PROFITING FROM PROVERBS

“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding. For by me thy days shall be multiplied, and the years of thy life shall be increased. If thou be wise, thou shalt be wise for thyself: but if thou scornest, thou alone shalt bear it. A foolish woman is clamorous: she is simple, and knoweth nothing” (Proverbs 9:10-13).

In Job 22:1, “Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said, . . .” Now, we know that there's some questionable counsel here, but I believe verse 2 is true. “Can a man be profitable unto God, as he that is wise may be profitable unto himself.”

It’s a good question. How does your being wise help God? I’m wiser now than I was before, so how is God profited, right? Well, He’s not particularly. However, a lot of what wisdom does for me is it keeps me out of trouble, Amen?

Verse 12, “If thou be wise, thou shalt be wise for thyself: but if thou scornest, thou alone shall bear it.”

Now, we need to see what's going on here, since the Bible doesn't draw graphs and pie charts and doesn't have flowcharts and stuff and if you're not paying attention and you're just blowing through a chapter, just reading words, sometimes you miss stuff. Notice in verse 13 that “a foolish woman is clamorous,” and recall that this all started back in verse one where it tells us that “Wisdom hath builded her house.” She's a woman too, right?

Now, if you question whether these two ladies (actually, “lady” is not a fair qualification for one of them), but these two women are set side-by-side as a comparison, as a simile. Look at verse 4, “whoso is simple, let him turn in hither: as for him that wanteth understanding, she saith to him . . ..” That’s the wise woman, right? Okay, now consider verse 16, “Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither: and as for him that wanteth understanding, she saith to him . . ..” It’s the exact same quote. Got it? The exact same quote.

You have wisdom, and then you have this wicked woman, saying the exact same thing trying to attract this young guy. You need to think about that.

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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