Proverbs 17

Proverbs 17:1-28

Better is a dry morsel with quiet

than a house full of feasting with strife.

• Amen.
• Settle your differences.  Don’t let the sun set on your anger.  Don’t hold grudges.  It’s your pride – acknowledge that and make amends.  Better to fall on the sword and be done with it then to keep the feud rolling.

 A servant who deals wisely will rule over a son who acts shamefully

and will share the inheritance as one of the brothers.

• Talking directly to the Jews here, in this time.  God is saying, “Don’t want to follow my rules?  Want to act like an egotistical idiot? Fine.  I’ll give your inheritance to the gentile who deserves it.”
• Today, this applies to us.  We are saved by faith, but God is still saying, “Yeah, you’re saved.  Start acting like it … like you appreciate it and know what the alternative is.  Remember, I know your heart … so actions alone are moot without loving and appreciative intentions."

 The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold,

 and the Lord tests hearts.

• Are you for real?  Or are you just posing … acting like a Christian … maybe even saying and doing most of the things you believe are expected of a Christian, but not truly in it to win it?
• As mentioned above, if we are real Christians, we seek to fully understand God’s perspective on things, to worship Him in all things, to obey Him because we know He loves us and knows better than we do, just like a parent knows better than the child does.  
• Following a set of rules with just the head and not the heart?  Might as well just be a Jew or a Muslim.  Acknowledge what God has done for us through Jesus.  We are redeemed … cleaned fully … pure and perfect IN HIM.  We can’t do anything to win God over after that truth.  So stop trying, and just give yourself over to Him.  You WHOLE life, not just the PART of it you’re comfortable with.

An evildoer listens to wicked lips,

and a liar gives ear to a mischievous tongue.

• Evil begets evil.  Tell a little white lie or do a tiny bit of evil?  Expect that to escalate.  Because if a little is okay, why not more?  Then why not more than that?  It’s a reality that shows itself in this world over and over.
• So don’t start.  Fight the urge.  It’s just the enemy tempting you to just start with something small.  He knows it will grow into something much more.

 Whoever mocks the poor insults his Maker;

he who is glad at calamity will not go unpunished.

• Mock the poor?  You are mocking God Himself.  They were made in God’s image just like you.  
• Think you’re well-off because of your doing?  Because of how wonderful YOU are?  Who made you?  Who gave you your gifts, blessings, abilities?  Get real.  You have NOTHING that God did not give you.  And to turn around and mock someone who hasn’t been given those same blessings?  You are insulting God.  Acting as though YOU did something that HE gave you.  Silly and childish.
• See others in misfortune and smile?  Even enemies?  Why does that make you happy?  That is the enemy creeping in.  That is pride and the exact opposite of what Jesus would do.

 Grandchildren are the crown of the aged,

and the glory of children is their fathers.

• Good grandchildren?  Look to the Grandparents and thank them.  Similar in concept to the last verse … how did they become good?  How did they “become” at all?  One domino must tip over to tip the next and THEN the next.  If the first does not, the second and third (the grandchildren) do not.  It’s cause/effect, cause/effect.  Thank you, Dad and Mom, for making me a good father to your grandchildren.  
• Ever see a child looking up at her father?  Absolute admiration and love.  With all the talk about the importance of Mom, while well deserved, Dads in many, many ways are even more critical.  

 Fine speech is not becoming to a fool;

still less is false speech to a prince.

• I think we’ve all seen this – a person using proper grammar and advanced vocabulary speaks, and the less educated making fun of them for it.  This happens in all ethnic groups, whether it’s black people looking down on an educated black person who doesn’t speak in ebonics, or it’s a white group using double negatives and crude slang making fun of a “la ti da” white person who speaks well.  Envy?  Pride?  Just plain peer pressure?  That is just “conforming to this world”.
• Second line:  No one likes a suck up.  Say what you mean and mean what you say.  Don’t say things you think people want to hear.  Be gentle in your speech, but be direct and speak the truth.

 A bribe is like a magic stone in the eyes of the one who gives it;

wherever he turns he prospers.

• There are many things that we think are right in our own eyes.  But they are dead wrong.  Want to get something done?  Well, just grease the skids, right?  Like magic.  Things get done, right?  Actually, only evil things get one.  He may prosper in worldly terms for a while, but not in the end.

 Whoever covers an offense seeks love,

but he who repeats a matter separates close friends.

• The first thing that comes to mind is the saying, “Forgive and forget.”  The word “covers” in this verse means to “wipe away” or to “push aside”.  When someone commits an offense against us, what is our natural response?  Revenge.  Eye for an eye.  Right?  Well, that is not God’s desire, and it is not His instruction in such situations.  Seek love and forgiveness.  That is what is pleasing to God, our Father.
• Commit an offense more than once and you’ve crossed the line from “I made a mistake, please forgive me” into “I obviously don’t care enough about our relationship to control myself.”  

 A rebuke goes deeper into a man of understanding

than a hundred blows into a fool.

• Someone who understands got there by keeping their mind open to new data.  No one has ALL the data.  Many have more than others, but we are all in a position to learn.  This will be the case until we’re dead and buried.  
• So, a correction (a rebuke) is accepted and absorbed by a person of understanding.  Not so much with a fool.  Fools are hard headed, prideful, ignorant.  And they will likely stay that way because they react to rebuke emotionally – with pride and ego.  

 An evil man seeks only rebellion,

and a cruel messenger will be sent against him.

• The desire we have to fight against authority is not from God.  It’s from the other Guy.  “Don’t tell me what to do!  I’m my own man!”  Pfft.  Cut out the pride and acknowledge that God knows better.  You just look like a spoiled kid throwing a temper tantrum.  You will soon learn that rebelling only leads to bad things ultimately, and it won’t happen gently.  Your wake up call will be jolting … a cruel messenger.

 Let a man meet a she- bear robbed of her cubs

 rather than a fool in his folly.

• Nothing is more dangerous and threatening than a fool and his foolishness.  Avoid them … even more than a wild animal protecting its young.  

 If anyone returns evil for good,

 evil will not depart from his house.

• It’s a strange paradigm:   Evil attracts evil.  Evil begets evil.  And going so far as to respond to GOOD with evil … expect evil in response in your life.

The beginning of strife is like letting out water,

so quit before the quarrel breaks out.

• Once it starts, there is no stopping it.  So don’t start and you’ll avoid the strife (because strife that benefits no one).

He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous

are both alike an abomination to the Lord.

• The two hot topics these days seems to be abortion and gay marriage.  Let’s apply this verse to those topics.  Who is justifying the wicked (those doing things that are displeasing to God) in this case?  Who is condemning the righteous (those who align their thoughts with God’s thoughts)?
• Both are an abomination (a shocking affront) to God.  It’s like a slap in His holy and perfect face.
• This applies to all wickedness, sin, and evil.  Abortion and homosexual actions are no more or no less evil and sinful than any other sin (e.g. theft, lust, murder, deception).

Why should a fool have money in his hand to buy wisdom

when he has no sense?

• You can’t buy wisdom.  You must earn it through experience, openness to understanding.  Wisdom in the hands of a fool is like burger in the hands of a person with no mouth.  

A friend loves at all times,

and a brother is born for adversity.

• We’re talking about TRUE friends who give unconditional love.  No conditions.  Nothing that is going on can stop that friend’s love for you, or you for them.  
• In fact, a true friend (a brother or sister, in essence) is created by God for tough situations.  They are there for you no matter what, for you to lean on in tough times.  They are a gift from God.

 One who lacks sense gives a pledge

and puts up security in the presence of his neighbor.

• You have no ultimate control over what will happen tomorrow.  You can not say with 100% certainty that anything you “commit” to will be within your control tomorrow.  That is in God’s control – not yours.  So, giving a pledge or putting your name on the line for something under your own power is ridiculous when you really think about it.  
• As Paul says, “Say:  ‘God willing, we will …” or “If the Lord allows me, I will …”.  Admitting that we’re not in complete control is part of the answer.

Whoever loves transgression loves strife;

he who makes his door high seeks destruction.

• Immaturity is shown by a desire (let alone a love) to step over the line.  Some people just love to stir things up, then step back and giggle.  This is evil and an exercise of prideful power.  Very displeasing to God.
• Trusting more in protection by your own power (a high door) than in God’s ability to protect is just seeking destruction.  Relying on yourself alone is a recipe for disaster.  No man is an island.  Trust in God, not in your own ability.

A man of crooked heart does not discover good,

and one with a dishonest tongue falls into calamity.

• Two thoughts on this:  
• A person with a heart for evil only looks for opportunities for evil.  They can’t get enough.
• A person with a heart for evil can only see evil in things.  It’s a blindness of sorts.  
• All lies will come into the light eventually.  And when discovered, the liar will pay the consequences.  

He who sires a fool gets himself sorrow,

and the father of a fool has no joy.

• Nothing like being ashamed of your son or daughter.  But at some point, you have to turn the camera on yourself as the parent.  Is it ALL their fault they are a fool, or did you not direct them, teach them, show them?  
• Either way, there is no joy in Mudville for a parent who has a clueless, foolish kid.

A joyful heart is good medicine,

but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.

• The power of the mind - positive thinking, believing - is really incredible.  Hard to wrap your head around (no pun intended).  It’s amazing how choosing to be glad, choosing to be positive, can help to cure many illnesses.  It’s an energizing cycle to get into.
• Equally, being down in the dumps can make you feel sick.  In fact, it can make you physically sick.  It’s a death spiral that you need to acknowledge, then snap out of as quickly as possible.

The wicked accepts a bribe in secret

to pervert the ways of justice.

• This makes me think of every politician on Earth.  Promises made behind the curtain, under the table, in secret … only pervert what SHOULD have come to pass.  
• God sees this.  God knows it’s not right and will deliver justice in time.  

The discerning sets his face toward wisdom,

but the eyes of a fool are on the ends of the earth.

• Want to understand?  Turn to God’s Word … where wisdom lives.  In any situation, look to how it aligns with God’s Word.  If it doesn’t, you need to decide what you want to do … align yourself with thousands of years of Truth, or align yourself with the current winds of public sentiment.
• Placing your eyes on this world and what IT thinks is a recipe for disaster.  It is unstable ground, constantly changing.  

A foolish son is a grief to his father

 and bitterness to her who bore him.

• Already discussed.  Regret comes with seeing that your child is a fool.  Look introspectively – whose fault is that.  Your child’s fault, certainly.  But it’s also mine – the parent.
• We never like to turn the microscope on ourselves.  It causes grief and bitterness.  
• Instead, knowing this, do what God says … spare the rod, spoil the child.  Think you’re helping the child by neglecting discipline?  That experiment has played out.  Doesn’t work.  God knew this when He created us.  Just trust Him.

To impose a fine on a righteous man is not good,

nor to strike the noble for their uprightness.

• What are you trying to accomplish by imposing a fine on a good man … for doing good?  … For being upright?  If you are trying to get him to NOT do good or to be upright, well congratulations.  That is what you will accomplish.  It’s just not good.  
• Important:  What is good?  Only one measuring stick on what is good exists.  That’s God’s measuring stick.  Ours is flawed.

Whoever restrains his words has knowledge,

and he who has a cool spirit is a man of understanding.

• Through wisdom and experience comes an ability to bight the tongue.  Nothing good comes from it.  You are only feeding pride and malice, at best.  
• Keep cool, control your emotions, keep quiet.  You will accomplish much more.

Even a fool who keeps silent is considered wise;

when he closes his lips, he is deemed intelligent.

• Keep quiet and have the potential to be seen as a fool.  Speak, and remove all doubt.  
• Without discerning and aligning with God’s Word, don’t speak up.  Keep quiet until you know without a doubt your thoughts align with God’s truth.