Semikkah7

11/17/2021 – Day 229 – Proverbs 17 – 18 / Taking heed on repeated proverbs.

18:10 is a good place to start: “The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe.” His Kingdom is perfect joy that lasts forever. This verse is not the world’s “safe”. Look at Luke 9:24: “For whoever that wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it.” Essentially, this verse is repeated multiple times throughout the Word with the leading two words: “Fear not,….”

Here are two verses that go together. And if we would apply them diligently, the world would change on a dime.

• 17:10: “A rebuke impresses a man of discernment more than a hundred lashes a fool.” Yet , we are uncomfortable rebuking a best friend? So, our silence evidences our love? Is not the best evidence of friendship a sacrifice of self?
• 18:13: “He who answers before listening — that is his folly and his shame.
• Make that three, although there are more: 18:21 – “The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.”

• I have shared this one before, but this is one my Mom drilled into me from a very young age: 18:24: “A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.” Mom’s version: “If you have but one best friend in your whole entire life, you are blessed!”