Remove The Dross From The Silver

Proverbs 25:3-5 – As the heavens are high and the earth is deep, so the hearts of kings are unsearchable. Remove the dross from the silver, and a silversmith can produce a vessel; remove wicked officials from the king’s presence, and his throne will be established through righteousness.

Proverbs 21:1 – In the Lord’s hand the king’s heart is a stream of water that he channels toward all who please him.

Zechariah 13:8-9 – In the whole land,” declares the Lord, “two-thirds will be struck down and perish; yet one-third will be left in it. This third I will put into the fire; I will refine them like silver and test them like gold. They will call on my name and I will answer them; I will say, ‘They are my people,’ and they will say, ‘The Lord is our God.’”

Malachi 3:2 – But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap.

Application:

• ·         God controls the lives and actions even of kings, such as Nebuchadnezzar and Cyrus.
• ·         “One-third” is a remnant, thus revealing God’s mercy in the midst of judgment.
• ·         The remnant (Israel) will be restored to proper covenant relationship with the Lord.
• ·         Those who desire the Lord’s coming must know that clean hands and a pure heart are required.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

I Applied My Heart

Proverbs 24:30-25:2 – I went past the field of a sluggard, past the vineyard of someone who has no sense; thorns had come up everywhere, the ground was covered with weeds, and the stone wall was in ruins. I applied my heart to what I observed and learned a lesson from what I saw: A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest—and poverty will come on you like a thief and scarcity like an armed man. These are more proverbs of Solomon, compiled by the men of Hezekiah king of Judah: It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings.

Psalm 4:7 – Fill my heart with joy when their grain and new wine abound.

Proverbs 10:4 – Lazy hands make for poverty, but diligent hands bring wealth.

Job 26:14 – And these are but the outer fringe of his works; how faint the whisper we hear of him! Who then can understand the thunder of his power?”

Application:

• ·         “Heart” is Biblical language for the center of the human spirit, from which spring emotions, thoughts, motivations, courage and action—“everything you do flows from it”.
• ·         Many proverbs praise diligence and the profit it brings, and they condemn laziness as a cause of hunger and poverty.
• ·         God gets glory because humans cannot fully understand His universe or the way He rules it. A king gets glory if he can uncover the truth and administer justice.
• ·         It is difficult for us to comprehend the little that we know about God, how much more impossible it would be to understand the full extent of His might.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

I'll Pay Them Back

Proverbs 24:12,24-29 – If you say, “But we knew nothing about this,” does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who guards your life know it? Will he not repay everyone according to what they have done?...Whoever says to the guilty, “You are innocent,” will be cursed by peoples and denounced by nations. But it will go well with those who convict the guilty, and rich blessing will come on them. An honest answer is like a kiss on the lips. Put your outdoor work in order and get your fields ready; after that, build your house. Do not testify against your neighbor without cause—would you use your lips to mislead? Do not say, “I’ll do to them as they have done to me; I’ll pay them back for what they did.”

Job 2:3 – Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil. And he still maintains his integrity, though you incited me against him to ruin him without any reason.”

Proverbs 25:21-22 – If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat; if he is thirsty, give him water to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head, and the Lord will reward you.

Matthew 5:44-45 – But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

Romans 12:17-18 – Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.

Application:

• ·         God cannot be stirred up to do things against His will. Though it is not always clear how, everything that happens is part of His divine purpose.
• ·         God knows even our thoughts and motives
• ·         Kindness to one’s enemy is encouraged.
• ·         “Heap burning coals on his head” may reflect an Egyptian ritual, in which a guilty person, as a sign of his repentance, carried a basin of glowing coals on his head. The meaning here, then, would be that in returning good for evil—and so being kind to your enemy—you may cause him to repent or change.
• ·         Prayer is one of the practical ways love expresses itself.
• ·         Christian conduct should never betray the high moral standards of the gospel, or it will provoke the disdain of unbelievers and bring the gospel into disrepute.
• ·         Jesus pronounced a blessing on peacemakers, and believers are to cultivate peace with everyone to the extent that such peace depends on them.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Fear The Lord And The King

Proverbs 24:16-23 – Do not lurk like a thief near the house of the righteous, do not plunder their dwelling place; for though the righteous fall seven times, they rise again, but the wicked stumble when calamity strikes. Do not gloat when your enemy falls; when they stumble, do not let your heart rejoice, or the Lord will see and disapprove and turn his wrath away from them. Do not fret because of evildoers or be envious of the wicked, for the evildoer has no future hope, and the lamp of the wicked will be snuffed out. Fear the Lord and the king, my son, and do not join with rebellious officials, for those two will send sudden destruction on them, and who knows what calamities they can bring? These also are sayings of the wise: To show partiality in judging is not good: Whoever says to the guilty, “You are innocent,” will be cursed by peoples and denounced by nations.

Romans 13:3 – For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and you will be commended.

Jeremiah 22:16 – He defended the cause of the poor and needy, and so all went well. Is that not what it means to know me?” declares the Lord.

Proverbs 18:5 – It is not good to be partial to the wicked and so deprive the innocent of justice.

Application:

• ·         Submission to civil authority is commanded.
• ·         Paul is not stating that this (“do what is right and you will be commended”) will always be true but is describing the proper, ideal function of rulers. When civil rulers overstep their proper function, the Christian is to obey God rather than human authorities.
• ·         “To know me” means to love God fully, which results in living a pious life and serving those in need.
• ·         Favoritism of any kind was condemned in the law.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Future Hope

Proverbs 24:13-16 – Eat honey, my son, for it is good; honey from the comb is sweet to your taste. Know also that wisdom is like honey for you: If you find it, there is a future hope for you, and your hope will not be cut off. Do not lurk like a thief near the house of the righteous, do not plunder their dwelling place; for though the righteous fall seven times, they rise again, but the wicked stumble when calamity strikes.

Psalm 9:18 – But God will never forget the needy; the hope of the afflicted will never perish.

Jeremiah 29:11 – For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Proverbs 1:11-16 – If they say, “Come along with us; let’s lie in wait for innocent blood, let’s ambush some harmless soul; let’s swallow them alive, like the grave, and whole, like those who go down to the pit; we will get all sorts of valuable things and fill our houses with plunder; cast lots with us; we will all share the loot”—my son, do not go along with them, do not set foot on their paths; for their feet rush into evil, they are swift to shed blood.

Application:

• ·         Those who forget God will come to nothing, but the needy and afflicted will not be forgotten by God.
• ·         God is the ultimate source of both prosperity and disaster.
• ·         A major enticement that confronts young men that is an example of the way of folly—getting rich by exploiting others.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Those Being Led Away To Death

Proverbs 24:10-12 – If you falter in a time of trouble, how small is your strength! Rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering toward slaughter. If you say, “But we knew nothing about this,” does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who guards your life know it? Will he not repay everyone according to what they have done?

Isaiah 58:7 – Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?

Psalm 5:10 – Declare them guilty, O God! Let their intrigues be their downfall. Banish them for their many sins, for they have rebelled against you.

Application:

• ·         “Share your food…provide…shelter…clothe” is the outward evidence of genuine righteousness. Jesus identified with the hungry and naked.
• ·         God knows even our thoughts and motives
• ·         The psalmists knew that those who have been wronged are not to avenge that wrong by their own hand but are to leave redress to the Lord, who says, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay”. Therefore they appeal their cases to the divine Judge.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Schemes Of Folly Are Sin

Proverbs 24:3-9 – By wisdom a house is built, and through understanding it is established; through knowledge its rooms are filled with rare and beautiful treasures. The wise prevail through great power, and those who have knowledge muster their strength. Surely you need guidance to wage war, and victory is won through many advisers. Wisdom is too high for fools; in the assembly at the gate they must not open their mouths. Whoever plots evil will be known as a schemer. The schemes of folly are sin, and people detest a mocker.

Proverbs 21:22 – One who is wise can go up against the city of the mighty and pull down the stronghold in which they trust.

Proverbs 1:11-16,20-22 – If they say, “Come along with us; let’s lie in wait for innocent blood, let’s ambush some harmless soul; let’s swallow them alive, like the grave, and whole, like those who go down to the pit; we will get all sorts of valuable things and fill our houses with plunder; cast lots with us; we will all share the loot”—my son, do not go along with them, do not set foot on their paths; for their feet rush into evil, they are swift to shed blood…Out in the open wisdom calls aloud, she raises her voice in the public square; on top of the wall she cries out, at the city gate she makes her speech: “How long will you who are simple love your simple ways? How long will mockers delight in mockery and fools hate knowledge?

Proverbs 9:17 – “Stolen water is sweet; food eaten in secret is delicious!”

Application:

• ·         Spiritual weapons ‘have divine power to demolish strongholds.”
• ·         “City gate” was where the leaders of the city met to hold court and where the marketplace was located.
• ·         The goal of sinful men is personal enrichment by theft or oppression, even if they have to commit murder.
• ·         The book of Proverbs teaches that wisdom brings the greatest riches people could ever gain.
• ·         The godly, the truly wise, test human experience in the crucible of faith and afterward give divine wisdom a human voice in their wise instructions

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Plot Violence

Proverbs 23:20-21,28-24:2 – Do not join those who drink too much wine or gorge themselves on meat, for drunkards and gluttons become poor, and drowsiness clothes them in rags…Like a bandit she lies in wait and multiplies the unfaithful among men. Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife? Who has complaints? Who has needless bruises? Who has bloodshot eyes? Those who linger over wine, who go to sample bowls of mixed wine. Do not gaze at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it goes down smoothly! In the end it bites like a snake and poisons like a viper. Your eyes will see strange sights, and your mind will imagine confusing things. You will be like one sleeping on the high seas, lying on top of the rigging. “They hit me,” you will say, “but I’m not hurt! They beat me, but I don’t feel it! When will I wake up so I can find another drink?” Do not envy the wicked, do not desire their company; for their hearts plot violence, and their lips talk about making trouble.

Proverbs 20:1 – Wine is a mocker and beer a brawler; whoever is led astray by them is not wise.

Hosea 4:1 – Hear the word of the Lord, you Israelites, because the Lord has a charge to bring against you who live in the land: “There is no faithfulness, no love, no acknowledgment of God in the land.

Proverbs 1:11-16 – If they say, “Come along with us; let’s lie in wait for innocent blood, let’s ambush some harmless soul; let’s swallow them alive, like the grave, and whole, like those who go down to the pit; we will get all sorts of valuable things and fill our houses with plunder; cast lots with us; we will all share the loot”—my son, do not go along with them, do not set foot on their paths; for their feet rush into evil, they are swift to shed blood.

Job 15:35 – They conceive trouble and give birth to evil; their womb fashions deceit.”

Psalm 5:9 – Not a word from their mouth can be trusted; their heart is filled with malice. Their throat is an open grave; with their tongues they tell lies.

Application:

• ·         Proverbs associates drunkenness with poverty, strife and injustice.
• ·         Drunkenness is condemned.
• ·         “Faithfulness” is loyalty to the covenant Lord and right dealing with others
• ·         The goal of sinful men is personal enrichment by theft or oppression, even if they have to commit murder.
• ·         Once initiated, sinful thoughts develop quickly into evil acts.
• ·         Perhaps appeals to God against those who maliciously wield the tongue are frequent in the Psalms because only in God’s courtroom can a person experience redress for such attacks.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Wayward Wife

Proverbs 23:20-27 – Do not join those who drink too much wine or gorge themselves on meat, for drunkards and gluttons become poor, and drowsiness clothes them in rags. Listen to your father, who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old. Buy the truth and do not sell it—wisdom, instruction and insight as well. The father of a righteous child has great joy; a man who fathers a wise son rejoices in him. May your father and mother rejoice; may she who gave you birth be joyful! My son, give me your heart and let your eyes delight in my ways, for an adulterous woman is a deep pit, and a wayward wife is a narrow well.

Proverbs 27:11 – Be wise, my son, and bring joy to my heart; then I can answer anyone who treats me with contempt.

Proverbs 2:16 – Wisdom will save you also from the adulterous woman, from the wayward woman with her seductive words, who has left the partner of her youth and ignored the covenant she made before God.

Proverbs 5:20 – Why, my son, be intoxicated with another man’s wife? Why embrace the bosom of a wayward woman?

Application:

• ·         Wise children serve as a powerful testimony that the parents who have shaped them have shown themselves to be people of worth.
• ·         The Hebrew for adulterous woman and wayward woman occurs again. “Wayward woman/wife” is parallel to “neighbor’s wife and “adulterous woman”.
• ·         In light of the sheer joy found within the bonds of marriage and the “serious trouble” outside it, why commit adultery?

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Those Who Drink Too Much Wine

Proverbs 23:20-21 –  Do not join those who drink too much wine or gorge themselves on meat, for drunkards and gluttons become poor, and drowsiness clothes them in rags.

Habakkuk 2:15 – “Woe to him who gives drink to his neighbors, pouring it from the wineskin till they are drunk, so that he can gaze on their naked bodies!

Proverbs 20:1 – Wine is a mocker and beer a brawler; whoever is led astray by them is not wise.

Ephesians 5:18-20 – Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Application:

• ·         Drunkenness is condemned.
• ·         Those who overindulge become mockers and brawlers.
• ·         Proverbs associates drunkenness with poverty, strife and injustice.
• ·         People can be under an influence that affects them, whether of wine or of the Spirit.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Future Hope

Proverbs 23:18-21 – There is surely a future hope for you, and your hope will not be cut off. Listen, my son, and be wise, and set your heart on the right path: Do not join those who drink too much wine or gorge themselves on meat, for drunkards and gluttons become poor, and drowsiness clothes them in rags.

Psalm 9:18 – But God will never forget the needy; the hope of the afflicted will never perish.

Jeremiah 29:11 – For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Proverbs 4:25 – Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you.

Application:

• ·         Those who forget God will come to nothing, but the needy and afflicted will not be forgotten by God.
• ·         God is the ultimate source of both prosperity and disaster.
• ·         “Look straight ahead”, not at “worthless things”.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Fear Of The Lord

Proverbs 23:12-17 – Apply your heart to instruction and your ears to words of knowledge. Do not withhold discipline from a child; if you punish them with the rod, they will not die. Punish them with the rod and save them from death. My son, if your heart is wise, then my heart will be glad indeed; my inmost being will rejoice when your lips speak what is right. Do not let your heart envy sinners, but always be zealous for the fear of the Lord.

Proverbs 13:24 – Whoever spares the rod hates their children, but the one who loves their children is careful to discipline them.

Proverbs 27:11 – Be wise, my son, and bring joy to my heart; then I can answer anyone who treats me with contempt.

Proverbs 1:7 – The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

• ·         Parents are encouraged to apply the rod of punishment to drive out folly so that the child will not follow a path of destruction.
• ·         Wise children serve as a powerful testimony that the parents who have shaped them have shown themselves to be people of worth.
• ·         Fear of the Lord is a loving reverence for God that includes submission to his lordship and to the commands of His word.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Defender

Proverbs 23:10-11 – Do not move an ancient boundary stone or encroach on the fields of the fatherless, for their Defender is strong; he will take up their case against you.

Job 19:25 – I know that my redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand on the earth.

Ruth 2:20 – “The Lord bless him!” Naomi said to her daughter-in-law. “He has not stopped showing his kindness to the living and the dead.” She added, “That man is our close relative; he is one of our guardian-redeemers.”

Isaiah 41:14 – Do not be afraid, you worm Jacob, little Israel, do not fear, for I myself will help you,” declares the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.

Application:

• ·         Defender means guardian-redeemer or protector, someone who helped close relatives regain land or who avenged their death. God is a “father to the fatherless, a defender of widows”.
• ·         Job expresses confidence that ultimately God will vindicate his faithful servants in the face of all false accusations.
• ·         The Hebrew for redeemer refers to an obligated family protector and thus portrays the Lord as the family protector of Israel.
• ·         As Guardian-Redeemer, God redeems his people’s property, guarantees their freedom, avenges them against their tormentors and secures their posterity for the future.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Heart

Proverbs 23:6-11 – Do not eat the food of a begrudging host, do not crave his delicacies; for he is the kind of person who is always thinking about the cost. “Eat and drink,” he says to you, but his heart is not with you. You will vomit up the little you have eaten and will have wasted your compliments. Do not speak to fools, for they will scorn your prudent words. Do not move an ancient boundary stone or encroach on the fields of the fatherless, for their Defender is strong; he will take up their case against you.

Psalm 4:7 – Fill my heart with joy when their grain and new wine abound.

Proverbs 1:7 – The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Zechariah 7:10 – Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner or the poor. Do not plot evil against each other.’

Application:

• ·         “Heart” is Biblical language for the center of the human spirit, from which spring emotions, thoughts, motivations, courage and action—“everything you do flows from it”.
• ·         “Fools” are those who “hate knowledge” and correction of any kind, who are “quick to quarrel” and “give full vent” to their anger, who are complacent and who trust in themselves rather than in God.
• ·         Oppressing the widow and the fatherless is strongly denounced.
• ·         In the ancient Near East, the ideal king was expected to protect the oppressed and needy members of society.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Gluttony

Proverbs 22:26-23:5,20-21 – Do not be one who shakes hands in pledge or puts up security for debts; if you lack the means to pay, your very bed will be snatched from under you. Do not move an ancient boundary stone set up by your ancestors. Do you see someone skilled in their work? They will serve before kings; they will not serve before officials of low rank. When you sit to dine with a ruler, note well what is before you, and put a knife to your throat if you are given to gluttony. Do not crave his delicacies, for that food is deceptive. Do not wear yourself out to get rich; do not trust your own cleverness. Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone, for they will surely sprout wings and fly off to the sky like an eagle…Do not join those who drink too much wine or gorge themselves on meat, for drunkards and gluttons become poor, and drowsiness clothes them in rags.

Proverbs 27:23-24 – Be sure you know the condition of your flocks, give careful attention to your herds; for riches do not endure forever, and a crown is not secure for all generations.

Application:

• ·         Drunkenness is condemned.
• ·         The desire to get rich can ruin a person physically and spiritually.
• ·         Our trust must be in God, not in riches.
• ·         Even kings may lose their wealth and power.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

The Lord Will Take Up Their Case

Proverbs 22:22-25 – Do not exploit the poor because they are poor and do not crush the needy in court, for the Lord will take up their case and will exact life for life. Do not make friends with a hot-tempered person, do not associate with one easily angered, or you may learn their ways and get yourself ensnared.

Proverbs 23:10-11 – Do not move an ancient boundary stone or encroach on the fields of the fatherless, for their Defender is strong; he will take up their case against you.

1 Corinthians 15:33 – Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.”

• ·         Oppressing the widow and the fatherless is strongly denounced.
• ·         God is a “father to the fatherless, a defender of widows”.
• ·         “Bad company corrupts good character”.
• ·         The application of “bad company corrupts good character” was that those who were teaching that there was no resurrection were the “bad company” and that they were corrupting the “good character” of those who held to the correct doctrine.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Apply Your Heart To

Proverbs 22:17-23 – Pay attention and turn your ear to the sayings of the wise; apply your heart to what I teach, for it is pleasing when you keep them in your heart and have all of them ready on your lips. So that your trust may be in the Lord, I teach you today, even you. Have I not written thirty sayings for you, sayings of counsel and knowledge, teaching you to be honest and to speak the truth, so that you bring back truthful reports to those you serve? Do not exploit the poor because they are poor and do not crush the needy in court, for the Lord will take up their case and will exact life for life.

Psalm 4:7 – Fill my heart with joy when their grain and new wine abound.

Proverbs 3:5-6 – Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.

Isaiah 1:17 – Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow.

Application:

• ·         “Heart” is Biblical language for the center of the human spirit, from which spring emotions, thoughts, motivations, courage and action—“everything you do flows from it”.
• ·         David challenged Solomon to serve God “with wholehearted devotion”.
• ·         Rulers were warned not to take advantage of the fatherless and the widow.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV