Archive for the ‘Proverbs 15’ Category


Under Gods Command

Proverbs 15:2 The tongue of the wise commends knowledge, but the mouth of the fool gushes folly. 

You can say the wrong thing, and you can say the right thing the wrong way, or at the wrong time, or to the wrong person. Wisdom learns what to say, how to say it, when to say it, and to whom to say it. Truth is not enough. Do you know how, when, and to whom to speak the truth? Fools babble without regard to these four factors of godly speech.

Solomon taught often that speech is one of the most obvious signs of wisdom or folly (Pr 10:18-19; 15:28; 17:27-28; 18:6-7; 29:11; Eccl 10:11-14). A wise man or a fool can be easily discerned by his speech, which is measured by content, manner, timing, and audience. The key to this proverb is the qualifying adverb “aright.” A wise man speaks knowledge acceptably, but a fool prates on and on without knowing what he is saying.

This proverb is for your success. Fools destroy relationships and aggravate situations by talking far too much about far too little. They love the sound of their voice expressing their feelings and opinions, but no one else does, so they eventually lose all friends and opportunities for advancement. Those around them finally get tired of cringing every time they open their mouths and/or having to do damage control after they have spoken.

Wise men wait until they have something valuable to contribute, and they say only what is necessary, in the right way, at the right time, to the right audience. Others quickly learn to stop speaking and to listen when such wise men begin to speak. Because all their words are profitable and acceptable, others want them around, so they are promoted to positions of authority and influence due to their wise speech habits (Pr 16:13; 22:11).

What is godly content? The proverb says wise men speak knowledge. They do not give vain opinions, which fools love to do. They study before they speak (Pr 15:28). They crave the certain words of truth (Pr 22:17-21). They know speech contrary to Scripture is worthless (Is 8:20). They want to edify (Eph 4:29). Speak only if you have truth (Pr 16:23), when important to the hearers (Pr 29:11); cut your words in half (Pr 17:27-28).

What is godly manner? The proverb says wise men speak aright, which means rightly, correctly, properly. Gracious speech is acceptable speech (Pr 22:11; Eccl 10:12). The Lord Jesus spoke this way (Ps 45:2; Luke 4:22), and it is a commandment (Col 4:6). Gracious speech is agreeable, charming, courteous, gentle, kind, pleasing, polite, merciful, and thankful. Seek the love of others with each word (Pr 22:1; 24:26; 25:11).

What is godly timing? A wise man listens before speaking (Jas 1:19). He makes sure he knows a situation before talking (Pr 15:23; 18:13; John 7:24). He alters his speech for his audience (Pr 25:20; I Cor 9:19-23). He lets the more knowledgeable speak first (Job 32:4-7). He knows that haste in speech makes him worse than a fool (Pr 29:20), especially in the house of God (Eccl 5:1-7). Slow down! Listen first, think second, and speak last!

What is a godly audience? Not all deserve words of truth spoken graciously at the right time. Ignore fools after an initial rebuke (Pr 26:4-5). Avoid scorners altogether (Pr 9:7-8). The Lord Jesus taught this wise rule (Matt 7:6). Warn the unruly, exhort saints, comfort the feebleminded, rebuke sinners, and train children (Lev 19:17; I Thes 5:14; Heb 10:25).

Knowledge and truth do not allow speaking any way you wish. There are rules of wisdom and godliness for how you handle knowledge and truth God gives. Everything, including speech, must be done without offence in Jesus’ name (I Cor 10:31-33; Eph 4:15).


Under Gods Command

Proverbs 15:26 The LORD detests the thoughts of the wicked, but those of the pure are pleasing to him

Answering well is a precious ability, especially at the right time! Knowing how to answer others is a valuable skill of wise men. The wisdom to help with the right words at the right time makes a person profitable to others (Pr 12:14; 16:13; 23:16; 24:26; 25:12).

Solomon said a good answer is as beautiful as gold apples in a silver bowl (Pr 25:11). But the ability to give the right answer at the right time takes much understanding and wisdom, so he dedicated many of his proverbs to this skill for your success and profit.

The Lord Jesus taught that giving is more blessed than receiving (Acts 20:35). One of the best and easiest ways to give and support others is with a kind or wise word when they need it. There is righteous joy in helping someone with good counsel. But such ability only comes by careful preparation and knowledge before the opportunity presents itself.

Jesus Christ had this ability. “The Lord GOD hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary” (Is 50:4). It is a duty and privilege to have this wise tongue, so you also can help others. You can learn how to answer every man and have pleasure doing it (Col 4:6; Gal 6:1-5; I Pet 3:15).

How? Listen very attentively and speak cautiously (Prov 18:13; 29:20; James 1:19).

How? Reduce your words to only valuable ones (Prov 10:19; 17:27-28; Eccl 5:3).

How? Spend time examining your speech by prayer (Psalms 19:12-14; 139:23-24).

How? Keep your heart and thoughts pure and wise (Prov 4:23; 22:11; Luke 6:45).

How? Always be gracious in your speech (Prov 11:16; 22:11; Eccl 10:12; Col 4:6).

How? Make the glory of God an object of your speech (Col 3:17; I Cor 10:31).

How? Study to make sure all your answers are correct (Prov 15:2,28; 16:23).

How? Make sure the words fit the occasion (Prov 10:32; 25:20; I Cor 13:5).

How? Choose words that build others up (Prov 12:18; Eph 4:29; I Cor 10:24).

How? Use gentle words when a person is angry (Prov 15:1; 25:15; Judges 8:1-3).

How? Give certain words of truth rather than opinions (Prov 22:17-22; I Pet 3:15).

How? Learn wisdom to solve dilemmas for others (Prov 10:21; 16:21; 27:9).

How? Be encouraging and uplifting to others (Prov 12:25; 16:24; I Sam 23:16).

How? Use pleasant rather than harsh words (Prov 16:24; Col 4:6; Luke 4:22).

How? Do not debate or dispute with fools (Prov 23:9; 26:4-5; II Tim 2:23).

How? Avoid complaining or negative speech (Prov 17:20; Phil 2:14; Col 3:17).

How? Reject pride and contention in speech (Prov 13:10; 18:6; I Cor 6:7).

How? Let negative words only season speech (Prov 26:5; Jas 3:9-12; Col 4:6).

How? Avoid hurtful words behind a person’s back (Prov 11:13; 20:19; 25:9,23).

How? Work thanksgiving into every conversation (Eph 5:4,20; I Thess 5:18).

If you want a happy life and good life, then learn how to rule your speech and use it for the profit of others (Ps 34:12-16; I Pet 3:10-12). Both men and women can rise in reputation by gracious words that build up others (Pr 11:16; 22:11; 31:26; Ec 10:12; Eph 4:29). This skill and wisdom will make your life productive for both God and men.

The true purpose of the church is the mutual help members give one another while waiting for the return of Jesus Christ (Heb 3:12-13; 10:23-25). But this great goal will only be realized where members learn to answer well at the right time. If godly speech is learned by all, a church can grow up to the full measure of Jesus Christ (Eph 4:13-16).


Under Gods Command

Proverbs 15:23 A man finds joy in giving an apt reply-how good is a timely word!

Answering well is a precious ability, especially at the right time! Knowing how to answer others is a valuable skill of wise men. The wisdom to help with the right words at the right time makes a person profitable to others (Pr 12:14; 16:13; 23:16; 24:26; 25:12).

Solomon said a good answer is as beautiful as gold apples in a silver bowl (Pr 25:11). But the ability to give the right answer at the right time takes much understanding and wisdom, so he dedicated many of his proverbs to this skill for your success and profit.

The Lord Jesus taught that giving is more blessed than receiving (Acts 20:35). One of the best and easiest ways to give and support others is with a kind or wise word when they need it. There is righteous joy in helping someone with good counsel. But such ability only comes by careful preparation and knowledge before the opportunity presents itself.

Jesus Christ had this ability. “The Lord GOD hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary” (Is 50:4). It is a duty and privilege to have this wise tongue, so you also can help others. You can learn how to answer every man and have pleasure doing it (Col 4:6; Gal 6:1-5; I Pet 3:15).

How? Listen very attentively and speak cautiously (Prov 18:13; 29:20; James 1:19).

How? Reduce your words to only valuable ones (Prov 10:19; 17:27-28; Eccl 5:3).

How? Spend time examining your speech by prayer (Psalms 19:12-14; 139:23-24).

How? Keep your heart and thoughts pure and wise (Prov 4:23; 22:11; Luke 6:45).

How? Always be gracious in your speech (Prov 11:16; 22:11; Eccl 10:12; Col 4:6).

How? Make the glory of God an object of your speech (Col 3:17; I Cor 10:31).

How? Study to make sure all your answers are correct (Prov 15:2,28; 16:23).

How? Make sure the words fit the occasion (Prov 10:32; 25:20; I Cor 13:5).

How? Choose words that build others up (Prov 12:18; Eph 4:29; I Cor 10:24).

How? Use gentle words when a person is angry (Prov 15:1; 25:15; Judges 8:1-3).

How? Give certain words of truth rather than opinions (Prov 22:17-22; I Pet 3:15).

How? Learn wisdom to solve dilemmas for others (Prov 10:21; 16:21; 27:9).

How? Be encouraging and uplifting to others (Prov 12:25; 16:24; I Sam 23:16).

How? Use pleasant rather than harsh words (Prov 16:24; Col 4:6; Luke 4:22).

How? Do not debate or dispute with fools (Prov 23:9; 26:4-5; II Tim 2:23).

How? Avoid complaining or negative speech (Prov 17:20; Phil 2:14; Col 3:17).

How? Reject pride and contention in speech (Prov 13:10; 18:6; I Cor 6:7).

How? Let negative words only season speech (Prov 26:5; Jas 3:9-12; Col 4:6).

How? Avoid hurtful words behind a person’s back (Prov 11:13; 20:19; 25:9,23).

How? Work thanksgiving into every conversation (Eph 5:4,20; I Thess 5:18).

If you want a happy life and good life, then learn how to rule your speech and use it for the profit of others (Ps 34:12-16; I Pet 3:10-12). Both men and women can rise in reputation by gracious words that build up others (Pr 11:16; 22:11; 31:26; Ec 10:12; Eph 4:29). This skill and wisdom will make your life productive for both God and men.

The true purpose of the church is the mutual help members give one another while waiting for the return of Jesus Christ (Heb 3:12-13; 10:23-25). But this great goal will only be realized where members learn to answer well at the right time. If godly speech is learned by all, a church can grow up to the full measure of Jesus Christ (Eph 4:13-16).

 


Under Gods Command

Proverbs 15:03 The eyes of the LORD are everywhere, keeping watch on the wicked and the good.

Secret sins, services, and sorrows, are under God’s eye. This speaks comfort to saints, and terror to sinners.


Under Gods Command

Proverbs 15:1 A gently answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.

God loves peacemakers. He blesses them greatly. You can be a peacemaker. You can end fights. This short proverb is one of the best. You can use it every day for God’s blessing.

The wisdom is simple. If someone is angry, use gentle speech to calm them. Do not use defensive or harsh words, for that will increase anger. You can end conflict and fighting by calming words. Reject the foolish and wicked response of fighting fire with fire.

Can a person fight a pillow? Impossible! The pillow will take any blows given to it without hitting back. This is no fight; all punches are absorbed, and the pillow is not hurt; so anger quickly gives up, and the fight is over. Can you be a pillow to others’ anger?

How can there be a fight, if one person turns the other cheek (Matt 5:38-42)? What rare wisdom taught by Solomon’s greatest son, Jesus Christ! Rather than fight personal enemies, love them, bless them, do good to them, and pray for them (Matt 5:39-43)!

Here is one of Solomon’s most valuable proverbs. If you remember this rule, you can handle every angry adversary and any confrontation. If everyone practiced this rule, peace would be increased in every place. What a blessed rule, from the Prince of Peace!

A common phrase from schoolyards to explain fighting declares, “It takes two to fight.” How true! If either party were to stop fighting and show kindness, every fight would end. School teachers and principals know this rule and use it to find both offenders in a fight.

You can have a profound influence for peace by ending fights in your part of the world. Starting in your marriage and family and working all the way out to your business, church, and neighborhood, you should be known by God and men as a great peacemaker.

But provocative and offensive words, the ones you naturally think of when angrily confronted or defending yourself in pride, cause fights to continue and escalate. Sometimes they are rightly called “fighting words.” A fight will get worse and do greater damage, unless you quickly bring the anger and contention to an end (Pr 17:14; 26:21).

If a person is angry with you, even if it is your fault, you can end the matter peaceably by responding gently and kindly, rather than with your own anger in defense (Pr 12:16; 15:18; 29:22). Will you crush your pride and end the fight (Pr 13:10; 21:24; 28:25)? The rule works with family members, job situations, the government, or anyone else. Use it.

Measure yourself by this rule of self-discipline and peacemaking. Do you get irritated by others’ provocation? Must you retort to anything said about you? Do you have to get the last word in? Are you prone to self-justification rather than self-deprecation? Do you excuse your tendency to argue by appealing to principle, even though it is clearly pride?

Solomon taught men to fear kings or other civil rulers, for kings in those times had dreadful authority and power (Pr 19:12; 20:2; Eccl 8:2-5). But he also taught that yielding could pacify even their great wrath (Pr 16:14; Eccl 10:4). Soft words are your most powerful weapon against an offended prince, or anyone else (Pr 25:15). Learn the habit!

God loves peacemakers (Matt 5:9), and He taught those who offended others to go and be reconciled to them (Matt 5:23-26). Jesus applied the proverb by teaching you to agree quickly with your adversary to bring peace. His spirit, which every true saint desires to have, is peaceable, gentle, easy to be intreated, and actively makes peace (Jas 3:17-18).

The sons of Zeruiah, David’s famous nephews known for their military success and great passion, were too hard for him (II Sam 3:39). They could never use soft words, for they did not have soft hearts. Jesus even rebuked the sons of thunder, James and John, for their ungodly spirit toward some ignorant and disrespectful Samaritans (Luke 9:51-56).

To be the peacemaker you should be to please God and be successful with men, you must start on the inside with your spirit toward others (Jas 3:13-18). Gracious and soft words can only come from a pure and gentle heart (Pr 22:11; Luke 6:45). Your gracious speech should only rarely be seasoned with salt like that of Jesus Christ (Col 4:6; II Cor 10:1).

 


Under Gods Command
Proverbs 15:1 A gently answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.

God loves peacemakers. He blesses them greatly. You can be a peacemaker. You can end fights. This short proverb is one of the best. You can use it every day for God’s blessing.

The wisdom is simple. If someone is angry, use gentle speech to calm them. Do not use defensive or harsh words, for that will increase anger. You can end conflict and fighting by calming words. Reject the foolish and wicked response of fighting fire with fire.

Can a person fight a pillow? Impossible! The pillow will take any blows given to it without hitting back. This is no fight; all punches are absorbed, and the pillow is not hurt; so anger quickly gives up, and the fight is over. Can you be a pillow to others’ anger?

How can there be a fight, if one person turns the other cheek (Matt 5:38-42)? What rare wisdom taught by Solomon’s greatest son, Jesus Christ! Rather than fight personal enemies, love them, bless them, do good to them, and pray for them (Matt 5:39-43)!

Here is one of Solomon’s most valuable proverbs. If you remember this rule, you can handle every angry adversary and any confrontation. If everyone practiced this rule, peace would be increased in every place. What a blessed rule, from the Prince of Peace!

A common phrase from schoolyards to explain fighting declares, “It takes two to fight.” How true! If either party were to stop fighting and show kindness, every fight would end. School teachers and principals know this rule and use it to find both offenders in a fight.

You can have a profound influence for peace by ending fights in your part of the world. Starting in your marriage and family and working all the way out to your business, church, and neighborhood, you should be known by God and men as a great peacemaker.

But provocative and offensive words, the ones you naturally think of when angrily confronted or defending yourself in pride, cause fights to continue and escalate. Sometimes they are rightly called “fighting words.” A fight will get worse and do greater damage, unless you quickly bring the anger and contention to an end (Pr 17:14; 26:21).

If a person is angry with you, even if it is your fault, you can end the matter peaceably by responding gently and kindly, rather than with your own anger in defense (Pr 12:16; 15:18; 29:22). Will you crush your pride and end the fight (Pr 13:10; 21:24; 28:25)? The rule works with family members, job situations, the government, or anyone else. Use it.

Measure yourself by this rule of self-discipline and peacemaking. Do you get irritated by others’ provocation? Must you retort to anything said about you? Do you have to get the last word in? Are you prone to self-justification rather than self-deprecation? Do you excuse your tendency to argue by appealing to principle, even though it is clearly pride?

Solomon taught men to fear kings or other civil rulers, for kings in those times had dreadful authority and power (Pr 19:12; 20:2; Eccl 8:2-5). But he also taught that yielding could pacify even their great wrath (Pr 16:14; Eccl 10:4). Soft words are your most powerful weapon against an offended prince, or anyone else (Pr 25:15). Learn the habit!

God loves peacemakers (Matt 5:9), and He taught those who offended others to go and be reconciled to them (Matt 5:23-26). Jesus applied the proverb by teaching you to agree quickly with your adversary to bring peace. His spirit, which every true saint desires to have, is peaceable, gentle, easy to be intreated, and actively makes peace (Jas 3:17-18).

The sons of Zeruiah, David’s famous nephews known for their military success and great passion, were too hard for him (II Sam 3:39). They could never use soft words, for they did not have soft hearts. Jesus even rebuked the sons of thunder, James and John, for their ungodly spirit toward some ignorant and disrespectful Samaritans (Luke 9:51-56).

To be the peacemaker you should be to please God and be successful with men, you must start on the inside with your spirit toward others (Jas 3:13-18). Gracious and soft words can only come from a pure and gentle heart (Pr 22:11; Luke 6:45). Your gracious speech should only rarely be seasoned with salt like that of Jesus Christ (Col 4:6; II Cor 10:1).


Under Gods Command

Proverbs 5:15-21 – Drink water from your own cistern, running water from your own well.

Love your wife! Make love to her only! Make your marriage the hottest in the world! You have no right to any other woman. You should not look on another woman, think about another woman, flirt with another woman, or ever touch another woman sexually.

Go for it! Today! This is God’s plan and will for your life. He wants you to have a great sex life with your great wife. “Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou ravished always with her love” (Pr 5:19).

The true God knows life can be empty and frustrating, so He gave you one of His greatest gifts of creation: “Enjoy life with you wife, whom you love, all the days of this meaningless life that God has given you under the sun-all your meaningless days. For this is your lot in life and in your toilsome labor under the sun” (Eccl 9:9).

God created love, sex, and every aspect of the woman you need – your wife. He knows you need and want sex, so He chose the woman that is your wife to practice with until you are perfectly satisfied. All other women are off limits. “Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral.” (Heb 13:4).

The Bible is the perfect love, marriage, and sex manual. God invented sex, so He has perfect knowledge about it. Have you read the Bible and heard it preached to maximize your marriage? If you have read and heard it preached, have you submitted to God’s sovereign, providential choice of your wife and His orders for how you should treat her?

Water, a precious blessing in the dry climate of the Middle East, is here a metaphor for sexual pleasure with a woman. Water satisfies thirst, is necessary for survival, and is very pleasing to a thirsty soul (Pr 25:25). Men drew fresh water from wells; they stored extra water in cisterns. Every man needed his own supply to protect himself and his family.

Men need the water of sexual pleasure, for God put a great desire and need in them for it (Gen 2:18; Deut 21:11; I Cor 7:2,5,9). Any exceptions confirm this well-known rule rather than modify or nullify it (Matt 19:10-12; I Tim 4:3; I Cor 9:5). Men will have sex one way or another, but God condemns all other creatures but one – your wife.

Men also crave food by God’s design, and they desire and enjoy His blessing of wine (Ps 104:14-15; Eccl 9:7), but drinking and eating without limitation or discipline are sin and folly (Pr 23:20). Men must hate and reject drunkenness or gluttony, and they should never forget that breaking God’s rules for sexual water is sin and deserves judgment.

A man’s own wife is a great gift from God, for which he should be thankful (Pr 18:22; 19:14). Consider Jacob: “And Jacob served seven years for Rachel; and they seemed unto him but a few days, for the love he had to her” (Gen 29:20). A man may drink deeply of sexual pleasure from his own wife only, not from any other woman, single or married.

No man should even consider the cisterns or wells of others, for the wife God picked for him is more than enough for his needs and happiness. To think upon the cisterns and wells of others is to sin and open the door for great folly (Pr 6:25; Job 31:1; Matt 5:28). Any woman is more than enough for any man, and God chose your wife for just you.

Are you disappointed or frustrated in your marriage? Do you agree with what has been written, but you personally are not experiencing it? Are you thirsty, and your wife seems to have run dry? Or you can see the water, but you seldom or never taste any of it? Is the water of your cistern and well now somewhat lukewarm and putrid, not appealing at all?

If the water supply at home is lacking in any way, maybe the pump needs priming. How do you prime the pump to bring forth running water? Treat your wife the way the Creator of love, sex, marriage, and women told you to treat her. It is that simple. God made her as perfect as a rose, but lack of sunshine, rain, soil, and nurture will cause her to close up.

God and Solomon order you to treat her as delicately and tenderly as a pet female deer, to be totally satisfied with her body, and to choose to greatly enjoy her lovemaking. “Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou ravished always with her love” (Pr 5:19). God knows your wife. Try His way.

Paul told you to love your wife and to cherish and nourish her, like you do your own body (Eph 5:25-29). King Solomon wrote a love song that describes the passion and details of lovers and lovemaking. Have you read the Song of Solomon? Have you tried talking to your wife and treating her the way that this man treated his lover wife?

The strong warning intended by this proverb to limit yourself to your own wife includes use of pornography, which foolishly steals visual pleasure from another woman, causes discontentment with your woman, and hurts your woman’s confidence or desire to ever be the lover you need and want. Your wife will be as hot as you choose or help her to be.

Every Christian woman, every daughter of God, should be careful and faithful in making sure her husband drinks deeply, often, and pleasantly, lest she drive him to wells that are not his, due to bitterness or dryness in his own cistern and well (I Co 7:2-5). Let husbands and wives, with the husband leading the way in love, maximize the pleasure of marriage.


Under Gods Command

Proverbs 15:7 The lips of the wise spread knowledge, not so the hearts of fools

Communication is a great privilege. It is an opportunity to spread knowledge by talking (or typing). It is also a serious responsibility, because God resents a foolish use of either. Wise men acquire truth and wisdom to share with others, but fools merely make noise. What will you do with this great gift, especially since God has told you how to use it?

Your mouth is for much more than taking in food. It is also for sending out knowledge. Since your heart supplies your mouth with the things to say, it must be kept with all diligence and filled with excellent content to share with others (Pr 4:23; 22:17-21). Since keyboards do much of the talking today, the lesson applies to texts and emails as well.

Your speech is evidence of your character, and it determines your effect in the world. Wise men use their mouths to spread knowledge, but the speech of fools helps no one. If you are wise, others will benefit by your words; if you are foolish, others will not profit. You need to choose wisdom for yourself and then choose to also share it with others.

A simple figure of speech is here. The two pink muscles decorating your mouth cannot give knowledge and neither can the fist-sized pump in your chest. These are metonyms for speech – your heart creates words, and your lips pronounce them. Wise men use speech to help others, but fools do not, for their hearts and mouths are empty of value.

The lesson is to fill your heart with wisdom and truth and to direct your mouth (or keyboard) to communicate it. A fool’s heart is full of folly, so he can help no one. His speech is like the barking or yelping of a hyena or jackal, and his heart is no better. The difference among men is what they put in their hearts in order to have profitable speech.

The faculty of speech is a great privilege. Consider that you can form words that God Himself in heaven can hear and delight in. For this reason He calls the tongue of wise men their glory (Ps 16:9; 30:12; 57:8; 108:1)! Men can gloriously give Him glory with their tongue by forming good words. But fools curse, jest, and talk foolishly. God forbid!

How will you affect others today by your talking? Will you increase their knowledge? Or will you fill their ears with noise and not profit them at all? God gave you a heart and lips to praise Him and help others. He also gave Scripture to fill your heart with knowledge, so you can have wonderful words to speak (Pr 22:17-21; Ps 119:146; II Tim 3:16-17).

Words carefully chosen and wisely spoken are beautiful, for which both God and men will hold you in high esteem and favor (Pr 12:14,18; 15:23; 16:13,24; 22:11; 24:26; 25:11). Wise men use such words to feed many (Pr 10:21; 11:30). They are trees of life to those around them, but fools are traps of sin and death (Pr 15:4). How many do you feed?

Fools talk a lot, but their words are just noise (Eccl 5:3; 7:6; 10:12-14). God cannot stand the so-called gift of gab, for that blustery noise is sheer nonsense or worse. Therefore He condemned foolish talking and jesting as sins comparable to fornication and filthiness (Eph 5:3-10). Let every disciple of Christ reject all such speech. Judgment is coming!

What is knowledge? Knowledge is not trivial facts; it is not news about others; it is not casual conversation; it is not insignificant chatter; it is not worldly discourse; it is not the weather forecast. Knowledge is understanding and counsel that glorifies God and leads a person from sin and toward heaven and holiness. It is truth and wisdom rightly applied.

The world is full of false and foolish noise – spoken and printed! Where are wise men and women to communicate knowledge, truth, wisdom, and understanding? Where are those that will boast in the Lord and praise Him (Ps 34:1-3; 145:1-12)? Where are those that will have ready answers of words of truth for those with questions (Pr 22:17-21)?

Every believer can teach. They should teach. The apostle rebuked the Hebrew saints for their ignorance and continued need for teachers and simple instruction. It was time for them to be able to teach others, but they had squandered their learning and faculty of speech (Heb 5:12-14). Before speaking, you must hear, meditate, study, and apply it.

The blessed Lord Jesus Christ had the tongue of the learned and knew how to speak well (Is 50:4). He used His faculty of speech to comfort, feed, warn, and rebuke many (Is 61:1-3). His speech rejoiced His friends and confounded His enemies (Matt 7:28-29; 22:46; Mk 12:37; Lu 4:22; Jn 7:46). Will you learn to speak like Him (Ep 4:29; Col 4:6)?

Dear reader, ignorance abounds, and others need you. Will you disperse the knowledge of God today with your mouth? Or will you fill the air with noise and foolishness? Remember this warning: “But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment” (Matt 12:36). Lord, help!


Under Gods Command

Proverbs 15:10 Stern discipline awaits him who leaves the path; he who hates correction will die.    

Prove the character of your soul! Can you take correction? Can you take it gladly? Do you appreciate reproof (Criticism)? Do you appreciate the reprover? Your attitude toward correction and reproof says more about your heart than any other measure. Fools and scorners hate correction and reproof, but both are going to die in their folly.

You arrived in this world ignorant and depraved. Your heart was dead to God and righteousness, and it was alive to rebellion and sin. You were given parents, who corrected your childish antics and prepared you to survive life. They reproved your youthful folly. If you rebelled against them, then they and a harsh world punished you.

If God has graciously changed your heart, the only way you can learn the way of righteousness is by correction and reproof. You need teachers to rebuke your folly and direct you to wisdom. God has chosen to do this primarily by parents and preachers. It is by warnings and instruction from the Word of God that you are prepared for success.

Your evil heart does not like to be corrected. You resent being reproved. You do not like to be told you are wrong and need to change. You want to keep your sins. You hate those who examine and condemn your conduct. But these are the very means by which you acquire wisdom and are saved from life’s pitfalls! Why do you resent what was ordained for your blessing and salvation? Because your depraved heart loves its own folly!

Two rules are taught in this proverb. First, if you dislike correction, it proves you have forsaken the way of righteousness and wisdom. A man seeking knowledge and truth does not have such a rebellious spirit. Second, if you hate reproof, you will die. Ignorance will trap you, and rebellion will condemn you. Folly and sin will certainly destroy you.

How do ignorant men obtain truth and wisdom? Obviously, they need warnings and rebuke. If you resent these means for obtaining wisdom, then you are going to die in your stupidity and stubbornness. The snares of wicked men will deceive you; the various authorities in life will condemn you; and the blessed God of heaven will destroy you.

Examine your heart! Do you love correction and reproof? Do you love the parents and pastors who correct and reprove you? This is the measure of your character and wisdom. If you have a problem with being told you are wrong or resenting those who rebuke you, humble yourself before God and beg for His mercy before it is too late. Death is coming!