Strike a scoffer, and the simple will learn prudence; reprove a man of understanding, and he will gain knowledge. [Proverbs 19:25] Learning from experience is not automatic. Learning is a matter of choice and decision, not merely impression; while we do develop aversions and trauma responses from experience (or addictions or good feelings), the fullness…
The sluggard buries his hand in the dish and will not even bring it back to his mouth. [Proverbs 19:24] Not doing something is, as a rule, the easiest thing in the world. It requires literally no effort; it takes literally no energy. But laziness is so much more than doing nothing; it’s also doing…
The fear of the Lord leads to life, and whoever has it rests satisfied; he will not be visited by harm. [Proverbs 19:23] Now, if we ever thought that being Christians would make us safe from all harm or fear, the story of Job would dissuade us, as would the past half hour, with…
What is desired in a man is steadfast love, and a poor man is better than a liar. [Proverbs 19:22] Fallen man hates God. As a result, he hates everything which reminds him of God: all goodness, all beauty, all truth. But fallen man is, by His mercy and His wrath (Luke 12:48), pervasively corrupt,…
Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand. [Proverbs 19:21] Have you ever read a story? One of the basic rules of a story is that something will go wrong. It’ll go wrong for the hero, because that is what causes the…
Listen to advice and accept instruction, that you may gain wisdom in the future. [Proverbs 19:20] Advice comes in all stripes. Some is good. Some is bad. Some is really, really bad. Good councilors can make a leader, and bad councilors can break him just as thoroughly, when he keeps and heeds them. Among…
A man of great wrath will pay the penalty, for if you deliver him, you will only have to do it again. [Proverbs 19:19] Some people just refuse to be helped. A man who has given himself over to his own passions, to anger or to another, can be pulled from one morass, but…
Discipline your son, for there is hope; do not set your heart on putting him to death. [Proverbs 19:18] Discipline is a hard thing, for the disciplined; that’s definitional. Discipline which does not hurt is hardly even admonition. Discipline seems even cruel, to strike the errant when he is down. Certainly a thing can masquerade…
Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay him for his deed. [Proverbs 19:17] The Christian people, whether through the medium of the church or elsewhere, has been the single greatest source of charity in history, albeit with the aid of Christianity’s unrivaled long-term productivity. So have many pagans…
Whoever keeps the commandment keeps his life; he who despises his ways will die. [Proverbs 19:16] The law of God sets a heavy burden upon mankind in his natural state, a burden unregenerate man refuses to live up to (Ps. 53:1-3). The Christian has a little easier time; he recognizes that the law was to…