JULY 7 PROVERBS 22-24

Proverbs 22-24

Here are some of my highlights from these three chapters in Proverbs, which, after Proverbs 22:17, seem to be the collected words of the wise, and not just Solomon’s.

Child Rearing! Along with the most famous of all parenting proverbs, “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it,” we have two warnings to parents not to withhold discipline (Proverbs 22:15; 23:13). As we noticed early on in Proverbs, the whole book is a kind of handbook on parenting. In Proverbs 23:19-25 we can hear the urgent concerns of the parents.


Financial Peace! Two of Dave Ramsey’s most important tenets are represented here.  On indebtedness: “The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is the slave of the lender.” (Proverbs 22:7) On co-signing: “Be not one of those who...puts up security for debts.” (Proverbs 22:26)

Drunkenness!  An extended passage at the end of Proverbs 23 (vv. 29-35) provides a memorable picture of the effects of “tarrying long over wine.” Read it, and you’ll find encouragement toward temperance.


Perseverance!  One of my favorite “Never Give Up” verses in scripture is Proverbs 24:16, “The righteous falls seven times and rises again!”  Some fall and want to quit; not so the righteous.   In Christ, we can rise again!

Laziness!  Not unlike the “story-verb” at the end of Proverbs 23 on drunkenness, is another at the end of Proverbs 24. This one is about a sluggard, “A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man.” (Proverbs 24:23-24)

Lord God, let these words of wisdom bear fruit in our lives. We don’t want to read them, and not be changed by them. We commit our child rearing, our finances, our moderation, our perseverance and our work-ethic to You. In Christ’s name we pray, AMEN.

Tomorrow, more Proverbs of Solomon!

Your fellow traveler through the Word,
Pastor Gary