Proverbs 1:8 My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother:
9 For they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head, and chains about thy neck.
10 My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not.
11 If they say, Come with us, let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause:
12 Let us swallow them up alive as the grave; and whole, as those that go down into the pit:
13 We shall find all precious substance, we shall fill our houses with spoil:
14 Cast in thy lot among us; let us all have one purse:
15 My son, walk not thou in the way with them; refrain thy foot from their path:
16 For their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood.
17 Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird.
18 And they lay wait for their own blood; they lurk privily for their own lives.
19 So are the ways of every one that is greedy of gain; which taketh away the life of the owners thereof.
The best time to know the fear of the LORD is in one’s youth. God is addressing the son here because God’s Word teaches a patriarchal system of governance. God is not saying women have no place, but they are not to be the leaders. The son needs to hear instruction. A good father cares about his son. He wants him to listen to the father’s instruction and to the law of his mother.
God gives children parents for a reason. Parents are supposed to have some wisdom. They are supposed to know the Lord and be governed by the Lord. Young people are often very short sighted and feelings oriented. They need the input of godly parents to stabilize them.
Too often parents are too concerned about being buddies with their children rather than true friends for them.
In verse 9 God says that the instruction of the father and the law of the mother will be an ornament of grace unto thy head and chains about they neck. We are living in a time when too many males have effeminate traits. They don’t want to be godly men. They want to be worldly. A godly woman does not want a man who thinks he is in competition with her. She wants a man who understands what it means to be a man.
Men do not need jewelry around their neck or head. Men need God’s wisdom in their heart. That will stand them in good stead. Rather than trying to impress the shallow minded, worldly woman, Godly men need to take heed to wise counsel and they need to see the value of that.
The world is full of sinners. Sinners always want to add someone to their group. Sinners love to try to get a godly young person to fall. They take great pleasure in that. God says the godly son should not yield to such talk. There is nothing to gain from dumpster diving. The truth is precious. The truth is life-giving.
In verse 11 we see more of the devil’s tactic. We see that the ungodly are out for blood. They have a tendency to violence. They love to ruin other people’s lives if they can. The wise son needs to understand this and stay away from them. The ungodly do not need a reason to commit violence. It is entertaining for them.
In verse12 their appetite is like the grave. The grave is aways ready to receive its next victim. It is never satisfied. Those that are of this nature will end up in the pit. There is no hope for them in their present state. The wise son needs to be mindful of that fact.
The lost have a very narrow focus in life. Material gain is all they have. Not every lost person will turn to violence, but there are too many that do. They take pleasure in taking that which does not belong to them. They have seared their conscience and they are intent on taking whatever they can. They want to fill their houses with the spoil of others.
They talk of sharing the bounty of their crimes. They do not like the independent thinker. They have a communist mindset. We do everything together and we share the proceeds of our crimes. They want someone else involved with them in their sin. That way, they can hide behind one another.
In verse 15 the son is again reminded not to choose that path. It is up to the young person to be instructed, but it is also up to the young person to heed the instruction given. Don’t play around in the devil’s territory.
The path of the ungodly has nothing good to offer. Their feet are trained to run to evil. They are anxious to shed blood. They take pleasure in that.
We are hearing of more and more violence in our streets. It is not all gun violence either. There are knives used, or sometimes beatings. The violent have one goal. They have many ways of achieving that goal. Our useless gun laws will not take the criminal off the streets. It will just seek to punish the godly individual by trying to make it a crime to own a gun.
The violent mindset comes from a corrupt heart. The solution is for the person to hear good counsel but also to receive good counsel. Sitting in front of the T.V. or playing the latest digital game is not the answer.
In verse 17 we have further words related to verse 11. The wicked go after others without cause. It is not seeking justice, but rather seeking to gain through violence.
The wicked are not a productive part of society. They lay around and look for an occasion to steal from those who are productive. We are seeing a rise in homelessness in our country. We have encouraged a welfare state for a number of years. Men and women who are well capable of working, but too lazy to do so. They would rather take what others have worked for. Many of those on welfare are in that state of mind. However, there are others who also work the system, to avoid paying taxes and look for ways to shirk responsibility. Our P.M. is doing that with his business dealings. He is looking for the place where he can pay the least amount of taxes and make the most amount of profit. He is no better than the open thief who is using violence to get what he wants. They have seared their conscience and it does not bother them to ruin other people’s lives.
Verse 19 tells us this is the common character of those who are greedy of gain. They may use different methods to get there but they are looking for a way to get something for nothing. They are full of excuses as to why they are in their current situation. They do not want to listen to wise counsel and get saved. It is much easier for them to make excuses. They might even agree with what the wise person says, but they only do that to get the person off their back.
You notice that the greedy person is taking away the life of the owner. The greedy person does not respect private ownership. He looks at what others have and in his mind he justifies his right to take that by any means possible.
God is encouraging the young man in particular to be productive in a good way. There is nothing to gain from entertaining greed. Those who run in those circles are never satisfied. As the saying goes: ‘easy come, easy go’.
God wants the young man to benefit from wise counsel of parents and then be able to pass on wise counsel to the next generation.
Pastor Bartel