Wisdom

Proverbs 10 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Contrast of the Righteous and the Wicked

The proverbs of Solomon.

A wise son makes a father glad, 
But a foolish son is a grief to his mother.
² Ill-gotten gains do not profit,
But righteousness delivers from death.
³ The Lord will not allow the righteous to hunger,
But He will reject the craving of the wicked.
⁴ Poor is he who works with a negligent hand,
But the hand of the diligent makes rich.
⁵ He who gathers in summer is a son who acts wisely,
But he who sleeps in harvest is a son who acts shamefully.
⁶ Blessings are on the head of the righteous,
But the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.
⁷ The memory of the righteous is blessed,
But the name of the wicked will rot.
⁸ The wise of heart will receive commands,
But a babbling fool will be ruined.
⁹ He who walks in integrity walks securely,
But he who perverts his ways will be found out.
¹⁰ He who winks the eye causes trouble,
And a babbling fool will be ruined.
¹¹ The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life,
But the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.
¹² Hatred stirs up strife,
But love covers all transgressions.
¹³ On the lips of the discerning, wisdom is found,
But a rod is for the back of him who lacks understanding.
¹⁴ Wise men store up knowledge,
But with the mouth of the foolish, ruin is at hand.
¹⁵ The rich man’s wealth is his fortress,
The ruin of the poor is their poverty.
¹⁶ The wages of the righteous is life,
The income of the wicked, punishment.
¹⁷ He is on the path of life who heeds instruction,
But he who ignores reproof goes astray.
¹⁸ He who conceals hatred has lying lips,
And he who spreads slander is a fool.
¹⁹ When there are many words, transgression is unavoidable,
But he who restrains his lips is wise.
²⁰ The tongue of the righteous is as choice silver,
The heart of the wicked is worth little.
²¹ The lips of the righteous feed many,
But fools die for lack of understanding.
²² It is the blessing of the Lord that makes rich,
And He adds no sorrow to it.
²³ Doing wickedness is like sport to a fool,
And so is wisdom to a man of understanding.
²⁴ What the wicked fears will come upon him,
But the desire of the righteous will be granted.
²⁵ When the whirlwind passes, the wicked is no more,
But the righteous has an everlasting foundation.
²⁶ Like vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes,
So is the lazy one to those who send him.
²⁷ The fear of the Lord prolongs life,
But the years of the wicked will be shortened.
²⁸ The hope of the righteous is gladness,
But the expectation of the wicked perishes.
²⁹ The way of the Lord is a stronghold to the upright,
But ruin to the workers of iniquity.
³⁰ The righteous will never be shaken,
But the wicked will not dwell in the land.
³¹ The mouth of the righteous flows with wisdom,
But the perverted tongue will be cut out.
³² The lips of the righteous bring forth what is acceptable,
But the mouth of the wicked what is perverted.

1 Kings 3:6-12 says:  Solomon said, “You have shown great lovingkindness to Your servant David my father, according as he walked before You in truth and righteousness and uprightness of heart toward You; and You have reserved for him this great lovingkindness, that You have given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day. Now, O Lord my God, You have made Your servant king in place of my father David, yet I am but a little child; I do not know how to go out or come in. Your servant is in the midst of Your people which You have chosen, a great people who are too many to be numbered or counted.  So give Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people to discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of Yours?” It was pleasing in the sight of the Lord that Solomon had asked this thing. God said to him, “Because you have asked this thing and have not asked for yourself long life, nor have asked riches for yourself, nor have you asked for the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself discernment to understand justice, behold, I have done according to your words. Behold, I have given you a wise and discerning heart, so that there has been no one like you before you, nor shall one like you arise after you.”    So, Solomon’s wisdom is from God. Even those who doubt much of what scripture says have a difficult time arguing with the simple truths of Proverbs. 

The text says:  He who walks in integrity walks securely, But he who perverts his ways will be found out.  He who winks the eye causes trouble,
And a babbling fool will be ruined.  The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life, But the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.  Hatred stirs up strife,
But love covers all transgressions.  What this says last is certainly evident in our society and culture today; hatred indeed stirs up strife. Many in the news media and on social media work hard at fanning the flames of hatred and division. Strife sells. Bad news is more popular than good news. Very often you need only to look at the accusations of one party against another to know what the accuser is actually guilty of. In contrast, love covers transgressions. Unfortunately often those who claim to love, accept and tolerate others, only truly love those who agree with them. The text also says:   He who conceals hatred has lying lips, And he who spreads slander is a fool.   Truth no longer seems to matter in our culture. People will say whatever they want about others, they will slander them with no regard for truth or proof of what they say and again the hate mongering media is always there to perpetuate the lies.   Additionally,  He who perverts his ways will be found out.  He who winks the eye causes trouble.   Often it is perversion that people wink at. Our society and culture says that integrity and righteousness are relative; that each person chooses for themselves what is right or wrong. In truth, even the one who does not himself participate in unrighteousness, but winks his approval causes trouble. In Matthew 5:19-20 Jesus says:  Whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.  For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.The one who winks at sin; by his actions, teaches others that it is okay.

The text says:  Doing wickedness is like sport to a fool, And so is wisdom to a man of understanding.  What the wicked fears will come upon him.  We see that many today take pleasure in sin. They are exhilarated by and boast in wickedness. For some it is almost like a competition to see who can be more wicked.  Faith is believing even when there is no evidence that what you want will come to be. Fear is the opposite of faith. It is essentially believing more in what you don’t want than in what you do want. That is why, what the wicked fears will come upon him.  If there is no faith, then fear will believe and achieve what we do not desire.  The way of the Lord is a stronghold to the upright, But ruin to the workers of iniquity.  God gives us free will, but that does not mean that there are no consequences for our choices.  The text says: The wages of the righteous is life, The income of the wicked, punishment.  Romans 6:23 says it this way:  The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.  God has always given people a choice. In Deuteronomy 30:15-20 He said:  “See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, and death and adversity;  in that I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His judgments, that you may live and multiply, and that the Lord your God may bless you in the land where you are entering to possess it. But if your heart turns away and you will not obey, but are drawn away and worship other gods and serve them,  I declare to you today that you shall surely perish. You will not prolong your days in the land where you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess it. I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants,  by loving the Lord your God, by obeying His voice, and by holding fast to Him; for this is your life and the length of your days, that you may live in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.”   God is pro-choice and His desire is that we would choose life through obedience and righteousness.

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ, precious Holy Spirit; thank You for the wisdom of Your word by which You guide my choices. Thank You for giving me a free will to choose what I will do. I choose life; the eternal and abundant life given through the cross and obedience to Your will.  Amen.