WE DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT THIS

Please see the links to our EXTRA Bible Study notes at the bottom of the page.

Opening Prayer

Heavenly Father, I need Your guidance as I make decisions, set priorities and go about my daily activities.

Read PROVERBS 24:1–34

^[1]Saying 20 Do not envy the wicked, do not desire their company; ^[2] for their hearts plot violence, and their lips talk about making trouble. ^[3]Saying 21 By wisdom a house is built, and through understanding it is established; ^[4] through knowledge its rooms are filled with rare and beautiful treasures. ^[5]Saying 22 The wise prevail through great power, and those who have knowledge muster their strength. ^[6] Surely you need guidance to wage war, and victory is won through many advisers. ^[7]Saying 23 Wisdom is too high for fools; in the assembly at the gate they must not open their mouths. ^[8]Saying 24 Whoever plots evil will be known as a schemer. ^[9] The schemes of folly are sin, and people detest a mocker. ^[10]Saying 25 If you falter in a time of trouble, how small is your strength! ^[11] Rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering toward slaughter. ^[12] 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? ^[13]Saying 26 Eat honey, my son, for it is good; honey from the comb is sweet to your taste. ^[14] 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. ^[15]Saying 27 Do not lurk like a thief near the house of the righteous, do not plunder their dwelling place; ^[16] for though the righteous fall seven times, they rise again, but the wicked stumble when calamity strikes. ^[17]Saying 28 Do not gloat when your enemy falls; when they stumble, do not let your heart rejoice, ^[18] or the LORD will see and disapprove and turn his wrath away from them. ^[19]Saying 29 Do not fret because of evildoers or be envious of the wicked, ^[20] for the evildoer has no future hope, and the lamp of the wicked will be snuffed out. ^[21]Saying 30 Fear the LORD and the king, my son, and do not join with rebellious officials, ^[22] for those two will send sudden destruction on them, and who knows what calamities they can bring? ^[23] These also are sayings of the wise: To show partiality in judging is not good: ^[24] Whoever says to the guilty, “You are innocent,” will be cursed by peoples and denounced by nations. ^[25] But it will go well with those who convict the guilty, and rich blessing will come on them. ^[26] An honest answer is like a kiss on the lips. ^[27] Put your outdoor work in order and get your fields ready; after that, build your house. ^[28] Do not testify against your neighbor without cause- would you use your lips to mislead? ^[29] Do not say, “I’ll do to them as they have done to me; I’ll pay them back for what they did.” ^[30] I went past the field of a sluggard, past the vineyard of someone who has no sense; ^[31] thorns had come up everywhere, the ground was covered with weeds, and the stone wall was in ruins. ^[32] I applied my heart to what I observed and learned a lesson from what I saw: ^[33] A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest- ^[34] and poverty will come on you like a thief and scarcity like an armed man.

Meditate

We need to remember that almost all of the proverbs can be related to life—not only to the lives of the Bible characters but to our own lives.

Think Further

As I write these notes, technology brings to my very desk, to my computer, with unprecedented and shocking vividness, pictures of the horrors being perpetuated around the world. Verse 11 says, “Rescue those being hauled off to (extra-judicial) execution” (my words). Verse 12 says it is no excuse to say, “Look, we didn’t know.” Thus the Bible, as it so often does, suddenly arrests and addresses me with unparalleled directness and urges me to do something. A year hence, when we read these notes, our attention and our responsiveness to another humanitarian crisis is being observed by the Weigher of hearts (12), the Keeper of our lives.

After noting another series of prohibitions (“Do not…”), I pay attention to the warnings against fret and envy, observing the tongue-tied idiot, the mischief-maker, the scoffer, the plotter—and their futurelessness (20). I spend most of my time, however, focusing on wisdom: the house, the honey, the hope. I focus on the verbs describing wisdom at work: wisdom is so much more than intellectual cleverness; by becoming wise I am strengthening myself for the day of crisis (10); what “rare and beautiful treasures” (4) does my heart contain?

There are also times of strife and struggle (6), days when public wisdom is needed (7). I need to develop resilience (16), and there are also days of wonderful sweetness (13). By my energetic, resourceful and persevering wisdom-gaining I come to “know… there is a future hope” (14) and develop my get-up-ability. I conclude my meditation by returning to the one who, above all, knows my deepest desires and longings and disappointments and desperations and whose plans for me are “what perfect wisdom suggests to infinite love” (Austin Farrer).

Apply

Which of these proverbs speaks to you and why? What is your plan of action to actualize these learned truths in your life?

Closing prayer

Gracious Lord, I thank You for words of wisdom from Your Word. Show me ways I can embrace their wisdom in my daily life.

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