Proverbs 21

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“The king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; He turns it wherever He will.” Yahweh is the One and only true God. There are powerful people everywhere. If we were able to satisfy the most demanding leaders in the world, and if we had the highest self-esteem and personal happiness of anyone on the planet, but did not have peace with God, our situation would be perilous.

“The Lord weighs the heart.” His judgment of any person or situation is far more important than that of anyone else. Secret lies and perfectly executed violence do not escape His notice. He understands what makes a “quarrelsome woman” contend against her husband, even when she and her spouse cannot figure out why their marriage is unhappy. The Almighty knows what is in the soul.

“The Righteous One observes the house of the wicked; He throws the wicked down to ruin.” God has established ways for everyone to grow in wisdom and in favor with others. There are systems of discipline among mankind, and if we will take correction to heart, it will be a benefit to us. God has given all of us the ability to learn by observation and testing. We can even study history and philosophy and learn much about the ways of the world in order to avoid patterns of thought and life that are destructive. But if we do not find a solution to the problem of the Lord's righteous wrath coming against us for our sin, how can we rationally face death with true contentment?

The most important thing that we can do in this troubled world is to hear the news of the death and resurrection of the Son of God and have peace with God through Jesus Christ our Lord. With that secure foundation, we should put off the old man of self-preoccupation and secret scheming, and put on the new man which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of our Creator and Redeemer. We might even give gifts in secret for the pleasure of the Lord rather than having to promote ourselves to others. We could seek justice with the confidence that the Judge of all the earth will make all things right at the perfect time.

In many ways we who believe are just like everyone else. We have the opportunity to study the world that God has made and consider the lessons of times gone by. We use our reasoning and perform acts of kindness as we try to live in peace with our neighbors. But we who know Jesus believe the Word of God and have the Spirit of Christ dwelling in us.

The Holy Spirit that God has given to His people enables us not only to make progress in knowledge but also in speech and action. He grants restraint and modesty by His grace. He brings new diligence and generosity. God grants to us the blessing of true eternal worship, giving His beloved children the privilege even now of offering our bodies to Him as living sacrifices.

All of these blessings are worthy of our most sincere expressions of thanks to God through His Son Jesus Christ. Any victory in character or obedience that we experience belongs to the Lord. Jesus has loved us with an everlasting love and is doing a great work within all those who have called upon His Name.

Prayer from A Book of Prayers

Lord God, we have a powerful and holy King. He knows the truth of every heart. We have sin in the depths of our being, but Your Son was perfectly pure in the wonder of His holy life. He has sent forth the most abundant mercy to us. In His knowledge is life for our souls. Grant us the integrity of an obedient heart, willing to hear Your Word and follow. Keep us from the foolishness of drunkenness and gluttony. We will never be able to provide for those in need if we eat and drink everything that we earn. Place within us a new and powerful resolve to follow Your counsel, and to love the way of wisdom.

Proverbs 20

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“Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler, and whoever is led astray by it is not wise.” The answer for life is not found at the bottom of a bottle, but in a life lived in the worship of the Almighty. There is no wisdom in addiction—only bondage.

Then why do so many young people fall into trouble with drugs and alcohol? Can anyone help them to find a better reason for living? “The purpose in a man's heart is like deep water, but a man of understanding will draw it out.”

Those who are just entering adulthood may have a hard time catching the vision of a long life ahead of them. One big disappointment happens and everything may seem to crumble. A godly mentor can make such a difference in helping a troubled soul to find the Lord and a life of godliness that can extend to future generations. “The righteous who walks in his integrity—blessed are his children after him!”

Of course, only the Lord can enlighten the eyes of someone's heart so that he will see the beauty of holy living. Nonetheless, a friend can be used by God to help someone who is open to wisdom. He can be a good voice of godly counsel.

The Lord has given us a natural system of dedicated and loving guidance in a well-ordered family. The young ones can learn about the love of the Lord and see what it means to live in the fear of the Lord. When trouble comes to a youth in a faithful extended family, God can provide an older relation who is loved and respected. But if someone hates the people he should be following, who will he listen to when he needs a voice to redirect his way? “If one curses his father or his mother, his lamp will be put out in utter darkness.”

Even when a family is in such disrepair that there is no one nearby who is worth emulating, anyone who knows and loves the Savior has the most worthy King that he should imitate. Our Lord grants us a new spirit of wisdom that searches out the deep waters of a person's heart. The Almighty can find in that struggling soul not only any dangerous weakness but also God's good gift which brings the one who will listen to God's Word such potential for greatness.

The Lord who died for us has steadfast love and faithfulness for each of His children. His Spirit can show us the way to go. He gives strength to the young and the wisdom of experience and godliness to the old.

Prayer from A Book of Prayers

Great God, please keep us from drunkenness and addiction. Restrain us from all movements toward wickedness and sin. These things lead to death. Keep us working at our appointed posts where we serve You day by day. Thank You for the diligence, righteousness, and faithfulness of Jesus Christ. He had no stain of sin. He made Himself known by His conduct. His lips brought forth knowledge. He did nothing by deceit, but always served You by the wisest counsel of His own pure heart. He did not repay evil with evil, but came to die for our rebellion. He has given Himself to You in complete holiness. In His Spirit is the most complete purity of holiness. Grant us this Spirit even now.

Proverbs 19

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We need to walk in integrity. We seek a strong desire for God that is informed by a true knowledge of His Word. Ask the Lord for a holy awareness of the life that He has for us to live here and now. Humbly seek His provision of daily bread, and godliness with contentment, which is great gain. Pray for the best relationships possible with family members and friends, and fruitfulness for loved ones.

These are good desires. They require the gifts that can only come from Almighty God. This great God is perfect in holiness and justice. When He looked at mankind in Genesis 6:5, He “saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” How can we, in our poverty of spirit, with our unwise use of speech and our blotted record of life, expect to receive daily blessings from such a great God?

All these wonderful gifts would be impossible without Jesus Christ, the perfect Son of God. Jesus lived and died for us. His record has become our record, and He is the King.

In Jesus, the rewards won for us by the King of heaven and earth come to sinners who are willing to “fight the good fight” of faith. His favor toward us is not partial, but total and eternal. It is “like dew on the grass,” covering every inch of our lives with the grace of God.

God has seen our poverty and has made a commitment to our well-being. If others care for us in our needs, He will surely pay them back. He has even taken over the management of our lives, giving us the correction and discipline we need to make us the sons and daughters He intends us to be. His purpose will stand forever, since it is secured in the steadfast love and obedience of Jesus Christ. He has reserved for us a life without the harm of this fallen world, a life that is there for us even now in the present heavens.

Without Jesus, we have no way of understanding how God could rightly give us anything good. But in Jesus, we can ask the Lord for heavenly wisdom and He will give us the desires of our hearts. We are children of the King. We want to hear the Word of our Father and to follow Jesus today. Lead on, O King eternal!

Prayer from A Book of Prayers

Our Father, grant us integrity and knowledge more than raw intelligence and wit. Grant to us a true generosity of heart that comes by Your grace. Make us to be people of good sense who know the glory of overlooking an offense. Grant us peace within our homes, and diligence throughout our lives. Your Son has come from a heavenly home of perfect integrity, and has given us the incomparable gift of a most wise and generous salvation. Thank You for the blessings of life that have come from Your hand. Even now You speak to us from Your Word, and You give us instruction and knowledge.

Proverbs 18

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God's instruction should be more important to us than our own opinions. We need to hear His Word with other people who love Him. We should not expect that holiness will naturally arise within us when we pursue a life of self-preoccupation or isolation from the Lord's family.

Jesus has a fountain of wisdom for us, “a bubbling brook” of life. We can drink from those healthy waters with other Christians.

The Spirit of God says, “Rejoice in the Lord always!” Our sinful flesh wants to add a dissenting opinion. We insist on a soulful rendition of “Nobody knows the troubles I've seen.” The Lord will win this contest.

Not all time spent with other people will move us in the right direction. If we listen to “whisperers” who are sowing discontent, how will we be helped to be more like Jesus? But if we open up the Word together, if we pray and sing to the Lord and obey His precepts, our hearts will be healthier.

“The ear of the wise seeks knowledge.” Will you help your Christian brothers and sisters by following the Word of life? It is the responsibility of a godly community of faith to affirm and obey the message of the Scriptures. We do not deny the reality of trouble, but we know that “the Name of the Lord is a strong tower” for all who trust in Him. We run to Him and find security.

As God's assembly we use the gifts that He has given us and we are brought into the presence of the greatest King. We serve one another in love and we experience the kind mercy of the beloved Husband of the church.

This is the life that God wants us to live. We have been saved out of folly in order to serve alongside a company of worshipers. We have a Friend who sticks closer to us than a brother. He is leading us to the Father. Think of how He embraced us through His death on the cross. He receives the glorified church as His wonderful bride, a gift of His own grace. May the Lord help us to believe His Word and to walk in the wisdom that comes from knowing Him.

Prayer from A Book of Prayers

Master, we need to listen to Your wisdom. Forgive us for our wickedness, and for the foolishness of our speech. We desire both purity and peace. Grant to us wise restraint in our thoughts and our words. Rather than rushing into every situation with careless lips, we should rush to You in a time of trouble. We should seek knowledge from You, and listen to others first before we speak. Keep us from unnecessary quarrels. Why should we feed off of our own impulsive words? We would do much better to listen carefully to others and to consider all matters clearly in Your presence.

Proverbs 17

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What do the godly want in their lives? Quiet or strife? Wisdom or shame? “Better is a dry morsel with quiet than a house full of feasting with strife.” How can we live a quiet life growing in the wisdom that comes from above? How can we stay far away from unnecessary strife and foolishness that only brings more trouble?

Sin entered the world through one man. Now life under the sun is badly broken. How does trouble take over a community? A bad report is eagerly heard and spreads like fire. Evil people use their money to get their own way. Others make promises that they cannot keep and people they may not know feel the pain. Even family members may not be respectful or loving to one another. Not only evil people get hurt. The best among the Lord's covenant people are not exempt from getting their hearts badly bruised. How do the hurting find their way back to joy? Who will fix the problems that are not only outside us but within us?

The Lord Jesus tests hearts. He also covers many an offense. He came into this present world of strife and brought a new world of love into being. He atoned for our deep offenses with His own righteous blood. He took away our shame. He is bringing into the hearts of His people a new resolve to live a quiet life of godliness and sincerity with Him and with one another.

Our Messiah is a friend who loves at all times, a brother who came to us in our worst adversity. He has given us many good reasons to celebrate. As we turn our focus toward Him, may His Word be proven true every day: “A joyful heart is good medicine.”

Prayer from A Book of Prayers

Lord God, Your Son became a servant for our sake. Help us to be willing to serve. We remember that You are the Maker of the poor. Teach us to cover an offense, for we are grateful for Your eternal love. What sense is there in returning evil for good? You have been so good to us. Should we be evil toward You? We should not even return evil back to those who have truly wronged us. How much more should we honor You, who sent us salvation at great cost to Yourself and to Your Son. Grant to us a fuller contemplation of Your goodness, and bring us a more joyful heart day by day. Keep us from foolish speech, that we might not unnecessarily parade our stubborn unrighteousness as if it were a badge of honor.

Proverbs 16

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Not every impulse of our hearts is from the Holy Spirit. “All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the spirit.” The plans we come up with need testing, and we need discernment. More than anything, we need the mind of Christ, which is a heart of wisdom.

Paul says in 1 Corinthians 2:16, “We have the mind of Christ.” That “we” tells us that every individual in the Lord's family need not be alone in his walk with the Lord. We can have godly companions who will help us to understand the difference between our flesh and the Spirit of Christ that dwells within all who are born from above.

We need to beware of the spiritual arrogance that insists that we alone have the right answer on everything. “Everyone who is arrogant in heart is an abomination to the Lord.” Pride is not a fruit of the Spirit. The Lord hates it. Christ atoned for our stubborn hearts. With His patient love, He is using the communion of saints to teach us to listen to one another.

Godly friends remind us what our renewed hearts really do desire. We want Jesus Christ. Wealth and fame are very poor substitutes for Jesus. The Son of God will establish our steps. He is our righteous King and a friend of sinners. We have found life in the light of His face. “His favor is like the clouds that bring the spring rain.”

“How much better to get wisdom than gold!” Every day we need to give thought to the Word of God. It is the only way for us to discover good sense. It is the way that our Savior leads us to refreshing waters. “Whoever gives thought to the Word will discover good, and blessed is he who trusts in the Lord.”

We can look for the fruit of His love in our lives every day. Will our hearts be patient? Will our words reflect the grace that we have received from the Lord? Or will we just fall into an old rut, an arrogant way of thinking and speaking that seems right to our flesh? “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.”

“Gracious words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body.” The Lord's grace will bring us more life. We will pray for each other, and the body of Christ will make real progress in discovering better patterns of holy living. Jesus will win. His powerful death and His glorious resurrection were not in vain. We have been given a gift. We have the mind of Christ.

Prayer from A Book of Prayers

Father God, bring Your help now to those who call upon Your Name. Grant us steadfast love and faithfulness, and lead us in turning away from evil. Enticing greed is so dangerous for us. We must not go down that road. Keep us far away from those things that are dangerous for our souls. We trust in You, for You have granted us eternal life. Your words are gracious, and Your way is the way of life. Teach us not to listen to words that will not be good for our lives. Teach us the wisdom of common endeavor with godly companions.

Proverbs 15

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If we look for the very best expression of wise fatherhood, we can do no better than to see the source of all fatherhood in God. If we want to know what that fatherhood looks like, we must turn to Jesus, the Son of the Father and the visible manifestation of the invisible God.

Jesus and the Father are somehow one. When Jesus spoke with such knowledge and power, the Father was speaking. “The lips of the wise spread knowledge.” Our Messiah's words have given us new insights into the wisdom that comes from above.

God knows all and is still able to speak with restraint. “A gentle tongue is a tree of life.” We can talk to God today and He listens. He invites us to bring our concerns to Him, to praise Him, and to thank Him. It is good for us to express our gratitude to our heavenly Father. What an encouragement to our souls to know that our prayers of thanksgiving are offered up to the Father through His perfect Son!

This great God calls us to have a glad countenance in a world of regret and sorrow. “A glad heart makes a cheerful face.” How can we smile while many people that we care about are suffering so deeply? We remember that Jesus has brought a smile to His Father's glorious face. God's heart is full of joy toward us on account of His Son's obedience. “All the days of the afflicted are evil, but the cheerful of heart has a continual feast.”

Living in God's blessing is true wisdom. Even though the journey of the Lord's people takes us through moments of affliction, the life of following Christ eventually moves us in the direction of the best kind of happiness. “The path of life leads upward for the prudent.”

We have good news granted to us from our Father. His holy requirements have been fully satisfied. His Son has done all things well. Our God is very glad. Though He is “far from the wicked,” He hears our prayers. He comes to us with the gentleness of soft-spoken, powerful wisdom. We know that His love will never fail.

Prayer from A Book of Prayers

Lord God, keep us from words that are unnecessarily harsh. Grant us gentle speech and ears that heed reproof. Our Father, how is it that wickedness so easily finds a resting place in our lives and in our homes? Give us glad hearts as we contemplate the many blessings that You have given to us. May we feast on the fullness of Your grace and wisdom day by day. Move us along on the good highway of righteousness, and grant us a healthy glimpse of our destination, lest we become discouraged and despondent, and turn away from the way of the cross either to the right or to the left.

Proverbs 14

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The Lord loves His people and will hear their requests for wisdom. He will build us up in character and fruitfulness if we listen to His Word eagerly and seek Him in prayer.

Lying, scoffing, laziness—these are not the will of the Lord for our lives. This is the pattern of someone who is governed by old habits. God has something better planned for us, something we can ask Him for together.

Will we stumble along the way? If we sin, Jesus will help us out of the ditch of evil. He went to the cross as our guilt offering. Our Messiah has made peace for us with God.

We know our own sadness and joy, but Jesus knows our hearts much better than we do, and He has good plans for us. We will flourish forever in His house.

“There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.” We need to give thought to our steps now. How else will we know where we are going? We should ask God for the wisdom that we need and then resolve to walk in His ways. He is steadfast in devising good for us. We can have confidence in Him and take refuge in His love when we call out to Him in prayer. “In the fear of the Lord one has strong confidence.”

God's people can receive the tranquil heart that He has for us. Of course we will never have the joy of godly contentment if we abandon the Lord and His Word. “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.” We will not experience peace if we refuse to turn away from evil. Yet our ultimate hope is not in our ability to obey. Our place in God's house is first and foremost a gift that comes from the Lord's own righteousness. He is our confidence. His death and resurrection save us every day.

As those who have been lifted up by Him, we joyfully receive the Word of grace that He has ordained for our lives. May His wisdom and peace rest in our hearts forever and produce within our lives a bountiful harvest of holiness and love.

Prayer from A Book of Prayers

Glorious God, You are building a holy house. You provide for us ministers and parents to move us in the way of understanding. Your Son grants us great spiritual wisdom by the power of Your Holy Spirit. Help us to flourish in Your presence forever. Keep us from pathways that lead only to death. Make us cautious enough to turn away from evil. Help us not to pass on folly to future generations. You make us generous to the poor, and diligent in all our duties. Thank You for the truthful witness of Your Word. The fear of You, O Lord, is a fountain of life. May we drink deeply of these good waters. May wisdom take root in our hearts, and bring forward glorious fruits in our own lives and in the lives of those who hear us and follow us.

Proverbs 13

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“A wise son hears his father's instruction, but a scoffer does not listen to rebuke.” The infection of sin in this world has hurt family relationships. Jesus Christ, who heard the voice of His Father and obeyed, is able to repair the damage.

Jesus knew when to speak and when to say nothing. He did all that His Father asked of Him. He was obedient to the instruction of the Almighty, even offering Himself up for us when He died on the cross as our ransom.

“Righteousness guards him whose way is blameless.” In addition to paying our debt to God and supplying all the goodness that we would need to live at peace with the Father, Christ has become for us the way that we can follow. If we want to know what it means to walk in the light, we can look to Him and live as He lived.

His teaching and His life are one. Everything about Him is a source of refreshment to all who trust in His Name. “The teaching of the wise is a fountain of life, that one may turn away from the snares of death.”

Those who proclaim to us the Name of the Lord are called to be the loyal ambassadors of the Messiah. “A faithful envoy brings healing.” We do not have the liberty to correct our King who died on the cross and rose again from the dead on the third day. Anyone who would be a messenger for Him must listen to Him and follow Him.

Jesus' instructions to us are not cruel, but are designed for our eternal well being. They spring from a perfect heart of love. “Whoever heeds reproof is honored.” As the Word of Christ dwells richly within us, our affections change, and the Lord will grant to us the renewed desires of our hearts in fullest measure since He is the Author of every blessing.

“Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise.” We have become companions to a King who has all knowledge and discernment. “Disaster pursues sinners, but the righteous are rewarded with good.” We have not spurned His discipline, for we know that the hand of the Lord is merciful and good, though we may suffer for a time. A new day will come. He will satisfy us with perfect joy forevermore in His glorious presence.

Prayer from A Book of Prayers

Heavenly Father, is there some way that we could have the power to guard our hearts and our tongues? Sin that proceeds from our hearts seems to overthrow us. Please change us in our inner being, and renew us according to the purest and best desires that could only come from You. Point us toward the way of life according to Your Word. Help us to receive that Word through faithful ambassadors. May our inheritance that we leave for future generations be full of Your wisdom. Make us diligent in the love and discipline of our children. Raise up the next generation according to Your holy will.

Proverbs 12

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“Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates reproof is stupid.” God has His good ways of correcting us and training us for the perfection of heavenly life over the course of our brief stay here below. It is wise to take that discipline to heart and to learn from it. It is good to change and to become more like Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit.

“An excellent wife is the crown of her husband.” God has chosen a glorious bride for His Son, and He is patiently and honorably working all things in heaven and on earth toward a joyful union between Jesus and this beloved bride, the perfected church. We will be the crown of our Husband. His heavenly house will endure forever.

“He who follows worthless pursuits lacks sense.” None of our Lord's pursuits are worthless. He is working all things together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purposes. Every Word of our God proceeds from a heart of wisdom that loves mercy and is committed to justice and truth.

Impatient men rush ahead in ways that are out of accord with all sense. When Jesus came to establish our eternal blessedness through His own death and resurrection, every thought of His heart was wise, every word that He spoke was good, and all of His actions of love were pure.

Our Lord planned eternal peace for us, and then He patiently fulfilled all righteousness in order to achieve His holy purposes. His conscience is clear. He has great joy right now as He contemplates the fruit that is coming to Him from His holy life.

“In the path of righteousness is life, and in its pathway there is no death.” Jesus took the death that we deserved and was raised again in victory. He loves us with an everlasting love. There is no higher wisdom than to humbly receive our Father's discipline today and to follow Jesus.

Prayer from A Book of Prayers

Lord God, we want to know things, but do we really love true wisdom? Grant to Your people wisdom in friendships as we move toward maturity. We need to have good sense in the choice of a companion for life. Please protect us from evil and foolish impulses. Teach us to listen to good advice, and to test all things rightly according to Your Word. Help us to make good plans that will lead to true peace. The way of laziness and sin seems so close to us at all times. Help us to be up and about our duties, and to grow in close communion with You.

Proverbs 11

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“A false balance is an abomination to the Lord, but a just weight is His delight.” Everything comes down to details. Is a merchant's dishonest scale just one minor issue in a busy life of buying and selling? What is the person doing who cheats customers that way? How is that detail of a “false balance” an important part of a larger story of forgetting the fear of the Lord?

God finds us out. If we are willing to be found by Him, we can have more than shame. We can move on to humility, and with humility we can grow in knowing God and serving others.

When God came to save us, He came in the power of humility. Christ gives us hope for an existence beyond bad character. By the power of the Spirit we pursue the way of holiness that He has appointed for His people.

This life of faith, hope, and love is not only an individual pursuit. “When it goes well with the righteous, the city rejoices.” We follow Christ together, and we bear our neighbors' burdens. True goodness that flows from the Messiah will change the way we listen and speak to one another. Real love will confront deceit and violence. It will rescue the desperate.

Most of all, the love of Jesus creates a generous society of faithful followers. Those who find their life in Him will grow in good will, even toward their enemies. They will give and forgive. They will receive love from the Lord and pass it on, and yes, they will not use a dishonest scale when measuring out goods to their customers.

Jesus has secured an honest future for everyone in His family. He has become the fountainhead of every good gift to all who will take refuge in Him. “The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life.” The Messiah is living within us and among us. “Whoever captures souls is wise.” We have been taken captive by the Lover of our souls, and His presence among us makes a big difference in the details of our lives.

Prayer from A Book of Prayers

O Lord, greed will destroy us so quickly. Deliver us from death, or we will fall by our own folly. We need help from You in the depths of our souls. If we can truly be righteous we will be of benefit to many people, but if we travel on the road of wickedness, we will be the source of much trouble for ourselves and others. We know that the way to true prosperity now and forever can only be by the way of wisdom. Make us generous and pure. What great character Your Son had in His earthly days! He never sinned. We have become His inheritance. He has captured our souls, and we are glad. His wisdom and godliness endures forever.

Proverbs 10

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“The proverbs of Solomon.” Solomon recorded these proverbs two thousand years before the coming of the Christ. His divinely inspired observations about the human condition are still true today.

It is still true that godly fathers and mothers care deeply about the wisdom or folly of their sons. “A wise son makes a glad father, but a foolish son is a sorrow to his mother.”

“Righteousness delivers from death.” Has anything changed in all the years since these words were written? Yes. The only Son of the Father has finally come, and He lived in the godliness of perfect wisdom. Jesus' righteousness has delivered us from death. Because of the astounding accomplishment of His perfect life, an entire world associated with Him will live life to the fullest forever in the kingdom of heaven.

As we wait for His return, we are learning to trust this one perfect Son of God, even with the lives of our children and grandchildren. We can read Solomon's proverbs with the greatest joy if we embrace the truth that Jesus has perfectly fulfilled the ancient sayings. We can read them with a confident expectation that will look beyond this current world of sin to the perfect fulfillment of the Kingdom of God.

Heaven is a place of godly living beyond the regrets and worries of broken relationships in a sin-sick world. It would not be a realm of perfect joy without the repair of strained relationships between one generation and the next that we experience here. In heaven we will live in full awareness that all of the citizens of that realm of life are sons of God through Jesus Christ, the perfect Son.

Have we mourned about the consequences of our own laziness or the lack of diligence that we see in those we love? “He who sleeps in harvest is a son who brings shame.” Have we felt the misery that comes from saying what we should not have said or hearing words that should not have been spoken? “A babbling fool will come to ruin.” There is a better world in reserve for us even now in the heavens, a world where Jesus' love has covered all our offenses.

Here we face all kinds of necessary discipline and the consequences that come to us from ungodly living. “A rod is for the back of him who lacks sense.” But in heaven, God Himself will wipe away every tear. We will rejoice in the perfect provision of the bountiful riches and wisdom of the Lord.

Until that day comes when Christ returns or when we go to be with Him, we have the precious gift of the Word of God. We and our children would do well to take it to heart and to receive the discipline of the Lord. “Whoever heeds instruction is on the path to life.” We feel the sorrows of life in a world that is under God's curse, but we can find joy when we remember the hope of the godly. “The hope of the righteous brings joy.” It is our Father's good pleasure to give us the kingdom.

Prayer from A Book of Prayers

Our Father, we want to rejoice in You as we walk in the way of wisdom. By that path make us diligent and true. Prosper us in plans of integrity and goodness. Make us careful and gracious in our words. Help us to have real love in our hearts. Help us to see the goal of true life, and to continue on the path toward that good destination. Show us how to restrain our desires and our mouths. Grant us Your wise Spirit that we might have the mind of Christ. We want to dwell in the land of the righteous. Keep us from all that is perverse.