Proverbs - Chapter 19

Many useful proverbs for today! A verse-by-verse study on the 19th chapter of the Book of Proverbs. Believersbibleschool.com

The Book of Proverbs

Chapter 19

Proverbs 19:1  Better to be poor and honest than to be dishonest and a fool.

King Solomon is now comparing the integrity of a poor person to that of a dishonest fool.  Jesus said to His disciples that there will always be the poor among us, and we read in other scripture that they should never be ignored.  A poor honest person will trust in God for his provision, and as such God loves and favors those who are honest over the dishonest.  Therefore, it is better to be poor and honest over a fool who is dishonest.  A fool will do anything, include by dishonest means to gain whatever he can for himself, only to be judged by God at a later time.

2 Enthusiasm without knowledge is no good; haste makes mistakes.

We have learned that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.  One who runs in haste without planning ahead and weighing the cost will make mistakes, and those mistakes, however common, will be very costly.   

  • The Bible gives many examples of people who had their own agenda, went ahead with their sin, and then had to later pay the price.  Looking at just two of them, we have David and Bathsheiba when David wanted Bathsheiba for his own and then planned her husband's death.  And then we have Samson running to Delilah to appease his sexual desires, and it put him in prison.

People ruin their lives by their own foolishness and then are angry at the Lord.

Once a fool, always a fool - and it will only lead to destruction, unless one decides to give it up and follow after the ways of the Lord. 

  • A fool gets angry at his folly, generally blaming others, and worse yet, they blame God as if it was all God's fault.  He will fret in his anger, living a life of inner and outer strife in all affairs of life. 

Wealth makes many “friends”; poverty drives them all away.

This is a repeated verse from previous chapters.  It may look like the wealthy have a lot of friends; however, most of them are what you may refer to as "so called" friends.  Take away their wealth, power and prestige, and they will run away never to be seen by them again.

5 A false witness will not go unpunished, nor will a liar escape.

If justice is to be done fairly, a false witness who lies about another will not go unpunished.  In a court of law there are dire consequences.  In the eyes of God, that person will also face judgment - either sooner or later.  No one escapes the eyes of God!

6 Many seek favors from a ruler; everyone is the friend of a person who gives gifts!

Everyone wants favor from those of influence in high places.  In King Solomon's days, many brought gifts to him, seeking favor from him.  Though gifts can give a certain amount of favor without being a sin, it can go so far as to become a bribe, and that is a sin against God, the person, and those around. 

7 All the brothers of the poor hate him;  How much more do his friends go far from him!  He may pursue them with words, yet they abandon him.

The poor are often rejected by others, including family and "so called" friends, which is contrast to what Jesus would do. As such, many of them are left to fend for themselves.   Jesus not only went to the poor, He asks of us to help the poor in any way we can.  

To acquire wisdom is to love yourself; people who cherish understanding will prosper.

To love, care and nurture oneself is not only wise, but something that God desires for everyone.  Jesus told us to love our neighbors as we love ourselves.  Therefore, by making sure we take care of ourselves, we are in a posistion to help others as well.  If we neglect ourselves, however, how then can we take care of others.
 

A false witness will not go unpunished, and a liar will be destroyed.

Because this verse is repeated twice in the same chapter, tells us of its importance.  If justice is to be done fairly, a false witness who lies about another will not go unpunished.  In a court of law there are dire consequences.  In the eyes of God, that person will also face judgment - either sooner or later.  No one escapes the eyes of God!

10 It isn’t right for a fool to live in luxury or for a slave to rule over princes!

Spoken by King Solomon 3000 years ago, in a time when there was real division between the rich and the poor.  Sadly, there were many fools who live in luxury; however, everyone has to face the judgment of God.  Fools were generally cruel to their servants who if the situation were reversed could cause much chaos. 

In the same way, for someone who has been a servant all of his or her life would not know how to rule over influential, especially those who are fools.  The tendency would be to give back what they have received, therefore abusing the power they have been given and certainly social chaos among  society.  

Maybe the division isn't quite so extreme today; however, human nature is still the same.  No one escapes standing before God to give an account of how we lived our life here on earth.

11 Sensible people control their temper; they earn respect by overlooking wrongs.

Again, out of the heart the mouth speaks.  What is going on in the heart will come out of the mouth.  Therefore, we have to guard our heart so that we live in such a way where we have peace within so we don't give out anger because of an unguarded heart.  Wise people guard their hearts carefully to control any negative motions that are inside them.  As such, they will watch carefully so they do not make a fool of themselves.  They will purpose to act in a more appropriate way, and will have a more forgiving spirit,  overlook the transgressions of those who transgress against them.  A wise person knows that one who has an unforgiving spirit will spew out anger toward another person easily, and say things they may one day regret.  Our responsibility then as Christians it to maintain peace, guard our heart, and forgive those who transgress against us.

12 The king’s anger is like a lion’s roar, but his favor is like dew on the grass.

The roar of a lion is terrifying, knowing what its power can do.  The same applies to the anger of a king, employer, or any other person who has power over us.  Being in their favor however, makes one feel safe and not afraid. 

How much more should we desire the favor of God, knowing that He loves and gives favor to those who love Him.  The dreadful day of one who has refused God's love all of his life and facing eternal judgment will be a fearful thing.

  • I am so grateful to be a part of the Kingdom of God, living under the New Covenant of grace, having Jesus as my personal Savior and Lord.  Aren't you?
  • We have the privilege of getting to know Jesus personally, having forgiveness of sins, being able to grow in faith to become more like Jesus, and then, in addition, being able to spend an eternity with our Lord.  It doesn't get any better than that.

13 A foolish child is a calamity to a father; a quarrelsome wife is as annoying as constant dripping.

This sounds like many families of today.  For a father to have a foolish child and a quarrelsome wife has many problems.  There are a lot of reasons why that kind of sitution will show itself.

  • The father has been a fool himself, raising his children to be like himself.
  • He married a rebellious woman who refused to submit to his authority 
  • Or, him being a fool did foolish things that brought his wife to become quarrelsome toward him.
  • In spite of godly parenting, the child chose to become rebellious.

This family has some basic underlying issues that if not corrected, will end up in disaster. 

  • It will take the power of God working in that family so that Jesus can become Lord over every person within that household.  For that to happen, it begins with prayer, and allowing God to have His way within that family.  Nothing is impossible with God.

14 Fathers can give their sons an inheritance of houses and wealth, but only the Lord can give an understanding wife.

A man can work hard all his life to earn lots of money and possessions to pass on down to his children when he dies, and that is a blessing.  The dangers here are if he works all the time and neglects his family.  He can then bring his family to ruin.

A prudent godly wife is a gift from God.  She is a woman who uses wisdom in all her affairs, supports her husband, uses self-control and does not waste the wealth that her husband brings home.  The man needs to be thankful for having such a wife.

15 Lazy people sleep soundly, but idleness leaves them hungry

We have learned that laziness or slothfulness is a real danger, bringing on many problems.  It puts oneself in a stupor, being totally unconscious of his or her situation.  Laziness leads to more laziness and therefore drives a person to not work, not take care of him/herself, and ends up in starvation because of his/her situation.   Laziness carries a heavy price to one's future, which will one day end up in destruction if not corrected.

16  Keep the commandments and keep your life; despising them leads to death.
 
We need to keep in mind that Proverbs is a practical book of generalities meant for the populace as a whole.  In other words, there are exceptions to the rule, where good people follow what is written, walk in the godly wisdom of the Lord, yet still something out of the ordinary happens and people begin to wonder why did it happen?  It brings out the question of why does bad things happen to good people?  Sometimes we just don't have answers. 
 
The Book of Proverbs is a great book because it covers the generalities of how to live in a sinful world, and sad to say, none of us are walking in total wisdom all the time.  We are all vulnerable and susceptible because the enemy is at our doorsteps 24/7, and his purpose is to rob, kill and destroy in whatever way he can.  As Christians, we have God on our side, and have been given the tools on how to counteract him. 
 
One of the things we need to guard against when reading Proverbs, which was written under the Law, is where we become so hard on ourselves to where we find ourselves back into the law and forget about the grace of God.  King Solomon did not live under the grace of the New Covenant like we live now.  But we also can't take grace for granted and get sloppy in our discipline either.  We still need to purpose to let the Lord direct our path in life.  What I am saying, we use the Book of Proverbs as a plumb line for our life so that we don't wander off the path that God is guiding us on, but we have His grace for when we wander off.
 
So then, let's purpose to obey God's Word, knowing that it gives us life.  It's when we wander are we then in danger of slipping unless we repent and get back on His path for us.  The last thing we ever want to do is abandon God's path for us because we know it will eventually lead us down a path that leads to destruction.
 

17  If you help the poor, you are lending to the Lordand he will repay you!

When we help the poor, we are actually lending to the Lord.  It is like an investment in our heavenly treasury.  As such, the Lord will repay us back for our generousity.  We do have to check our hearts, however, to make sure that we are not helping the poor for selfish reasons.  That would be using God for our selfish gain.  While God blesses us in return in whatever way He desires for us, our heart's attitude needs to be that we genuinely care for the poor and we want to please the Lord.  Again, check your heart!

  • There are rich people who give to charities simply for a tax deduction.  While that is a blessing for them, that should not be the driving force for giving to those in need. 
  • Again, it's always about the heart. 

18  Discipline your children while there is hope. Otherwise you will ruin their lives.

The timeframe of disciplining a child is not an endless window of opportunity.  The time will come where it will be too late.  A child needs to begin the discipling process at a young teachable age under healthy conditions by godly wise parents.  While the child may cry when disciplined, these early times of discipling are vital for the raising up a healthy child into a responsible, wise adult. 

  • When a child lives under the neglect or non or abusive discipline from the parents, a time will come to where the child will get bitter at any attempts of discipline and become rebellious toward his parents and others who have authority over them.  Either way, this is a form of abuse and destructive for the child.

19  Hot-tempered people must pay the penalty.  If you rescue them once, you will have to do it again.

People who are hot tempered have a real heart issue, living a life of anger and self punishment.  As such, they bring many problems upon themselves due to their own anger that gets out of control.  To attempt to rescue them will prove detrimental and a waste of time because the heart has not changed.  The anger will continue and you will find yourself rescuing them over and over.  Keep on rescuing this person and that anger in them will eventually be turned on you.  

  • Sadly, this often is the case of a rebellious child turned adult who has not had the proper discipline growing up.  
  • The best thing to do with a hot-tempered person is to allow him/her to suffer the consequences of his/her own actions in an effort to help them see the error of their ways.  When, and only when they choose to change, making positive efforts to change, should you help this kind of person.

20  Get all the advice and instruction you can, so you will be wise the rest of your life.

A teachable person is one who seeks after knowledge, purposing to understand.  He or she will listen to wise counsel and receive instruction.  This person is well on their way to receiving the wisdom of God.  The more wisdom gained, the more one seeks to gain more, which then will bring one to lead a life of wisdom all the days of his life. 
 
  • For anyone who thinks they lack in this area, I have good news. Today, make the decision to get into God's Word to renew your mind as Romans 12:2 tells us.  Little by little you will gain God's knowledge.  Then meditate on what what learn, and you will start to gain God's wisdom.  You are now well on your way to not only gaining God's wisdom, but you will find yourself leading a life of peace and contentment with yourself and others and pleasing to God.  And the more you keep renewing your mind to the Word of God, the more wisdom you will put down in your heart and the wiser you will become, which will carry you throughout your life.
 
21  You can make many plans, but the Lord’s purpose will prevail.
 

We have talked about this before in previous chapters.  We all make plans for this or that, but no matter how we plan and prepare, things change along the way.  Once we make the decision to trust in the Lord as Proverbs 4:5-6 tells us, walking on the path He has chosen for us, we learn to listen to the voice of the indwelling Holy Spirit, allowing God to tell us how to lead our life.  And then when things do change, and they definitely change a lot, we simply trust that God knows best and that He has something in mind for us that will be for our good and His glory.  Romans 8 tells us:  All things work out for good to those who love God and are called according to His purpose.

22  Loyalty makes a person attractive. It is better to be poor than dishonest.
 
It seems that we have two separate proverbs in this verse.  People want others to be loyal to them.  If you say you are going to do something, do it.  Be honest and trustworthy to everyone.  People are drawn to these kind of people.
 
  • People don't like dishonest people because they can never trust them.  In this kind of comparison, it is better to be poor than be dishonest. 
23  Fear of the Lord leads to life, bringing security and protection from harm.
 

Since the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, having wisdom brings on a life that has peace, contentment, respect from others, and one that God watches over.  As such, it begins by giving reverential fear and honor to the Lord.

24  Lazy people take food in their hand but don’t even lift it to their mouth.
 

While laziness here is taken to an extreme, we see a person too lazy to lift the food to his mouth and too lazy to open his mouth to eat it.  The point given here is the lazy person will go hungry because he is too lazy to work, and even if he got food, they would be too lazy to prepare it for eating.  The epitome of laziness!

25  If you punish a mocker, the simpleminded will learn a lesson; if you correct the wise, they will be all the wiser.
 
  • Punish a mocker and he will scorn you.  A mocker refuses any sort of rebuke because his hearts is so hard to where he will refuse to even understand.
  • A simpleton, on the other hand, does not have the ability to fully understand; however, he does have the ability to learn a lesson from the experience because his heart is not hardened through rebellion.
  • Correct the wise, and he will not only quickly learn, but he will change his thinking to where the situation will never happen to him.  In that, he will become wiser.
 
26  Children who mistreat their father or chase away their mother are an embarrassment and a public disgrace.
 

The fifth commandment tells us to honor our father and mother (Ex 20:12 & Eph 6:2).  It also says in Ephesians that when we honor our father and mother, our days are longer upon the earth.  That's quite a promise.

  • For a child (adult or otherwise) mistreats his parents in any sort of way, would bring shame and a reproach upon themselves, and be in danger of shortening his life.
  • Others see and hear your words of dishonor toward your parents, and you will also lose the respect of those around you.  That's a heavy price to pay.
27  If you stop listening to instruction, my child, you will turn your back on knowledge.
 
Once a child stops listening to the instruction of his or her parents, the child can no longer learn.  Discipline will then bring on rebellion, and the child's life is on a downward slope to destruction, unless something happens to change the child's heart.


We all need a teachable spirit in order to learn.  If the child refuses to learn from his parents, how will he learn when given instruction as an adult.  God wants all of us to have a teachable spirit about us, becoming life-long learners.  The best place to learn from is God's Word.

28  A corrupt witness makes a mockery of justice; the mouth of the wicked gulps down evil.

We are back to a false witness again.  A false witness scorns justice, and if allowed to get away with it, it can tear down society, causing great harm to everyone.  In a court of law, a false witness generally is punished severely for the protection of the society in which he lives in.

29  Punishment is made for mockers, and the backs of fools are made to be beaten.
 
For those who reject wisdom with hostility, judgment awaits them.  First of all, they will be judged by those they scorn, and life in general will be their judge.  It's best to avoid mockers, for if you don't, you will be one they will mock as well.
 
God bless!
 
 
Pastor Joyce Erickson
Believersbibleschool.com
 
 

 

Written by Pastor Joyce A. Erickson

Believers Bible School, Founder https://believersbibleschool.com/