PROFITING FROM PROVERBS

“Whoso loveth wisdom rejoiceth his father: but he that keepeth company with harlots spendeth his substance . . . A man that flattereth his neighbour spreadeth a net for his feet” (Proverbs 29:3, 5).

“Whoso loveth wisdom rejoiceth his father,” Solomon dealt with this earlier:

“A wise son maketh a glad father: but a foolish son is the heaviness of his mother” (Proverbs 10:1).

“A wise son maketh a glad father: but a foolish man despiseth his mother” (Proverbs 15:20).

“My son, if thine heart be wise, my heart shall rejoice, even mine” (Proverbs 23:15).

“. . . but he that keepeth company with harlots spendeth his substance,” like the prodigal son. Now, this right here probably tells you exactly what happened to the prodigal son. You want to cross reference that with Luke 15:13. That's probably the story of the prodigal son right there. It doesn't tell you about the harlots in Luke, but we see that word, “substance” there, and that is exactly what happened; he “wasted his substance.” You go back there and find out that's the word used in Luke 15.

“. . . but he that keepeth company with harlots spendeth his substance.” In other words, you run around with the wrong people, you will wind up having the wrong things happen to you.

“A man that flattereth his neighbour spreadeth a net for his feet.”

He is just setting you up. Flattery is just a setup. Flattery always has an evil purpose. The only kind of praise that is real and true is from a stranger: “Let another man praise thee, and not thine own mouth; a stranger, and not thine own lips” (Proverbs 27:2). Somebody that doesn’t know you. Anything else, be careful of it. Somebody is after something.

Flattery is sweet. It strokes your pride and feeds your ego. But it closes your eyes to the character or intentions of the giver – you cannot see the trap being set. No matter how pleasant it is to hear flattery, look out and get away, for someone is manipulating you.

Flattery is also nice to give. It produces a positive and warm response from most hearers. But the false feelings you give others is sin in the sight of God and noble men. While commending and praising others is good, excessive praise or manipulation is wrong.

Flattery is false, insincere, or excessive praise used to gratify the vanity or self-esteem of a person. It is sucking up to them, exaggerating their good features, and ignoring their faults. Men flatter others to obtain undeserved favor or otherwise serve their own purposes. Self-esteem and pride, vulnerable traits of carnal Christians in these perilous times, are sinful symptoms of man’s depraved heart.

Daily Bible study is necessary if we are going to begin our day with the right attitude and the right spiritual diet. Proverbs has 31 chapters, and most months have 31 days, so let’s read a chapter of Proverbs a day and see what God might have for us. As the Lord leads, share with us what God has shown you in a special way and by His grace let us build up a devotional repository. Let’s keep our knives and forks handy for some daily bread! Ideally, a chapter or two of Proverbs will fit in nicely with a good plan of reading our Bibles through each year.

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