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Friday, February 19, 2010

Wisdom Project 2/19



He who gets wisdom loves his own soul;
he who cherishes understanding prospers.

Commentary:
Wisdom and knowledge in things natural and civil; and especially in things divine, spiritual, and evangelical; particularly he that gets Christ, the Wisdom of God, and a saving knowledge of him; see (Proverbs 3:13) . Or, "he that getteth a heart"; a good heart, as the Targum explains it; which is a new heart, and a new spirit; a clean heart and a right spirit; a heart of flesh, a soft, tender, and contrite one, in opposition to a hard heart, a heart of stone: a wise and understanding heart, such an one as Solomon had; a heart to know the Lord, and to fear him; in which his laws are written, the graces of his Spirit are implanted; and in which God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit, dwell: he who is desirous of such a heart seeks after it, prays for it, and uses all means to obtain it; and who, through the grace of God; does possess it, as the word signifies; he by all this shows that he has a regard to the good and welfare of his immortal soul;

From:
John Gill Commentary - on Precept

Blessings
3 John 8
Bill H.
_________

WISDOM PROJECT: For this month, I will supply links to both the NIV and ESV versions of the chapter each day (Feb. 1 = Proverbs 1, etc.) in the post—both of which contain the audio.

And in the month of February a unique feature for the WP will be Commentaries on selected passages/verses from within the chapter for the day. And for the most part, these comments will be from links in the Online Bible Study Resources feature here on the 3 John 8 blog (scroll down in the column to the right to find the links).

Note to Proverbs class participants: this is the place where you should post your application comments for the Daily Proverbs Reading Assignment.

26 comments:

Jilli Bair said...

"Better is a poor person who walks in integrity than one who is crooked in speech and is a fool" - vs. 19
Once again, our speech and the way we live life is prioritized over riches. Living a materially wealthy life should not be my goal, but rather I should desire to live a spiritually wealthy one. With my words and actions I should portray Christ, not my riches or crooked words.

Unknown said...

Wisdom, wisdom, and more wisdom. Getting wisdom; loving a soul. Applying wisdom; exhibiting patience. Seeking wisdom; listening and learning; just listing a few characteristics that the pursuit of wisdom will enhance and/or provide. Many benefits await us as we choose the journey on the path of wisdom; none of which are to be found on the path of evil and folly. Let us continue to select the good and proper abundances of all the LORD has to offer. Seek Him - while He may be found, and He will provide and increase that which is good; that which He desires for us to have. Mike T.

Jim Morrison said...

Verse 17 - "He who is kind to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will reward him for what he has done."

I am reminded of the passage in Matthew 25. "Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'40 "The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'
Matt 25:37-40"

The Lord is looking for us to have a heart that is willing to give to those who are in need. Our love for the Lord should provide a compassion in us that wants to help others.

Unknown said...

Verse 21: "Many are the plans in a man's heart, it is the LORD's purpose that prevails."
I have a natural attraction to verses like these. In 16:9 it says, "In his heart a man plans his course,
but the LORD determines his steps." I just imagine a Heavenly Father making sure that His children are living life to the fullest. God's will is the best possible will we could live. It may not be the easiest road, nor will it come simple, but you can trust it will be the best. I know that I can make wrong turns in life, but if I truly desire God's will then He will place me back on track. God's in control, and I can't think of anyone better to control my destiny.

Carrie L. said...

20 "Listen to advice and accept instruction, and in the end you will be wise".
I know this is something I need to work on. Sometimes we listen to our own advice more than the advice and instructions of ones who love us. By listening to the instruction God gives me through others, I will become wise in the end.

21 "Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the LORD's purpose that prevails".
This verse remindeed me again that we can make all the plans we want, and they could be good plans, but it is the LORD and his purposes that always prevail.

Sarah said...

Verse three bothered me a little bit because it is so true. A man that has money will have many friends, and a poor man's friend will leave him. It is so sad but it is true in the world today. We should not want to be friends with people based on how much money they do or don't have.

Mandi said...

once again the Fear of the Lord jumped out to me in this proverb. Also through reading it I was really challenged to look at my life and what type of friend i am to others. The comparison of a good and loyal friend to a friend that is a fool...We need to be applying wisdom its all about wisdom!

julee said...

Fearing (loving/obeying) the Lord results in life, sleeping satisfied (guiltless), separate from evil. This is another verse that reminds me of what is important and the great benefits of fearing the Lord. But why would I fear Him, just to receive the benefits?

Anonymous said...

Response 2/19/2010 1:01:24 PM
Proverbs 19:8 . . .

He who gets wisdom loves his own soul;
he who cherishes understanding prospers.
I believe that wisdom is prosperous to our overall spiritual health. This is the true prosperity that God wants for his children.
3Jn 1:2 Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.
John Erbentraut

Danyelle Steckiel said...

vs 20 listen to advice and accept instruction, and in the end you will be wise. we need to really listen to what others have to say and heed the warnings that other people warn us of and what scripture tells us to do.

Danielle Cummings said...

Verse 20 and 21 put into perspective how we are to live our lives on a daily basis. Alot of the time, we like to plan out our lives and make decisions based on what we think is best for us. But verse 20 tells us that we are to accept advice and instruction even if it doenst always appeal to us. Also verse 21 emphasises how much we are to give our lives over to God regardless of our own feelings. He knows what is best and his plan will always carry our whether we like it or not, so we mine as well not fight it.

Unknown said...

Proverbs 19:21
"Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.
- We can do all the planning that we want, but in the end it is the Lord that decides whether or not what we have planned is going to happen or not. This is encouraging in ways and a little frightening in others. In thinking about how I am planning on getting married this summer and what all has to happen before that day comes along with planning on finishing up this semester well in order to be done with school for a while. A lot of things come into play and prayer is key in order to make sure that my will is according to His will for my life.

Nate said...

This is an interesting chapter. One of the main themes of the chapter is the idea of being dirt poor before being foolish. I wonder how hard this would be for our western world and American society. We thrive off of our wealth and how much we can claim to our fame. And many people will do anything for an extra buck. But as this chapter says, it is better to be in poverty then to be foolish and rich. I wonder how close I would come to being a fool for money. If I am one day extremely impoverished will I put foolishness before wisdom for money?

TWash said...

We live in a culture where material possessions are what shoved in our faces. We are given this false definition of success. Success is measured by what and how much we have. When we have a lot of money and cool things then we get the friends or the guy(s) or the girl(s). Verse 19 talks about how a poor man with integrity versus a rich, crooked spoken fool. We would say that we would want to be the poor man, but how many of us really apply this to our thinking and how we view others?

Krista Harrison said...

Many are the plans of a man but it is the purpose of the LORD that will stand. What is desired in a man is steadfast love and a poor man is better than a liar. The fear of the LORD leads to life, and who ever has it is satisfied...This blog mentions how those who want to know the heart of God will do anything to pursue it. We pray for it, beg for it, ask other people for wisdom on gaining the heart of God. I often pray that God would break my heart for the things that break his heart. Our plans and desire must be filtered though God's word and His genuine love. we have to remember that life comes when we gain the fear of the LORD.

Lisa Griffiths said...

Listen to advice and accept instruction,
that you may gain wisdom in the future.
I love this verse. Probably one of my favorite Proverbs. My dad used to pound this verse into my head when I was younger. I need to be teachable. I love coaching and one thing I desire out of the kids that I coach is a teachable spirit.

Unknown said...

I seem to gravitate towards verse 20 where it says, "Listen to advice and accept instruction, and in the end you will be wise." From my perspective I have many Godly influences around me and many with much more ministry experience than I. For me to not listen or learn from their experiences would be foolhardy. As a student at a Bible College there are many professors and teachers to gain knowledge and wisdom from, take advantage of it while you can. My challenge for myself is to listen closer and take advantage of all the wisdom and experience around me. After all, God placed them here for a reason.

Gabe Vanderstel said...

14. "a house and wealth are inherited from fathers, but a sensible wife is from the Lord"

Money is something that can be possessed through inheritance, but something as important as a spouse is a gift from God. This truth can remind a person of the blessings that God gives. A godly spouse is not something that comes from man, but from God's grace.

Unknown said...

Verse 10 - "Luxury is not fitting for a fool; Much less for a slave to rule over princes." Too many times we want the best of the best or just more 'stuff' instead of being satisfied with 'just enough' as we discussed earlier this semester. This is so easy to get caught up in, but we find when we give to others and say no to the best of the best we find more joy and appreciation in what we already have.

Renee K said...

It is interesting to me to see the verses that talk about the poor person being better than the foolish. There are also verses that talk about how the wealthy have more friends that stick with them than the poor person. It talks of people seeking favor from generous men. It later says a poor man's brother hates him. And then it says it is not fitting for a fool to live in luxury. I feel like either Iam missing the point or I am getting mixed signals in this. If the poor is better than the fool, but the foolish can't handle having wealth, and the wealthy is sought after because of his generosity and the poor man lacks friends than which is it that I should strive to be... but I don't even think this is the right question to ask.. because ultimately it isn't about the poor and the wealthy.. its about being foolish or wise. Wisdom in the end wins out whether one is poor or wealthy.

Rachel said...

"It is not good to have zeal without knowledge..."
Everything we do must have purpose. Not even faith is blind; it is based upon knowledge. What we do and believe must be defended by what we know to be true or what we have been convicted is true; no amount of enthusiasm can make up for a lack of knowledge or wisdom.

Renee said...

It is not good to have zeal without knowledge, nor to be hasty and miss the way.

This verse reminds me of a movie of the Scope's trial that depicted the lawyer against teaching evolution in schools as an ignorantly passionate man. I think that a lot of the time society makes Christians out to be completely stupid though passionate at times. We need to discredit this view by having knowledge of the Bible and having an answer ready for any given situation.

SarahK said...

"A corrupt witness mocks at justice, and the mouth of the wicked gulps down evil" This sort of tells the seriousness of interacting with the law. And would go well with Prov. 6:19 talking about perjury. It would have looked good in my paper. :)

Unknown said...

Verse 3 reminds me that we need to take responsibility for our actions and not look to blame others for our foolishness. That is something I have struggled with and even still do at times. Its important to take responsibility and learn from one's mistakes rather then look to rationalize and look to blame others. Also verse 21 in the ESV version reads "Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand" at this point in my life that is something I am dealing with a lot lately. Its crazy convicting to me how stubborn I am thinking that I know whats best for me when it says it clearly here that it doesnt matter what I think because God is going to get his way regardless. Thats very comforting to know that no matter what I do God knows best and will take care of me. Its just difficult to let go sometimes and that is something I need to keep praying about.

Erin said...

Proverbs 19:2, "It is not good to have zeal without knowledge, nor to be hasty and miss the way." This verse relates to my life by telling me to slow down. I often rush throughout life without looking right in front of me. It's important to consider the consequences and be aware of things that may happen, but to always trust God.

Cody F said...

I thought that verse 4 was very interesting, it almost carries with it the "find out who your friends are" kind of approach. While people with a lot of money have a lot of friends, the poor man's friend would probably do much more for the poor man in compairison. As I thought about it, I couldn't help but be thankful for the friends God has given me.