A Lamp Unto My Feet Bible Study Website
PROVERBS 4
Lesson #06
REMEMBER THE FOUNDATION YOU LEARNED
- Memory Verse: Psa 45:17
- The child has become a young man just beginning the path of his life. He has learned much from his father, but he must now begin to put into practice the things he has learned.
- Read Pro 4:1-9 “Hear ye children…” A reminder to the young adult
- “Hear, ye children, the instruction of a father, and attend to know understanding. For I give you good doctrine, forsake ye not my law.” (1-2)
- Key words: Instruction (moral discipline for discernment); understanding (discernment of good from evil); good doctrine (belief system); law (list of rules).
- What has his father taught him over the years of his childhood? (1-4)
- Instruction (Moral discipline for discernment) (1)
- He has built into the inner man a discernment of how to live a moral life.
- This was accomplished as his parents disciplined him.
- Understanding (Discernment of good from evil) (1)
- He learned what his parents thought was right and what was wrong.
- But he also learned what God said was good and what God said was evil and how to tell the difference.
- Good doctrine (belief system) (2)
- He has learned the belief system of his father.
- And he has formed his own belief system on which to base his life.
- Law (List of rules for moral action) (2)
- He knows the rules for living a moral life.
- In the time period of the book of Proverbs that list of rules was the Law of Moses.
- In this New Testament age of grace, that list of rules is written on the heart of the believer in Jesus Christ by the indwelling Holy Spirit that convicts the believer of sin when he has violated God’s standard. (Heb 8:10 Joh 16:8)
- Love (3)
- Solomon grew up in the women’s palace.
- He knew he was the son of the king, but he learned love from his mother, Bathsheba.
- Instruction (Moral discipline for discernment) (1)
- Even though he learned these things as a child, he needs reminding from time to time as an adult.
- “ Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth. Forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee: love her, and she shall keep thee.” (5-6)
- Key words: Wisdom (skillful living); understanding (discern good from evil); preserve (defend);
- The result of these things built into a child, if the child will remember them into adult life: (5-6)
- He will have developed a pattern for skillful living.
- The young man will begin to live a skillful life based on his belief system.
- His decisions will demonstrate and exhibit his wisdom in the choices he makes in life.
- He will have a discernment of good and evil.
- His choices will demonstrate his discernment of good and evil.
- He will discern the consequences of his choices before he makes those decisions.
- As a result he will not make grave mistakes in his life.
- Instead Wisdom (Jesus Christ) will defend him against attacks of the enemy.
- Wisdom (Jesus Christ) will guard him from the temptations of the world.
- Love wisdom (Jesus Christ).
- The more this young man sees how wisdom (Jesus Christ) works in his life guiding him on the straight and narrow path, the more he will love skillful living in Jesus Christ.
- Notice the cycle that the young man establishes:
- He will have developed a pattern for skillful living.
- “Hear, ye children, the instruction of a father, and attend to know understanding. For I give you good doctrine, forsake ye not my law.” (1-2)
As his belief system built from childhood begins to produce good results in his life, the more he will fine tune that belief system through his experiences.
Through every experience of life he learns more discernment and becomes more skillful at living.
The more skillful he becomes at living, the closer he comes to Jesus Christ.
This then is the guidance of Jesus Christ in the life of a believer that makes the believer more and more like Christ in the process of sanctification and Christian maturity.
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- The tendency is to forget these things we learned as children, so we need reminding. (5)
- “Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding. Exalt her, and she shall promote thee: she shall bring thee to honour, when thou dost embrace her. She shall give to thine head an ornament of grace: a crown of glory shall she deliver to thee.” (7-9)
- Key words: Wisdom (Jesus Christ); understanding (discernment of good from evil); grace (favor).
- What is the most important thing in life? (7)
- Notice that wisdom is personified here which means Jesus Christ.
- The most important decision a person can make in life is to receive Jesus Christ into his heart as his personal savior and Lord.
- When Jesus comes into a person’s life, he then has the potential for skillful living.
- Get wisdom (Jesus Christ and skillful living).
- Then get understanding (Discernment of good from evil)
- The believer has the advantage over the non-believer because the indwelling Holy Spirit will teach him the difference between good and evil.
- Read Joh 14:26
- Read Joh 16:13
- When you have Jesus Christ in your life, what are you supposed to do with “her”? (8)
- Remember that wisdom (Jesus Christ and skillful living) are spoken of as feminine to refer to a “true religion” as opposed to the “strange woman” which represents prostitution and/or false religion.
- The believer is to “exalt” Jesus Christ in his life.
- “Exalt” means = to lift high; to elevate power, rank or dignity; to make a high priority. The higher priority you give to living a skillful life in Christ, the higher God will elevate you.
- How does the young man/the believer exalt Christ?
- He trusts in Christ in every situation and experience.
- He speaks of what Christ is doing in his life.
- He gives thanks for answered prayers.
- The blessings that result:
- Honor (8) –among others around you.
- Ornament of grace (unmerited favor) to the head (9) –favor in your decisions.
- Crown of glory (9) – rewards in eternity.
- You will notice that these blessings of Christ are the same results of wisdom (skillful living). That is why in the book of Proverbs wisdom is both skillful living and Jesus Christ.
- Read Pro 1:9
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- Read Pro 4:10-19 Instruction to My Son #8 A reminder to the young adult
- “Hear, O my sin, and receive my sayings; and the years of thy life shall be many. I have taught thee in the way of wisdom; I have led thee in right paths. When thou goest, thy steps shall not be straitened; and when thou runnest, thou shalt not stumble.”(10-12)
- Key words: sayings (word of God); wisdom (skillful living); straitened (made righteous).
- The parent reminds the son of what he learned when he was a child and why he was taught these things:
- When you go through life your steps will not automatically be made righteous unless you walk in God’s skillful living with Jesus Christ.
- Then, as you continue in skillful living you will not stumble and fall:
- …by making wrong decisions.
- …by falling into the traps of the enemy.
- …by taking the wrong road for lack of direction.
- “Take fast hold of instruction; let her not go: keep her; for she is thy life.” (13)
- Key words: Instruction (moral discipline for discernment).
- Read 2Tim 3:16-17
- Instruction means = moral discipline for discernment. It does not mean classroom teaching.
- The believer must learn through the experiences in his life, especially those times when the Lord is disciplining him.
- No one likes discipline but here is where we learn the most.
- For this reason Solomon tells us to “take fast hold”.
- The young man is taught skillful living as a child.
- Now that he is an adult, he needs to hold it tightly in his being so as not to walk away from it.
- It is interesting that here wisdom is again personified as a woman for “she is thy life”.
- As the believer is disciplined by Jesus Christ, He becomes more personal to you and to your life.
- As you go through discipline, remember that the motive is to bring you “life”.
- This is not just eternal life in the future through Jesus Christ.
- But it is the skillful living kind of life here and now as the Lord teaches you.
- This is why we must “hold fast” to Him.
- “ Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men. Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away.” (14-15)
- Key words: Wicked (lawless evil).
- The parent warns the adult son of the way of the enemy.
- He should not walk in the pathway of lawless evil and neither with those that promote that pathway.
- Several strong commands are given to discourage his son from going that way. They are strong verbs to discourage sin and temptation at its inception: (15)
- Avoid it
- Don’t pass by it
- Turn away from it
- Pass as far away from it as you can.
- We find a similar guide in the book of James
- Read Jam 1:13-15
| Proverbs | James | Explanation |
| Avoid it | Drawn away of his own lust | You realize an attraction to sin. |
| Don’t pass by it | Enticed | The bait is dangled before you. |
| Turn away from it | Conceived | When my will agrees with my lust, sin is conceived in the mind. |
| Pass as far away as you can | Sin when finished is unto death | From the mind comes the actions that finish the process. |
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- “For they sleep not, except they have done mischief; and their sleep is taken away, unless they cause some to fall. For they eat the bread of wickedness, and drink the wine of violence.” (16-17)
- Key words: Wickedness (lawless evil).
- Notice that evil works in darkness when the righteous are sleeping.
- Notice that one evil person is not content to do evil alone, but always gets others involved with him.
- Notice that wickedness and violence are like food and drink to the evil person or to the non-believer. Why?
- The person without Christ is bound by his sin nature. He cannot free himself from the sinful desires and compulsions with which a human soul is born.
- The sinner has no other option but to follow his sinful nature. It is like hunger and thirst that must be fed. (Mat 15:19)
- Notice the parallels in verse 17:
- Eat/drink
- Bread/wine
- Wickedness/violence
- “But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day. The way of the wicked is as darkness: they know not at what they stumble.” (18-19)
- Key words: Just (righteous believer); perfect (complete); wicked (lawless evil).
- In contrast to the evil person or non-believer that walks in the path of lawless evil, is the path of the the believer in Christ.
- You can see that the New Testament speaks of the same parallels between light and darkness, the way of the believer and the way of the non-believer; the righteous and the unrighteous. (1Joh 1:5-7 1Joh 2:8-11)
- In the New Testament we also find the contrast between the narrow way and the broad way. (Mat 7:13-14)
- The “perfect day” is the millennial kingdom of Christ on earth for 1000 years at His second coming.
- “For they sleep not, except they have done mischief; and their sleep is taken away, unless they cause some to fall. For they eat the bread of wickedness, and drink the wine of violence.” (16-17)
- Read Pro 4:20-27 Instruction to My Son #9 A Reminder to the Young Adult
- “My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings. Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart.”(20-21)
- Key words: Sayings (Word of God); heart (soul).
- Notice the parallels:
- Attend/incline
- Words/sayings
- Not depart/keep
- Eyes/heart
- We have seen these same parallels previously in Proverbs, so this is a reminder of what the young man has already learned in his youth, or for us a reminder of what we have already studied in Proverbs.
- “For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh. Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.”(22-23)
- Key words: Diligence (constant care); issues (basic matters).
- Notice the parallels:
- Life/health
- Those/their flesh
- What does it mean to keep “thy heart with all diligence”?
- Diligence means = constant; steady application; continual care; without delay.
- In other words, we have to keep applying these truths to our lives. We have to keep building these principles in our hearts because this is the source for the decisions of life. This is where our belief system is located.
- “Put away from thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee. Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee. Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established.Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil.” (24-27)
- Key words: Froward (disobedient); perverse (corrupt).
- The actions of the body follow the inner man of the heart.
- The parts of the body are used in parallel to describe the actions of the believer in Jesus Christ:
- “My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings. Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart.”(20-21)
| Mouth/lips | Watch your speech and conversation to avoid anything that is corrupt, wicked, evil or disobedient. |
| Eyes/eyelids | Take care what you permit your eyes to see. Keep your focus straight ahead on Christ. |
| Feet/ways | Think about the places you go, especially with others. Let God guide your feet. |
| Right hand or left/foot | Don’t be distracted or enticed away from the straight and narrow path of Christ because your foot will soon follow where you look and your hand will participate where your feet take you. |
- Summary and application:
- Notice that verse 23 spoke about the heart where you build the foundation of your belief system from which come your decisions in life.
- Then verse 24 speaks about the mouth. What you have in your heart will eventually come out through your mouth. (Mat 12:34)
- Building the correct belief system (2) is the beginning of preparing a youth to walk in this world and not fall away from God.
- That belief system according to verse 2 is given to believers by God, the Father, and detailed in His Word, the Bible. Those who do not study and read the Bible are not building that foundation on Christ.
Homework
Proverbs 5
- Application of Pro 4
- Pro 4:26 says to ponder your path. We are to think about the path on which we are walking the Christian walk. What in this lesson will improve your walk with Christ?
- What did Solomon say is the most important thing to get? Wisdom (skillful living).
- And the second most important thing? Understanding (discern good from evil).
- If the wisdom of God directs your path, probably you will not do what? (11-12) stumble and fall in your decisions. What does that mean to you?
- What is like food and drink to the evil man? (17) Wickedness and violence.
- The issues of life come from where? (23) The inner man of the heart.
- Pro 4:26 says to ponder your path. We are to think about the path on which we are walking the Christian walk. What in this lesson will improve your walk with Christ?
- Preparation for Pro 5
- Read Pro 5:1-23
- Why is it important for the young man to move away from the door of the strange woman?
- What happens to the wealth of the young man that visits the strange woman? (9-10)
- What does verse 14 tell you about the background of this young man?
- What do you think verse 15 means?
- Read Pro 5:1-23
- Memory Verse: Gen 2:24
