Proverb A Day, Proverb 19 [Prayer and Meditation]

Proverb 19 (NKJV)

The Fear of the Lord Leads to Life

01 Better is the poor who walks in his integrity
00 Than one who is perverse in his lips, and is a fool.

02 Also it is not good for a soul to be without knowledge,
00 And he sins who hastens with his feet.

03 The foolishness of a man twists his way,
00 And his heart frets against the LORD.

04 Wealth makes many friends,
00 But the poor is separated from his friend.

05 A false witness will not go unpunished,
00 And he who speaks lies will not escape.

06 Many entreat the favor of the nobility,
00 And every man is a friend to one who gives gifts.
07 All the brothers of the poor hate him;
00 How much more do his friends go far from him!
00 He may pursue them with words, yet they abandon him.

08 He who gets wisdom loves his own soul;
00 He who keeps understanding will find good.

09 A false witness will not go unpunished,
00 And he who speaks lies shall perish.

10 Luxury is not fitting for a fool,
00 Much less for a servant to rule over princes.

11 The discretion of a man makes him slow to anger,
00 And his glory is to overlook a transgression.

12 The king's wrath is like the roaring of a lion,
00 But his favor is like dew on the grass.

13 A foolish son is the ruin of his father,
00 And the contentions of a wife are a continual dripping.

14 Houses and riches are an inheritance from fathers,
00 But a prudent wife is from the LORD.

15 Laziness casts one into a deep sleep,
00 And an idle person will suffer hunger.

16 He who keeps the commandment keeps his soul,
00 But he who is careless of his ways will die.

17 He who has pity on the poor lends to the LORD,
00 And He will pay back what he has given.

18 Chasten your son while there is hope,
00 And do not set your heart on his destruction.

19 A man of great wrath will suffer punishment;
00 For if you rescue him, you will have to do it again.

20 Listen to counsel and receive instruction,
00 That you may be wise in your latter days.

21 There are many plans in a man's heart,
00 Nevertheless the LORD's counsel--that will stand.

22 What is desired in a man is kindness,
00 And a poor man is better than a liar.

23 The fear of the LORD leads to life,
00 And he who has it will abide in satisfaction;
00 He will not be visited with evil.

24 A lazy man buries his hand in the bowl,
00 And will not so much as bring it to his mouth again.

25 Strike a scoffer, and the simple will become wary;
00 Rebuke one who has understanding, and he will discern knowledge.

26 He who mistreats his father and chases away his mother
00 Is a son who causes shame and brings reproach.

27 Cease listening to instruction, my son,
00 And you will stray from the words of knowledge.

28 A disreputable witness scorns justice,
00 And the mouth of the wicked devours iniquity.

29 Judgments are prepared for scoffers,
00 And beatings for the backs of fools.

I have new subscribers, so I decided to post my indro again.

The purpose of Writing the book of Proverbs was to reveal the mind of God in matters high and lofty and in common, ordinary, everyday situations. Through Solomon, God shared His Wisdom, and He made sure that no topic was left to question. Matters pertaining to personal conduct, sexual relations, business, wealth, charity, ambition, discipline, debt, child-rearing, character, alcohol, politics, revenge, and Godliness are among the many topics covered in this rich collection of wise sayings.

Without wisdom, knowledge is nothing more than an accumulation of raw facts, influenced by emotional feelings. Many highly educated people are in positions of power in the United States, but very few of those educated leaders have the wisdom needed to rule properly.

One can say that they have been educated well beyond their intelligence. A cursory look at the court system will prove my point that knowledge without wisdom will only lead to an immoral society that eventually crumbles from within. Judges are supposed to be above the fray, and immovable to emotions. Instead, the vast majority of judges today are Godless individuals who are vacant of wisdom. So their rulings are totally based upon emotional feelings.

We the people are to blame, because we ignored God's guidance in appointing our leaders. Instead of appointing God fearing men in positions of power, we chose those who would scratch our itchy ears to lead us. It is incumbent upon us to chose leaders who have faith in Christ, then and only then can we be assured that they will make wise decisions. Paul tells us that Christ is the Wisdom of God, so if you do not have Christ in your heart, it is impossible to make wise decisions. Instead our leaders continue to make decisions based upon man's wisdom. Yet we know that God uses foolish things to bring man's wisdom to shame.
For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence. But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God--and righteousness and sanctification and redemption-- that, as it is written, "He who glories, let him glory in the LORD.1Corinthians 1:26-31
Now of the 31 Proverbs, only the first 24 were written by Solomon. King Hezekiah wrote 5, Proverbs 25 to 29, Agur wrote Proverb 30, and Lemuel's mother wrote Proverb 31. Many scholars believe Lemuel was in fact a nick name Solomon's Mother, Bathsheba, gave him. If so, then Proverb 31 would have been written by Bathsheba. Solomon wrote over 3000 Proverbs and composed 1000 songs, but the only Proverbs of Solomin that God decided to preserve for us are Proverbs 1-24.

Like the New Testament epistle by James, it is impossible to get a chronological outline for a study since they all bounce from subject to subject, and no one can be sure of the dates. Other than to say that Solomon wrote most of the Proverbs in his younger years, and as he got older his many wives led him into idolatry. He did return in his late years, and that is when he wrote Ecclesiastes.

Along with my daily routine of reading the Bible, I try to read through the book of Proverbs once a Month. It's an easy task when you consider there are 31 Proverbs. So all you need to know is what day of the Month it is. In the Months that have 30 days, or in the case of February, I just double up by reading more than one proverb so I can begin the next month with Proverb 1 on the first again.

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