Proverbs Chapter 19 Continued

Proverbs 19:16 "He that keepeth the commandment keepeth his own soul; [but] he that despiseth his ways shall die."

We have said this before, but it is worth saying again.

Throughout the Bible, God's blessings are on those who keep His commandments, and His curse is upon those of disobedience.

Even if self-preservation were the reason you were obeying, you would not be disappointed. God cannot, and will not, lie.

If He promises blessings, you can depend upon them.

Wisdom is equated with God’s commandments.

In a sense, Proverbs contains the applications and implications of all that is in God’s moral law.

Proverbs 19:17 "He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the LORD; and that which he hath given will he pay him again."

One of the best Scriptures to verify this is found (in 1 Timothy).

1 Timothy 6:17-19

"Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy;"

"That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate;"

"Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life."

When you do good for anyone (especially the poor), you are doing that good deed to God.

He will not forget and He will bless you for giving.

It offends the Creator when one neglects the poor, who are part of His creation.

Proverbs 19:18 "Chasten thy son while there is hope, and let not thy soul spare for his crying."

We see here that we are to whip (not abuse), our children.

We are to teach them at a very early age, before they get too big to spank.

We have pity on our own children and grandchildren; but if we want them to become responsible adults, we must teach them when they are very young to respect authority and obey.

Even if they scream and cry, we must spank them hard enough that they will think twice before they commit that sin again.

Sometimes God has to spank us hard to teach us a lesson.

Even if we scream and cry for help, He lets us have the problem long enough to learn a lesson.

(In Proverbs 13:24), we learned that there is great hope that the use of the “divine ordinance” of the Lord will produce Godly virtue and parental joy.

Proverbs 19:19 "A man of great wrath shall suffer punishment: for if thou deliver [him], yet thou must do it again."

Probably, temper is the hardest thing for even a Christian to keep under control.

When we are lacking in self-control (let the flesh control us), we act before we think and have to pay the consequences for our angry action.

Temper is something God has to deliver a person from.

Repeated acts of kindness are wasted on ill-natured people.

An onlooker can try to help, but may just make the angry situation worse. Pray that God will help you to stop being angry.

Pray that your spirit will control your body.

The spirit walk is a walk of peace and quietness, living peaceably with your neighbor. Forgive them, even if they do not deserve it.

You will be the better for it.

Proverbs 19:20 "Hear counsel, and receive instruction, that thou mayest be wise in thy latter end."

Christianity is a daily walk.

The song "One Day at a Time" describes it perfectly.

We are on a journey to our promised land.

We should be getting closer each day to being more like Jesus.

The word "Christian" means Christ like.

In the light of that, we would have to say that there are very few Christians.

This Scripture above is saying each day receive instruction and grow in the Lord.

When you are old, you will be wise unto salvation; because you have continually learned more and more about God.

That is why daily Bible reading is so important.

The more you read, the more you know of God's Word.

Proverbs 19:21 "[There are] many devices in a man's heart; nevertheless the counsel of the LORD, that shall stand."

Man cannot always trust his own heart, but you can always trust the counsel of the LORD.

Man must have a brand new heart engraved on with the laws of God before his heart is trustworthy.

The counsel of God is found in the Bible.

Proverbs 19:22 "The desire of a man [is] his kindness: and a poor man [is] better than a liar."

Here again, it must mean a poor, honest man is better than a rich liar.

God says He loves a cheerful giver.

If a man desires to do good, he will be kind.

Rich liars are not kind since their lies bring harm; a kind poor man is more desirable.

Proverbs 19:23 "The fear of the LORD [tendeth] to life: and [he that hath it] shall abide satisfied; he shall not be visited with evil."

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.

Submissive fear is foundational for all spiritual knowledge and wisdom. While an unbeliever may make statements about life and truth, he does not have true or ultimate knowledge until he is in a redemptive relationship of reverential awe with God.

If a person fears the Lord, he is conscious that there is a Lord.

For us to be saved, we must first believe that there is a Lord.

We must believe that He died for us, and we must believe that He rose again.

If we believe all of the above, then we want to rise from death to life, also.

The fear that is wise is a fear that we might not make the resurrection; that we might not rise to new life in Him.

If we are assured in our heart that we will live again with the Lord, we should be completely satisfied.

As Paul said, we should be satisfied in whatever situation we find ourselves in on this earth, knowing there is a wonderful eternity with the Lord awaiting us.

If we keep our minds on this, we will not even be tempted with evil.

We will have overcome evil with good.

Proverbs 19:24 "A slothful [man] hideth his hand in [his] bosom, and will not so much as bring it to his mouth again."

I see here, a man who is too lazy to feed himself.

This man depends on others to make a living for him, even though he is able-bodied and in good enough health to work himself.

The lazy man’s lack of action to move his hand from the flat, metal food saucer up to his mouth is because he is too lazy (as explained in verse 26:15).

Proverbs 19:25 "Smite a scorner, and the simple will beware: and reprove one that hath understanding, [and] he will understand knowledge."

This scorner seems to be beyond talking to and trying to help.

Perhaps, he doesn't even want help.

The smiting of the scorner here seems to be more in punishment of an act already done than an act to teach the scorner.

The only one, it appears, will learn from this punishment is the onlooker (simple one).

This might even be said that this punishment is to teach the others what will happen to them if they act this way.

The reproof here is probably verbal, but that is all it takes for an understanding person.

The understanding one will learn and grow in knowledge for the reproof.

Three classes of people are noted:

(1)Scorners are rebuked for learning nothing;

(2)Naïve people are warned by observing the rebuke of the scorner;

(3)The understanding deepen their wisdom from any reproof.

Proverbs 19:26 "He that wasteth [his] father, [and] chaseth away [his] mother, [is] a son that causeth shame, and bringeth reproach."

Perhaps, this Scripture here about the father indicates that he not only wastes what he gets himself, but talks his dad out of what he has, and wastes his dad's savings also.

However, a son can waste his father in more ways than money.

A son that will not take advice from his father has wasted all the stored-up knowledge his father could share with him.

Whether this literally means chases her out of the home or whether it means his evil deeds have driven her affection away, is very bad.

For this son to chase away his mother has to be something very terrible.

A mother's love is next to God's love.

Mothers do not give up on their sons easily.

This son would certainly be a dishonor to his parents.

Shame and reproach would certainly be the after effects of this life.

In this verse, it appears that the son comes into possession of his father’s property during his parents’ lifetime, but rather than caring for them, he drives them out.

Proverbs 19:27: "Cease, my son, to hear the instruction [that causeth] to err from the words of knowledge."

You are taking instruction from the wrong people.

Don't let the blind lead you is what I see in this.

Proverbs 19:28 "An ungodly witness scorneth judgment: and the mouth of the wicked devoureth iniquity."

This ungodly witness laughs at true judgment.

He is not interested in justice.

He laughs at the court and perjures himself to make whatever point he wants.

He forgets that there is a righteous Judge (Jesus Christ), that he will have to stand before and account for this lie.

The wicked swallows wickedness.

This wicked one just gets worse and worse.

Proverbs 19:29 "Judgments are prepared for scorners, and stripes for the back of fools."

This Scripture is closely related to (verse 28).

This to me, is speaking of those who scorn judgment here will face the Judge of the entire world. The word "prepared" here, to me, indicates that this will happen in the future.

(In Proverbs 10:13b), we were told that “a rod is for the back of him that is void of understanding”.

Meaning this is a reference to corporal punishment applied to the backside and recommends it as the most effective way of dealing with children and fools.

Fools many times, break laws and are punished for their law breaking.

I believe fools will face the eternal Judge and pay for their evil deeds.

The only way to avoid that punishment would be for the fool to become wise and accept Jesus as his Savior.

Proverbs 19 Continued Questions

1.Who receives blessings from God?

2.Who lendeth to the Lord?

3.Who will repay you for your good deeds?

4.What are the rich of this world charged to do in 1 Timothy 6:17-19?

5.When should you chasten your children?

6.If we want our children to become responsible citizens, what must we do?

7.What will happen to a man of great wrath?

8.What is one of the hardest things for a Christian to overcome in his own life?

9.We must let our __________control us, not our ____________.

10.In verse 20, we are told to hear counsel and receive instruction and when will we be wise?

11.Where are the Christians journeying to?

12.What does the word "Christian" mean?

13.Who can we trust?

14.Where can you find the counsel of God?

15.When does man's heart become trustworthy?

16.In verse 22, what 2 types of people are intended?

17.What is a man conscious of, if he fears the Lord?

18.What should we fear?

19.With what can we overcome evil?

20.Who is a slothful man?

21.What is meant by him not bringing his hand to his mouth?

22.For whose learning was the scorner smote in verse 25?

23.What does reprove mean in verse 25?

24.What is meant by wasteth his father?

25.In verse 26, this son did what to his mother?

26.Why is the son in verse 27 to cease to hear this instruction?

27.What kind of witness scorneth judgment?

28.What is meant by the wicked devouring iniquity?

29.Judgments that are prepared for scorners are probably speaking of what?

30.Who are stripes saved for?