Solomon continues with his thirty sayings of the wise, which all relate to the heart, they begin in Proverbs 22:17 and finish in Proverbs 24:24.
We can’t say that those around us don’t affect our lives, if we do, we are in denial. We become like them, 1 Corinthians 15:33.
Wisdom and understanding are the blueprints for our house, without them, our homes would be chaotic.
These verses are simply telling us that wisdom is more powerful than any human power.
We must go to the high places in order to grasp wisdom. There is nothing wrong with asking for advice from certain people about a decision we need to make whether it is a new job or moving to a new place to live.
We normally understand the folly as the sin, but here it’s related to merely thinking about it is the sin. Sin starts in your mind and then it grows and before you know it, it has caused a lot of devastation, James 1:15.
We must be willing to help those who are struggling, James 5:19-20 / Galatians 6:1 / 2 Timothy 4:5 / Jude 1:23. The words, ‘if you say’, imply this may be an excuse to not be involved. With opportunity comes responsibility, if we can help someone we had better do so, James 2:14-15.
Wisdom is referred to as honey, it’s sweet and good for us. When we do, we have hope, eternal hope, Psalm 19:10.
We all know that a thief’s intentions are never good. We need to rise again and keep fighting the good fight, 1 Timothy 6:11-16. ‘Seven times’ is normally enough to defeat someone, but a righteous man will continue to get up, Matthew 18:21-22.
It’s so easy to boast and rejoice when someone we don’t like falls but we must remember that vengeance is the Lord’s, Obadiah 12 / Romans 12:19. When God sees our joy, will He turn His anger toward us instead? We should never rejoice in someone else’s misfortunes even though it was wrong what they did.
The warning is clear here, if we want to have a hope for the future, we mustn’t become like those evildoers.
Here we read about the Lord and the king and the importance of submitting and respecting them both. Romans 13:1-7 / 1 Peter 2:17. This concludes the thirty sayings of the wise.
Here we are reminded that God shows no favouritism and that He always wants to help the helpless, Leviticus 19:9-37 / James 2:1-11. Why is an honest answer like a kiss on the lips? It’s a sign of true friendship, trust and honesty. Honesty is always the best policy.
Here we are reminded of our priorities, get your life in order before trying to settle down, Haggai 1:4-6 / Matthew 6:33.
We mustn’t look for any old excuse to say something against anyone, we especially shouldn’t tell lies about them just to get our way, Ephesians 4:25.
Have you ever been angry with someone? What does that anger want you to do? That anger pushes us to get them back, sometimes like little children but that’s the way the world works, not Christians.
Again, this is the problem of vengeance, Romans 12:17 / Ephesians 4:25 / Ephesians 4:29.
We all suffer from procrastination at times, we’re all very good at putting things off until a later date. This attitude doesn’t surprise the wise person because it is what they had expected to find from the sluggard.
"For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart."