Proverbs 29
Proverbs 29
New King James Version (NKJV)
1 He who is often rebuked, and hardens his neck,
Will suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.
2 When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice;
But when a wicked man rules, the people groan.
3 Whoever loves wisdom makes his father rejoice,
But a companion of harlots wastes his wealth.
4 The king establishes the land by justice,
But he who receives bribes overthrows it.
5 A man who flatters his neighbor
Spreads a net for his feet.
6 By transgression an evil man is snared,
But the righteous sings and rejoices.
7 The righteous considers the cause of the poor,
But the wicked does not understand such knowledge.
8 Scoffers set a city aflame,
But wise men turn away wrath.
9 If a wise man contends with a foolish man,
Whether the fool rages or laughs, there is no peace.
10 The bloodthirsty hate the blameless,
But the upright seek his well-being.
11 A fool vents all his feelings,
But a wise man holds them back.
12 If a ruler pays attention to lies,
All his servants become wicked.
13 The poor man and the oppressor have this in common:
The LORD gives light to the eyes of both.
14 The king who judges the poor with truth,
His throne will be established forever.
15 The rod and rebuke give wisdom,
But a child left to himself brings shame to his mother.
16 When the wicked are multiplied, transgression increases;
But the righteous will see their fall.
17 Correct your son, and he will give you rest;
Yes, he will give delight to your soul.
18 Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint;
But happy is he who keeps the law.
19 A servant will not be corrected by mere words;
For though he understands, he will not respond.
20 Do you see a man hasty in his words?
There ismore hope for a fool than for him.
21 He who pampers his servant from childhood
Will have him as a son in the end.
22 An angry man stirs up strife,
And a furious man abounds in transgression.
23 A man’s pride will bring him low,
But the humble in spirit will retain honor.
24 Whoever is a partner with a thief hates his own life;
He swears to tell the truth, but reveals nothing.
25 The fear of man brings a snare,
But whoever trusts in the LORD shall be safe.
26 Many seek the ruler’s favor,
But justice for man comes from the LORD.
27 An unjust man is an abomination to the righteous,
And he who is upright in the way is an abomination to the wicked.
My Thoughts:
- So let’s start with (v. 7) we read “The righteous considers the cause of the poor, but the wicked does not understand such knowledge.”
- The righteous will always support the cause of the poor in court (Job 29:12, 16). But the wicked will never care about any ones rights other than his own rights.
- In (v.10) we read “The bloodthirsty hate the blameless, but the upright seek his well-being.”
- Bloodthirsty men hate righteous men, and would do their best to kill or at least do hem harm. (1 John 3:11-15). But the just, will not seek the blood of the wicked, they will ask for Christ to touch their hearts and ask for their forgiveness.
- Let’s finish with (v.13) we read “The poor man and the oppressor have this in common: The LORD gives light to the eyes of both.”
- I find this to be a true testimony to the love of our father for us. Just as the poor have the love of Christ so too the oppressor has His love. And if taken both have the opportunity for an eternal life.
Thought of the Day
Have you ever thought about this?
Jesus died over 2000 years ago.
Nowhere in history has
Anyone ever referred to him as the late Jesus,
Not even the heathens.
Nowhere has He ever been referred to in the past tense!
Why?
Because He is the Living God!
When Jesus died on the cross He was thinking of you!
And if you are one of the 3% who will stand up for Him, do so with a smile
knowing He is your savior.
“May God will smile upon you.”
Personal Reflection and Discussion
- What do you think (v. 16) 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 see our hearts and help us to be more like Him.
- For God help us to always be in the pursuit of knowledge and wisdom.
- For the individuals on your pray list.
- Let’s use (Philemon 1:4-6) for today’s prayer verse.
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Verse 16, Solomon says the the wicked are great in number. We see this today. Every where you look you see people rioting, stealing, beating others, lying, raping, killing, sacrificing to false gods and beleiving in false religions. We also know that it is only going to get worse the closer it is to Jesus’ coming. So it seems that the more wicked there are the more, the more sins are being committed. Still we have hope, for the Lord is with us and soon will come to take us from this sinfilled earth.
Verse 16 also says the righteous will see their fall. They will see their final fall at the Lord’s judgment, but christians are called to stand up to the wicked now, defend the oppressed, and bring down the wicked in judgement. Psalms has a few verses I’m reminded of Psalms 82 is one of my favorites, Ps. 149:6-9 and Prv. 28:4 not to mention stories like Gideon and Samson. When it talks about rebuking it means the higher up as well, showing no partiality to the rich and powerful, without given into fear but remembering how rich and powerful or God is.
I do agree that the wicked are in great numbers but I wonder if the percentages are higher. With the access to information and the higher number of people, I wonder if there is a true increase or if there is better reporting. Just something to think about.
Verse 21 left me a bit confused. Were they saying son in a good light or negative. In verses 15, 17, 19, 21 (interesting pattern) it talks about correcting, rebuking a son and/or servant. There’s been many references to disciplining your child and not spare the rod or mere words not being enough for servants. Then it mentioned pampering a servant will result in the servant being like a son to the master. I wasn’t sure if it was setting it in the negative, the servant whom had it too good and never learned any consquences why he should obey his mater may always be dependent and a burden on his master like a child. I’m leaning toward the mention of son being a positive. Usually son in the Bible is protrayed in a loving light, while child seems to imply young, immatured and untrained.
So it seems to show there needs to be a balance to how we disicpline. Spare not the rod, yet pamper them in love. Reminds me of the a verse we read before towards fathers not provoking their children to anger. They know you love them not in the disciplines alone but, only in combination with the love shown them. Being in favor has to obviously out weight being in rebellion. You don’t have to be careful with loving too much, but you have to be careful with disciplinig. Open rebuke is better than love carefully concealed (27:5).
Two things I see often contrasted in Proverbs is teaching or discipling/ rebuking leads to life vrs flattering or lies leads to death. Some people tend to tconfuse love with flattery. But flattery has more benefits to the speaker than the hearer. Flattery keeps a person in sin or leads them even deeper. Those who flatter love themsleves more. One of the clear messages in Proverbs: you know you could trust someone if they love you enough to hurt you, in a effort to save you.
I think it is saying that we need to discipline both with a stern correction, but at the same time we need to do it with the right attitude. If we discipline with the intention of correcting an error them that is ok, but if we are discipline out of anger then we have crossed the line.