Proverbs 21
Proverbs 21
New King James Version (NKJV)
1 The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD,
Like the rivers of water;
He turns it wherever He wishes.
2 Every way of a man is right in his own eyes,
But the LORD weighs the hearts.
3 To do righteousness and justice
Is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice.
4 A haughty look, a proud heart,
And the plowing of the wicked are sin.
5 The plans of the diligent lead surely to plenty,
But those of everyone who is hasty, surely to poverty.
6 Getting treasures by a lying tongue
Isthe fleeting fantasy of those who seek death.
7 The violence of the wicked will destroy them,
Because they refuse to do justice.
8 The way of a guilty man is perverse;
But as for the pure, his work is right.
9 Better to dwell in a corner of a housetop,
Than in a house shared with a contentious woman.
10 The soul of the wicked desires evil;
His neighbor finds no favor in his eyes.
11 When the scoffer is punished, the simple is made wise;
But when the wise is instructed, he receives knowledge.
12 The righteous God wisely considers the house of the wicked,
Overthrowing the wicked for their wickedness.
13 Whoever shuts his ears to the cry of the poor
Will also cry himself and not be heard.
14 A gift in secret pacifies anger,
And a bribe behind the back, strong wrath.
15 It is a joy for the just to do justice,
But destruction will come to the workers of iniquity.
16 A man who wanders from the way of understanding
Will rest in the assembly of the dead.
17 He who loves pleasure will be a poor man;
He who loves wine and oil will not be rich.
18 The wicked shall be a ransom for the righteous,
And the unfaithful for the upright.
19 Better to dwell in the wilderness,
Than with a contentious and angry woman.
20 There is desirable treasure,
And oil in the dwelling of the wise,
But a foolish man squanders it.
21 He who follows righteousness and mercy
Finds life, righteousness, and honor.
22 A wise man scales the city of the mighty,
And brings down the trusted stronghold.
23 Whoever guards his mouth and tongue
Keeps his soul from troubles.
24 A proud and haughty man—“Scoffer” is his name;
He acts with arrogant pride.
25 The desire of the lazy man kills him,
For his hands refuse to labor.
26 He covets greedily all day long,
But the righteous gives and does not spare.
27 The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination;
How much more when he brings it with wicked intent!
28 A false witness shall perish,
But the man who hears him will speak endlessly.
29 A wicked man hardens his face,
But as for the upright, he establishes his way.
30 There is no wisdom or understanding
Or counsel against the LORD.
31 The horse is prepared for the day of battle,
But deliverance is of the LORD.
My Thoughts:
- So let’s start with (v. 4) we read “A haughty look, a proud heart, And the plowing of the wicked are sin”
- We read in (Dan. 12:10) “Many shall be purified, made white, and refined, but the wicked shall do wickedly; and none of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand”. When we lift ourselves about others in a prideful manner we are sinning and these things are not pleasing to God. For they are all sins, and while man may commit them, there is coming a day of judgment, and those who disbelieve the word of God and continue in sin only harden themselves more and more, and treasure up unto themselves wrath against the day of judgment.
- In (v. 27) we read “The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination; How much more when he brings it with wicked intent!”
- Let’s look at (Jer. 6:19-20) “Hear, O earth! Behold, I will certainly bring calamity on this people— the fruit of their thoughts, because they have not heeded My words Nor My law, but rejected it. For what purpose to Me comes frankincense from Sheba, And sweet cane from a far country? Your burnt offerings are not acceptable, nor your sacrifices sweet to Me.” So why are they not acceptable to God? It is because we cannot buy our way in to heaven, God cannot be bribed. It is only when we come to Christ in true repentance and a willing heart to be like Him are the offering acceptable.
- And we will finish today with (v.30) “There is no wisdom or understanding Or counsel against the LORD”
- Many people try to give false witness against the Lord, and defy His purposes, (Ps. 2:1-3), but there is nothing nor no one that shall stand against the Lord, (Isa. 8:9-10; Acts 4:27-28; Eph. 1:11). To stand against the Lord guarantees only failure, frustration and final shame.
- I like what (Jer. 23-24) says “Thus says the LORD: “Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, Let not the mighty man glory in his might, nor let the rich man glory in his riches; But let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows Me, That I am the LORD, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight,” says the LORD.
Thought of the Day
“Salvation gives spiritual vision to sin-blinded eyes”
In an experiment years ago, researchers fitted people with special prismatic glasses that made things appear upside down, straight lines appear curved, and sharp outlines seem fringed with color. Even though the subjects continued to wear the glasses, within just a few days the unnatural shapes, tinted edges, and inverted landscapes gradually disappeared, and the world began to appear normal again. Their brains had overcome false data coming through the lenses. This adapt-ability in the physical realm is indeed a blessing.
Proverbs suggests, however, that the mind doesn’t function very well in the spiritual realm. In fact, we are sinners whose deepest imaginations are evil, and our thought-life produces a world of illusions. We think of ourselves as pure, when in reality we are guilty before God. That is why, for example, many people shift the responsibility for their behavior to environmental factors or to faulty upbringing. They fail to see their own rebellion and selfishness and imagine themselves to be the helpless, innocent victims of circumstance. In this way, they justify thoughts, feelings, and actions that are obviously sinful. Their way is right in their own eyes.
As Christians, we should be aware of the deceptive nature of our hearts and allow the Holy Spirit to correct our vision through a knowledge of God’s Word. —M. R. De Haan II (Our Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved)
Personal Reflection and Discussion
- What do you think (v. 9) is saying?
- What other things do you see in the text?
Prayer Activities
- Call your Partner and discuss this devotional.
- Continue to have a prayer list and continue to praying for them.
- Pray with them and ask for the following;
- For God to give us the strength and understanding to glorify Him.
- For God to walk with us in so us true wisdom.
- For the individuals on your pray list.
- Let’s use (1 Tim. 1:12-14) for today’s prayer verse.
About bobh6
A contentious woman. What is a contentious woman? I can understand that a woman who is mean, petty, a nag, etc would not be nice to be around but what made her that way? Her husband perhaps? Well andyway to the interesting part of verse 9. Ancient Israelite roofs were made flat and used as a deck or a terrace. Sometimes a temporary shelter was built on part of the roof and the man of the house would move up there because it was better than living “on the housetop” than with his awful wife. You know I grant you that there are a lot of “contentious wives” but I really feel you can tell that this comes from a mans point of view. Women back then( and even in some places today) did not have a lot of choices. Everything was decided for her. How many women had to stay with husbands that beat them, abused them. Yes we still have that today too but society is a little better today about helping those who need help. Back then it was oh so sorry and turn your back.
It all really depended on the man. Look at Adam, Abraham and Boaz for starters… not to even mention Solomon, who wives turned him because he gave into their desires too much. It also depended on the mood of specific times in history. Human nature (with-out God’s guidance) tend to run into extremes. I grew up 90% around females….I know a ladies when started (maybe because of something the guy has done wrong) could go on and on and on….nagging, complaining and making her point. Most females could easily out talk a guy. I know I have, at times growing up have, rather lived on our roof, in winter, rather than be in a home with anger and fighting.
Anger is not an answer to anything, when we let anger control us we do not have Christ with us.
It is true that women did not have much choice back then and acting out was the only option. how much better is we truly had Christ in their lives to straighten their relationship.
I agree with the above post from Rosi. The time frame these scriptures were written were times when women did not have much choices. The culture also did not have much accommodation for woman, other than being the silent gender. But here is a woman who don’t abide with the culture and norms of this society, divorce probably was not an option to this culture, so the remaining option was for a man to have a refuge place to hide when his wife start acting up. As Rosi said, this might have been attributed by the husband at the same time we cant rule the fact that there are those who are wired that way. A point that i think we can all agree on is unless we are transformed by the divine power, we are all contentious and no one want to be around us. Allowing Christ to dwell in us brings a big change in our lives. I have seen people both man and women who are UN-tolarable but when they accept Christ all changes.
Totally agree. Submission to God, and submission to man (this could be taken as mankind) makes a person humbled. Continous comes from pride/sin.
This study touched on one of my favorite verses I Sam. 15:22 “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed (stop and think) than the fat of rams.” God is definetly more interested in the motives than the works on their own. Prv. 21:27 “The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination; how much more when he brings it with wicked intent.”
We could probably all agree a good gift given with anything but pure motives, no matter how much we love the gift, would rather give it back and have nothing… than accept from his hand. Funny I gave a children story yesterday touching on this topic. We all need to be very concerned and honest about our motives. God see them either way…regardless if we justify ourselves, Vrs 2, “Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the hearts.” The humble and proud, may both plan and sow but God gives success to those of pure, humble hearts, and not neccessarly based on their actual works; vrs 3-5 &8.
I like that Amalia, thank for the post
Vrs 23 “Whoever guards his mouth and tongue keeps his soul from troubles. Interesting it talking to males here. Both the same lesson. The man who can’t keep his mouth shut may find some fighting trouble, but thank God the man is taught here to just just walk away. More men need to walk away and give the lady time, than stand there adding arguements and trouble.
agian, I agree wiht both of you. when we have Christ in our lives we are not the same people.
I agree Amalia, instead of making it worse, it is better to walk away, but in a professional way maybe by saying lets change the subject and re-visit the issue latter. I have seen situations where literal walking away becomes a source of another problem.