Plots Evil

Proverbs 6:9-14 – How long will you lie there, you sluggard? When will you get up from your sleep? 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. A troublemaker and a villain, who goes about with a corrupt mouth, who winks maliciously with his eye, signals with his feet and motions with his fingers, who plots evil with deceit in his heart—he always stirs up conflict.

Psalm 35:19 – Do not let those gloat over me who are my enemies without cause; do not let those who hate me without reason maliciously wink the eye.

Micah 2:1 – Woe to those who plan iniquity, to those who plot evil on their beds! At morning’s light they carry it out because it is in their power to do it.

Proverbs 10:12 – Hatred stirs up conflict, but love covers over all wrongs.

Application:

• ·         “Winks…with his eye” to make insinuations.
• ·         The rich, oppressing classes continued to get rich at the expense of the poor because they controlled the power structures of their society.
• ·         “Love Covers Over All Wrongs” means it promotes forgiveness.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Fast

Proverbs 5:22-6:8 – The evil deeds of the wicked ensnare them; the cords of their sins hold them fast. For lack of discipline they will die, led astray by their own great folly. My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor, if you have shaken hands in pledge for a stranger, you have been trapped by what you said, ensnared by the words of your mouth. So do this, my son, to free yourself, since you have fallen into your neighbor’s hands: Go—to the point of exhaustion—and give your neighbor no rest! Allow no sleep to your eyes, no slumber to your eyelids. Free yourself, like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, like a bird from the snare of the fowler. Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest.

Numbers 32:23 – “But if you fail to do this, you will be sinning against the Lord; and you may be sure that your sin will find you out.

Proverbs 1:30-31 – Since they would not accept my advice and spurned my rebuke, they will eat the fruit of their ways and be filled with the fruit of their schemes.

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

Application:

• ·         The bargain was struck, but not without strong warnings if they failed to live up to their word.
• ·         To refuse wisdom’s “advice” is to suffer the consequences of one’s own foolish “schemes”.
• ·         Many proverbs praise diligence and the profit it brings, and they condemn laziness as a cause of hunger and poverty.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Gall

Proverbs 5:3-10 – For the lips of the adulterous woman drip honey, and her speech is smoother than oil; but in the end she is bitter as gall, sharp as a double-edged sword. Her feet go down to death; her steps lead straight to the grave. She gives no thought to the way of life; her paths wander aimlessly, but she does not know it. Now then, my sons, listen to me; do not turn aside from what I say. Keep to a path far from her, do not go near the door of her house, lest you lose your honor to others and your dignity to one who is cruel, lest strangers feast on your wealth and your toil enrich the house of another.

Deuteronomy 29:18 – Make sure there is no man or woman, clan or tribe among you today whose heart turns away from the Lord our God to go and worship the gods of those nations; make sure there is no root among you that produces such bitter poison.

Proverbs 2:16-18 – 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. Surely her house leads down to death and her paths to the spirits of the dead.

Application:

• ·         “Root…that produces such bitter poison” was the poison of idolatry, involving the rejection of the Lord.
• ·         “Her house is a highway to the grave”. A life of immorality leads to the destruction and death of all who are involved. The deceased are in the grave, “the chambers of death”.
• ·         Anyone other than one’s wife was to be considered off limits, like a foreigner who worshiped another god.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Smoother Than Oil

Proverbs 4:26-5:4 – Give careful thought to the paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways. Do not turn to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil. My son, pay attention to my wisdom, turn your ear to my words of insight, that you may maintain discretion and your lips may preserve knowledge. For the lips of the adulterous woman drip honey, and her speech is smoother than oil; but in the end she is bitter as gall, sharp as a double-edged sword.

Joshua 1:7 – “Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go.

Proverbs 2:16-17 – 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.

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:

• ·         Success was not guaranteed unconditionally.
• ·         Anyone other than one’s wife was to be considered off limits, like a foreigner who worshiped another god.
• ·         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

Corrupt Talk

Proverbs 4:24-25 – Keep your mouth free of perversity; keep corrupt talk far from your lips. Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you.

Ephesians 4:29 – Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.

Job 31:1 – “I made a covenant with my eyes not to look lustfully at a young woman.

Application:

• ·         Christians not only stop saying unwholesome things; they also begin to say things that will help build others up.
• ·         “Look straight ahead”, not at “worthless things”.
• ·         To “look lustfully at a young woman” is to sin.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Everything You Do Flows From It

Proverbs 4:21-23 – Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart; for they are life to those who find them and health to one’s whole body. Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.

Proverbs 2:1-5 – My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding—indeed, if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.

Mark 7:20 – He went on: “What comes out of a person is what defiles them.

Application:

• ·         If we store up good things in our hearts, our words and actions will be good.
• ·         “Store up…within you” just as the psalmist hid God’s word in his heart to avoid sin.
• ·         Fellowship with God is not interrupted by unclean hands or food but by sin.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Deep Darkness

Proverbs 4:19-22 – But the way of the wicked is like deep darkness; they do not know what makes them stumble. My son, pay attention to what I say; turn your ear to my words. Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart; for they are life to those who find them and health to one’s whole body.

Proverbs 2:12-15 – Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men, from men whose words are perverse, who have left the straight paths to walk in dark ways, who delight in doing wrong and rejoice in the perverseness of evil, whose paths are crooked and who are devious in their ways.

Deuteronomy 32:35 – It is mine to avenge; I will repay. In due time their foot will slip; their day of disaster is near and their doom rushes upon them.”

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

Application:

• ·         People love darkness instead of light.
• ·         Avenging is God’s prerogative, not ours.
• ·         “Heart” is in Biblical language for the center of the human spirit, from which spring emotions, thoughts, motivations, courage and action—“everything you do flows from it”.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV