Proverbs 6:1-12
Warnings Against Folly
1 My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor,
if you have shaken hands in pledge for a stranger,
2 you have been trapped by what you said,
ensnared by the words of your mouth.
3 So do this, my son, to free yourself,
since you have fallen into your neighbor’s hands:
Go—to the point of exhaustion—
and give your neighbor no rest!
4 Allow no sleep to your eyes,
no slumber to your eyelids.
5 Free yourself, like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter,
like a bird from the snare of the fowler.
6 Go to the ant, you sluggard;
consider its ways and be wise!
7 It has no commander,
no overseer or ruler,
8 yet it stores its provisions in summer
and gathers its food at harvest.
9 How long will you lie there, you sluggard?
When will you get up from your sleep?
10 A little sleep, a little slumber,
a little folding of the hands to rest—
11 and poverty will come on you like a thief
and scarcity like an armed man.
12 A troublemaker and a villain,
who goes about with a corrupt mouth,
13 who winks maliciously with his eye,
signals with his feet
and motions with his fingers,
14 who plots evil with deceit in his heart—
he always stirs up conflict.
15 Therefore disaster will overtake him in an instant;
he will suddenly be destroyed—without remedy.
16 There are six things the Lord hates,
seven that are detestable to him:
17 haughty eyes,
a lying tongue,
hands that shed innocent blood,
18 a heart that devises wicked schemes,
feet that are quick to rush into evil,
19 a false witness who pours out lies
and a person who stirs up conflict in the community.
Proverbs 19:9-29
Folly and Patience
9 A false witness will not go unpunished,
and whoever pours out lies will perish.
10 It is not fitting for a fool to live in luxury—
how much worse for a slave to rule over princes!
11 A person’s wisdom yields patience;
it is to one’s glory to overlook an offense.
12 A king’s rage is like the roar of a lion,
but his favor is like dew on the grass.
13 A foolish child is a father’s ruin,
and a quarrelsome wife is like
the constant dripping of a leaky roof.
14 Houses and wealth are inherited from parents,
but a prudent wife is from the Lord.
15 Laziness brings on deep sleep,
and the shiftless go hungry.
16 Whoever keeps commandments keeps their life,
but whoever shows contempt for their ways will die.
17 Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the Lord,
and he will reward them for what they have done.
18 Discipline your children, for in that there is hope;
do not be a willing party to their death.
19 A hot-tempered person must pay the penalty;
rescue them, and you will have to do it again.
20 Listen to advice and accept discipline,
and at the end you will be counted among the wise.
21 Many are the plans in a person’s heart,
but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.
22 What a person desires is unfailing love;
better to be poor than a liar.
23 The fear of the Lord leads to life;
then one rests content, untouched by trouble.
24 A sluggard buries his hand in the dish;
he will not even bring it back to his mouth!
25 Flog a mocker, and the simple will learn prudence;
rebuke the discerning, and they will gain knowledge.
26 Whoever robs their father and drives out their mother
is a child who brings shame and disgrace.
27 Stop listening to instruction, my son,
and you will stray from the words of knowledge.
28 A corrupt witness mocks at justice,
and the mouth of the wicked gulps down evil.
29 Penalties are prepared for mockers,
and beatings for the backs of fools.
Solomon identifies specific actions and behaviors that are described as foolish...The Psalms and the Proverbs we learn much about patience and deception and God's LOVE for us...A lying person is bad and evil...The Proverb's writer tells us that a false witness who pours out lies and a person who stirs up conflict in the community...And we learn that "Whoever is patient has great understanding, but one who is quick-tempered displays folly."...This proverb highlights the connection between patience and wisdom...It is best to be patient and wait on the LORD..."A false witness will not go unpunished, and whoever breathes out lies will not escape."...This proverb highlights the consequences of both lying and impatience...And that a person’s wisdom yields patience; it is to one’s glory to overlook an offense..."With patience a ruler can persuade, and a gentle tongue can break a bone."...This proverb highlights the power of patience in overcoming challenges and achieving goals...We learn much from the Proverbs and learn that that is good and gives us many things and ways to overcome our foolishness and follies...The fear of the LORD leads to life; then one rests content, untouched by trouble...When we follow the Truth, the Way, and the Life, we learn much about God and His LOVE and wisdom for us...
So in these lessons of Proverbs we are learning, especially about God's Wisdom and about life's lessons in folly, patience, and love...
Theologian, cleric and writer J. I. Packer wrote these things about some foolish and about patience and about God's LOVE in our lives...“A half truth masquerading as the whole truth becomes a complete untruth.”...“The Scriptures are the lifeline God throws us in order to ensure He and we stay connected while the rescue is in process.”...“‘Wait on the LORD’ is a constant refrain in the Psalms, and it is a necessary word, for God often keeps us waiting...He is not in such a hurry as we are, and it is not His way to give more light on the future than we need for action in the present, or to guide us more than one step at a time...When in doubt, do nothing, but continue to wait on God...When action is needed, light will come.”...“The traveler through the Bible landscape misses his way as soon as he loses sight of the hill called Calvary.”...“I do not want to believe [in hell], but I dare not disbelieve it.”...“In Calvinism there is really only one point to be made in the field of soteriology: the point that God saves sinners.”...“God LOVES all in some ways, and God LOVES some in all ways.”...“The proper aim of preaching is to mediate meetings with God.”...“Application is the preacher’s highway from the head to the heart.”...“The church no more gave us the New Testament canon than Sir Isaac Newton gave us the force of gravity.”...“The life of true holiness is rooted in the soil of awed adoration.”...