Proverbs 16:6

The book of Proverbs gives us insights into so many different areas of life. The book gives us instruction on how to live our lives for God. Here is a proverb that gives us insight about how to turn from evil:

Proverbs 16:6

By lovingkindness and truth iniquity is atoned for,

And by the fear of the Lord one keeps away from evil.

Proverbs 16:6 (ESV)

By steadfast love and faithfulness iniquity is atoned for,

and by the fear of the LORD one turns away from evil.

Have you ever wondered how to overcome and refresh from some sin you committed or have committed against others.   Here is an incredible proverb to tell us just how to overcome iniquity.   The first line, "By lovingkindness and truth (faithfulness) iniquity is atoned for,” tells us we are to lose our personal agendas and our anger and replace them with the practice of truth (faithfulness to truth) and the expression of real love.   Love is a self-sacrificing concept.   Solomon is telling us to seek truth and pursue love, if we really have the desire to "atone" for our past.   This is exactly what Christ did for us, as the Way, the Truth and the Life.  It is Christ’s steadfast love and faithfulness that atones for sin.  But, the second line tells us, "And by the fear of the Lord one keeps away from evil."  The problem Solomon is addressing for us in this line is how do we "atone" for sin when we are but man and we tend to "fear man" (bend toward peer pressure ... Proverbs 29:25)?   He tells us to not fear man and bend to their peer pressure but to fear the Lord and that will keep us from further sin.   As we fear the Lord we will not return to the sin we previously committed.  The reason we are often not trusted after we sin is that those we love and have hurt think we will return to that sin again.  But, if we fear the Lord we will “keep away from evil.”   Note other proverbs that say this:

Proverbs 8:13 (ESV)

The fear of the LORD is hatred of evil.

Pride and arrogance and the way of evil

and perverted speech I hate.

Proverbs 14:27 (ESV)

The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life,

that one may turn away from the snares of death.

What a great proverb about how to maneuver through difficult times of sin - whether we committed it or it was committed against us.   Love, truth and faithfulness to the fear of the Lord will atone for sin.   Christ did it and, through Solomon, He gave us the recipe to do it.  We have to practice love, truth and become trustworthy by the fear of the Lord, realizing that it is through Christ’s faithfulness we have atonement.  

Proverbs 15:11

The book of Proverbs gives us insights into so many different areas of life. The book gives us instruction on how to live our lives for God. Here is a proverb that gives us insight about God’s knowledge of us:

Proverbs 15:11 (ESV)

Sheol and Abaddon lie open before the Lord,

How much more the hearts of men!

It is hard to hide something from your parents, a teacher and God!!  You can fool your parents and you can make sure the teacher doesn't see you when his/her back is turned.  But God is not so easily fooled.    God sees all.  He sees the grave (Sheol) and hell (Abaddon).  And, if He can see those, He knows what is in the heart.  He knows what is in the mind.  Man thinks that his thoughts are his own and are hidden from enemy, authority and companion.  However, God even knows the thoughts.   He knows the wicked thoughts and the good thoughts.  He knows the motives and the secret desires.  He knows the lust and the lies.   He knows the wants and the wills.   God knows it all.   What we think we can hide from others we can't hide from Him.  He must laugh as we shut the door and lock it and find our way to the dark place of life.   Yet, nothing is hid from Him.  He knows the very thoughts of the heart.   Rejoice in that or fear that thought.   Either way God is viewing that rejoicing or that fear.   Here is what psalmist says about God knowing our thoughts:

Psalms 139:17-18 (ESV)

How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!

How vast is the sum of them!

If I would count them, they are more than the sand.

I awake, and I am still with you.

The most amazing thing to realize about the above passage is that God knows everything about us and yet the writer states:  I am still with you.   Even though God knows everything about us, He is still with us.   When most people find everything  about us they tend to not want to be around us.   God is the opposite of all that.   He knows everything about us and still stays with us.   

Proverbs 14:19

The book of Proverbs gives us insights into so many different areas of life. The book gives us instruction on how to live our lives for God. Here is a proverb that gives us insight about the fate of the righteous and the wicked:

Proverbs 14:19 (ESV)

The evil bow down before the good,

the wicked at the gates of the righteous.

This is an example of synonymous parallelism; which, roughly stated; the first line and the second line are saying the same thing but in different words.     It is plainly telling us that, no matter how secure and/or powerful the wicked may think they are, they will, eventually bow down to those righteous believers they may have stepped on to get to their positions.   The Bible is full of examples of this truth.   Remember the story of Joseph and his brothers?  His brothers acted wickedly.  They sold him into slavery.   Yet, they eventually would bow before him (Genesis 42:6). Remember the story of Esther, Mordecai and Haman?  Haman attempted to have the Jews destroyed and Mordecai hung on the gallows.  Yet, he was forced to lead Mordecai through the streets to honor him and hung on the very gallows he built to kill Mordecai (Esther 7:7).   The Rich Man was burning in Hades and asked God to have Lazarus to give him a drink.   In Revelation 3:9; and Psalm 49:14 we are told God will make the wicked bow before the righteous.   When making the choice to believe in God and receive wisdom or reject God and follow folly we must consider the truth of this proverb.   Those that reject God may be ahead today but they will be bowed down to honor and serve the righteous at their final stage.   Don't reject this truth.

Proverbs 13:11

The book of Proverbs gives us insights into so many different areas of life. The book gives us instruction on how to live our lives for God. Here is a proverb that gives us insight about accumulating wealth;

Proverbs 13:11 (ESV)

Wealth gained hastily will dwindle,

but whoever gathers little by little will increase it.

What a great proverb for society today.   I am not one for much public display of Bible verses on billboards.  I don't really know if that is something that delights God or pains him.  It just seems to me that God's word is much bigger than a billboard.  But, with that said, if any verse should be on a billboard, this is one.   We have so many people who want to gain fast with little ease of work.  The lottery-game-show-scratch-and-win mentality has taken over and replaced God’s plant-now-reap-later-save-now-spend-later cousin. Actually, that is probably not accurate.   These two mindsets are not even in the same family.   Folly wants to gain fast.  What they fail to release is the phrase actually should be gain-fast-spend-fast.   Quick gains, according to Solomon, suffer quicker loss.   It is hard work at long hours that produce lasting rewards.   I would imagine Solomon must have seen plenty of this in his life.   He would have seen fast gains from the view of the throne.   He would have realised in his own life that things that last don't come quickly.  Here you have a king who asked God for wisdom rather than wealth.   Labor is always paid off by God in a great way.  Leisure income is always a waste.  Just read the stories of the latest lottery winners if you want to see the "today evidence" for Solomon's thousand year-old wisdom.

Proverbs 12:11

The book of Proverbs gives us insights into so many different areas of life. The book gives us instruction on how to live our lives for God. Here is a proverb that gives us insight about work ethic:

Proverbs 12:11 (NASV)

"He who tills his land will have plenty of bread, but he who pursues worthless things lacks sense."

Proverbs 12:11 (ESV)

Whoever works his land will have plenty of bread,

but he who follows worthless pursuits lacks sense.

The above proverb is a contrasting proverb. The second line contrast what is said in the first line. In the first line we see that Solomon gives us a basic proverb about life: Work hard with what you have and you will not lack for food. But, the second line is the contrast of that truth: If, instead of working, we chase fantasies, we will only show we have no judgment. Sound and good judgment is shown by working the land (a metaphor for working our talent, gifts, resources) we have. But, if we just sit around and dream about it, or pursue useless endeavors, we show we have no good judgment and, will eventually show we have nothing to show for chasing fantasies. Dreams are great, but dreaming only has a place if the dream motivates us to work on the accomplishing of the dream. Sound judgment is found in those who work for their abundance, not on those who hope for it because they bought a lotto ticket, sat on a dock waiting for their ship to come in, or played the victim and blamed others for their lack of bread.  God’s wisdom gives us discernment to make right choices about what is important and what is a pursuit of worthless things.  

In order to “work his land,” a person has to know what his land is.  In Solomon’s day this might actually be a piece of land.   In our day, it might be better to consider it our gifts, talents, resources.   To “work” it you have to identify it.   You have to make sure you know what your recourses are in order to get the most out of them.  We can often get caught up in wild pursuits and not really focus on what is our “land.”    We make little headway pursuing something other than “our land.”   

Proverbs 11:7

The book of Proverbs gives us insights into so many different areas of life. The book gives us instruction on how to live our lives for God. Here is a proverb that gives us insight about what we reach for in times of trouble:

Proverbs 11:7 (NASV)

When a wicked man dies, his expectation will perish,

And the hope of strong men perishes.

Proverbs 11:7 (ESV)

When the wicked dies, his hope will perish,

and the expectation of wealth perishes too.

Those who put their hope in something other than Christ will find that their hope perishes with them. That is what Solomon is saying in the above proverb.   He says the same thing in Proverbs 10:28.  The wicked, those who don't fear God and trust in God, will find in the end that the things they trust in and hope in will give them little, or no comfort.   Note what the Psalmist says about this very thing:

Psalms 146:3-4

Do not trust in princes,

In mortal man, in whom there is no salvation.

His spirit departs, he returns to the earth;

In that very day his thoughts perish.

The very thoughts of the wicked will perish with them. What they think will save them will only disappoint them in the end.  What they "tie" their hope to will sink them.  The word in our proverb above for "expectation" has as its root, a cord tied to something.   We can think of a line we reach for in a struggle to stay above the turning and churning waters of life.  We reach for the line and think we are saved and only later find out the line is tied to an anchor, not a life raft.  Instead of salvation, we are pulled deep to our death.  Likewise the "strong man" (in the 2nd line) has hope in his strength.  He works out and pumps iron only to have the weight bring him down.  His strength will leave him in the end.  It will not save.  He perishes!   What are you trusting in to save you?  Bank accounts?  Real estate? University Degrees? Power? Prestige?  Jesus Christ?

See also Psalm 112:6

Proverbs 10:2

The book of Proverbs gives us insights into so many different areas of life. The book gives us instruction on how to live our lives for God. Here is a proverb that gives us insight about wealth:

Proverbs 10:2 (ESV)

Treasures gained by wickedness do not profit,

but righteousness delivers from death.

Proverbs 10:15 (ESV)

A rich man's wealth is his strong city;

the poverty of the poor is their ruin.

Proverbs 10:22 (ESV)

The blessing of the LORD makes rich,

and he adds no sorrow with it.

Proverbs has much to say about wealth, money and riches.  In fact, the entire Bible speaks to this obsession we have for accumulating coins and dollar bills.   Money has been around a long time.   Gold, silver and other valuable items have always captured minds and hearts.    In the above proverbs from chapter ten, we read three more truths about wealth vs wisdom.   The entire premise of proverbs is for us to choose wisdom over anything else, including riches.  The “rich” man believes he/she has a “strong city.”  God does not want anything in our hearts that takes our desire and honor to Him.   Notice that it is God who “makes rich.”  God is NOT against riches (see Solomon’s story).   When God makes someone rich (vs their own pursuits and own obsessions) we can be assured that it comes with “no sorrow.”   God is not opposed to riches.  He is opposed to where it sits in our hearts.  

Proverbs 9:5

The book of Proverbs gives us insights into so many different areas of life. The book gives us instruction on how to live our lives for God. Here is a proverb that gives us insight about wisdom’s call:

Proverbs 9:5 (ESV)

“Come, eat of my bread

and drink of the wine I have mixed.

Wisdom calls out in the street (8:1; 9:1) and wants to appeal to us in many forms and fashions. In this verse she calls out in physical terms. Bread and wine were staples in life for these Solomonic days. It meant that they had both their needs meet and had some luxury. Wisdom is saying that she offers both the needs (food) and the luxury (wine). Folly has offered herself and does so in outward terms (see chapter seven). Wisdom calls out like Christ does when He says, I am the living water; or the bread of life; or the light of the world. Christ is wisdom (1 Corinthians 2) and therefore when we read these words we must think of Wisdom as Christ and think of Christ as Wisdom. When we drink in wisdom and have a relationship with her we are having a relationship with Christ. "Come, eat ..." is the same call Christ gives to us. Eating is a hobby many of us have. We ought to have a hunger and relationship with Christ in this way. When we seek Christ’s wisdom, as food and wine, we have safety, guidance, and protection.

Matthew 5:6 (ESV)

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

John 6:35 (ESV)

Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.

Proverbs 8:1-4

The book of Proverbs gives us insights into so many different areas of life. The book gives us instruction on how to live our lives for God. Here is a proverb that gives us insight about the contrast between wisdom and folly:

Proverbs 8:1-4 (ESV)

The Blessings of Wisdom

Does not wisdom call?

Does not understanding raise her voice?

On the heights beside the way,

at the crossroads she takes her stand;

beside the gates in front of the town,

at the entrance of the portals she cries aloud:

“To you, O men, I call,

and my cry is to the children of man.

The book of Proverbs is all about the contrast between the fool and the person who chooses wisdom.   “Folly” is personified mostly as an immoral woman or the adulterous.   In the above portion of this chapter, “Wisdom” is personified, also, as a woman.  Chapter seven through chapter nine should be read as one section.   In chapter seven we see “folly” standing on the corner, attempting to entice the naive young man:

Proverbs 7:10-12

And behold, the woman meets him,

dressed as a prostitute, wily of heart.

She is loud and wayward;

her feet do not stay at home;

now in the street, now in the market,

and at every corner she lies in wait.

Folly is at “every” corner in “every” street.  Her goal is to entice us to succumb to her waywardness.   But, as chapter eight opens, we see that wisdom is also at every corner, every height, every city gate, at every entrance.   We can be assured that anywhere we turn, God has provided wisdom for those who search for her in faith.   Wisdom is a gift of God that He provides to those who ask in faith:

James 1:5-8

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

When we are “double-minded” we ought not to expect to find God’s wisdom.   Wisdom is crying out but can’t be seen by those who are walking in the flesh and have the choice of folly on their hearts.   We can’t live in folly and hope to access the fruits of wisdom.   

In contrast to folly, Lady Wisdom is calling out in the most obvious places, it is almost impossible to miss her.  Note where and when folly cries out:

Proverbs 7:6-9

For at the window of my house

I have looked out through my lattice,

and I have seen among the simple,

I have perceived among the youths,

a young man lacking sense,

passing along the street near her corner,

taking the road to her house

in the twilight, in the evening,

at the time of night and darkness.

Wisdom is not in the dark.  At the “entrance” of the city was the most important place of the city.  The city gate is the city’s commerce.  Above the walls (the heights) was so all could see her.  Folly attempts to tempt us in the dark, Wisdom portrays herself in the light.   By faith we can have wisdom.  She calls out to the children of men.  

Proverbs 7:18

The book of Proverbs gives us insights into so many different areas of life. The book gives us instruction on how to live our lives for God. Here is a proverb that gives us insight about sins allure:

Proverbs 7:18 (ESV)

Come, let us take our fill of love till morning;

let us delight ourselves with love.

I recently attended the opening day of baseball season.   It was a great day.  The park was packed.   It was the second largest crowd to ever watch a game in that stadium.   As I sat along the left-field foul line I was amazed and, heartbroken, over how the world was sitting there watching a game (with me in attendance) with no cares in the world.   And, this was just a ball game.   Read the above proverb and put Solomon's words into this perspective.   Here in chapter seven we have the picture of folly seducing a young, naive boy with the temptation of a prostitute.  All this is a picture of how sin seduces us.  Folly (sin) invites the young man to enjoy love with him.   This is not a baseball game.   This is intimate love-making.  (Solomon, again, stretching metaphors, equates love-making to eating ... See also Proverbs 9:17; 30:20; SS 4:16; 5:1).  Despite what is about to happen (see the destruction outlined in verse 27) Folly wants us to enjoy the sin, as though we are making love, with no fear or care in the world.   Folly wants us to "delight in caresses" despite death knocking at the door.   Baseball, sex, recreation, it doesn't matter.  The world is passing away and doesn't even notice their headed for destruction.   Like a slow moving baseball game, they enjoy life, get drunk, yell at each other, and after the game move on to some other distraction.   Sin is like that.  It simply wants us to enjoy life and not consider life.   "Come, let us drink our fill of love until morning" is the cry from the world.   Too many hear and respond.  The "sex" is too good.   But death awaits when we fail to put our trust in God for our life and salvation.  Solomon wrote all these proverbs (and many more) for us to wake up.  The naive one in chapter seven will die in the end.  So, the phrase, “let us drink our fill of love until morning,” meant just that ... UNTIL MORNING.  

Proverbs 6:18

The book of Proverbs gives us insights into so many different areas of life. The book gives us instruction on how to live our lives for God. Here is a proverb that gives us insight about people who plan evil things:

Proverbs 6:18 (ESV Strong's)

a heart that devises wicked plans,

feet that make haste to run to evil,

Proverbs 6:18 (NASV)

A heart that devises wicked plans,

 Feet that run rapidly to evil,

Proverbs 6:18 (NIV)

a heart that devises wicked schemes,

feet that are quick to rush into evil,

Solomon, in this section, is listing seven things the Lord hates.   He has already listed three: Pride, Lying and Murder.   He now lists two more: Wicked planning and rushing to do evil.   We may think that it is not as grievous if we are planning evil in our hearts against our neighbor, co-worker, ex-spouse, or anyone in our relationship, as long as we don't ever fulfill it.   In this proverb we see that even the planning of it is hated by God.   God knows that what is in the well will come up in the bucket.  In the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) we are told by Jesus that if we are angry without a cause at our brother we already are guilting of murder.   If we lust after a women we are already guilty of adultery.    So, too, to plan evil things.    

Also, according to this proverb, is “running to do evil rapidly.”  We have many who fly off the handle, or who "react" to things.   This is evil to God and He hates it.  God is a God of much patience.   He tirelessly waits for the world to repent.  He does not rush off to complete HIs plan.   God hates things that don't reflect His character.   Rushing to do anything is not Godly, much less rushing to do evil.   Moses rushed to hit the rock, not thinking or listening to God who told him to speak to the rock.   That rushing to "do evil" made it impossible for him to enter the promise land.  His rushing to avenge his brother from the Egyptian soldier was still in his heart.   God hates evil plans and evil rushed to execute.