Straightforward

Greetings everyone. Let’s begin our Bible Study through the book of Proverbs by turning to chapter 12 and begin reading in verse 1. We’ve already come this far through the book, so we’ll pick up the Bible Study here in Proverbs 12:1.

1 Whoso loves instruction loves knowledge:—

In other words, an attitude of being teachable, an attitude of wanting to learn, being careful who the teacher is and being careful what knowledge is being taught—all that is required—but if we have an attitude of wanting to learn and wanting to grow in understanding and we’re teachable, we’re going to receive a lot of knowledge. That’s what it’s saying.

1 Whoso loves instruction loves knowledge:—

But notice here:

1 —but he that hates reproof is brutish.

“I don’t want to be corrected. I don’t want to be instructed. I don’t want to receive any kind of direction.” And that’s the attitude that is wrong. If we have that attitude—we hate reproof, we hate correction, we hate direction, we hate instruction—we’re referred to as brutish. And you know, a better translation in the Hebrew, the word is even stronger than that. It’s very strong. The word is stupid.

But he that hates reproof is stupid, is what the Bible says in chapter 12 in verse 1, and frankly, it’s true. Because if we’re not willing to be taught, if we’re not willing to learn, and if we’re not willing to be corrected when we’re wrong, we’re being ridiculous and foolish and therefore we’ll pay dearly for that.

2 A good man obtains favor of the Lord:—

a good woman, a good person, someone who is just basically wanting to do the right thing

2 —but a man of wicked devices—

or wicked intentions

2 —will he condemn.

You see, God does not overlook any kind of evil. He takes note of every evil and then He deals with it. He also takes note of every good thing and He blesses it. So we have to keep that in mind. And if we do as we live our lives, we realize everything we do counts, and therefore life becomes very interesting and exciting. Whether people know about it or don’t know about it, when we do the right thing, God notices and He blesses us. Whether people know about it or don’t know about it, when we do the wrong thing, God notices and there will be a penalty. Therefore, our choices and our decisions are very important and how we live our lives is very, very interesting and fulfilling because everything counts one way or the other.

3 A man shall not be established by wickedness:—

Made secure by wickedness. It’s just not going to happen. That’s like trying to build a house on shifting sand. It won’t work, it’ll collapse.

3 —but the root of the righteous shall not be moved.

The foundation is solid. The roots go down deep. They receive nourishment and they get stronger and stronger. Why? Because they are rooted and grounded, and the foundation of the righteous is in God’s word and God’s way and based on what God wants. And so they cannot be moved by the pulls and tugs and tossings to and fro that life brings.

4 A virtuous woman—

An excellent wife, a woman of valor, a woman of quality, a woman that has standards and values—look at this:

4 —is a crown to her husband:—

“A virtuous woman is a crown to her husband.” She’s a blessing to him. She is a helpmeet. She enables him to succeed. She backs him up. She contributes to his success. She encourages him. She inspires him. She does everything that she can for him so that he then can do much better in all that he does and therefore the whole family, the marriage, the children, the home; everybody is blessed as a result of that.

4 A virtuous woman is a crown to her husband: but she that makes ashamed is as rottenness in his bones.

A woman who disregards going the right way, disregards what God says, a woman who gets caught up in the wrong thing, in being around the wrong people and ending up having the wrong conduct—it settles in and it’s just like a painful disease in the bones. And it begins to pull the man down, wear the man down, wear the family down, wear the whole household down, and the end result is a disaster.

So women are very precious in God’s sight and they’re very precious to their husbands and they’re very precious to their children, and when they step up and conduct themselves in a godly way, the value and the appreciation and the praise that will come toward them cannot even be estimated. They are extremely important to the success of a family, of a marriage, of a home. And they are someone that the husbands will be so happy and inspired and thrilled and pleased with—a crown to her husband, like a crown sitting on his head in terms of admiration and in terms of recognition and in terms of positive things.

5 The thoughts of the righteous are right: but the counsels of the wicked are deceit.

They’re just not interested in thinking right thoughts, they’re not interested in doing right things. But you know, in terms of the righteous, it’s not just a matter that their conduct and their actions are right. Their thoughts, the way they think is right because as a man thinks, so is he. Actions flow from thoughts. So if our minds and our thoughts are in the right place, then our actions will be right.

6 The words of the wicked are to lie in wait for blood:—

Imagine that! People can actually descend down into the gutter to the point to where they just love to wait until they can shed blood and cause violence. Sometimes it’s one individual, sometimes it’s a gang.

6 —but the mouth of the upright shall deliver them.

So even though sometimes the upright can get into trouble, because their thoughts are right, their words will be right and therefore, with God’s help, they can be delivered from what otherwise could be a very serious situation.

7 The wicked are overthrown,—

They may not look like they’re going to be overthrown. They may look like nothing can stop them. They may look like they’re just growing and blossoming and succeeding hand over fist. But sooner or later, it will catch up and the piper will have to be paid, and the penalty sets in for the wickedness, and then what happens? The wicked are overthrown. They can be nobodies, they can be high profile, they can be mighty people that seem like they’re untouchable, but they are not untouchable. They will be overthrown and they are no more, they

7 —are not: but the house of the righteous shall stand.

It will endure the changing times. It will endure the storms of life, it will endure the ups and downs that come along in the generation of the family or in the lifetime of the individuals because they’re trying to do the right thing, and therefore God looks after them. So let’s choose that in our homes, in our marriages, in our families and in our lives. Because the house of the righteous shall stand. Their legacy shall stand, their posterity shall stand, their offspring will have a great opportunity, if they will but follow up on that opportunity, to perpetuate the right way of life they learn from the righteous.

8 A man shall be commended—

or praised

8 —according to his wisdom:—

And that’s more important than being praised because of money, praised because of talent, praised because of athleticism. To be praised according to wisdom, that is a wonderful thing especially if it’s godly wisdom.

8 —but he that is of a perverse heart shall be despised.

That’s right. Someone who twists things, someone who is filthy-minded or filthy in the way they talk, someone who is twisted and perverted and weird and strange and off-the-wall and unbalanced and comes up with dumb, stupid, crazy things—sooner or later, they’re not going to be liked. They’re going to be despised. People don’t want to have anything to do with them. After a while, they will realize, they’re wasting their time hanging around someone like that.

9 He that is despised,—

A better translation should read, “He that is lightly esteemed.” In other words, they’re not really that well-known and they’re not really held in that high a regard, but just some regard.

9 —and hath a servant, is better than he that honors himself,—

brags on himself, struts and prances, and promotes and draws attention to himself

9 —and lacks bread.

Think about it. And there are people like that. There are people who are thought of all right, and yet they have a possession or they have an employee and therefore they can get more done. They’re better off even though they’re lightly esteemed—they have some help—than someone who just honors himself and promotes himself and is full of vanity and pride and tries to get others to be impressed and yet doesn’t even have enough to eat. Which of the two would you choose?

10 A righteous man regards the life of his beast:—

You know, God does not want anyone to neglect their animals. You hear about animal cruelty. There’s a balance here. Some people put their animals on a pedestal and almost worship them—treat them like human beings. That isn’t right. They’re animals. But on the other hand, others, they don’t take care of their animals. They won’t water them properly, they won’t feed them properly, they overwork them, they beat them, they’re cruel to them, and that’s something that God is totally and completely against. It’s an abomination in His sight.

10 A righteous man regards the life of his beast:—

He’s going to look after feeding them; he’s going to look after getting them out of the cold. So you see, if we can’t take care of a dog or a cat or a bird or cattle or horses or any kind of animals, then we ought not have them. But if we’re going to have them, we better make sure we’re going to properly take care of them, if we’re going to please God.

10 A righteous man regards the life of his beast: but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel.

If the wicked have any mercy at all, their very best mercy is still cruel because they’re so wicked. Even if they think they’re being merciful, in actual fact, they’re so wicked, even their mercy is not even merciful. It’s cruel. That’s the kind of mercy that the wicked people or a wicked person has. It really ends up, because they’re wicked, it really ends up being cruel.

11 He that tills his land—

or works or cultivates his crops

11 —shall be satisfied with bread:—

We have to do things if we want to produce things. And when it comes to work, good solid labor always is profitable. So many people are lazy. They don’t want to work. They want other people to work, and yet they want the fruit of the work. They want the results of good hard work, and yet God’s way is work hard and enjoy the fruit of your labor. He that cultivates his land shall be satisfied with bread.

11 —but he that follows—

worthless persons or worthless sayings

11 —vain persons is void of understanding.

In other words, instead of going out and plowing the field and then planting the field and then cultivating the field, and then reaping the crop and therefore enjoying the results of that, this individual—this vain person who follows other vain people—he can’t ever get around to doing that. And when he finally does get around to doing it, he does it late, and then when he finally does get around to doing it late, he ends up not really having a crop or not really having a good crop, and therefore he ends up losing money.

It’s just the way it is. And if you look around, whether you’re talking about someone who is a mechanic or a painter or a homemaker or a truck driver, in whatever profession you want to look at, the principles brought out here apply. You have to put in the work if you’re going to get the results. If you don’t put in the work, you can sit and muse and wish and hope, but you’re not going to have the results.

12 The wicked desires the net of evil men: but the root of the righteous yields fruit.

A better translation would be, verse 12: “The wicked covet the catch of evil men, but the root of the righteous yields fruit.” Because it’s in good ground, it gets watered, it gets cultivated and bears fruit.

But the wicked, they just sit around wishing that they could get what evil men get and not have to work for it, and yet they still get it. And quite often, it has to do with taking something from somebody else. Stealing and robbing and all of that, instead of working for what they have, and where can you go with that? You end up on a dead end street. You end up nowhere. And so therefore we must make sure that we don’t buy into that attitude and end up being that way. The wicked—that’s the category we want to stay away from.

13 The wicked is snared by the transgression of his lips: but the just shall come out of trouble.

You know people that talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, and then you begin to see contradictions, you begin to see exaggerations, you begin to see lies, you begin to see things that just don’t add up. Well, eventually that individual who is like that is going to be caught. They’re going to be revealed for what they are—bogus. They’re going to be shown for what they are—liars. A person who lies then tells other lies to cover up those lies, and then they tell other lies to cover up all the other lies, and they become just liars. And then, it says right here, they’re going to get caught. And when they’re caught, then they have no credibility. Nobody believes them, nobody wants to have anything to do with them.

So what’s the answer? The answer is always tell the truth. Always get your facts straight. Always make sure that you know what you’re talking about, and then make sure that what you’re saying is accurate, and if you do that, then the results will be wonderful and God will bless you. And if you have the attitude of the just, as it says in verse 13, even though there may be trouble coming your way, God will see to it that you come of it.

14 A man shall be satisfied with good by the fruit of his mouth: and the recompence of a man’s hands shall be rendered unto him.

Well, you know, we can talk about verse 14 for a long time. Once again, this is practical Christian living. This is fulfilling God’s purpose in life spiritually and physically if we do what verse 14 says. If we have good words and if we live our lives in the right way and if we work hard, we’re going to have wonderful results, both spiritually and physically. So that’s what God wants us to do and He will help us to do that.

Verse 15, very important verse:

15 The way of a fool is right in his own eyes:—

Do you know of anybody who is that way? I mean, they’re just always right. They know everything. And it doesn’t matter what subject you want to bring up, when they start talking, that’s it. They know. That’s it. They’re right. And something can be pointed out to them or brought up to them or suggested to them, and that doesn’t matter; they still know in their own mind that they’re right. They just know it all, they’re just are right. Well, you know what God calls an individual like that? He calls them a fool.

15 The way of a fool is right in his own eyes: but he that hearkens unto counsel is wise.

Someone who will listen to suggestions, someone who will take counsel, someone who will consider other people’s ideas. But a fool won’t do that. One of the hardest things for human beings to do is to admit they’re wrong, to go ahead and say, “You know what, I was wrong. I shouldn’t have done that. I shouldn’t have said that. I shouldn’t have gone that way.”

When we come to the point to where we will actually admit when we’re wrong and actually change when we’re wrong, we’re maturing and we’re beginning to head into the direction of drawing close to God and we’re lining our lives up to be blessed and to be happy and to have peace. But if we just insist on going our own way and talking ourselves into thinking that we’re just always right, then verse 15 says, we are a fool.

16 A fool’s wrath is presently known: but a prudent man covers shame.

In other words, you don’t have to wait very long to see when a fool is mad. When a fool gets angry, he has a short fuse. He doesn’t care who’s around and he doesn’t care who sees it and he doesn’t care who’s hurt. He’s going to let that anger boil up and he’s going to vent his rage.

16 —but a prudent man covers shame.

He might feel like getting mad, he might feel like saying something or doing something that wouldn’t be good, but he’s prudent and he’s steady and he’s mature and so he settles down, throttles back and doesn’t do that. He will cover the shame instead of just letting it all hang out.

17 He that speaks truth shows forth righteousness: but a false witness deceit.

We live in a society, in a world now that is just filled with liars and filled with lying as a way of life. It’s all a matter of, you know, if you can get by with it. I mean, there are exceptions to this. There are still people who really try to tell the truth, people who want to live the truth, people who want to be truthful, and that’s wonderful.

But a growing segment of the human race is getting to where lying comes easy, and they’re not bothered by it and so therefore they just go ahead and lie when the truth would be easier. Well, the Bible talks about that. A false witness is deceitful. He that speaks truth shows forth righteousness, but a false witness shows forth deceit. It doesn’t work, it’ll catch up, it’ll bring problems.

18 There is that speaks like the piercings of a sword: but the tongue of the wise is health.

In other words, one who cuts and one who is sarcastic and one who hurts and wounds by what they say and the way they say it. Are you that way? Am I that way? We need to ask ourselves. How do we talk to other people? Do we show them respect? Do we show them courteous type of discussion or type of communication that they deserve? How are our words? And what is the tone of our voice?

If we love our neighbor, we’re going to show respect, we’re going to be courteous, we’re going to make sure that our words are like health and promote health and they do good when we speak. They don’t pierce like a sword, but rather they encourage and inspire and appreciate and settle and comfort. What a wonderful thing when words are used properly.

19 The lip of truth shall be established forever: but a lying tongue is but for a moment.

That’s right. Truth stands. It just endures, it just keeps on going. But lying does not stand. It may look like it’s going to, but it’ll be wiped out.

20 Deceit is in the heart of them that imagine evil: but to the counselors of peace is joy.

What kind of counselor are you? What kind of counselor am I? Do we counsel peace? Do we counsel concern and feelings for others? Do we counsel not hatred and not violence, but settle it in a Christian way. I hope so, and I hope we take that kind of counseling.

21 There shall no evil happen—

no grave trouble, no lasting sorrow happen

21 —to the just: but the wicked shall be filled with—

Trouble. Their lives are just littered with it.

22 Lying lips are abomination to the Lord: but they that deal truly are his delight.

You hear things like, “Well, it’s just a little white lie.” What is a little white lie? There’s no such thing as a little white lie. They’re all black lies and they’re all big, and God says they’re all an abomination. And so therefore we need to make sure that we do not lie and that we do not tell lies. And if we are doing that, we better repent and quit doing it. And we can. And then tell the truth and enjoy the results of it, and God will be delighted.

23 A prudent man conceals knowledge: but the heart of fools proclaim foolishness.

They just blat out and blate out everything, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. They’re obnoxious. But a prudent man won’t tell just everything all the time and push what they know on others. Their timing is right and they know when to speak and when to be quiet, and how much to say and then say the rest later. That’s a prudent man.

24 The hand of the diligent shall bear rule: but the slothful shall be under tribute.

So, someone who shows up on time, who works hard all day and sometimes stays over a little bit when the job needs to get done, someone who is dependable, someone who carries out their responsibilities cheerfully, day in, day out, day in, day out—you’re going to see that they are promoted and they are successful.

But the lazy and the indolent and those who always come up with excuses, then they’re going to be put to forced labor. They’re always going to be just given menial jobs, they won’t go anywhere and they’ll be under the rule of others. So therefore diligence is an important virtue that we need to work at.

25 Heaviness in the heart of man makes it stoop: but a good word makes it glad.

You know how people can be discouraged. You know how things can weigh down on other people or weigh down on you, and then someone can come along and smile and give you hope, give you encouragement, give you a compliment—it just picks you right up. And we can do that to other people. I’m not talking about silly flattery or, you know, not meaning something or just trying to take advantage of someone else by pumping them up and not meaning it.

But I’m talking about sincere encouragement, sincere concern, sincere appreciation, sincere care for the other person. It just picks a person up when it can look pretty hopeless because of a death in the family or because of being fired from a job or because of some kind of sickness. So think about that in verse 25 and let’s see if we can spread a little warmth and happiness and joy, and help one another. Even when we might see someone who is down, we can still help them up. That’s what verse 25 is saying.

26 The righteous is more excellent than his neighbor: but the way of the wicked seduces them.

Well a better translation in verse 26 is: “The righteous should choose his friends carefully, for the wicked leads them astray.” So we need to carefully choose our friends, and we need to make sure that we’re going to be with friends who keep on trying to grow and do the right thing. If we choose wickedness or if our kids choose wicked people, or our teenagers choose to be around wicked people, they run the risk of being led astray. We need to be alert to that.

27 The slothful man roasts not that which he took in hunting: but the substance of a diligent man is precious.

In other words, just killing for the sake of killing—shooting a deer and leaving it out on the field, catching a fish and leaving it on the bank—we don’t do that if we’re really going to be diligent. If we shoot a deer in season properly, we will take the meat and we will properly care for that meat and we will serve it and eat it. Or if we catch a fish, we’ll either put it back or we’ll take it home and we’ll clean it and we’ll look after it. And that principle applies to anything we have, lawnmowers, cars, a house, a yard, anything. We take care of the substance that God blesses us with. It’s precious and therefore it lasts, and we don’t have to just get into this cycle of buying, buying, buying because we’re careless, careless, careless with what God blesses us with.

28 In the way of righteousness is life; and in the pathway thereof there is no death.

As we’ve said so many times going through this book of Proverbs, we have to choose the direction we’re going in, and with God’s help walk down the right path. And what is going to be the result of that? Happiness along the way and eternal life at the end. As opposed to that is choosing the wrong path and having a few thrills along the way, and what is at the end of the path? Death. Eternal death. We don’t want to make that choice. We want to make the choice of going the way of righteousness, which leads to life.

That brings us to chapter 13, so we’ll stop there and come back to chapter 13 next time.

This is Charles Bryce with the Enduring Church of God.