June 19, 2025 - Proverbs 1-5

      Let the wise hear and increase in learning,

and the one who understands obtain guidance,

      to understand a proverb and a saying,

the words of the wise and their riddles (1:5-6).

We all know the old saying “The rich get richer and the poor get poorer.”  The saying can be tweaked just a bit and still be true, for instance, “The wise man grows in wisdom and the fool increases in foolishness.”  Have you ever noticed how one person seems always to make the right decisions while another goes from one disaster to another?  Solomon encourages us, “Let the wise hear and increase in learning.”  And in his proverbs, Solomon tells us what we are to listen to.  He provides sage counsel.  The wise person will pay attention and increase in understanding and wisdom and even the quality of life.  In fact, the same can be said of all the Bible:  “The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail” (Isaiah 58:11) & “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17) & many other texts.

Holy Bible, book divine,

precious treasure, thou art mine;

mine to tell me whence I came;

mine to teach me what I am:

Mine to chide me when I stray,

mine to show a Savior's way;

mine art thou to guide my feet;

mine to judge, condemn, acquit.   --John Burton (1803)