February 23-24, 2019
Please use the comment section on this page to share insights from today’s reading OR your own personal Bible reading.
Reading along with us in Proverbs? Here’s today’s reading:
Proverbs 22 (ESV)
A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches,
and favor is better than silver or gold.
2 The rich and the poor meet together;
the Lord is the Maker of them all.
3 The prudent sees danger and hides himself,
but the simple go on and suffer for it.
4 The reward for humility and fear of the Lord
is riches and honor and life........Continue Reading
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Proverbs 22:17-19 (ESV)
17 Incline your ear, and hear the words of the wise, and apply your heart to my knowledge, 18 for it will be pleasant if you keep them within you, if all of them are ready on your lips. 19 That your trust may be in the LORD, I have made them known to you today, even to you.
As I apply my heart to God’s knowledge, his wisdom, then it will be ‘pleasant’. We will still face trouble, trials of various kinds, but the stabilizing words of God’s wisdom should be ready to roll from our lips even in the trouble.
Read this morning in 1 Peter 2:11-25 and into chapter 3.
Also, re-reading the verses in Deuteronomy 10:12-22 from Pastor’s sermon….worthy of memorizing.
Proverbs 22:17-21 (ESV)
17 Incline your ear, and hear the words of the wise, and apply your heart to my knowledge, 18 for it will be pleasant if you keep them within you, if all of them are ready on your lips. 19 That your trust may be in the LORD, I have made them known to you today, even to you. 20 Have I not written for you thirty sayings of counsel and knowledge, 21 to make you know what is right and true, that you may give a true answer to those who sent you?
I found this group of verses curious because of its reference to a discreate number of ‘sayings’. Verse 20 states that the author has written thirty sayings of counsel and knowledge. So what is the group of sayings? I cannot mean groupings found in the entire book of Proverbs because there are far more than thirty. Below is commentary from the ESV Study Bible.
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The Thirty Sayings of “The Wise.” This section easily divides into 30 discrete teachings, as indicated in 22:20, and these reflect an awareness of the Egyptian wisdom text, The Instruction of Amenemope, dated to about 1250 b.c. Clearly 22:17-24:22 did not slavishly copy Amenemope, but there are many affinities in content. The most significant difference between the two is the devotion to the Lord exhibited in Proverbs. The identity of “the wise” (22:17) is unknown; perhaps they are the scholars who assembled these proverbs (possibly under Solomon’s sponsorship).
Lane T. Dennis, ed., ESV Study Bible, The: English Standard Version, (Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway Bibles, 2008), WORDsearch CROSS e-book, Under: “Proverbs 22”.
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I had no idea that some of these teachings are reflective of Egyptian wisdom text. I wasn’t even aware that Egyptian ‘wisdom’ text exists.
Some may say then that the Bible ‘copies’ text from the surrounding cultures; and because of this, some question divine inspiration of the scriptures. However, just because good godly teaching exists in other cultures prior to God inspiring writers to include similar teaching in the Bible doesn’t diminish God’s authorship. Rather, it is an example of God inscribing his law on the hearts of men, of revealing truth even prior to the written word, and not just to the Jewish people.
We just finished reading through the book of Job. The book of Job is probably one of the earliest books written, yet it still includes godly teaching, examples of sacrifices, awareness of sin, of purity, integrity and a host of other qualities that we see enumerated in scripture over its roughly 1600 years of compilation. Certainly there was no authoritative text of a sacrificial system in place for Job. Nor did the teachings of lust and such exist in writing until the time disciples penned the words of Christ. Yet Job was aware of these things.
Boy another chapter of Proverbs packed with wisdom. How true it is that a good name is more desirable than riches yet how often people sacrifice their reputation for ill gotten gain. They hope they won’t get caught, but once they do it is too late. And humility and fear of the Lord certainly do bring wealth and honor and life. Numerous scriptures point to the value of them both and although people would not openly admit pride or disrespect of God, all of us have a tendency to fall into patterns of effectively living in them. And it will be important to remember the two most classic proverbs about parenting are given here, both in training up a child in the way they should go and the rod of discipline driving folly from the heart of a child. Both have proven true in my children’s lives and the world continues to reap negative implications of children not being raised with the fear of the Lord and with a complete disrespect of authority intended to be established in the home. And who can miss the various references to the poor and God’s desire that we not take advantage of their condition but help them in it.
Much here about the “how” of living
11 He who loves purity of heart,
and whose speech is gracious, will have the king as his friend.
17 Incline your ear, and hear the words of the wise,
and apply your heart to my knowledge,
18 for it will be pleasant if you keep them within you,
if all of them are ready on your lips.
19 That your trust may be in the Lord,
I have made them known to you today, even to you