18:1 Whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire;
he breaks out against all sound judgment.
2 A fool takes no pleasure in understanding,
but only in expressing his opinion.
3 When wickedness comes, contempt comes also,
and with dishonor comes disgrace.
4 The words of a man’s mouth are deep waters;
the fountain of wisdom is a bubbling brook.
5 It is not good to be partial to the wicked
or to deprive the righteous of justice.
6 A fool’s lips walk into a fight,
and his mouth invites a beating.
7 A fool’s mouth is his ruin,
and his lips are a snare to his soul.
8 The words of a whisperer are like delicious morsels;
they go down into the inner parts of the body.
9 Whoever is slack in his work
is a brother to him who destroys.
10 The name of the Lord is a strong tower;
the righteous man runs into it and is safe.
11 A rich man’s wealth is his strong city,
and like a high wall in his imagination.
12 Before destruction a man’s heart is haughty,
but humility comes before honor.
13 If one gives an answer before he hears,
it is his folly and shame.
14 A man’s spirit will endure sickness,
but a crushed spirit who can bear?
15 An intelligent heart acquires knowledge,
and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge.
16 A man’s gift makes room for him
and brings him before the great.
17 The one who states his case first seems right,
until the other comes and examines him.
18 The lot puts an end to quarrels
and decides between powerful contenders.
19 A brother offended is more unyielding than a strong city,
and quarreling is like the bars of a castle.
20 From the fruit of a man’s mouth his stomach is satisfied;
he is satisfied by the yield of his lips.
21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue,
and those who love it will eat its fruits.
22 He who finds a wife finds a good thing
and obtains favor from the Lord.
23 The poor use entreaties,
but the rich answer roughly.
24 A man of many companions may come to ruin,
but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.
(ESV)
Acts 3
Acts 2
Acts 1
Luke 24
Luke 23
Luke 22
Luke 21
Luke 20
Luke 19
Luke 18
13 He who answers before listening— that is his folly and his shame.
This verse can actually be taken quite literally because sometimes ill be talking to someone and i wont understand what they’re saying and i answer with a totally different answer and i look stupid. So yeah i need to think about what im syaing before i say it anyway.
There were two great verses that stuck out to me today:
Verse 10 – The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe.
I love how reassuring this verse is. Our Lord will protect His children when they seek Him. Now a tower was a pretty strong thing back then, a huge stone fortress to keep the people inside safe. I lke how it compares the Lord to such a stong building, but its better knowing that He has authority over everything!!!!
Verse 8 – The words of a gossip are like choice morsels; they go down to a man’s inmost parts.
This verse shows that gossip and other sins are so easy to do and seem ok, as it describes: choice morsels. But that just means that we need to be watching our tongues and living like Christ wants us to live.
24 A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.
Choosing our friends wisely is very important. We are easily influenced by those around us. When we are living a life radically set-apart for Christ we are vulnerable to lose friendships, but we can be encouraged that we have a friend who sticks closer then a brother, a friend who will never leave us or forsake us, who has our backs so to speak, who loves us unconditionally, and who is the Savior of the earth…Jesus Christ!
Nice comment Derek! Gossip always seems to be innocent at the momment, but in the end we always end up reaping the consequences of it…
21 The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.
This verse is interseting because it shows just how powerfull our speech is. We may not know it, but what we say or don’t say could lead to life or death, not just physicly, but spiritualy also. The second part says that we “will eat of it’s fruit”, or our words will have consequences. That is why we need to always think before we speak, because we don’t know how a person is going to take a certian thing that we say, and we might end hurting them and in turn lossing a friend or a witnessing oppertunity.
2 A fool finds no pleasure in understanding but delights in airing his own opinions.
I want to be careful to never delight in just airing my own opinions. Listening, learning, developing an understanding…those things are much more important.
15 The heart of the discerning acquires knowledge; the ears of the wise seek it out.
We have all read the benifits of Godly knowelegde and wisdom. But now in this verse it gives us a crystal clear picture on how to attain this wisdom. We know that wisdom comes from God and his word, so taking this passage to heart would mean for us to strive to read God’s word. We want to constantly be in the word and because of that, we can gain wisdom.
17 The first to present his case seems right, till another comes forward and questions him.
This verse is a warning to always be on our guard about what we hear, especially when it comes to preaching. No matter how true the words may sound or how well they are delivered, if we are not checking what is said against the Bible, we could be falling for lies. We need to be like the Bereans in Acts 17:11 who “received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.”
And even if we’re not dealing with preaching, we need to make sure that what we are listening to lines up with sound logic and the Word of God.
2 A fool finds no pleasure in understanding but delights in airing his own opinions.
this verse is sooo cool! a fool doesnt want to trust the sound and truth, but rather wants to think he can do things by himself, and doesnt rely on the Lord. this totally ties into the message last weekend about Jesus walking on water, and becuase he can do anything, and we should trust in him to do anything. we can do anything when we have the Lord. a fool doesnt have the Lord, therefore he thinks he can do things by himself, and he ultimately fails. if the Lord is with us, we shouldnt fear ANYTHING
Proverbs is so convicting when I think about the way in which I speak! Do I really listen to people before I answer? Do I say things that lift people up rather than tear them down? This reminds me of Eph. 4:29 which says, “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.”
10 The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe.
You are my strong tower! Shelter when I’m weak! Beautiful and mighty! Everlasting King! Sorry Guys that song popped in my head when I saw that verse but all of it is true. He will protect us in any situation and be our strong tower. :)
13 He who answers before listening— that is his folly and his shame.
This verse was convicting for me because I always do it! I’ll totally interupt Sarah when she’s talking and she’ll be talking about something totally different than how I answered so ya Daniel right. It is taken literally. :)
19 An offended brother is more unyielding than a fortified city, and disputes are like the barred gates of a citadel.
Brittany, I completely agree with you, Proverbs is very convicting when it comes to speech. I found this verse as a good warning of consequence to offending people. They become unyielding. We need to really watch what we say else we turn someone off and create a barrier. As Christians, we also need to check and make sure we forgive when we are offended and not barring people out.
2 A fool finds no pleasure in understanding but delights in airing his own opinions.
Only a fool cares about himself, and in his own opinions. There are many people who are like that out there. We need to be careful that we dont find pleasure in that. We need to become wise, and as Melissa said, understanding, and learning. Those are much better qualities! I know that I want to be wose, and to have a teachable heart and not delight in airing my own opinions!
These chapters focus on not being a fool and we gain wisdom from God which is my prayer that I will grow wise and stop my foolish ways. Reading the Word helps.
21 The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.
So much of this chapter (& many proverbs) deal with the tongue/mouth. As a teacher in a public school, I’m constantly blown away by what I hear in class, in the hallways, and even off-campus. It’s not just swearing/cursing/cussing–although that gets my blood boiling–but the topics of conversation that I’m subjected to: gossip, bragging/boasting, telling off, etc… I don’t mean to rant, but we so seldom take stock of how our tongues affect people to whom we speak, BUT ALSO how they affect others who hear or overhear. How many recent examples can you think of when someone’s (yours?) mouth has placed them in the path of trouble. Even at Beachnight last night, I ran into a former swimmer/student who “had words” with another guy out in the lineup; the guy wanted “to kill” him because of what he said. May we as Christians truly watch what we say, not only guarding our mouths from foolish talk, but also finding uplifting/edifying things to say to others, even if our speech is not even directed AT them.
10 The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe.
This verse really stuck out to me and really hit me hard…It is so comforting to know that God is our protection with ANYTHING! even though sometimes we might think oh God can’t help us with this but he is ALWAYS there for us with ANYTHING! and that is an amazing comfort
2 A fool finds no pleasure in understanding but delights in airing his own opinions.
Fools in their pride always believe that they’re right and instead of listening to others or seeking to learn from them, they just want to blurt out what they think, which is really folly. We need to make sure that we’re not like this but instead are humble and listen to people when they talk to us, learning from their guidance rather than thinking we are the only ones who are right. And like verse 13, we need to hold our tongues and think before speaking, because we don’t need to be a part of every conversation. We need to instead look for ways to build others up rather than glorify ourselves.
10 The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe.
I love this verse because the “name” of the Lord is what represents all that He is, His character–God has always been, is all-knowing and is the source of all wisdom–those are things the righteous rely on, that God is who He says He is and that His character never changes.
10 The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe.
That is co COOL!!! “The name of the Lord is a strong tower”. Whenever we are in need of something or are troubled or scared about something we can go to the Lord. He will protect us and He will provide for us.
If we are in Christ we have a reussuring knowledge that we can always go to God, no matter the circumstance. This verse is such a comfort to me that I’ll always have a strong tower to be protected by.
1 An unfriendly man pursues selfish ends; he defies all sound judgment.
2 A fool finds no pleasure in understanding but delights in airing his own opinions
Many people that we are going to have to evangelize to are exactly like this. I have had to experience a person like this, this week. They are never aloud to be wrong and arent open to other peoples opinions. We definatly need to pray for these people in the world
Verse 10 really popped out to me…partly because of the Kutless song and partly because of somthing else. I have felt that lately my mind has been trying to fight the “main stream Christianity” view of God, that he is just a kind loving little buddy that does everything for you, to a point where I had begun to forget the power of safty, comfort and love. I know that God is love, I also know that love does not mean letting someone get away with everything. This verse really shows that God is more powerful than anything, and he protects his children!
i really liked this chapter. But verse 10 jumped out to me
10 The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe.
This is just a reassuring verse. the Lord is a strong tower that is so cool. And it goes on and says that we can run to Him for safety. this is cool to always know that we can take shelter in the Lord our strong tower!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
8 The words of a gossip are like choice morsels; they go down to a man’s inmost parts.
The average high schooler thinks of gossip as a hobby or even a sport. Theres even a television show that praises gossip. Well gossip is sin, it hurts people. Gossip tears us to pieces, it rips us to shreds. As Christians we need to live above reproach and try our hardest to stop this sin. Because even if we think its harmless it effects more people than we think. If Jesus died for our sins we should feel so convicted when we gossip, Christ carried that awful burden for us. He had no sin and He died for our sin.
21 The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.
We were taught that everything can be used for good or evil. Even our own words can be used for good or evil. People who love gossip and thirst for it fall in the category of death. But if we live above that we can use our words to be kind and uplifting. Those who love the power of life and the sound and kind words of others will live. But if we fall into sin and love to listen to this sin, this internally thrashing gossip, we will suffer the consequences… unless we repent, and stop this sin and try and prevent it.
24 A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.
This verse makes it clear it isn’t about the quantity of friends that we have, but the quality. I am thankful the Lord has given me some quality friends! And a wonderful wife (verse 22)!
4 The words of a man’s mouth are deep waters, but the fountain of wisdom is a bubbling brook.
I lov this verse because it is a perfect depiction of what the world says. The words we use can be encouraging or degrating. And it makes it hard to get through when you have so many different oppions being thrown at you. But the fountian of wisdom is shallow because there is only one way that it can be which is encouraging, which makes it uplifting. That is the only place where you can pass through without being scared of “drowning.”
Verse 21 “The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.” I think this verse is very strong because we decide the words that come out of our mouth and they can either be helpful or harmful, we must build each other up…
21 The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.
We have the power to lift people up and encourage them with the things we say, or what we say can destroy them and bring them down. We need to think before we say something, because what we could say can fall under the category of death, as Stephanie mentioned. What we say, the tongue, is so powerful! We need to be wise when it comes to what we say!