Straightforward

Greetings everyone. Let’s begin the Bible Study today in Chapter 19 of Proverbs. Proverbs 19:1:

1 Better is the poor that walks in his integrity, than he that is perverse in his lips, and is a fool.

In other words, whether you’re rich or poor, the best thing to do is to have integrity and veracity. A fool can think he has security and a position of power, and yet if his mind is twisted and his words are twisted, he is much worse off than the poor that walks in his integrity.

In other words, here is Solomon inspired by God pointing out that we have two choices in life, and the choice we want to follow is that of integrity, not of foolishness. Even though that might be the easier choice, or seemingly so for a while, it’ll turn out not very well. In fact, it’ll turn out to be a disaster.

2 Also, that the soul be without knowledge, it is not good; and he that hasteth with his feet sins.

God wants us to have knowledge. He wants us to have understanding. He wants us to think before we act and speak. He wants us to make decisions based on a good, solid, sound foundation of true knowledge, and that’s when things go well. But when we are quick to rush to judgment, when we are of the mind that we’re going to be like a hair trigger on our observations and conclusions, we can end up sinning. That’s all it means here when it says—

2 —he that hasteth with his feet sins.

It’s not talking about somebody who runs fast. It’s talking about somebody who acts quickly, someone who reaches a conclusion too abruptly, someone who is too quick to judge and does not get all the facts, does not take their time, does not practice the attitude of being deliberate. Someone who arrives at a conclusion rather than jumps at a conclusion is what He is encouraging us to do here. So the soul that is without knowledge is not good and then the follow–up to that is—

2 —he that hasteth with his feet sins.

Means a rash decision, an impulsive act, too quick to reach a conclusion and to perform a deed or to make comments. We need to be careful. We need to be cautious. We need to be deliberate. We need to be steady. We need to be concerned with getting the facts and speaking the truth and therefore making good decisions and reaching good conclusions.

Otherwise we could end up hurting others and actually end up sinning because we jumped too quickly and acted irrationally or rashly.

3 The foolishness of man perverts his way:—

or twists his way

3 —and his heart frets against the Eternal.

You’ve seen people like this where somebody will do something that’s ridiculous or stupid or dumb or ill–advised or ill–conceived, and it turns out badly. But instead of taking a look at themselves and asking, “What did I do wrong so I won’t make this mistake again?”, they’ll start blaming others and in some cases even blaming God.

3 —and his heart frets—

Or blames or complains or points the finger against the Eternal. Instead of saying, “Well, you know, I’m the one who made the mistake and I’m the one who has to suffer the consequences and I’m the one who needs to learn the lesson so that I won’t do this anymore.”

No, what this verse is pointing out is that there are people who just say, “It’s all God’s fault. God didn’t help me. God didn’t deliver me. God allowed me to do this. God did this to me.” When in fact they did it to themselves because of their foolishness. We better be careful about blaming God. In fact, we better never do that.

We better submit to God, serve God, obey God, thank God, and learn from God because He’s not the one who creates the problems for us. We create the problems for ourselves or allow other people to create the problems for us. God is the one who delivers us from our problems when we repent and ask Him to and start obeying Him.

4 Wealth makes many friends; but the poor is separated from his neighbor.

And even from his friend. This is the way it is in society today. People might not be popular at all and yet you let them begin to get money, all of a sudden, friends come out of the woodwork. You’ve probably seen this when someone might win a big lottery or some kind of big stake or gift or something—receive a huge amount of money. They might have been unknown, they might have been isolated, they might not have had very many friends, and now all of a sudden, it’s amazing how many kinfolks they have and how many friends they have. And all those supposed friends are doing is coming to them so they can get some of what they have. They’re simply coming for the money. They’re simply coming for the wealth. They’re simply coming for what this person who has all of this can do for them. They’re not coming as a friend of the person, and yet you know the amazing thing about all of that? Quite often the wealthy person doesn’t even see that. Now quite often they do see that, not always though. And sometimes they’ll see it in some people but not see it in other people. Instead of wondering where’s the catch? There are strings attached here. What’s the motive here? Quite often they’ll just think, “Oh well, look at all these friends I have.” Instead of realizing, “They’re just fair–weather friends wanting what I’ve got.”

A true friend will be there whether you’re wealthy or not. A true friend will be there when you’re poor and they’ll be there when you are better off. But friends who are just out to get something are not friends at all.

4 —but the poor is separated from his neighbor.

How many people flock to a poor person? They flock to wealthy people. But if someone is poor, instead of appreciating their integrity or appreciating their character or appreciating their true friendship or their warmth or their caring attitude—and not all poor are that way, but a number of them are—instead of appreciating that, they just say “Well, I don’t want to have anything to do with that guy. He hasn’t got anything I want. He doesn’t have anything he can give me.” And so the poor lose friends and maybe even lose family.

But the rich, oh, they gain friends and gain family. It’s not God’s way, and yet that’s the way it is in this society today. You know of examples where people might have money and then they lose the money and when they had money, they had friends and when they lost the money, they don’t have friends anymore. Or you might know people who had no money and now they have money. And when they had no money, no friends. Got money, now there are friends. It’s all hypocrisy. It’s all just a matter of deception and get, and it’s the world’s way and Satan’s way. It is not God’s way.

True friendship is there regardless of the circumstance, as long as the person is trying to do the right thing. No matter what they have or don’t have, a true friend will be there for that person, and I hope that’s the kind of friend we are and I hope that’s the kind of friends that we have.

5 A false witness shall not be unpunished, and he that speaks lies shall not escape.

Generally speaking, a witness is something that’s done in public and lies can be done in public too, but quite often, lies are done in private. But either way, both are the same. God does not approve of either. In fact He despises the actions of a false witness and He despises the actions of a liar. In fact He despises both of them so much—because, frankly, both of them break the ninth commandment, “You shall not bear false witness.”—He despises that so much, and lying so much, that He says that if the person does not repent and change, and they just set in and become cemented in that attitude and firmly implanted in that approach of lying and of being a false witness, God tells us in other verses in the Bible that if they don’t repent and change, ultimately they’ll be put in the Lake of Fire and destroyed. That’s how much He despises that kind of action! And in life as that individual goes along through life, it says here, they shall not be unpunished. They are breaking the Ten Commandments, they are breaking the law and there will be a penalty to pay and it’ll be very, very painful.

5 —and he that speaks lies shall not escape.

Oh, it may look like they’re getting away with it but they’re not going to get away with it. The penalty and the punishment will come.

6 Many will entreat the favor of the prince: and every man is a friend to him that gives gifts.

Once again, politics. You see this, this kind of political maneuvering and manipulating. Someone who’s in a position of power, oh boy, all of a sudden people just want to grab his attention and get his favor and flatter him with gifts and flatter him with compliments and be his buddy and be his friend because he’s got something they want. He’s got power. He can make things happen for them.

Whereas before he had that power as a leader, as a prince, they might not have had any time for him and they might not have given him the time of day.

6 —and every man is a friend to him that gives gifts.

Because they want the gifts. It’s not because they want to be friends. You know what we’re seeing here as we go through the book of Proverbs here in Chapter 19? We’re seeing God inspire Solomon to properly analyze the way the world is and the way human nature is and the way the attitude is among mankind today.

It’s all about self. It’s all about me. It’s all about getting from you what I can, anytime I can, anyway I can. And if it has to do with flattery, if it has to do with political maneuvering, if it has to do with lying or deceiving in order to get it, then so be it. That’s the attitude that’s being pointed out here and we ought to really give some thought to that, that’s being pointed out here, to that knowledge that God is inspiring us to understand here from this book. We ought to pay attention to that and make sure that we’re not ever going to be that way. Make sure that we want to avoid that attitude, avoid that approach.

We don’t want to have the attitude of getting something from somebody else. We don’t want to have the attitude of playing the game so that we can benefit, but rather that’s being hypocritical, rather than be that way, we want to be completely honest. We want to be completely sincere and we want to make sure that we conduct ourselves in a way—whether it’s with a friend or a foe or anyone—that is absolutely transparent and absolutely correct and absolutely guided by integrity, so that what you see is what you get. That’s love. That’s loving your neighbor. That’s what God says we are to do.

7 All the brethren of the poor do hate him: how much more do his friends go far from him? he pursues them with words, yet they are wanting to him.

Or they abandon him. Isn’t that disgusting? And yet isn’t that what we see in our society today? Even family members turn on other family members if they’re poor, if they don’t have two pennies to rub together, if they’re barely making it, if they barely have enough money to put food on the table. Now some of the family members will be there and stand by them and help them, absolutely.

But even in families, there are examples where family members will abandon other family members when they come on bad times and they might need help, and it’s looking like they’re going to be in tough straits for a while. Now if that’s true and it is.

7 —how much more do his friends go far from him?—

And you know, “With friends like that, who needs enemies?” as the old saying goes.

We need to cultivate friendships that will last a lifetime, and that’s pretty tough to do and you won’t ever have too many friends that’ll be that way, that’ll be there for you for a lifetime. But if you do have friends like that, they’re not going to base that friendship on what you have or what you don’t have and whether you’re poor or not. They’re going to base it on your character and base it on loving you and caring for you, and hopefully that’s the kind of friend you are and the kind of friend I am.

And it goes on to say in verse 7, when that happens he can go to them and say, “What’s the matter? What’s wrong? I thought we were friends. Why are you leaving me? Why won’t you have something to do with me?" She might say, “Well, we used to talk a lot. We used to do things together. Now you don’t want to have anything to do with me. Why are you doing this?” And they’ll come up with all kinds of excuses, but the fact remains in all too many cases, they simply abandon the poor. And they’ll come up with an excuse, but the reason they are abandoning the poor, or abandoning those who fall on hard times, is because they no longer have anything that they want or that they can get. They, meaning “their supposed friends.”

You look around and see if what Proverbs is pointing out here is not absolutely correct, and this was written 3,000 years ago. It’s right up to date and even ahead of its time.

And as you look around and see if this isn’t true—and you’ll find it is true—then let’s make sure that we learn from this and let’s make sure that we’re not a friend like this or a family member like this, and that we don’t cultivate friends like this—but rather good friendships and good relationships with our family—and that we are there for our friends and for our family in time of need, as well as in time of plenty.

8 He that gets wisdom loves his own soul: and he that keeps understanding shall find good.

There’s a lot about wisdom in the Bible and a lot about wisdom in this book of Proverbs, and it plainly tells us here that if we cry out for wisdom, if we seek wisdom, if we develop wisdom, and it takes a long time to really acquire true wisdom. I mean, we can ask for wisdom and God will begin to give it to us and we can begin to think about wisdom and trying to conduct ourselves in a wise way and we’ll begin to build a reservoir of wisdom. But it’s not a quick fix. It’s not like fast food. Character, wisdom, things that really last and are worthwhile, they’re not easy to come by and they require a history of developing and building and laying down a pattern and a trend in the right direction.

So the sooner we can get going on getting wisdom and retaining it, the better. And as we do that, we’re doing ourselves a big favor and we’re really helping our lives and the lives of others now and in the future.

8 —he that keeps understanding—

Not only do we want understanding, we want to retain it. We have to keep it. We don’t want to get it and then lose it, then get it, then lose it. We want to keep it.

8 —he that keeps understanding—

Not only gets it, but keeps understanding, and day by day enriches it and strengthens it, shall find good. It’ll take him in the right direction, or her in the right direction, and good things will come from that because out of understanding flows good decisions, good attitudes, and good results.

9 A false witness shall not be unpunished, and he that speaks lies shall perish.

Once again, God hates lies and He hates someone who practices being a false witness because it hurts other people. He says that Satan is a liar and the father of it. Lying, and being a false witness, tears down. It destroys. It wreaks havoc. It brings pain and suffering and hurt on everybody concerned. It complicates everything and clutters up life. And the one who is a false witness and who is a liar also suffers tremendous pain and sorrow because laws are broken and punishments descend like a tremendous avalanche right on top of the person and on top of the people that they are misleading.

So punishment will come to a false witness, and ultimately he that speaks lies, if there’s not a change, they will perish.

10 Delight is not seemly for a fool; much less for a servant to have rule over princes.

You’ve seen foolish people—people who are shallow, people who are empty–headed—get something luxurious. And that’s a better translation: “Luxury is not fitting for a fool.” They don’t know what to do with it. It just doesn’t square. The two don’t fit. Someone who is silly and goofy and has no depth and no intellect and doesn’t have any kind of character and any kind of balance, but is kind of empty–headed and someone who doesn’t grasp what counts. They don’t think big. They don’t consider their actions. They not only live from day to day, they live almost from minute to minute. They’re just victims of their own glandular reactions quite often. They’re just fools.

Well, for them to come into a luxurious situation is not a good thing. It doesn’t fit. They’ll buy a car, then they’ll buy another car, then they’ll buy another car that they don’t need. They’ll buy a house then another house then another house that they don’t need. And then they’ll wreck that house and then go wreck the other house, go wreck the other house. They’ll spend money on this and that and the other thing, and just throw it away and it doesn’t work.

10 —much less for a servant to have rule over princes.

If you have a really good prince, and you have a really lousy servant and somehow or the other they maneuver their way into having authority over that prince, it complicates everything. It creates awkwardness. It creates confusion. It is not a proper situation. It doesn’t fit. It doesn’t work. It’s going to be trouble for everybody.

And God wants things done right. He wants things done in a way that is decent and in order. And when you take a fool and you give them luxury, it’s not going to be used in a decent and orderly way. And when you put a servant over a prince, it is an upside down way of setting things in order. And it happens in our society today. It’s happened throughout history, and you might know of a case in your neighborhood where this takes place. And you will see, if it’s true that you do know of a case of this, you will see what verse 10 is talking about.

In other words, God is a God of propriety. He is a God of protocol, but not stiff about it. He wants things done decently and in order, and we need to think that way also and we need to have priorities in our life as well. And we need to use wisdom and common sense in setting our life right and in meeting our responsibilities and then moving forward, and that’s not always done. It’s very seldom ever done in our society because people don’t keep God in the picture. And when you see it done in our society, you will see that people do try to figure out what works and what is the right thing even though they can’t take it all the way to where they could if God was a part of the process. They do better than a fool, and they do better than someone who has not stayed in his place but has been put in a position where he’s ruling over those that he has no authority and no right and no experience to lead or to rule over. And it doesn’t work out well when those situations are extant.

11 The discretion of a man defers his anger; and it is his glory to pass over a transgression.

Or in other words, the discretion of a man makes him slow to anger and it is his glory to overlook a transgression. Here’s a man of quality or a woman of class. Here’s an individual who has some maturity and depth, and instead of being so quick to get mad, so quick to lose their temper, so quick to operate out of anger or have the proclivity to being quick to get mad, quick to blow off steam, quick to spout and vent. That complicates their lives, and it will create trouble for them and for others.

But if there is discretion there, if there is wisdom there, if there is maturity there, if the individual thinks the way that God thinks, he’s going to slow down the anger. He’s going to be very, very careful and cautious and slow about venting and spouting and spewing and shooting from the hip, and therefore then it’ll turn out much better. And he might deal with a transgression, but he’s not going to publicize it. And sometimes if it’s a transgression that can kind of take care of itself, he’ll just simply leave it and pass on over it and let it pass. And if there is a problem where a trend sets in and a pattern sets in, he’ll deal with it on that basis. But he won’t get so picky and petty that he’s just jumping on whoever is around him, or whoever he’s responsible for, for every little thing. That’s the lesson of verse 11.

12 The king's wrath

We need to respect authority. We need to respect those in positions of authority. We don’t need to get them mad at us, stir up trouble with them and do things that unnecessarily bring their anger down on us. That’s just not smart. Whether it’s a school teacher or a bus driver or a boss or a mayor or whoever it might be in that authority—the President of the United States or the Prime Minister of Britain, etc—because when they get mad, they have the authority to deal out some pretty tough justice, so to speak.

12 —but his favor is as dew upon the grass.

When we do things that are right and good and then pleasing, to above all the King of kings, Jesus Christ, and then to those around us, that could be a very pleasant situation. So why not go that way? It doesn’t mean we play politics. It doesn’t mean we compromise with God’s law. It means we are diligent and we carry out our responsibilities, and it is a favorable thing to those in authority if those in authority know what to look for.

But if we are not carrying out our responsibilities, we can incur the wrath of those in authority and that could be like a roaring lion. So who wants that? That’s dumb to bring that about just out of recklessness or foolishness.

Okay, so we’ll stop there with verse 12 and pick it up at Proverbs 19:13 next time.

This is Charles Bryce with the Enduring Church of God.