Proverbs 6:12-19 Wormtongue. Now that is a (fictional) person that fits the caricature given in Pr. 6:12-15. In case you don’t know (or by way of reminder) “Wormtongue” is an apt nickname for a character otherwise named Gríma in J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. He is an advisor to King Théoden …
Author Archives: John S.
May 18 / Proverbs 6:1-11
Proverbs 6:1-11 Today we turn our attention to a couple of practical bits of wisdom. In Pr. 6:1-5 we are warned not to put up security for someone else, particularly a stranger, and in Pr. 6:6-11 we are advised to work hard and not be lazy. Have you ever co-signed a loan for someone, perhaps …
May 17 / Proverbs 5:15-23
Proverbs 5:15-23 Lest there were any doubts about whether this chapter is warning against adultery, the language in Pr. 5:15-20 should clear that up. It doesn’t take much imagination to understand the euphemisms: “springs,” “streams of water,” “fountain…” Then Pr. 5:19 dispenses with euphemism altogether: Let [your wife’s] breasts fill you at all times with …
May 16 / Proverbs 5:7-14
Proverbs 5:7-14 …and you say, “How I hated discipline,and my heart despised reproof!I did not listen to the voice of my teachersor incline my ear to my instructors.I am at the brink of utter ruinin the assembled congregation.” Proverbs 5:12-14 Ah, the voice of regret. Can any of us say that we have not uttered …
May 15 / Proverbs 5:1-6
Proverbs 5:1-6 For the lips of a forbidden woman drip honey,and her speech is smoother than oil,but in the end she is bitter as wormwood,sharp as a two-edged sword. Proverbs 5:3-4 All of Proverbs 5 serves as a warning against the particular sin of adultery, but as Fred pointed out, the specific temptation toward adultery …
May 14 / Proverbs 4:20-27
Proverbs 4:20-27 I am again struck by the full intensity of purpose called for here: Be attentive…Incline your ear…Let them not escape…Keep them… (vv. 20-21) Why such focus? For [my words] are life to those who find them, and healing to all their flesh. (v. 22) And then further: Keep your heart with all vigilance, …
May 13 / Proverbs 4:10-19
Proverbs 4:10-19 So, how are we doing? Are we beginning to listen, to pay attention? Do we accept these words of wisdom? Are we following in the paths of uprightness? Are we keeping hold of instruction? Are we guarding her? Do we consider her to be our life? Or how about wickedness and evil? Do …
May 12 / Proverbs 4:1-9
Proverbs 4:1-9 Hear, O sons, a father’s instruction… (v. 1) It has been said that when the Bible repeats something two or three (or more) times, one should take note. Are you beginning to sense, then, that perhaps getting wisdom is important? When I was a son with my father, tender, the only one in …
May 11 / Proverbs 3:27-35
Proverbs 3:27-35 Do not… Withhold good when you can do it (Pr. 3:27) Put off your neighbor when you can provide his due (Pr. 3:28) Plan evil against your neighbor (Pr. 3:29) Be contentious without cause (Pr. 3:30) Envy a man of violence (Pr. 3:31) Choose the ways of a man of violence (Pr. 3:31) In …
May 10 / Proverbs 3:19-26
Proverbs 3:19-26 To Fred’s point yesterday, that knowing Jesus is wisdom: The LORD by wisdom founded the earth; by understanding He established the heavens. (v. 19) In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. … All things were made through Him, and without Him was not …