Apply your heart to instruction

    and your ear to words of knowledge.

Proverbs 23:12 ESV

In this verse, the writer implores us to give our heart to instruction, to set our affections upon godly instruction or wisdom. How should we get that instruction? The writer answers that in saying, “[apply] your ear to words of knowledge.” We need to actively listen to godly instruction. We could summarize this verse as follows: “Set your affections on the godly instruction you hear.” Or we could simply borrow the wording of Proverbs 7:1, “My son, keep my words and treasure up my commandments with you.”

While the scriptures do not implore us to be ignorant about the world and the things in it, the priority is to be wise, to first and foremost know and treasure God. Jeremiah 9:24 says it this way, “but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord.”

The rich and the poor meet together;

    the Lord is the Maker of them all.

Proverbs 22:2 ESV

How often do we size up those people around us, say for example at an amusement park as we wait in line for the ride. In such a setting, have you ever looked at an obviously poor family and wondered, “My heavens, how did they even afford the tickets much less the $6 bag of cotton candy?” Our culture evaluates the relative value of people on a variety of criteria, but wealth is one of the significant considerations.

Here, the writer makes the point that before the Lord, rich and poor have the same intrinsic value since God made them both. I’m not greater than that guy because I have more money than he does. And I’m not lesser than that guy because he has more money than I. However, that is not to say that God doesn’t distinguish between us. God focuses on non-physical considerations. In other words, God looks on the heart. For example,

Better is a poor man who walks in his integrity

    than a rich man who is crooked in his ways.

Proverbs 28:6 ESV

This is a reminder to me to examine myself more closely in terms of my heart than my bank account.

“When a man’s folly brings his way to ruin,

    his heart rages against the Lord.”

Proverbs 19:3 ESV

The fool is revealed in two ways in this verse. First, note that his own folly brings ruin. The natural end of folly is ruin.

Second, the fool does not accept his own responsibility in creating his circumstance; he blames someone else. In this case, “his heart rages against the Lord.” Raging against the Lord demonstrates his folly in extra measure. Not only does he blame someone else, he blames the one who would guide him to wisdom.

When you find yourself in a fix do you catch yourself blaming someone else? Do you blame God?

“A fool takes no pleasure in understanding,

    but only in expressing his opinion.”

Proverbs 18:2 ESV

Proverbs is filled with self-tests. Here’s another.

Are you willing to listen? Do you have an interest in understanding people or situations? Or, do you simply want to make a snap judgement and tell others what you think? If the latter, you are a fool.

How often do I make snap judgements about people or situations without even realizing it? Lord, please give me a heart for understanding.

“Whoever mocks the poor insults his Maker;

    he who is glad at calamity will not go unpunished.”

Proverbs 17:5 ESV

This verse provides an insight into how God involves himself into the affairs of humans. Here, the mocker likely has no thought of God, he’s simply having a laugh at the expense of another. However, God is insulted when this happens. This is similar to Paul’s Damascus Road Experience in which Jesus asked Paul, “Why are you persecuting me?” Paul’s intent was to arrest believers in Damascus. Yet, Jesus understood Paul’s actions as persecuting Jesus.

These references should remind us to be sober in how we think about and act toward others for whom God is concerned, especially those who are suffering. That likely requires a paradigm shift in our thinking; we must remember that people are created in the image of God (Gen. 1: 27).