King James Bible Study – [And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. – Mark 8:34]
Date: Tuesday, June 03, 2025
Chapters: Proverbs 1-3
Message: Proverbs: True Wisdom
Hello My Friend,
As we begin the reading of Proverbs we learn that while all wisdom comes from knowledge, true wisdom comes from understanding that we cannot lean on our own understanding, but we can lean on God’s. The beginning of such knowledge comes first by fearing God, [2 Corinthians 7:1 Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.]
There are two types of fear toward God, one of reverence and one of terror. The fear of reverence is having respect for God for who He is in all His righteousness, just, mercy, and grace. The fear of terror is being so terrified of God that they refuse to get near Him and accept Him, thus rejecting Him. Fearing God is a natural part of life and we need a little bit of both I believe in order to lean on God’s understanding. Jesus, makes it simple, [Mark 12:30-31 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. 31 And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.]
The Book of Proverbs, contains thirty-one chapters, all but one book is penned by King Solomon, the timeline is about 990 to 995 BC. The book was first written to the Jews, but these truths are addressed to all believers. The purpose of the book is to teach wisdom, instruction, and correction to all who fear God. What we are to learn from it is that, God teaches us wisdom, instruction, and correction so that we learn to lean on His understanding and not our own, [Proverbs 3:5 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.]
[Proverb, A short sentence often repeated, expressing a well known truth or common fact, ascertained by experience or observation. A maxim of wisdom. Maxim; An established principle or proposition; a principle generally received or admitted as true. Wisdom; The right use knowledge. Knowledge; A clear and certain perception of that which exists, or is of truth and fact.]
As we begin the reading of Proverbs, at first, they seem like a bunch of random thoughts thrown together, but as you study them you will find that they actually fit in right where they need to be. We read in 1 Kings, that Solomon spoke three thousand proverbs, [1 Kings 4:32 And he spake three thousand proverbs: and his songs were a thousand and five.] many of which were at the beginning of his reign. He concluded that wisdom comes first comes by fearing God.
[Proverbs 1:1-7 The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel; 2 To know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding; 3 To receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, and judgment, and equity; 4 To give subtilty to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion. 5 A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels: 6 To understand a proverb, and the interpretation; the words of the wise, and their dark sayings. 7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.]
Those whom have an open heart to hear what God has to say will come to understand that the wisest decision they ever made was receive His Son as their Saviour. And you do not have to be a genius to be wise in God’s eyes, you just have to be learnable, [2 Timothy 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.]
We get wisdom by understanding the knowledge that we receive from the wise and more often than we realize the unwise. There is no better persuasion to seek God’s will then the fear of what happens when the unwise do not. Of course, we do not always know what is sinful to God so we are encouraged not to even associate ourselves with sinners.
[Proverbs 1:8-16 My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother: 9 For they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head, and chains about thy neck. 10 My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not. 11 If they say, Come with us, let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause: 12 Let us swallow them up alive as the grave; and whole, as those that go down into the pit: 13 We shall find all precious substance, we shall fill our houses with spoil: 14 Cast in thy lot among us; let us all have one purse: 15 My son, walk not thou in the way with them; refrain thy foot from their path: 16 For their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood.]
This was an instruction book for his son, but it is actually one for all of us as well. Since we are all sinners, this is not referring to your average saved, born again Christian with their occasional mishap, this is referring to those who openly live in sin and encourage you to do so. If you look closely at who is actually the one speaking here, these short sentences of powerful truths may have Solomon’s name on them, but they are not definitely not all Solomon speaking.
[Proverbs 1:20-26 Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice in the streets: 21 She crieth in the chief place of concourse, in the openings of the gates: in the city she uttereth her words, saying, 22 How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge? 23 Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you. 24 Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded; 25 But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof: 26 I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh;]
Sinners, are actually led by Satan and have one agenda, to ruin your testimony. God, is being sarcastic here, He makes it simple to be saved from the second death and hell, likewise to overcome sin and seek His will. If they are going to mock Him then He will mock them, and will let them fall into their own delusions.
[Proverbs 1:28-33 Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me: 29 For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD: 30 They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof. 31 Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices. 32 For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them. 33 But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil.]
It is usually when people are at their lowest level that they seek God in the first place, but these are what God considers as reprobates, they are beyond the hope of salvation, [Romans 1:28,32 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; 32 Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.]
God, is merciful, but will not be mocked, one cannot expect Him to do great things in their lives if they are constantly rebellious to His Word. He does not complicate it or sugar coat it, He straight up tells us what He wants and if we respect Him, then He will respect us and give us knowledge and understanding of who He is, hence true wisdom.
[Proverbs 2:1-6 My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee; 2 So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding; 3 Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding; 4 If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures; 5 Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God. 6 For the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.]
This is where the Godhead comes into play; First, God, gives us knowledge and understanding of who He is and what He expects of us through His Word. Second, Jesus, who is the Word made flesh, gives us the only way to come to Him and receive that knowledge. And third, once we come to Him that is when the Holy Spirit gives us the understanding of that knowledge and in turn we get God’s wisdom. God’s wisdom far exceeds that of mans, and the sooner we figure that out the wiser we will become. True wisdom comes when we understand that our salvation is not justification to live a sinful life, but to live a virtuous life.
[Proverbs 2:10-17,19 When wisdom entereth into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul; 11 Discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee: 12 To deliver thee from the way of the evil man, from the man that speaketh froward things; 13 Who leave the paths of uprightness, to walk in the ways of darkness; 14 Who rejoice to do evil, and delight in the frowardness of the wicked; 15 Whose ways are crooked, and they froward in their paths: 16 To deliver thee from the strange woman, even from the stranger which flattereth with her words; 17 Which forsaketh the guide of her youth, and forgetteth the covenant of her God. 19 None that go unto her return again, neither take they hold of the paths of life.]
God, is not just referring to a man who had gotten caught up in sin with an adulterous woman here. One does not need to be in an intimate relationship to get caught up in sin, anyone of us can walk right into the devils path if we are not careful. This can be work, religion, social, or business related as well, and all takes is one sin for our lives to be turned completely upside down. However, the great thing about having a relationship with God is that repentance goes a long way, and if we have honestly received Christ as our Saviour, He will bring us back to Him.
[Proverbs 3:1-8 My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments: 2 For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee. 3 Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart: 4 So shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man. 5 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. 6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. 7 Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil. 8 It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones.]
Leaning on our own understanding is what gets us in trouble to begin with. I will be the first to tell you that I do not always understand God’s ways even though I respect them in every way, but I do understand that there is a good reason why He does not give us knowledge of certain things. And I tell you what, the more I come to know the more I understand that some things are just too wonderful for me, and wish I had never knew them, [Job 42:1-3 Then Job answered the LORD, and said, 2 I know that thou canst do every thing, and that no thought can be withholden from thee. 3 Who is he that hideth counsel without knowledge? therefore have I uttered that I understood not; things too wonderful for me, which I knew not.]
Our goal in reading God’s Word, and I mean as a natural part of our walk with Christ, has nothing to do with understanding His existence, and everything to do with understanding Him personally and how He wants us to live with Him. The wisest decision we will ever make is receiving Christ as our Saviour, but once we do that, and with a willing heart, start reading His Word, we will begin to hear what He is saying and come to understand that even when chastened it is a blessing.
[Proverbs 3:11-18 My son, despise not the chastening of the LORD; neither be weary of his correction: 12 For whom the LORD loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth. 13 Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding. 14 For the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold. 15 She is more precious than rubies: and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her. 16 Length of days is in her right hand; and in her left hand riches and honour. 17 Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace. 18 She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her: and happy is every one that retaineth her.]
This is also seen in the New Testament, [Hebrews 12:5-7 And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: 6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. 7 If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?] Do you see that apart from our relationship with Christ that God has not changed the way He deals with man? Jesus, did not change the Law, He perfected it, [Hebrews 10:14-15 For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified. 15 Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us: for after that he had said before,]
Faithful Christians are not always going to make wise decisions, if fact, many times make rash decisions because they did not think things through before they acted. God’s grace and truth is what gets us back on track, and in His will. When we look to God and lean on His understanding, that is when He will direct our path and we will not stumble so much
[Proverbs 3:20-26 By his knowledge the depths are broken up, and the clouds drop down the dew. 21 My son, let not them depart from thine eyes: keep sound wisdom and discretion: 22 So shall they be life unto thy soul, and grace to thy neck. 23 Then shalt thou walk in thy way safely, and thy foot shall not stumble. 24 When thou liest down, thou shalt not be afraid: yea, thou shalt lie down, and thy sleep shall be sweet. 25 Be not afraid of sudden fear, neither of the desolation of the wicked, when it cometh. 26 For the LORD shall be thy confidence, and shall keep thy foot from being taken.]
Just imagine what applying God’s wisdom to every area of our lives will do for us? Long life, riches, honor beyond what we think, and I do not mean possessions, but above all, we have eternal life for our soul, [Ephesians 3:19-21 And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. 20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, 21 Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.]
It is actually that sudden fear that keeps us fearing God, and not for the sake of our salvation, but for the sake of our well being. Think about it, would we still be doing some of the things we did if we did not get scared out of our wits? We need to stop leaning on our own confidence because it will definitely lead us out of God’s will.
[Proverbs 3:28-35 Say not unto thy neighbour, Go, and come again, and to morrow I will give; when thou hast it by thee. 29 Devise not evil against thy neighbour, seeing he dwelleth securely by thee. 30 Strive not with a man without cause, if he have done thee no harm. 31 Envy thou not the oppressor, and choose none of his ways. 32 For the froward is abomination to the LORD: but his secret is with the righteous. 33 The curse of the LORD is in the house of the wicked: but he blesseth the habitation of the just. 34 Surely he scorneth the scorners: but he giveth grace unto the lowly. 35 The wise shall inherit glory: but shame shall be the promotion of fools.]
What is God’s secret with the righteous? Eternal life through His Son. We do not have the guarantee of tomorrow so whatever we need to do to get things right the time is now, [James 4:13-14,17 Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: 14 Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. 17 Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.]
Today’s Prayer: God, When our minds are constantly bombarded with all sorts of doubts, ears, guilt, or anger, we can lose sight of the fact that You are in control and know the path that we should take. Thank You for Your mercy, grace, and patience to help us get back in Your will. Thank You, for Your wisdom and showing us how to take the knowledge and understanding You gave us and use it for Your glory. We may not always understand it, but when we take the time to study Your Word, receive it, and obey it, then You will give us everything we need to live a virtuous life. Lord, Lead us and guide us, give us Your mercy, and grace, and show Yourself mighty in our lives for all to see. Keep us mindful to honor our substance and give You glory for everything that we are about to receive. I ask these things in Your name, Jesus, Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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