Proverbs 20

Good morning, as you know there is a ton of information to unpack in the Proverbs. Therefore, I’m just going to highlight a couple of verses that caught my attention.

20:3, “It is honorable for a man to stop striving, since any fool can start a quarrel.”

Fighting, quarreling, arguing- these are all easy to do. When we follow Jesus, we don’t need to engage because we already know Jesus has won victory. We can just walk away. It might seem counterintuitive, especially if someone is poking at our Lord. But, we will show the character of God much more by choose NOT to argue than by disgracing Him and quarreling about it.

20:9, “Who can say, “I have made my heart clean, I am pure from sin?”

No one but Jesus can say that. I think this is here to show that we are all equal, we are all sinners, and we all need salvation.

20:17, “Bread gained by deceit is sweet to a man, but afterward his mouth will be filled with gravel.”

Obviously, God has the power to literally fill the mouths of deceitful people with gravel. However, I think this is referring to regret. When we obtain things unjustly, it might feel good for a moment, but then the regret, or gravel, will come and ruin any sweetness.

20:30, “Blows that hurt cleanse away evil, as do stripes the inner depths of the heart.”

This could be talking about blows to the average person to cleanse our sin. However, I think this is a prophecy for Jesus. It was by His blows and His stripes that we are cleansed of evil and our hearts are made pure. This could also be an answer to Proverbs 20:9.

Today I pray for forgiveness. As I’m reading the Proverbs, the Holy Spirit is making me aware of my many shortcomings. I humbly repent of the evil my mouth speaks and the cruel actions I’ve taken against others. I pray the Holy Spirit restores me and helps me walk on a more righteous path. I also thank you, Lord, for sending Jesus to cleanse me of my sins and make me pure in your eyes. I also thank you, Jesus, that you’ve already won victory and we may find comfort in that knowledge. I pray a blessing on all who read this- may you go out in love and have the peace of the Lord! Amen.