24:1 Be not envious of evil men,
nor desire to be with them,
2 for their hearts devise violence,
and their lips talk of trouble.
3 By wisdom a house is built,
and by understanding it is established;
4 by knowledge the rooms are filled
with all precious and pleasant riches.
5 A wise man is full of strength,
and a man of knowledge enhances his might,
6 for by wise guidance you can wage your war,
and in abundance of counselors there is victory.
7 Wisdom is too high for a fool;
in the gate he does not open his mouth.
8 Whoever plans to do evil
will be called a schemer.
9 The devising of folly is sin,
and the scoffer is an abomination to mankind.
10 If you faint in the day of adversity,
your strength is small.
11 Rescue those who are being taken away to death;
hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter.
12 If you say, “Behold, we did not know this,”
does not he who weighs the heart perceive it?
Does not he who keeps watch over your soul know it,
and will he not repay man according to his work?
13 My son, eat honey, for it is good,
and the drippings of the honeycomb are sweet to your taste.
14 Know that wisdom is such to your soul;
if you find it, there will be a future,
and your hope will not be cut off.
15 Lie not in wait as a wicked man against the dwelling of the righteous;
do no violence to his home;
16 for the righteous falls seven times and rises again,
but the wicked stumble in times of calamity.
17 Do not rejoice when your enemy falls,
and let not your heart be glad when he stumbles,
18 lest the Lord see it and be displeased,
and turn away his anger from him.
19 Fret not yourself because of evildoers,
and be not envious of the wicked,
20 for the evil man has no future;
the lamp of the wicked will be put out.
21 My son, fear the Lord and the king,
and do not join with those who do otherwise,
22 for disaster will arise suddenly from them,
and who knows the ruin that will come from them both?
More Sayings of the Wise
23 These also are sayings of the wise.
Partiality in judging is not good.
24 Whoever says to the wicked, “You are in the right,”
will be cursed by peoples, abhorred by nations,
25 but those who rebuke the wicked will have delight,
and a good blessing will come upon them.
26 Whoever gives an honest answer
kisses the lips.
27 Prepare your work outside;
get everything ready for yourself in the field,
and after that build your house.
28 Be not a witness against your neighbor without cause,
and do not deceive with your lips.
29 Do not say, “I will do to him as he has done to me;
I will pay the man back for what he has done.”
30 I passed by the field of a sluggard,
by the vineyard of a man lacking sense,
31 and behold, it was all overgrown with thorns;
the ground was covered with nettles,
and its stone wall was broken down.
32 Then I saw and considered it;
I looked and received instruction.
33 A little sleep, a little slumber,
a little folding of the hands to rest,
34 and poverty will come upon you like a robber,
and want like an armed man. (ESV)
Pro 24:1 Do not envy wicked men, do not desire their company…
Proverbs 24 has so many instructions about how to deal rightly with other people but starts out with a clear instruction not to desire deep friendship with those who “exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator…” (Romans 1:25) We should want our most important relationships to be only with believers (2 Cor 6:14) even though we are to love non-believers and invest in their lives as a way to share the gospel. Lord, please open doors for me today to share the gospel!
3 By wisdom a house is built, and through understanding it is established.
In this verse the word house is symbolic of the life of an individual or a family. The book of Proverbs is clear that the thing we need most to have a life that is solid and honoring to God is wisdom. The way we get wisdom is by seeking God daily through the reading of His Word and prayer. Our spiritual disciplines are key to grow in our knowledge of the Lord and to live a life that means soemething. All the junk that the world tells us to chase after in order to have a meaningful life will lead to an unfulfilled life. We must seek God and His Word and not “stuff” to live a life that is pleasing to God.
11 Rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering toward slaughter.
We know a lot of people who are not saved in this world, they are headed to death and punishment. We have a mission to rescue these people by telling them the gospel and talk to them about scripture. It is not going to be a pleasent talk to them, we might face persecution, but we warned them about that they needed to put their faith in Christ and that their faith would lead to repentance. We need to mention this to our relatives tommorrow if we see them, if we tell them the Christmas story and include the gospel in it about our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ was born to die for our sins that is the best Christmas gift you can give them, the way to salvation through Christ!
17 Do not gloat when your enemy falls; when he stumbles, do not let your heart rejoice,
King Solomon’s dad, King David was such a great example of this verse Everytime I think of King David it just reminds me of how David’s heart was seeking the Lord and how this verse applies to him. Verse reminds me of this event which occured when David cried over Saul’s death, when Saul was trying to kill David. David’s own soldier killed Saul and was rejoicing over it and thought that he was bringing good news to David and then David demanded that soldier should also be put to death amazes me everytime when I think about it how much cared and how much he loved his own enemies. David wished that it was himself that died first then Saul and that he would rather himself be dead then Saul.
17 Do not gloat when your enemy falls; when he stumbles, do not let your heart rejoice,
A lot of times we want to be all high and mighty when something bad happens to someone we don’t like, but that isn’t right. We’re supposed to be satisfied that the Lord will provide justice, and in the mean time, love our enemies. We have to be set apart from the world, and that includes not acting like them when an enemy falls.
10 If you falter in times of trouble, how small is your strength!
Times of trouble can be very useful. They can show you who you truly are, and what kind of character you have developed. They can also help you grow stronger. Jeremiah questioned God when he faced times of trouble, and God asked him how he expected to face big challenges if the little ones made him really worried (Jeremiah 12:5). So do not complain about your problems, they are training you for more difficult situations in the future.
26 An honest answer is like a kiss on the lips
Back then a kiss on the lips was a sign of friendship. A lot of people think that they should bend the truth a little bit so that they don’t hurt other peoples feelings. But if you give an honest answer you are a true friend. To be entrusted with the truth even at the risk of offending someone, represents high honor, and true friendship.
in the first first it is telling us not to envy the wicked or to desire their company… even though this should be obvious to a christian it is a great reminder to us and we should make sure the people we are around everyday are godly people.
33 A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest-
34 and poverty will come on you like a bandit and scarcity like an armed man.
This is something that high schoolers almost always struggle with, and especially during Christmas break. However, this passage is just as relevant to our spiritual lives as it is to our work ethic. These past few days have been LAME in the number of comments here on SOTD. These verses are a warning against such slacking off; it may start as just ‘skipping a day’ or even simply forgetting because you want to do something else instead, but it is too easy to fall into a destructive habit of not spending time in the Word at all. This may be a break, but it’s not a break from God, instead we should be taking advantage of the extra time to be studying God’s Word on a deeper level and growing in our faith with Him!
33 A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest-
34 and poverty will come on you like a bandit and scarcity like an armed man.
Like Mike said, this is definitely a struggle for high school students especially during break! Break is not an excuse to slack off, in fact we should be studying God’s word more because of the extra time we have!
17 Do not gloat when your enemy falls; when he stumbles, do not let your heart rejoice, 18 or the LORD will see and disapprove and turn his wrath away from him.
God says to love our enemies just as we would love our neighbors. This can be extremely hard especially in todays time where there is a lot someone can do to harm you. Do not seek revenge or treat them poorly when things go bad for them. Instead show them the love of God and be there to pick them up when they fall.
33 A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest-
34 and poverty will come on you like a bandit and scarcity like an armed man.
Lazyness can be hard to avoid. I personally like to sleep in. But here it discourages that. It says that if we get into the habit of being lazy, like sleeping in all the time, poverty and scarcity will come on us like a robber. A robber would be unexpected, because we don’t expect someone to break in and take our stuff. Likewise, we won’t expexct to become poor only becuase we are lazy. So instead of being lazy and doing nothing, we should find something productive to do!
11 Rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering toward slaughter.
12 If you say, “But we knew nothing about this,” does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who guards your life know it? Will he not repay each person according to what he has done?
Even though we have been saved from God’s wrath, we will have to give an account for what we have done. God knows our hearts and our motives behind every excuse we give for not doing what is right. And every time we don’t take an opportunity to evangelize, we miss an opportunity to save someone from death! So instead of being caught up in worldly things and giving excuses for not making use of opportunities to do good because we are caught up in something else, we need to make glorifying God our top priority by always looking to do good, especially evangelizing because it can save people from Hell.
32 I applied my heart to what I observed and learned a lesson from what I saw:
Mmmmm! Us Highschoolers should be doing this weekly! We need to be doers, not just hearers! We should be applying the messages we hear in True North and be learning daily. We should be seeking to honor and glorigy God!
11 Rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering toward slaughter.
This verse also stood out to me, and I echo everyone’s comment on this verse.
19.) Do not fret because of evil men or be envious of the wicked,
20.) for the evil man has no future hope, and the lamp of the wicked will be snuffed out.
This is exactly why we NEED to be living for the Lord, the things of this world will parish and those who have not repented will be destroyed!!
1 Do not envy wicked men, do not desire their company;
sometimes when we see the “cool” people at school, it is easy for us to think that they are living cool lives and that what they are doing is fun. but this proverb warns us not to desire their company. if we do and we hang out with them, we will be corrupted, because how good of a Christian we are, bad company corrupts good character. as Christians we need to be living with other Christian brothers and sisters and desiring to please God, not ourselves or “cool” or wicked people
10 If you falter in times of trouble, how small is your strength!
A very important verse for those going through tough times. If your faith is true and strong, you will not falter.
1 Do not envy wicked men, do not desire their company;
2 for their hearts plot violence, and their lips talk about making trouble.
This is especially true for anyone who keeps company with someone who’s a bad influence and could potentially harm them. They won’t be able to withstand temptation forever and it could lead them down the same path of destruction.
14 Know also that wisdom is sweet to your soul
What an awesome statement!!! Our soul craves for wisdom much more than some of us crave for sugar!
But how much more sweeter is the wisdom that we can receive!!!!
As for me I watch and hope for the Lord!
Merry Christmas Eve everyone!!!
21 Fear the LORD and the king, my son, and do not join with the rebellious,
22 for those two will send sudden destruction upon them, and who knows what calamities they can bring?
Again, God points out many times how important it is to humble yourself before others and how important it is to fear God! Solomon as king, knew that he had the power to destroy any that rebelled against His rule. He was also wise, knowing that God gave him that power to rule. He feared the Lord and understood that He was above even him, this mighty king of the day. So, he is now telling his son some great advise, because if he gets caught with the rebels, either God or him will destroy him. He’s very powerful, never forget that.
29 Do not say, “I’ll do to him as he has done to me; I’ll pay that man back for what he did.”
Holding a grudge. I can honestly say that this is one of the top things I struggle with. My sister wrongs me all of the time and I need to think to myself, “Just let it go.” Its hard sometimes to just “let it go” you want revenge. You want them to pay. You want them to feel the same way you do, but doubled. I know the feeling. But in the end when you pay them back, do you feel any better??? I know I dont. Usually it makes me feel worse…So next time I feel revengefull, Ill remeber this verse. After all we are Christians and we are to do what pleases God.
33 A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest-
34 and poverty will come on you like a bandit and scarcity like an armed man.
We couldnt have read this verse at a more perfect time. Winter break is a huge oppritunity for temptation, it is very easy to just decide to be lazy. Sleeping in til one and staying in our pjs all day is not what God would want us to do with our free time! I have heard a lot of people say that the reason why they dont go on sotd is because they “just dont have the time” well if that were true then we would be in the triple digits right now! So I’m calling you guys out lets step it up!! Merry CHristmas :]
26 An honest answer is like a kiss on the lips.
To tell someone the truth is to show true friendship. We should not lie to the people we love just to make them feel good; the best thing a friend could do is tell them the truth.
12 If you say, “But we knew nothing about this,” does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who guards your life know it? Will he not repay each person according to what he has done?
On the day of judgment no excuses will work. God knows what we were really thinking in our hearts and he will hold us accountable. This is a sobering reason to consider if we are really obeying God’s commands like Pastor Mike talked about at the Christmas Eve service. Are we glorifying God in this way? If not, we will give an account to him for it.
1 Do not envy wicked men, do not desire their company;
2 for their hearts plot violence, and their lips talk about making trouble.
Startin’ off with a good verse, don’t desire to go back to your old ways once you’re saved. It’s as simple as that.
1 Do not envy wicked men, do not desire their company;
Just like Austin said, we shouldn’t want to go back to our old ways. Although, sometimes it may seem desireable, we must resist the temptation. This goes along with putting off the old self and not going back to our sinful practices.
10 If you falter in times of trouble, how small is your strength!
wow this verse really hit me. We need to follow through with the little things, and have faith in the little things. That way when we are handed bigger responsibilities, we can handle them!
merry christmas eve everyone (:in 9 minutes
im on before 12!! im going to comment after this!!
17 Do not gloat when your enemy falls; when he stumbles, do not let your heart rejoice,
18 or the LORD will see and disapprove and turn his wrath away from him.
19 Do not fret because of evil men or be envious of the wicked,
20 for the evil man has no future hope, and the lamp of the wicked will be snuffed out.
21 Fear the LORD and the king, my son, and do not join with the rebellious,
Do what is right for yourself, fear the lord not man. Worry about your own wrong doing not others.
17 Do not gloat when your enemy falls; when he stumbles, do not let your heart rejoice,
18 or the LORD will see and disapprove and turn his wrath away from him.
19 Do not fret because of evil men or be envious of the wicked,
20 for the evil man has no future hope, and the lamp of the wicked will be snuffed out.
21 Fear the LORD and the king, my son, and do not join with the rebellious,
Do what is right for yourself, fear the lord not man. Worry about your own wrong doing not others.
1 Do not envy wicked men, do not desire their company;
love love love this verse! as christians we should only want to be around christians…….we shouldnt want the company of nonchristians because they will only be leading us away from our one true love!
p.s- haha sorry about those comments^^ i didnt get home till just now
What a great chapter…filled with so much greatness:) haha
1. Do not envy wicked men, do not desire their company; for their hearts plot violence and their lips talk about making trouble.
its easy to fall into the clutches of evil desires…they seem fun at first to many people….some people do things to fit in with a group of popular people, etc.
Being a Christian, we should live above reproach….if we are growing daily and bearing fruit daily, then those evil desires will become desires that we wont even want to hear about…desires that wont desire us….
We just got to watch out we say…it’s been a little theme in the book of Proverbs about the use of our tongue. We gotta make sure that we do not gossip or decieve somebody by saying something and telling them after “I was only kidding” or cuss. Let’s make sure that we use our mouth as instruments of righteousness than instruments of wickedness. Romans 6:13
10 If you falter in times of trouble, how small is your strength!
If you are constantly going back to your old ways (before you were a Christian) when things aren’t going the way you want them to, you seriously need to look deeply and ask God for strength instead. God can help you with ANYTHING whether it’s great or small.