Proverbs 3

The Pulpit Commentary - Proverbs 3:5-6

Divine guidance I. THE NEED OF DIVINE GUIDANCE . Several considerations force this upon us; e.g. : 1 . The complexity of life. The longer we live, the more do we feel the profound mystery that touches us on every side. Innumerable avenues open out to us. Innumerable claims are made upon us. Conflicting duties perplex us. We feel as autumn leaves before the driving winds. We are helpless to choose and follow the right. 2 . Our ignorance of the future. Like Columbus,... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Proverbs 3:6

In all thy ways. This expression covers the whole area of life's action—all its acts and undertakings, its spiritual and secular sides, no less than its public and private, It guards against our acknowledging God in great crises and solemn acts of worship only (Plumptre). Acknowledge ( daehu ); Vulgate, cogita ; LXX ; γνέριζε . The Hebrew verb yada signifies "to know, recognize." To acknowledge God is, therefore, to recognize, in all our dealings and undertakings, God's... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Proverbs 3:7

Be not wise in thine own eyes. This admonition carries on the thought from the preceding verses (5, 6), approaching it from a different direction. It is a protest against self-sufficiency, self-conceit, and self-reliance. It says, in effect, "Trust in the Lord, do not trust in yourself." Wisdom, as Michaelis remarks, is to trust in God; to trust in yourself and in your own wisdom is unwisdom. God denounces this spirit: "Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Proverbs 3:7

(second part), 8.— A three-linked chain. We have— I. PIETY . "Fear the Lord." It is the faculty which distinguishes the meanest man from the noblest brute, which raises our race immeasurably above the next below it. Man can fear God. He can II. MORALITY . "Depart from evil." The outcome of piety is morality. 1 . The morality which rests not on the basis of piety (the fear of the Lord) is on an insecure foundation. Change of circumstance, of friends, of fashions, may blow it... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Proverbs 3:8

It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones. A metaphorical expression, denoting the complete spiritual health which shall follow from fearing the Lord and departing from evil. Health, ( riph'uth ); properly, healing ; LXX ; ιἅσις ; Vulgate, sanitas ; so Syriac and Arabic. The Targum Jonathan has medicina, "medicine," as the margin. The root rapha is properly "to sew together," and the secondary meaning, "to heal," is taken from the healing of a wound by... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Proverbs 3:9

Honour the Lord with thy substance, etc. An exhortation to self-sacrificing devotion by the appropriation and use of wealth to the service of Jehovah. With thy substance ( mehonehka ); Vulgate, de tua substantia ; LXX ; ἀπὸ σῶν δικαίων πόνων . Hon, properly "lightness," is "opulence," "wealth," as in Proverbs 1:13 . The min in composition with hon is not partitive, as Delitzsch and Berthean take it, but signifies "with" or "by means of," as in Psalms 38:7 ; ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Proverbs 3:9-10

Consecrated property I. WE CAN HONOUR GOD WITH OUR PROPERTY . It is not to be supposed that because religion is a wholly spiritual power it has no bearing on material things. Our religion is a mockery unless it affects the way in which we spend our money, as well as all other concerns of life. Property can be consecrated to God by being spent in conscious obedience to his will and by being used for the promotion of his glory, as in the maintenance of worship, the extension of... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Proverbs 3:9-10

The Divine responsiveness There are two ways in which God blesses us—unconditionally and conditionally. We receive very much from him in virtue of his originating and spontaneous goodness. We may, if we will, receive much from him also as the result of his faithful response to our appeal. The text suggests to us the truth, which has manifold illustrations, that if we take toward him the attitude which he desires us to assume, he will visit us with appropriate and corresponding... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Proverbs 3:10

So shall thy barns be filled with plenty. The promise held out to encourage the devotion of one's wealth to Jehovah's service, while supplying a motive which at first sight appears selfish and questionable, is in reality a trial of faith. Few persons find it easy to realize that giving away will increase their store (Wardlaw). The teacher is warranted in bringing forward this promise by the language of Moses in Deuteronomy 28:1-8 , whine, among other things, he promises that Jehovah will... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Proverbs 3:11

My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord. The teacher, in Proverbs 3:11 and Proverbs 3:12 , passes to another phase of life. The thought of prosperity suggests the opposite one of adversity. Abundant prosperity shall flow from honouring Jehovah, but he sometimes and not unfrequently sends affliction, and, indeed, without this life would be incomplete. The object of the exhortation is, as Delitzsch states, to show that, as in prosperity God should not be forgotten, so one should not... read more

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