Proverbs 1:8-33
Exhortations to Embrace Wisdom
Warning Against Enticement
8 Listen, my son, to your father's instruction
and do not forsake your mother's teaching.
9 They will be a garland to grace your head
and a chain to adorn your neck.
10 My son, if sinners entice you,
do not give in to them.
11 If they say, "Come along with us;
let's lie in wait for someone's blood,
let's waylay some harmless soul;
12 let's swallow them alive, like the grave,
and whole, like those who go down to the pit;
13 we will get all sorts of valuable things
and fill our houses with plunder;
14 throw in your lot with us,
and we will share a common purse"-
15 my son, do not go along with them,
do not set foot on their paths;
16 for their feet rush into sin,
they are swift to shed blood.
17 How useless to spread a net
in full view of all the birds!
18 These men lie in wait for their own blood;
they waylay only themselves!
19 Such is the end of all who go after ill-gotten gain;
it takes away the lives of those who get it.
Warning Against Rejecting Wisdom
20 Wisdom calls aloud in the street,
she raises her voice in the public squares;
21 at the head of the noisy streets she cries out,
in the gateways of the city she makes her speech:
22 "How long will you simple ones love your simple ways?
How long will mockers delight in mockery
and fools hate knowledge?
23 If you had responded to my rebuke,
I would have poured out my heart to you
and made my thoughts known to you.
24 But since you rejected me when I called
and no one gave heed when I stretched out my hand,
25 since you ignored all my advice
and would not accept my rebuke,
26 I in turn will laugh at your disaster;
I will mock when calamity overtakes you-
27 when calamity overtakes you like a storm,
when disaster sweeps over you like a whirlwind,
when distress and trouble overwhelm you.
28 "Then they will call to me but I will not answer;
they will look for me but will not find me.
29 Since they hated knowledge
and did not choose to fear the LORD,
30 since they would not accept my advice
and spurned my rebuke,
31 they will eat the fruit of their ways
and be filled with the fruit of their schemes.
32 For the waywardness of the simple will kill them,
and the complacency of fools will destroy them;
33 but whoever listens to me will live in safety
and be at ease, without fear of harm."
If one would just read through the titles and subheadings of each Proverb (that has a title) one sees that the author Solomon discusses wisdom and has many sayings from and about the wise...Even the chapters that have no titles wisdom is a common theme throughout many of those Proverbs, also...As this title teaches us, we should embrace wisdom...
Here in chapter one, we see that it is important for the son to listen to his father and mother...If we don't follow the instructions of those who love us, care for us, and want what is best for us, we will struggle...Sin will be around us, all our lives...We need to know early in life that there are people, who will try to lead us astray...Know who you are with, and what they believe in...If you don't (know the values of the people your are around) listen to your parents, because they want you to be safe, do good, and succeed...Others may not, they may be looking out only for themselves...
If and when we reject common sense and wisdom trouble looms...If we ignore the good advice of people, teachers, friends and something happens, we have only ourselves to blame...Listen to wisdom and discipline and she will lead us down the right path in life...Rejecting God will cause us to do wrong, dumb and stupid things...We don't want to be constantly making bad decisions and then saying "Why did I do that"...
Sin and wickedness rejects knowledge and wisdom...Sin hangs out with temptation and desire...When we follow the path of knowledge and wisdom we gain discipline...But even though we might be growing in wisdom each day, we must remember that evil is there forever ready to trip us...When we are tripped up by sin, then evil can overtake us like a whirlwind...Distress and trouble will follow and abound like a spring storm...We have to be on guard, for sin...
True wisdom begins with a fear of God, and knowing how powerful He is...It is having a reverence, a looking up to, that only you feel and give to Him...We must not reject God, but trust in Him...We must follow and listen to the ways of the LORD, so that we may be at ease, live in safety, and live without fear of harm...