A Wise Son

Anyone looking for wise counsel should make their way to the Proverbs. They contain ideas that, if taken to heart, can help a reader become “A Wise Son.”

You can play, download, or read the transcript of this Take Note Podcast below.

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Proverbs 10:1-10

Anyone looking for wise counsel on life should make their way often to the Proverbs
The proverbs of Solomon we’ll address today are useful in youth and old age
They deliver invaluable reminders
About our daily needs
Finances
Work
Our character
And our speech, among other things

A person who takes to heart these words and ideas can be called “A Wise Son”
Which is our theme today
From Proverbs 10:1-10

The difficulty of study in Proverbs is the subject changes from verse to verse
A topical thread sometimes holds each section together
But often, the verses are self-contained units of wisdom
Some take a lot of thought to process
Others make instant sense

Proverbs 10 has a little of both
Like other proverbs of Solomon, they read as a father’s address to a son
But the messages to the reader vary widely
We begin considering one part of life
Then quickly switch to another

These are all things a father may tell a son
But they read like a random list
This is a somewhat common way for us to communicate (especially online) today
“Here are my top ten pieces of fatherly advice” the headline may read
In other words, the format works

Let’s take a closer look at each of these 10 verses…

Proverbs 10:1

1 The proverbs of Solomon. A wise son maketh a glad father: but a foolish son is the heaviness of his mother.

This is one of those “instantly relatable” proverbs
Parents are glad when their children make wise decisions
They celebrate prudence and good judgement
Because prudence and good judgement are best for their children
They produce good outcomes for life
And while wisdom doesn’t make everything great forever
It provides the very best opportunity for joy and fulfillment

Foolishness does exactly the opposite
It causes grief, and stress, and pain in a parent’s life
It weighs the parent down
Because the complexity that foolishness inevitably brings makes everything worse
This foolish son may be dull of senses, but they are also likely arrogant
That’s how the word in our text is often used
That’s a person making terrible decisions, but doing so with pride

Our next proverb…

Proverbs 10:2

2 Treasures of wickedness profit nothing: but righteousness delivereth from death.

These “treasures of wickedness” are ill-gotten gains
They are riches obtained by doing wrong
And the reason they profit nothing is because they are not earned
While they may be enjoyed temporarily, reality catches up with us
God sees the dishonesty and the evil
They lead first to guilt, then to destruction

Righteousness is different
This is doing things justly or rightly
And whether it be in regard to financial gains or anything else
Righteousness delivers us
It helps us avoid dangerous consequences in this life, no doubt
But when we have faith in Christ and He is our righteousness
He provides a way for us to avoid eternal death in hell

These proverbs of Solomon go on…

Proverbs 10:3

3 The LORD will not suffer the soul of the righteous to famish: but he casteth away the substance of the wicked.

Here is another way to say this verse…

“The Lord will not allow the righteous to hunger, but He will reject [or thrust away] the craving of the wicked.”

It is well-known that God takes care of the needs of His people
David was young and became old and had not seen the righteous forsaken, nor His seed begging bread
Whether it is food for the body or food for the soul, God provides

But the wicked desire and have their desire thrust away by God
Evil leads to problems and difficulties and hardships and complexities
While every man has some of each, wickedness invites them
And ensures that they will stay
That means want for the belly and want for the soul
And this want can only be satisfied by God

Let’s continue…

Proverbs 10:4

4 He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand: but the hand of the diligent maketh rich.

Not every lazy person is poor
And not every diligent person is rich
This is not a hard and fast rule
But we all know this tends to be the way of things

A slack hand is a lazy hand or an idle hand
And when men refuse to work, they suffer need
Laziness brings poverty
And that is true just as much today, as it was in this context

But diligent effort provides financial reward
Everyone observing honestly can see the difference between laziness and diligence
And the employers and customers of the world pay for diligence
They reward consistent, hard work
It is of value, so they are eager to pay for it

This proverb is somewhat connected to the next one…

Proverbs 10:5

5 He that gathereth in summer is a wise son: but he that sleepeth in harvest is a son that causeth shame.

Wisdom and diligence are again contrasted with laziness here
The wise son makes his father glad
But the lazy son causes shame

Crops do not harvest themselves
And the man who sleeps instead of harvesting is without food and without honor

Wisdom means planning ahead
It means working ahead
It means doing all the labor that needs to be done
Without taking shortcuts
Without sleeping in

What else?

Proverbs 10:6

6 Blessings are upon the head of the just: but violence covereth the mouth of the wicked.

Those who are just, who are righteous, can expect blessing
Choosing right, as we commented earlier, doesn’t guarantee everything is great
But it gives us the best opportunity to enjoy that which is good in the world
That which God has provided for us

The wicked person often finds themselves muzzled
They conceal the violence they have committed already, or plan to commit
The evil are certainly not quick to confess it

But how are people remembered?

Proverbs 10:7

7 The memory of the just is blessed: but the name of the wicked shall rot.

When people remember the righteous, they do so with fondness
Their justice is worth remembering
They have done that which pleases God
And it is a blessing to experience and to remember

The wicked are not so
They cannot be remembered fondly
Their names are forgotten or decried
Their evil leaves a stain, a scar

What about the heart?

Proverbs 10:8

8 The wise in heart will receive commandments: but a prating fool shall fall.

Commandments are often rejected by men
We don’t want to be told what to do
But a wise man receives them
And does so willingly
If they are from God, He knows they will benefit him

But a babbling fool will come to ruin
The babbling may be about how the fool wants his own way
How the commandments weigh him down
How they don’t make sense to him
How they are too much for God to ask

But none of this is legitimate
And ruin is the only outcome for a person like this

There is a confidence rightness provides…

Proverbs 10:9

9 He that walketh uprightly walketh surely: but he that perverteth his ways shall be known.

Here is a restatement of this verse…

“Whoever walks in integrity walks securely, but he who makes his ways crooked will be found out.”

There is a security in integrity
There are no lies to remember
No tracks to cover
No bad choices to clean up

A person walking rightly can walk in confidence
Confidence before God and before men

Liars and cheaters
Those walking the crooked way have no confidence
In fact, God says they will be found out
Their evil is not hidden
It was seen by God
And it is likely to be seen by the world
This means trouble is ahead for the crooked

Familiar words in verse 10…

Proverbs 10:10

10 He that winketh with the eye causeth sorrow: but a prating fool shall fall.

Maybe this explanation will help…

“If you fail to speak the truth, trouble will follow. If you speak openly, peace will come.”

Failing to tell the truth
Worse, lying, leads to trouble
We learn this early in life
When we refuse to live by, and refuse to speak truth
Negative outcomes result

The opposite can be said of truth-tellers
They have the best possible chance to obtain and walk in peace
Because they obtain that truth from the Giver of Peace
And that is God
Who demands integrity from those who follow Him

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