Proverbs 1 English Standard Version (ESV)
The Beginning of Knowledge
1 The proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel:
2 To know wisdom and instruction,
to understand words of insight,
3 to receive instruction in wise dealing,
in righteousness, justice, and equity;
4 to give prudence to the simple,
knowledge and discretion to the youth—
5 Let the wise hear and increase in learning,
and the one who understands obtain guidance,
6 to understand a proverb and a saying,
the words of the wise and their riddles.
7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge;
fools despise wisdom and instruction.
The Enticement of Sinners
8 Hear, my son, your father’s instruction,
and forsake not your mother’s teaching,
9 for they are a graceful garland for your head
and pendants for your neck.
10 My son, if sinners entice you,
do not consent.
11 If they say, “Come with us, let us lie in wait for blood;
let us ambush the innocent without reason;
12 like Sheol let us swallow them alive,
and whole, like those who go down to the pit;
13 we shall find all precious goods,
we shall fill our houses with plunder;
14 throw in your lot among us;
we will all have one purse”—
15 my son, do not walk in the way with them;
hold back your foot from their paths,
16 for their feet run to evil,
and they make haste to shed blood.
17 For in vain is a net spread
in the sight of any bird,
18 but these men lie in wait for their own blood;
they set an ambush for their own lives.
19 Such are the ways of everyone who is greedy for unjust gain;
it takes away the life of its possessors.
The Call of Wisdom
20 Wisdom cries aloud in the street,
in the markets she raises her voice;
21 at the head of the noisy streets she cries out;
at the entrance of the city gates she speaks:
22 “How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple?
How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing
and fools hate knowledge?
23 If you turn at my reproof,[a]
behold, I will pour out my spirit to you;
I will make my words known to you.
24 Because I have called and you refused to listen,
have stretched out my hand and no one has heeded,
25 because you have ignored all my counsel
and would have none of my reproof,
26 I also will laugh at your calamity;
I will mock when terror strikes you,
27 when terror strikes you like a storm
and your calamity comes like a whirlwind,
when distress and anguish come upon you.
28 Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer;
they will seek me diligently but will not find me.
29 Because they hated knowledge
and did not choose the fear of the Lord,
30 would have none of my counsel
and despised all my reproof,
31 therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way,
and have their fill of their own devices.
32 For the simple are killed by their turning away,
and the complacency of fools destroys them;
33 but whoever listens to me will dwell secure
and will be at ease, without dread of disaster.”
I don’t know about you, but when I look around the world, our country, even in my circle of friends, the dread of disaster is a real thing. It would be so easy to get lost in the horrific events taking place on a daily basis. Refugees, Christians imprisioned for their faith, cancer, abortion, earthquakes, terrorism…..it’s really all too much.
I’m not implying that we should ignore the disasters in this world…we should pray like heck for them and those affected by them, but if we are in Christ, we do not need to feel dread.
This verse tells us that if we listen to God and His wisdom, we will dwell secure and be at ease without the dread of disaster.
Will hard times come? Absolutely.
But if we are His, and we listen to His Word in the Bible, we can dwell secure. And notice, the verse doesn’t say you can, doesn’t say you might…it say you will.
That’s a promise!
But it does have a condition…you must listen to Him. And sometimes, that is hard. Especially when the waves of dread of disaster are churning around you. I get that. I’ve been there before, and I’ll probably be there again. But the blessing is, as we seek God, He will be found. He is there, waiting for you to turn to Him, read His Word, pray to Him. He will not disappoint. He will not let you down. He will be your peace.
If you seek Him…and listen.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t find security in this world. But I am so grateful that because I have Jesus as my Savior, I can dwell in His security, knowing that nothing will snatch me from His hand.
“If you seek Him and listen …” Yes! God help me to remember that all day today! Thank you for this post! (found you on write31days)
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Thanks Rachel! Trying to remember this as well.
When God says write, I’m learning I better write. That’s my journey too Melissa! Glad you are being obedient this year and listening to what God is calling you to do. Blessings and good luck in your 31 day adventure from #5 in faith 🙂
Amen! 🙂 Thank God for the Hope we have in Him. 🙂
We’d be lost without it! I’m ever so thankful as our world seems darker by the day.
Amen to that! I can’t believe how up in arms some of my Christian friends are over politics right now. We know how the story ends!
I say that all the time Melissa! We know how it all ends and we know who ‘wins’. We also know it’s got to get worse before it gets better. I’m thankful for knowing the Truth!
‘I can dwell in his security’ what a beautiful image, I’m excited to read along Melissa x
Thanks Rachel! I’m excited that you’re coming along!!!
Thanks Melissa for taking a moment to remind us that God has the ultimate source of wisdom – and thank God for it. This world has much of nothing to offer us if we want to live wisely based on God’s words – the word loves money, power, and those such things. Funny how thousand of years later it’s the same way, but MUCH worse. The only thing constant is that our God’s words are true and they will stand firm forever, unchanging and giving his children hope of an eternity in heaven. Thanks again! Have a blessed day!
Thank you Tina!
Melissa, I promise I didn’t read but I had to come over and see how you were set up. LOL! Let’s read each other’s in November???!!! xo
Absolutely!!! ?