misapprehensions as these, men lay down their heads upon the lap of temptation, and awake like Sampson in the hands of their enemies. By these enemies they are carried captive at their will, and to this punishment God has given them up for neglecting to follow his counsels, and preferring to them the instructions of those who cause to err. (Lawson, 85-86)

4:18-19 — 18 But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until full day. 19 The way of the wicked is like deep darkness; they do not know over what they stumble.

Solomon contrasts the way of the righteous and the wicked. The future of God’s people who walk in wisdom can only get better. The idea being, each choice leads to other choices, from clarity to more clarity, from light to brightness, etc. They see where they are going and by the grace of God, they avoid obstacles. “Christians increase in knowledge, and grace, and happiness, in this world, and are perfected at death and the resurrection.” (Lawson)

The way of the wicked is just the opposite. Life does not get easier; every choice is complicated and more morally confused by each choice. This is probably best seen in those who are drug addicts or are in sexual bondage. The darkness becomes even darker. “Unbelievers may have some glimmerings of light in their minds and consciences, but these are not sufficient to keep them from walking in darkness…” (Lawson) “Their life course (the path) is filled with obstacles that cause them trouble…” (Longman) Jeremiah 23:12 says, “Therefore their way shall be to them like slippery paths in the darkness, into which they shall be driven and fall, for I will bring disaster upon them in the year of their punishment, declares the LORD.”

Proverbs 4:1-9

This chapter can be divided into three parts. Each section begins with a call to the sons to hear— verse 1 (“Hear, O sons,…”), verse 10 (“Hear, my son, and accept my words…”), and verse 20 (“My son, be attentive to my words”).

4:1-3 — 1 Hear, O sons, a father’s instruction, and be attentive, that you may gain insight, 2 for I give you good precepts; do not forsake my teaching. 3 When I was a son with my father, tender, the only one in the sight of my mother,

There are three generations in this section. There is the speaker (the son’s father) who refers to the son (#1), the father of the son (#2, v. 1), and the father of the father (#3, v. 3). This is either wisdom speaking to the young man or wisdom speaking through the mouth of the father. Chapter four perpetuates a good family cycle.

Wisdom calls us to heed our parents. God tells us to “hear” our father’s instruction. He tells us not to “forsake” our father’s teaching. One writer says, “Parental authority is a channel for communication of God’s will. The two sources of authority reinforce each other, and in places where only one is mentioned, the other is not thereby excluded.” (Fox, 178, cited in Waltke, 276)

Parental authority is given by God; they are supposed to raise their children in the Lord (Eph. 6:4). In this morally dubious world, one wonders where a naïve young person can receive good instruction. The Bible’s answer is to heed our parents. The general idea is that if we forsake any of their good teaching (as long as they are words that do not go against God’s word), we jeopardize our lives (v. 4). Hubbard says, “’Parents know best’ is not an affirmation that would have cued laughs from an audience of Israelites. They expected such teaching and were expected to give it heed at the time and to cling to it throughout the years…” (Hubbard, 81)

4:4-6 — 4 he taught me and said to me, “Let your heart hold fast my words; keep my commandments, and live. 5 Get wisdom; get insight; do not forget, and do not turn away from the words of my mouth. 6 Do not forsake her, and she will keep you; love her, and she will guard you.

The father recalls his days of youth (perhaps Solomon recalling David, his father). Israel’s idea of godliness, wisdom, and good instruction being passed down from generation to generation continues in this recollection. Godly parents instruct their children who in turn will instruct their own. The grandfather’s words are used to beseech the teacher’s or father’s son to do the same. In obeying, we will “live”; we will be “kept” and “guarded.”

There is something in these verses that is amiss in our generation. Parent’s wisdom are to be cherished, held fast and embraced. Forsaking them was not an option for a young man of wisdom. Every young man or girl will have to seize his or her parent’s words; if they are not contrary to God’s Word, then they must be held fast. Their authority and experience are God’s own teachers for us. Though they are not infallible, they have been appointed to this task. Should they abuse their authority, God will hold them accountable. Should the naïve person forsake their teaching, he will reap the repercussions — the opposite of life and safety (“live” “guard”). “Wisdom is not a once-and-for-all decision; it is a process. It is not ‘once wise; always wise.” One could lose one’s wisdom unless it was ‘guarded.’” (Longman)

Solomon communicates to his children the instructions which his father had given him. We do injustice to our children, if we do not endeavor to leave them that estate which our forefathers acquired for their posterity. It is a more grievous iniquity, if the fathers transmit not to their children those pious instructions, which in their tender years they received from their own parents. Families are reckoned honorable, when a rich estate passes from father to son, through many generations; but it is a far more lovely sight, to behold the same faith dwelling in a rising family, that dwelt in their mother, and father, and remote ancestors. (Lawson, 77)

4:7 — The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom, and whatever you get, get insight.

The simple way of stating this verse is, “What it takes is not brains or opportunity, but decision. Do you want it? Come and get it.” (cf. Kidner) The first step is to prize her (v. 8) and go for it. “Whatever he treasured in his heart as more precious than wisdom and in which he invested his time, energy, and resources must be given up to get wisdom.” (Waltke) Wisdom must be the goal, the prize; everything should be used to get it and everything set aside which might impedes our pursuit of it.

4:8-9 — 8 Prize her highly, and she will exalt you; she will honor you if you embrace her. 9 She will place on your head a graceful garland; she will bestow on you a beautiful crown.”

In treasuring our wise parent’s instructions, we will be lifted up and honored. The student will be graced and honored. The fundamental axiom is that heeding parents is good and not harmful. This is probably the issue vexing many of us. Parents do err and are not infallible. But in general, what they have to say will do us good. To obey will not harm us; to forsake them can lead to death. Their instructions will in the long run do us good.

 There are some who think it necessary, in particular cases, to forsake wisdom, lest their strictness should expose them to damage. But David here tells Solomon and us, that this must be a dangerous error. The way of duty and of safety is still the same. (Lawson)

Proverbs 3:13-35

3:13-15 — 13 Blessed is the one who finds wisdom, and the one who gets understanding, 14 for the gain from her is better than gain from silver and her profit better than gold. 15 She is more precious than jewels, and nothing you desire can compare with her.

Again, we are encouraged to seek wisdom. When we find her, we’ll be rich! “That is, wisdom makes you a richer man than money ever will.” (Kidner) Two key points should be observed from these verses.

1. True happiness is defined. We think many different things can make us “blessed” or happy. More wealth, prestige, material items or that one thing we imagine will really make us happy. A man finds blessedness when he finds wisdom. How? Does he not see life as it truly is? Does he not fear God and see that all is chimera without Him? In knowing God, in possessing wisdom, he recognizes how blessed he is.

2. True riches are also defined. Admittedly, monetary riches are desirable but they cannot make us blessed. Here, God defines riches in terms of wisdom. To be able to estimate life this way is real insight and wisdom. Haven’t we often wanted to look at life that way? George Lawson says, “…he has no true judgment of the real value of things, who would give a grain of true wisdom for a mountain of diamonds.”

3:16-18 — 16 Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor. 17 Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace. 18 She is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her; those who hold her fast are called blessed.

Solomon describes the blessed estate. Verses 16-17 is the pinnacle of the way OT describes a blessed life (in material terms though not limited to that). True shalom with length of days will be enjoyed. “The heedless may live long and in high regard (Ps. 49:16-20), but theirs are stolen blessings, without value.” (Kidner) Verse 18 is just like what is written in Ps. 1. Wisdom is a life giving tree.

We must note that wisdom will indeed give us a pleasant life. Some perpetuate the lie that godliness and wisdom will only bring sorrow. Solid joys and lasting treasure none but Zion’s children know. “The pleasures of the world are like the gleams of a wintry sun, faint, and feeble, and transient. The pleasures of religion are satisfying and eternal. The calamities of this life are not able to interrupt, far less to destroy them. This is verified in the experience of every one whose soul is under the lively influence of that faith which constitutes an essential part of religion.” (Lawson)

3:19-20 — 19 The LORD by wisdom founded the earth; by understanding he established the heavens; 20 by his knowledge the deeps broke open, and the clouds drop down the dew.

So important is wisdom, we are reminded that Wisdom played a fundamental role in the creation. The world is orderly because God’s wisdom, understanding, and knowledge served to establish it. Some may wonder if the promise of wisdom is really true. At times, wisdom does not seem to yield blessedness. This is a fatal mistake. Wisdom is in creation; God used wisdom to establish and order the world — if she is that important to God, then how much more for mortal men? “The argument is clear: if Yahweh with wisdom as His tool could accomplish the wonders of the various phases of creation—settling the “earth” on its foundations, setting the “heavens” in their appointed place (v. 10), breaking up the “depths” to irrigate the dry land through the wells, springs, and streams, and watering the earth with “dew” from the clouds (v. 20…) — think what wisdom will do, better, what Yahweh will do through wisdom in the lives of those who find it.” (Hubbard) “We cannot pretend to make or govern a world, but we are enjoined to manage our own concerns with wisdom.” (Lawson)

3:21-26 — 21 My son, do not lose sight of these- keep sound wisdom and discretion, 22 and they will be life for your soul and adornment for your neck. 23 Then you will walk on your way securely, and your foot will not stumble. 24 If you lie down, you will not be afraid; when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet. 25 Do not be afraid of sudden terror or of the ruin of the wicked, when it comes, 26 for the LORD will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being caught.

We are exhorted again to retain sound wisdom as it will serve as our adornment and life. The wise will live securely and not fear; they will be able to lie down and sleep in peace. “Refreshing sleep is denied addicts (Prov. 4:16) and the rich (Eccl. 5:12[111]). Sweet sleep (cf. Jer. 31:26) is the fruit of faith in God (Pss. 3:5, 6; 4:8 [9]) and of wisdom (Prov. 6:22; 19:23).” (Waltke)

The point is not that only the godly sleep well and that all insomniacs are wicked but rather, only the wise ones have a reason to sleep well with a clear conscience and in safety. Why? Because God will protect us (v. 26) from ultimate harm. “The promised serenity of such a life as meets us here comes, at one level, from sheer good management on God’s sound principles (22, 23 are the consequence of 21), and at a deeper level, from the Lord’s personal care (26).” (Kidner) Remember Noah and Lot (SEE 2Pet. 2:5-9); the same principle is maintained in the NT.

Verse 26 teaches us that sound wisdom and trusting in God are the same things. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and trusting in him through life is the expression of wisdom. There is no true wisdom without this confident faith in the Lord. The young wise man has heeded God’s words of wisdom and is now content and confident in the Lord’s way (not his own). He need not fear because his confidence is in the everlasting God. “The Lord is a sure confidence in the worst of times.” (Lawson)

3:27-31 — 27 Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it. 28 Do not say to your neighbor, “Go, and come again, tomorrow I will give it”- when you have it with you. 29 Do not plan evil against your neighbor, who dwells trustingly beside you. 30 Do not contend with a man for no reason, when he has done you no harm. 31 Do not envy a man of violence and do not choose any of his ways,

How do these verses relate to the previous section? “The security and protection offered by the Lord of wisdom put us under obligation to be generous to others.” (Hubbard) As God takes care of us, we must respond to our neighbors in return. “…the wise are attentive to the needs of their community, particularly those who live near them.” (Longman) It is conveyed in terms of FIVE prohibitions.

Verse 27 does not limit the “good” to mere money; it is more than that. It may mean money, action, tools, aid, speech, etc.[1] “The identity of the ‘good’ is left unspecified because it could refer to any number of things in real life.” (Longman) We are not to withhold from our neighbors the good that we can do when it is in our power to do so. Verse 28 applies the maxim bis dat qui cito dat [he gives twice who gives quickly] (cf. Kidner). Lawson says, “What is in the power of our hands to-day, may not be in our power to-morrow, and therefore we ought not to delay the performance of any good work.”

Something like this is found in these two passages:  Leviticus 19:13 “You shall not oppress your neighbor or rob him. The wages of a hired servant shall not remain with you all night until the morning. Deuteronomy 24:14 “You shall not oppress a hired servant who is poor and needy, whether he is one of your brothers or one of the sojourners who are in your land within your towns. 15 You shall give him his wages on the same day, before the sun sets (for he is poor and counts on it), lest he cry against you to the LORD, and you be guilty of sin.” “If we have no legal debt to any, we have a Gospel debt to all. (Rom. xiii. 8).” (Bridges)

Verses 29 calls us against anti-social behavior. Not only should we not withhold the good needed but we must not devise evil against them. Our hearts must not wish or devise such evil. “It is criminal to devise evil against any person; but it is double iniquity to hurt those that dwell securely by us, for this in effect is a breach of trust, and an indication of a heart base and depraved beyond the common pitch of human wickedness. The meek and the quiet of the land are the person who dread no injury from us, and they plot none against others; and the Lord Jesus, to whom all judgment is committed, is the Redeemer of all such persons.” (Lawson)

Verse 30 teaches us that our words and conversations with them must not be contentious. Our speech should encourage peace and harmony and it should not stir up strife. The language suggests a legal situation; an accusation against a neighbor for personal gain. Lawson says if he has done us harm, we ought to forgive him. Wise godly people ought not to be contentious with other people. “Irritable people strongly insist upon their rights, or what they conceive to be due to them from others. ‘Is there not’ — say they — ‘a cause?’ But impartial observers frequently judge it to be striving without cause; that no harm has been done; none at least to justify the breach of love; that more love on one hand, and more forbearance on the other, would have prevented the breach; that ‘there is utterly a fault — Why do ye not rather take wrong?’ (1 Cor. 6:1-7).” (Bridges)

Verse 31 tells us not to do what others do. Wisdom calls us to do good to our neighbors, to not plot against them or to contend with them. Some however do practice those things; they may have figured out a way to capitalize on others and we may be tempted to do likewise (Isn’t our society a litigious one?). No, wisdom instructs us not to envy them or to follow their ways. “Envy or admiration of his success, might lead us to imitate his unrighteous behavior.” (Lawson)

3:32-35 — 32 for the devious person is an abomination to the LORD, but the upright are in his confidence. 33 The LORD’s curse is on the house of the wicked, but he blesses the dwelling of the righteous. 34 Toward the scorners he is scornful, but to the humble he gives favor. 35 The wise will inherit honor, but fools get disgrace.

These verses remind us why we are not to follow those who manipulate their neighbors to get gain. They are abhorrent to the Lord (v. 32) and His curse is on their house (v. 33) and He curses them (v. 34) because they will inherit disgrace (v. 35). “As the wicked drove the needy out from their presence, so now the LORD drives them and all they own out of his life-sustaining presence.” (Waltke)

On the other hand, the wise will be taken up into His counsel, that is, “The guidance of this wonderful counselor (15:22; cf. Isa. 9:6) guarantees their protection, success, and eternal life in its fullest dimensions. The upright experience his counsel because his wisdom has entered their hearts (Prov. 2:6, 10).” (Waltke) Or it could simply mean that God will take the wise ones into his confidence (cf. Hubbard). “They enjoy a fellowship with God unknown to the world. He discovers to them the secret mysteries of grace, refreshes their souls with the manifestations of his special love, and blesses their substance by the unperceived workings of his gracious providence. God not only enriches them with his goodness, but treats them as friends, and to them all his paths are mercy and truth.” (Lawson) “The friendship [secret] of the LORD is for those who fear him, and he makes known to them his covenant.” (Ps. 25:14)