As I come to study your Word today, Lord God, speak to me through it and teach me more of your will for me.
Read PROVERBS 3:19–35
For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.
19 By wisdom the Lord laid the earth’s foundations,
by understanding he set the heavens in place;
20 by his knowledge the watery depths were divided,
and the clouds let drop the dew.
21 My son, do not let wisdom and understanding out of your sight,
preserve sound judgment and discretion;
22 they will be life for you,
an ornament to grace your neck.
23 Then you will go on your way in safety,
and your foot will not stumble.
24 When you lie down, you will not be afraid;
when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet.
25 Have no fear of sudden disaster
or of the ruin that overtakes the wicked,
26 for the Lord will be at your side
and will keep your foot from being snared.
27 Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due,
when it is in your power to act.
28 Do not say to your neighbor,
“Come back tomorrow and I’ll give it to you”—
when you already have it with you.
29 Do not plot harm against your neighbor,
who lives trustfully near you.
30 Do not accuse anyone for no reason—
when they have done you no harm.
31 Do not envy the violent
or choose any of their ways.
32 For the Lord detests the perverse
but takes the upright into his confidence.
33 The Lord’s curse is on the house of the wicked,
but he blesses the home of the righteous.
34 He mocks proud mockers
but shows favor to the humble and oppressed.
35 The wise inherit honor,
but fools get only shame.
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
Where are you most challenged to exhibit God-pleasing actions or reactions?
Did you know that the early church found the Christmas story foreshadowed in the book of Proverbs? Today’s passage, for example, speaks of wisdom as the creative energy that once formed the universe and is now available to human beings. This wisdom that comes down from God is much like the journey of the eternal Word made flesh. Perhaps Luke had Proverbs 3 in mind when he declared that the child Jesus ‘was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was on him’1 and, again, ‘Jesus increased in wisdom and in years, and in divine and human favor’.2
Now, there is a kind of wily wisdom in our world that we would not want to associate with Jesus. This is the clever wisdom that seeks to get one over on other people. This is not the sort of wisdom we find in Proverbs. There, wisdom has an ethical, neighbor-regarding quality. This is because a world-creating energy must inspire actions that are constructive or upbuilding, not hateful, violent, or destructive. Yet Proverbs does not seek from its readers super-saintly behavior. It does not call us to what is impossible. It does not even call us to what is heroic. It simply calls for basic human decency. ‘Do not accuse anyone for no reason—when they have done you no harm’ (v. 30). What could be easier than that?
The wisdom that Proverbs seeks to inculcate, though high, rich, and glorious, is not beyond anybody. It is attainable. It is reachable, doable, for any who will give a little time to its cultivation. It is available to the immature and the inexperienced and can be built up daily by anyone who will listen, really pay attention, to the Proverbs and let their actions be motivated by them.
Apply
Stop and think what one thing you could do today to express appreciation and kindness to someone close to you—then do it!
Closing prayer
O God, fill me today with your wisdom, that I might please you in all that I do.
Last Updated on January 6, 2025 by kingstar
