Let's begin in Proverbs chapter seven.
2Keep my commandments, and live; and my law as the apple of thine eye.
Keeping God's commandments and live is what the verse says. Jesus told a man that asked Him how he could obtain eternal life, and Jesus said keep my commandments. We are seeing Solomon write it here as well.
26For she hath cast down many wounded: yea, many strong men have been slain by her.
27Her house is the way to hell, going down to the chambers of death.
This chapter tells the story of a simple man who gets enticed by a beautiful strange woman, he goes in thinking beauty, innocent, good looking affair, but he does not know that her house is the way to hell and death. He does not know he has wounded many other strong men.
Proverbs 8
Wisdom sits in the middle of the streets and cries out for people to check her out. Do you know how this is? When you see foolish nonsense going on in the streets or in the politics you are suppose to gain wisdom from seeing this. A friend of yours decides to join a gang and is killed by rival gangs, wisdom would tell you to steer clear of gangs and not do as he did. She cries in the streets for simple people to listen and get understanding.
13The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate.
17I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me.
18Riches and honour are with me; yea, durable riches and righteousness.
Wisdom loves them that love her, and you must seek her early and you'll find her. By the way, she comes with riches and honor, the durable riches, like that last forever.
27When he prepared the heavens, I was there: when he set a compass upon the face of the depth: When God was preparing the heavens, wisdom was present, and wisdom was there, were you?
35For whoso findeth me findeth life, and shall obtain favour of the LORD.
36But he that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul: all they that hate me love death.
Who ever finds wisdom finds life and gets great favor from the Lord God Almighty, but the one that sins against wisdom by forsaking her, wrongs his own soul and will die for it. Everyone that hates wisdom is someone who loves death.
Proverbs chapter 9
Wisdom prepared a feast and asked anyone to come and eat. She just didn't ask the dignitaries of the state, the rich, the whites, the blacks, or the great athletes. She asks all, which includes, children, poor, homeless, etc. And look what she put on the table to eat:
5Come, eat of my bread, and drink of the wine which I have mingled.
Bread and wine is a famous and favorite meal by Melchizedek and by Jesus Christ.
10The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding. Fearing God is the beginning of wisdom and knowing about the Most Holy is understanding. Many people at times are confused at why they have to fear such a loving and caring God.
Just look at His credentials. He created everything you see first of all and even the things you don't see; like the air you're breathing. He burned down Sodom and Gomorrah, He drowned the entire world except for 8 people because one man was doing right. He has an earth out in space and a moon swing around it. This type of being is worth fearing.
You'd fear a guy who had two pistols in his hand telling you to be quiet, while he shouts at the top of his lungs to empty the money vault. And this person hasn't created a world and hasn't given you life to live.
17Stolen waters are sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant.
18But he knoweth not that the dead are there; and that her guests are in the depths of hell.
I remember in high school, a few buddy of mine would leave for lunch to a pizza parlor where my buddy's friend worked and for lunch, he'd give us a free pizza almost everyday. And while we were eating, we'd say, "free pizza taste better than the ones you pay for."
Sometimes we feel like things done in thrill, sneaking off and sleeping with another woman is better than staying in the house and sleeping with your wife, but we do not know that it leads to a hellish life and the dead are all in that room with you.
Proverbs 10
1The proverbs of Solomon. A wise son maketh a glad father: but a foolish son is the heaviness of his mother. Parents can probably understand this. You have good kids, you are happy, you have bad kids, you don't take them nowhere with you.
4He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand: but the hand of the diligent maketh rich. There is simple wisdom in this book, you become poor when you have a lazy hand, but you are rich when you are diligent in work. And this is not just in the monetary realm; it is in everything you do. You study hard, you will gain knowledge, you lazy off and watch cartoons all day, you're as smart as the message the cartoon conveyed to you (if you even caught it).
12Hatred stirreth up strifes: but love covereth all sins. When you hate, it does nothing but stir up conflict and trouble. However, when you have love, it will even cover you sins because love is the keeping of the commandments.
13In the lips of him that hath understanding wisdom is found: but a rod is for the back of him that is void of understanding. When you have wisdom, people lie around and hear what you have to say. They pay you big money to come speak at their institutions, but if you are a fool, there is nothing for you. The most you can get is a back with a rod going against it. I think back to the slavery days and think everyone struggled, but the ones who did not understand and were foolish, they got rods and whips on their backs continually.
21The lips of the righteous feed many: but fools die for want of wisdom.
22The blessing of the LORD, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it.
Did not the lips of Joseph the righteous son of Jacob feed many people in his days in Egypt and save lives? Nabal, the husband to Abigail, died wanting wisdom, because he was a fool. Verse 22 is outstanding to me; when God blesses you with riches, He adds no sorrow or sadness with it.
Many people become rich; but can't enjoy it either because they work 20 hours a day, they are away from their family large amounts of time, they became rich in dirty ways, or my personal favorite they got rich because someone else died.
How can you truly enjoy riches under those types of circumstances?
27The fear of the LORD prolongeth days: but the years of the wicked shall be shortened.
At times this verse seems false because I see good men and women or boys and girls die every day at a young age; and I see horrible people live long. But we have to think of this on the large scale. God shortened the life span of man because we became so wicked. If one died early, it is just a sleep and he or she will awake to everlasting life; those are prolonged days.
Proverbs chapter 11
4Riches profit not in the day of wrath: but righteousness delivereth from death. One thing is for sure; you cannot pay God off in the day of wrath or judgment. You must pay God with righteousness. It is the only thing that will deliver you, even from death.
You also need to be merciful because it is good to the soul. However, in wisdom be wise and merciful because it is foolish to give the same man 20 dollars 8 times in a row when he hasn't paid you back for the first borrow.
22As a jewel of gold in a swine's snout, so is a fair woman which is without discretion. A gold necklace around the next of a muddy pig does not make the pig a desirable pet or companion does it? Neither is a gorgeous super model woman who has no wisdom or discretion.
30The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise.
31Behold, the righteous shall be recompensed in the earth: much more the wicked and the sinner.
The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life and the person who wins souls for Christ, is wise. I'm writing this book to help you understand the Word of God and the Bible better so that you can make a decision to serve Him serve Him better, or not at all.
The last verse here says the righteous will be rewarded or compensated in the earth, much more the wicked and the sinner. Everyone will be rewarded. Some with evil, some with good. However, it will all happen in the earth not in heaven as in beyond the stars as there is often confusion about. The earth itself is a heaven, and the earth is where the Lord wants to be as we read in Psalm 132.
Proverbs 12
1Whoso loveth instruction loveth knowledge: but he that hateth reproof is brutish.
2A good man obtaineth favour of the LORD: but a man of wicked devices will he condemn.
This chapter begins with two power packed verses; whoever loves instruction loves knowledge. I tell children to love instruction because that will be how you learn and are able to give it wisely when you grow older. Guess who hates correction and instructions? Brutish fools.
4A virtuous woman is a crown to her husband: but she that maketh ashamed is as rottenness in his bones. We will find out what a virtuous woman is at the end of this book; but she is a crown to her hubby; while the loud mouth foolish wife is rottenness in his bones.
15The way of a fool is right in his own eyes: but he that hearkeneth unto counsel is wise. Sometimes when you catch yourself going against all logic, against all facts, and against all people of reason just to accomplish something of your own personal desire and gratification, you will be right in your own eyes. But it is wise to listen to the counsel of the wise.
22Lying lips are abomination to the LORD: but they that deal truly are his delight. The Lord reminding you that He hates lying. So do men, when you hang around a person that does nothing but lie all the time; it gets annoying and old being around that person.
25Heaviness in the heart of man maketh it stoop: but a good word maketh it glad. When you're sad, a good word or the Good Word can make you glad again. When you see a pal who is going through it; give them good encouraging words to lift their spirits.
28In the way of righteousness is life: and in the pathway thereof there is no death. The way of keeping God's commandments is life, and in that path, there is no death. You may sleep for a moment; but you will live forever because there is no death. Praise the Living Lord God of Israel.
Proverbs 13
1A wise son heareth his father's instruction: but a scorner heareth not rebuke. This is not just your physical father on the earth because some people have or had some pretty bad fathers, so bad they never showed up for duty. But this is to hear your Father's instruction in Heaven, you know, the ones found in Exodus chapter 20, those instructions.
4The soul of the sluggard desireth, and hath nothing: but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat. The lazy man has desires, he wants a new car, new cloths, a house, but he's only diligent in desire and is too lazy to work. The diligent man makes goals and works hard at a plan and is made fat with riches.
7There is that maketh himself rich, yet hath nothing: there is that maketh himself poor, yet hath great riches. How do you do this? A man gets rich, gives the majority to the poor and serves Jesus Christ all his days. He made himself poor, but in doing so he has great riches. Then you have another man who cast the Word of God to the side to pursue riches; and became very rich, but doesn't have Christ, so he has nothing.
Verse 13 couldn't have put it any clearer: 13Whoso despiseth the word shall be destroyed: but he that feareth the commandment shall be rewarded.
20He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed. I wish teenagers, young adults, and even adults understood this verse. My dad use to say to me all the time, he can tell who I was by the 5 friends who I dealt with. I made it a point to hang with good positive kids and only brush shoulders with the vile.
A good man leaves an inheritance to eve his grandchildren; however the wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just. A man with wealth who had foolish kids will leave his money with charity which will take care of the just or the wealthy man will leave it to the foolish kids who will spend it foolishly and it will help the just. The point is the sinner is foolish and his wealth will be put to use since he cannot die with any of it.
24He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes. If you don't whip or spank your children and thoroughly correct them when they are wrong, you hate them. And children should understand this, that a parent who takes the time to correct you loves you. If they didn't correct you, when you get older, the State of Corrections will if the cemetery didn't grab you first.
Proverbs chapter 14
9Fools make a mock at sin: but among the righteous there is favour.
10The heart knoweth his own bitterness; and a stranger doth not intermeddle with his joy
Fools mock sin thinking the Lord will not hurt for stealing or lying. But most fools have not read the bible to verify their words. I like verse 10 because it is very true. Everyone knows how bitter and nasty and evil they can get no matter how presentable you are in town, we all know how ugly we can get.
12There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. Sometimes we do things and in our mind we think we are right, but the ways are of death. You cannot tell an Arab he is wrong for blowing up planes in the name of God; because in his mind he is right, but the end of it is going to be death.
15The simple believeth every word: but the prudent man looketh well to his going. The simple believes a pastor that says you do not have to keep the commandments; but the prudent man is going to look well into it to be sure of what the Lord wants. In other subject matters as well, search it out and read it for yourself.
25A true witness delivereth souls: but a deceitful witness speaketh lies. 26In the fear of the LORD is strong confidence: and his children shall have a place of refuge.
29He that is slow to wrath is of great understanding: but he that is hasty of spirit exalteth folly. Being slow to anger is to have great understanding; but if you "blow your top" quickly, that is an exercise of the foolish.
31He that oppresseth the poor reproacheth his Maker: but he that honoureth him hath mercy on the poor. Take a look at this wealthy man, powerful man, super man.
Oppressing poor people is to discredit your Maker. Wisdom rest in the mind of the man or woman that has understanding: but whatever is in fools they will make it known to you.
Proverbs 15
1A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger. 2The tongue of the wise useth knowledge aright: but the mouth of fools poureth out foolishness. 3The eyes of the LORD are in every place, beholding the evil and the good.
These three verses kept me from years of struggle and conflict as a teenager growing up. They rest in my mind daily. When you reply humbly to someone in anger, it calms him or her down and defuses even the most hostile and angry individual.
And then to read that the eyes of the Lord are everywhere watching the good and the evil that is done and that we do, I curtailed my behavior and did things as if someone was always watching me. And from verse three, someone is always watching you.
This is a straightforward book; the Lord loves righteousness, and hates evil.
16Better is little with the fear of the LORD than great treasure and trouble therewith. It is better to be on welfare and fear God than to have 3 private jets and houses and money, but not know of God.
27He that is greedy of gain troubleth his own house; but he that hateth gifts shall live. We shouldn't be so greedy and quick to get rich; you will trouble your house.
32He that refuseth instruction despiseth his own soul: but he that heareth reproof getteth understanding.
33The fear of the LORD is the instruction of wisdom; and before honour is humility.
Again, those that refuse instruction hat themselves, these proverbs come from some of the wisest men to live and from the wisest man to live; king Solomon and if we look around they still apply to us even in our day.
Proverbs 16
1The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the LORD.
2All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but the LORD weigheth the spirits.
All the things we prepare and plan and everything we speak is from God. Also, all things we do we will think they are clean and good; but God will weight it. Like there was a study I read that every criminal when they were committing the act thought they were right at the moment. They had talked themselves into doing it and doing it without guilt. Thus they felt they were in the right to stick up a bank. We can do that to in things we get into.
6By mercy and truth iniquity is purged: and by the fear of the LORD men depart from evil. 7When a man's ways please the LORD, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him.
These are self explanatory; but they were so good I needed to add them to the reading.
9A man's heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps. We can devise and make the way we want to go; but it is God that will direct our steps. Remember He has that above view on life for us.
32He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city.
Proverbs chapter 17
5Whoso mocketh the poor reproacheth his Maker: and he that is glad at calamities shall not be unpunished.
6Children's children are the crown of old men; and the glory of children are their fathers.
Again we see the discrediting of your Maker if you mock the poor; and it is not a good thing to clap your hands and celebrate at someone else's demise. You will not go unpunished if you celebrate another's calamity.
Verse six; fathers really have to come to grips with no matter how bad the woman is that you had the child with. Grandchildren are what make an old man happy, and fathers are what make a child happy and glorified.
9He that covereth a transgression seeketh love; but he that repeateth a matter separateth very friends. If you over look a wrong, you are seeking love and acceptance. A man beats you and covers his transgression by staying with him; you are seeking love instead of what's right. But if someone keeps wronging you, it will separate you from them or separate your other friends from you.
10A reproof entereth more into a wise man than an hundred stripes into a fool. Correcting a wise man once resonates better than whipping a fool one hundred times. In other words, a word is enough to the wise.
12Let a bear robbed of her whelps meet a man, rather than a fool in his folly. 13Whoso rewardeth evil for good, evil shall not depart from his house.
It is better to meet an angry bear to run into a fool ready to do some foolishness. Isn't that something? If you reward evil for good; you'll never see the day when evil departs from your house.
17A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity. Check your friends out; if they love you all the time; and check for your brother, is he there doing adversity? This is what they are here for.
Knowledgeable men speak sparingly, and a fool can copy this and be thought to be wise just because he limits his conversation. He will be esteemed as a man who has understanding. I remember seeing a middle age man when I was primary school and he rarely spoke. He would smile with kind gestures, greet you with a smile and move on. His respect made him seem like a very wise man.
Then one day I saw him when he was among his peers; he spoke more and did not appear to be that wise or knowledgeable. Appearance. Just because a man wears a suit does not mean he is rich. However, a poor, quiet fool can appear rich and wise by dressing up and speaking less.
Proverbs 18
To attain wisdom, it has to be like anything else a man attains; it has to be through desire. The same desire Donald Trump has to be rich, if he applied that to learning about God; he'd be the riches man in the Word and world. When you desire something you literally have to separate yourself from things and make a straight path to get it.
Fools, on the other hand, have no delight in getting understanding. They are satisfied with what ever is in front of them. Have you ever heard someone say they discovered who they were in college, or on a trip to Africa or wherever else? This is someone who went down the path of understanding.
8The words of a talebearer are as wounds, and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly.
A talebearer is a gossiper. Gossip never does any good, if the tale were true or false. Sure it is interesting to read and hear, if you are simple-minded and have nothing else to do, but that is about all it is. Interesting and intriguing nonsense; next time you find yourself on a gossip website or listening to gossip remember Eve listened to Satan's gossip in the garden and look where it got us.
Before you will be honored you have to have humility. It only makes sense, before Barak Obama was made president of the United States, he was a US Senator, and state senator, before that a community activist, before that an attorney, a student, a son of a single woman, a child, a baby. These humble beginnings shaped the man of honor he is today. Great men of the bible were the same way.
13He that answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and shame unto him. Some people know they fall into this, especially in a heated debate or argument; but it is a shame to that person and foolish to answer a question before you hear it.
Listening is golden, as we have all heard the saying you have two ears and one mouth, therefore listen twice as much as you speak. Some funny folks have taken that to mean they can listen to two people while talking to one. Go ahead and try it.
19A brother offended is harder to be won than a strong city: and their contentions are like the bars of a castle. This verse teaches us to watch our offense to our brothers and sisters because once one is offended; it is very hard to win that person over. The arguments between such are like the bars of a castle.
Kings and queens do not live in sand castles; they live in heavily secured mansion castles, which are hard to break down. So if you can avoid it do not offend a brother.
Here are more wise words:
21Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.
22Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favour of the LORD.
Death and life are in the power of the tongue. Fights, battles, and wars all start based on conversations from the tongue. If you control your tongue or speak more reasonably, you can control wars and fights. Also, what one thinks about most they will speak about most, if you're talking about dying a lot, you will eventually...die. I remember in America two popular rappers literally rapped about their death and were shot down months apart from each other.
I mean they literally made songs about their funerals and everything; it is a close call to view it as a suicide. But that is the power of the tongue, it can bring life or it can bring death.
Verse 22, when a man finds a wife, Solomon says that it is a good thing and that the man obtains favor from the Lord. Many men may disagree thinking they have been cursed with their wives because of perhaps the constant arguing and disagreements. But a virtuous wife is definitely from the Lord, and if the man uses wisdom and deals with his wife with knowledge, he will find that she is a joy to be with and will be easily able to mold her into the treasure woman she is suppose to be.
24A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother. If you want friends, it is simple, show yourself to be a friendly person, when you do that you'll find you'll make friends that are closer to you than your own physical brother or sister. I've seen this far too often.
Proverbs 19
1Better is the poor that walketh in his integrity, than he that is perverse in his lips, and is a fool. 2Also, that the soul be without knowledge, it is not good; and he that hasteth with his feet sinneth.
These verses are easier to understand wisdom without my comments; the soul or person without knowledge was quickly jumped into something that will produce sin.
8He that getteth wisdom loveth his own soul: he that keepeth understanding shall find good.
9A false witness shall not be unpunished, and he that speaketh lies shall perish. This was repeated from verse five, so I guess it was important enough for us to take note on.
There is so much wisdom in this book. A foolish son is a headache to his father: and a wife who is constantly arguing and nagging is something no husband or person period wants. It's like a continual dropping of water from the faucet. If you have a prudent wife, that is from the LORD.
Laziness is like a man being in a deep sleep; and an idle person will suffer hunger because he won't work. The man (or woman) that keeps the commandments of the Lord is literally keeping their own soul from destruction. If you lend and have pity on the poor, you are really lending to the Lord. And it says that those that give the Lord will pay him again.
I wouldn't suggest you give money to the poor and look in the sky and say God you owe me a hundred bucks. Just do it from the Lord and let it go from there. As far as dealing with your kids, correcting them early on in life when they will listen and take correction is best. Some people avoid doing this in the first five years of the child's life, and cannot correct their behavior afterwards and have rough teenagers to deal with. Do it while there is hope.
As far as personal relationships, if you bail out people for their own mistakes, you'll have to continue to do it over and over again.
It's much better to be poor, than to be a liar. The worse thing you can be is a poor liar. Just a bit of humor here.
Proverbs 20
8A king that sitteth in the throne of judgment scattereth away all evil with his eyes. We know for sure JESUS can and will perform this. No evil will be brazen enough to stand before Him.
Work is important ever since it was sentenced to Adam to work to eat. We are not to love sleep unless we come to poverty. Be awake and work so that we satisfy ourselves and our family with food enough.
20Whoso curseth his father or his mother, his lamp shall be put out in obscure darkness. This is something children are to pay attention; that if you curse your father or mother (good or bad) your lamp (light and instruction), will be put out. That's not good for a child.
24Man's goings are of the LORD; how can a man then understand his own way? If God is directing and steering the path He wants you to go in, then how can you understand your own way?
29The glory of young men is their strength: and the beauty of old men is the grey head. I like this last verse. Glory of young men is their strength, but in old men it's the gray head. I wondered why old men are trying to dye their hair and hide all their glory.
This concludes today's reading. I hope to read with you tomorrow. Have a good day, today.
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Peace & Grace
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