From our Sunday service on April 19, 2026, Proverbs 22:17-23:9. This is part 1 of our Sayings of the Wise series. Watch the full message: The Sayings of the Wise #1 on YouTube.
Before we get into a long, in-depth study, I thought, what if we just did something simple for a few weeks? I know the book of Hebrews was pretty complicated. We got into a lot of theology and a lot of discussion of atonement, and that gets pretty deep. So let’s do something a little lighter for a couple of weeks. We’re going to take a look at the book of Proverbs.
The book of Proverbs is a hard book to do a series out of. If you know anything about Proverbs, it’s probably that it has proverbs in it, and those proverbs are short, single-verse sayings, which makes a series a little difficult. So for the past couple of months I’ve been thinking about how we can get into Proverbs and go through it piece by piece, without a huge series through the entire book. Today I want to start the first section we’ll look at. It’s called the sayings of the wise.
The Sections of Proverbs
If you don’t know, the book of Proverbs is generally split into about seven specific sections. The first section is Proverbs 1:1-7. That’s the preamble, or introduction, to the book. It tells you a little about what the book is about. From there it goes from chapter 1:8 to chapter 9:18, the lessons of wisdom, where wisdom is personified as a woman who comes to teach you. There are 10 lessons of wisdom there.
The third section is probably what Proverbs is most known for: the collection of Solomon’s proverbs, chapter 10:1 to chapter 22:16. Those were all compiled during the time of Solomon from the thousands of proverbs he wrote. That section is really hard to go over in a series, because each verse is its own thought.
Today we’re in section four, which is called the sayings of the wise. That’s Proverbs 22:17 through chapter 24. After that you have Solomon’s proverbs, volume 2, which was compiled during the reign of Hezekiah. Then you have the sayings of Agur in chapter 30. And it all ends with our favorite little chapter, the Proverbs 31 woman, the one all of us remember because of the phrase “Proverbs 31 woman.” So we have those seven distinct sections, and in this series we’ll cover just one of them: the sayings of the wise.
Who Wrote the Sayings of the Wise?
What do we know about the sayings of the wise? We know it’s a collection of wisdom from various people throughout history. One thing a lot of people don’t know about the book of Proverbs is that it’s not just a book of wisdom from Solomon. A lot of times, when we go to Bible college or Sunday school or anywhere we learn about the Bible, they have you memorize who wrote the books of the Bible. For Proverbs, we oversimplify it to “Solomon wrote the book of Proverbs.” That’s not entirely true. He wrote most of it. As I said about the second volume, Proverbs 25:1 tells us, in Proverbs itself, that Hezekiah’s men compiled that section. So Proverbs isn’t just a book written by Solomon, but a collection of wisdom started by Solomon and continued through the kings who came after him.
Today we’re looking at the sayings of the wise, which are specifically a collection of sayings that Solomon collected from all over the world that he thought were beneficial for followers of God to know.
The Instruction of Amenemope
Interestingly enough, we have discovered one of the sources Solomon used for this section of Scripture. It’s called the Instruction of Amenemope. It’s an Egyptian name. He was a wise man in Egypt who created this book of instructions, or wisdom, and Solomon took a few sayings from there and composed them into Scripture.
You might say, “That sounds kind of scary. You’re telling me part of our Bible comes from Egyptian teaching, from an Egyptian philosopher? That’s kind of weird. The Bible is God’s Word. How does that work?” Let me tell you, you shouldn’t be afraid of the fact that the Bible sometimes contains sources written by nonbelievers. This is common throughout all of Scripture.
In fact, the apostle Paul, when he’s in his debates trying to win people to Christ, quotes three different Greek philosophers at least four times in Scripture. He quotes Aratus, Menander, and Epimenides. If Paul can use Greek philosophers in Scripture to win people to Christ, why would we be scared of that?
Other Sources in Scripture
We also have books of the Bible that mention other sources that aren’t the Bible. The Old Testament tells us that some of its records are pulled from the book of Jasher, from the historical records of Jasher. Should that scare us? No. We understand that the Bible was composed by the Holy Spirit and through the discernment of God. We also see the book of the wars of the Lord cited as a source in the book of Numbers. We don’t feel uncomfortable with that. There are other texts that aren’t Scripture but were used in the process of writing Scripture through the Holy Spirit.
Then we have those obvious sections, like the chapter in Daniel written by Nebuchadnezzar that we talked about. Nebuchadnezzar did not believe in God. Nebuchadnezzar was a pagan, but God can use a pagan to write Scripture if he wants to. We also have sections written by Cyrus, and of course we have Balaam, the false prophet, who is part of Scripture. We don’t feel uncomfortable with the idea that foreign people outside of God’s will helped build God’s Word, and we shouldn’t be scared by it.
Wisdom Is Wisdom
Why? Because wisdom is wisdom. What’s wise is wise. It doesn’t matter who said it first. Wisdom is still wisdom regardless of where it comes from. Romans 2 hits on this topic a little.
For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts…
Romans 2:14–15
The apostle Paul here in Romans says that even the unsaved have the image of God in them. They have a conscience in them, given by God, to determine right from wrong, wise living from foolish living. Because we understand that God’s wisdom is ingrained in man, we can understand that even though someone is unsaved, he can still act in a godlike manner. Why? Because he’s created in God’s image, and God has put a conscience in him that tells him what is right and what is wrong.
Thirty Sayings to Memorize
That’s what’s going on here. Solomon during his reign says, “I want to leave my people a lasting legacy of wisdom.” He made a lot of mistakes in his life. He married a thousand women and concubines. He wasted his life, and he says, “I don’t want you to make the same mistake.” So he went around and got books from all over the land and began to compose a book of wisdom, a book of good advice for God’s people.
We’re looking at one section of it: the 30 sayings of the wise, 30 specific lessons that Solomon believes every believer should apply to his life. These 30 sayings are designed specifically for believers to memorize. I know I might be asking a lot, but if you really want to put wisdom into your life and take the Bible the way it’s designed, the 30 sayings of the wise are made to be memorized. If you want a good challenge this year, memorize all 30 sayings. That’s a lot? It is. Maybe just start with one and see how it works. If you can memorize one, maybe you can memorize all 30. The book is going to tell us that we need to memorize them, so that when people come to us for advice, we can quote the sayings back to them when one of them applies to their lives.
As we look at these 30 sayings over the next couple of weeks, God wants his people to know that he wants them to live wisely in all areas of life.
Saying 1: Listen to the Wise
We’re in Proverbs 22, starting in verse 17. It’s kind of interesting that this whole section of Proverbs starts in the middle of a chapter, but that’s what we’re given from the medieval period, so we’re just going to roll with it.
Bow down thine ear, and hear the words of the wise, and apply thine heart unto my knowledge. For it is a pleasant thing if thou keep them within thee; they shall withal be fitted in thy lips. That thy trust may be in the LORD, I have made known to thee this day, even to thee. Have not I written to thee excellent things in counsels and knowledge, That I might make thee know the certainty of the words of truth; that thou mightest answer the words of truth to them that send unto thee?
Proverbs 22:17–21
The first saying of the wise is self-referential. It’s also the prologue, so to speak. It introduces itself, introducing us to this section of Proverbs as the sayings of the wise, or “the words of the wise,” as it’s translated there. That word in the Hebrew just means an utterance, a statement that is spoken. We use “word” in English the same way: “I’d like to have a word with you.” That’s the sense here. So it introduces these 30 sayings and says they are here to help us in all areas of our lives.
Answer Them That Send unto Thee
Verse 21 says, “that thou mightest answer the words of truth to them that send unto thee.” These sayings of the wise are written so that, as I said, we can memorize them. Maybe not word for word, but so that we can quote back the general concept when somebody comes to us. If someone says, “I need to go talk to Pastor Zach about this issue,” they’re sending for me: “Could you send Zach to me?” In Old Testament days, you couldn’t just call up your friend. If this were written in 2026, it would be the people who call you: “I need to talk to you about something. I have an issue.”
Verse 19 says, “That thy trust may be in the LORD,” in Yahweh. If you want to be someone who trusts in the Lord, you need to understand how the world works. Does that make sense? If I want to trust God, I need to know how the world works. That’s what the sayings of the wise are about. When someone comes to you with a problem, you can say, “Let me tell you something. The Bible tells me how the world works. It tells me in saying number five, yada yada yada.” That’s how it applies to your life today. That’s how this is supposed to be used.
Wisdom in the Heart, on the Lips
We have a couple of lessons right off the bat from the first saying. Verse 17 says, “Bow down thine ear, and hear the words of the wise, and apply thine heart unto my knowledge.” What is it saying? Listening to wise words is beneficial. Wow, so deep, man. If you want to be a wise person, listen to wise words. Why? Because it’s beneficial to you. We should put them into our hearts and try our best to understand them.
Why? Verse 18: “For it is a pleasant thing if thou keep them within thee; they shall withal be fitted in thy lips.” Pleasant means a good thing, an enjoyable thing. The Bible says, “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.” So if you want to speak good things, if you want to be a person who speaks wisdom, the first step is to get wisdom into your heart. When your heart is full of wisdom, it will always be on your lips, always ready to give advice to somebody else.
Verse 19 says, “That thy trust may be in the LORD, I have made known to thee this day, even to thee.” When we know wisdom, we can trust in the Lord. Why? Because we understand the cause-and-effect relationship of living wisely versus living foolishly. We know that if we live the way God teaches us, we’ll be blessed. But if we live the way God tells us is wrong, it will lead to our own destruction through our own sin.
So saying number one is: pay attention to the sayings of the wise, because if you put them in your heart, they will flow out of your lips.
Saying 2: Do Not Oppress the Poor
Rob not the poor, because he is poor: neither oppress the afflicted in the gate: For the LORD will plead their cause, and spoil the soul of those that spoiled them.
Proverbs 22:22–23
Saying number two: don’t take advantage of the poor. It says “the afflicted in the gate.” What is that talking about? During this period, the common courthouse was literally held at the gate of the city. Around the main gate of the city, you would have a bunch of elders sitting around all day. These would be people who were too old to work the fields. They would be assigned a judicial role, or act as a jury. If you had a legal issue, you would go to the gate of the city, ask for the elders, and they would come and listen to your case. So it says, “Rob not the poor, because he is poor: neither oppress the afflicted in the gate.” To apply that to the modern day: don’t afflict the poor in the courthouse.
We see some examples of this courthouse system. If you remember all the way back to our study of the book of Ruth, Boaz went to the gate to deal with the levirate marriage issue with his relative. They needed somebody to witness the exchange of the levirate marriage from his cousin to him. That’s what it’s talking about: in the courthouse, do not rob the poor.
Stripping Away from the Poor
The word “rob” there in the Hebrew literally means to strip away, kind of like you would peel a banana. The poor already have enough problems. If you want to rob the poor, you’re not going to get much out of it, because they don’t have much to take. Stop peeling away from the people who don’t have much to give you. Don’t afflict the poor.
Why? Verse 23: “For the LORD will plead their cause, and spoil the soul of those that spoiled them.” If you take advantage of the poor and strip away what little they have, the Lord will plead their cause. In other words, the Lord will take up their case against you. Sure, you may be able to go to the gate of the city, or here, the county courthouse, sue the poor, take advantage of them, and take what little they have, and you may win. But the Bible says there is a Judge of all the earth: “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” One day you’re going to have to stand before the Judge, that Judge being God, and he will take up the case the lower courts didn’t take care of.
And what will happen? He “will spoil the soul of those that spoiled them.” In other words, he will steal the soul of those who stole from them. That’s a very strong condemnation. How many of you want your soul stolen by God? No hands. Wow. The Bible says that if you oppress the poor, if you take advantage of the poor, if you strip away what little the poor have, and you sue them in court just to make yourself richer, then boy, you’d better watch out. That’s not something a Christian should ever do. The people who do these things are in danger of hellfire, of having their souls stolen by God. The New Testament says, “And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” That’s what it’s talking about.
So saying number two: do not oppress the poor, because when you oppress the poor, God will come after you. A wise person will not afflict the poor.
Saying 3: Avoid the Angry Man
Make no friendship with an angry man; and with a furious man thou shalt not go: Lest thou learn his ways, and get a snare to thy soul.
Proverbs 22:24–25
The word “friendship” here in the Hebrew literally carries the idea of being in the same pasture as another person. In that day and age, as a shepherd, you would have to share land sometimes. We have the whole story of Abraham and Lot, how they were sharing pasture and had to go separate ways. It uses that shepherd imagery to describe being in the same area as someone, or associating with him in some way. So it says, don’t have a friendship. Don’t be in the same field. Don’t associate with an angry man.
“And with a furious man thou shalt not go.” That word “go” means to enter in or to travel with. Don’t make an agreement. Don’t walk the same path as him. When someone is angry or furious, quick to anger, you do not want to have a close relationship with him, or better yet, no relationship at all.
Stuck in the Same Ruts
Why? Verse 25 says, “Lest thou learn his ways, and get a snare to thy soul.” If you don’t know what the word “lest” means, it means “so that you do not,” or “or else you may learn his ways.” The word “ways” there is a very specific word in the Hebrew used for a well-traveled road. You could understand it as ruts, where wagons roll over the road time and time again and leave those tracks. That’s the kind of road we’re talking about. A man who is quick to anger very quickly gets back on that road and travels it again. If you start walking with him, you’re going to get stuck in the same ruts the angry man gets into. You’re going to find it very difficult to calm yourself down if you’re always around somebody who’s uncontrolled, who at the drop of a hat starts yelling and screaming and conflicting with everyone around him.
We need to be careful whom we associate with in life, because iron sharpens iron, and in the same way, a dull blade will dull another blade. An angry man we associate with becomes a trap for our soul. Verse 25 says you will “get a snare to thy soul.” If you want to trip up, boy, that’s a quick way to do it. Make bad friends. Be friends with somebody who gets along with no one. You’ll find very quickly that you’re tripping up in your walk with God. So saying number three tells us that a wise person will avoid relationships with those who are angry.
Saying 4: Avoid Debt You Cannot Pay
Be not thou one of them that strike hands, or of them that are sureties for debts. If thou hast nothing to pay, why should he take away thy bed from under thee?
Proverbs 22:26–27
This is a well-known Christian financial advisor’s favorite saying of the wise right here, let me tell you. “Be not thou one of them that strike hands, or of them that are sureties for debts.” “Strike hands” literally means to shake hands. Don’t make a deal with someone, and don’t put something down as security for a loan. Why? Verse 27: “If thou hast nothing to pay, why should he take away thy bed from under thee?”
If you don’t have the money to pay for something now, it is very unwise to take something like your house, put it up as collateral on a loan, and take out that loan. The Bible says a wise person will avoid doing this as much as possible, because you’re making a pledge that you will pay. If you don’t have the money to pay it later, you’re going to lose your home over it. If you’re already so tight on cash, if you’re already struggling to get by, borrowing money from somebody else at interest is not really going to help your situation. So it says, if you have nothing to pay, why should your bed be taken from under you? You need somewhere to sleep. If you’re so desperate that you can’t pay for this, why do you think more debt is going to solve your problem?
The Wise Way to Use Credit
The application here is simple: a wise person will avoid taking on a loan unless he already has the money to pay for it. Sometimes a loan is beneficial. I think we can acknowledge that. How many of you have a credit card? A credit card is technically a loan every time you use it. There’s a wise way to use a credit card and a foolish way. According to the sayings of the wise, what’s the wise way? Only use it when you already have the money to pay it off. Really deep today, but these are the sayings of the wise, and we’d be shocked how many people don’t follow them.
If you want to have a good relationship with God, you might want to also have good financial stability, because your faith is going to be shaken when you’re struggling every single day because of your own foolishness. It’s not God who makes you suffer when you’re a fool. It’s you. If we want to understand God right, we need to have a right lifestyle. The saying is simple: only take a loan if you can afford to pay it off. Don’t build up debt. The Bible says “the borrower is servant to the lender.” Do you want to live as a slave? I don’t. So avoid a loan as much as possible.
Saying 5: Remove Not the Ancient Landmark
Remove not the ancient landmark, which thy fathers have set.
Proverbs 22:28
This one might be a little obscure to us. A lot of times it’s used metaphorically by pastors, and they’ll say, “Don’t remove the ancient landmark! Your father set a standard! Your mother set a standard! Your grandmother set a standard!” That’s not what this is talking about at all. It has nothing to do with that. I’m sorry. If you love that application, you’re going to have to find it somewhere else in Scripture.
In ancient times, people would mark their territory with boundary lines designated by piles of stones or other simple markers. When they went into the Promised Land, they divided their lots by setting up stone piles, and those stone piles were supposed to sit there for generations so people knew where the property line was. How many of you have a property line marked by a tree? It’s pretty common. It’s the same idea, except these landmarks weren’t trees. Trees were really hard to get and keep alive in Israel during this time. So they used piles of stones. The downside was that it’s hard to move a tree, but it’s easy to move a pile of stones somewhere else.
Integrity When No One Is Looking
Back in those days, there was no GPS or county lookup where you could see where the property lines started and ended. So the temptation was: “This pile of stones was set by my great-great-great-grandfather. If I move it a couple of feet every year, no one’s going to know. They didn’t put the stones there. No one’s going to notice if I slowly steal my neighbor’s land.” So “remove not the ancient landmark” means: don’t move the boundary line your fathers set.
It’s easy to commit sin when no one’s going to catch you. It’s easy to steal another couple of meters of farmland. Your neighbor might not notice, and you’ll make a couple hundred more dollars off it. So the application is: respect what is rightly established, and don’t tamper with moral boundaries. Have integrity by doing right even when it’s easy to get away with doing wrong. If they moved that boundary line a couple of feet, no one would have batted an eye. Nobody would have questioned it. They would have gained, and they would have received no punishment for it. But wisdom is knowing to do right even when nobody is looking.
Saying 6: Diligent in His Business
Seest thou a man diligent in his business? he shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean men.
Proverbs 22:29
Have you ever seen somebody who’s really skilled at an occupation? Can you think of somebody who’s so skilled that you’re just impressed? Does that person ever struggle to stay busy? No. That’s what this proverb is about. If you find somebody who’s skilled in his occupation, does he lack work? No, because he’s really good at what he does. He’s constantly busy.
Does he end up working for just anyone? “Mean men” would be people who are unknown. No, they don’t work for just anyone. These people are so in demand because of the quality of their skills that they have to turn down work just to have time to finish their work. Because of this, people who are really skilled in their occupation work only with important people.
An example I know from my programming degree is the programming language COBOL. If you know how to program in COBOL, you are in the top tier of programmers in the world. You can make $200,000 a year if you can learn the COBOL programming language. Why? Because it’s really hard, it takes years and years of study, and there aren’t many people who can do it. Because of that, you end up working for the largest universities in the country, for the biggest banking institutions in the country, or in the government, making $200,000 a year. Why? Because you’re diligent in your business. You’re skilled in your occupation.
Do Your Best Where You Are
What is this proverb telling us? It doesn’t really matter what your job is if you focus really hard on being the best at it. If you want to have a successful business, just be the best at what you do. When you’re the best at what you do, when you’re diligent in your work, people are going to demand your services. Eventually you’re going to have to start turning down clients and taking on bigger clients, because you’re the only one skilled enough to do it. It’s a very simple philosophy. A wise person will take whatever career he’s in and do his best to excel in it. Why? Because when he does, he’s rewarded for it.
A fool complains about his career: “I deserve so much better. I deserve to be in this. I deserve to be in that.” But the truth of the matter is that a wise person will plant his feet in the ground and say, “I don’t care where I am. I’m going to do the best I can.” When you do that, not only do you benefit, but you also make a good testimony for God. People can ask you, “Why are you so serious about this?” And you can say, “Because I serve a God who says that everything you do is a sacrifice to him, and I want to give God the best that I have.”
Saying 7: Beware the Ruler’s Dainties
When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what is before thee: And put a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite. Be not desirous of his dainties: for they are deceitful meat.
Proverbs 23:1–3
When you first read this, your first instinct might be that it’s about overeating, but that’s not really what it’s talking about. This is also a philosophy about business life and finances. Verse 1 is talking about eating with a ruler, in other words, anybody important, somebody with power. In our modern society, this might be somebody who’s very wealthy, a business owner, somebody who wants to make a big deal with you.
When you sit before him, be careful of what he sets in front of you. Consider what he is presenting. Everything a wealthy or powerful person does is intentional. When you meet with him to discuss a deal, what he wants is something from you. What is set before you is not for you. It’s a price he’s putting on a deal with you. Remember the intention when you meet him.
Strings Attached
In that day, rulers would often offer people delicious and luxurious meals when they had a meeting with them. I’m sure you can think of some TV show where the king comes and wants to make a deal with somebody. Maybe he wants him to betray another person. They even do this with police today. They want a prisoner to give up his accomplices, so they bring him a meal he wants, sit him down in the interrogation room, and say, “Do you want this meal? We can make a deal with you to get what you want.” Whenever you sit in front of somebody who wants something from you, pay attention to what he’s setting in front of you, and realize it is not a gift. It comes with strings attached.
It says, “put a knife to thy throat.” He’s going to offer you the best desserts, the sweetest of treats, to get you to say yes to what he wants. So if you’re a man given to appetite, if you’re tempted by food, hold a knife to your throat and don’t take the bait.
Verse 3 says, “Be not desirous of his dainties: for they are deceitful meat.” Do not be tempted by offers put in front of you. The only things that should determine whether you do something are whether it honors God and whether it’s for your benefit. You need to focus on the right things. The ruler will set down a temptation and say, “Look at all you could have if you work for me.” He acts like he’s doing you a favor, but more accurately, it could be described as a bribe.
The application here is that a wise person will see through someone’s attempt to impress him when that person is looking for a favor in return. Don’t lose control of yourself when you’re around wealth or influence. Don’t be easily impressed by appearances or bought by your desires. Be cautious. What people offer you may not be as harmless as it looks.
Saying 8: Labour Not to Be Rich
Labour not to be rich: cease from thine own wisdom. Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven.
Proverbs 23:4–5
Verse 4 tells us not to overwork ourselves in pursuit of wealth. The word “labour” there means to work to the point of exhaustion. This is the kind of labor the Israelites did in Egypt, where they were worked until they were about ready to pass out. Saying number eight says, don’t work so hard that you’re about to pass out trying to become rich.
“Cease from thine own wisdom.” In other words, don’t lean on your own understanding. Stop thinking this is a good idea. Your instinct says, “A little more work, a little more work, a little more work, and I’ll have my big break. If I just push a little harder, I’ll be successful.” But verse 5 tells us it’s not that simple. Simply grinding out work does not guarantee success. Just because you put in all your effort doesn’t mean you’re going to be wealthy.
Set Your Eyes on What Is Fixed
So why would you put your focus on something that’s not reliable? Verse 5 says, “Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not?” It literally says, “fly your eyes over.” Are you going to fly your eyes over to something that’s constantly moving, or do you want to set your eyes on something fixed? If we’re not supposed to set our eyes on something moving, what is the fixed thing we’re supposed to set our eyes on? Can anybody say it? It’s God. God is always the same.
Don’t fix your eyes on something that’s always moving. The market is always moving. Jobs are always being created and destroyed. Markets come and go. Do not invest your life in a constantly moving standard. Focus it on the fixed standard of God. Would you set your eyes on something that is not? It’ll be here one day and gone the next.
He says, “For riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away.” You might chase that today, but as you put in all your effort, as you sacrifice your family, your relationships with others, everything in your life, the moment you think you’re about to grab it, something outside your control might take it away, and all that effort and time is wasted. Stop thinking you can rely on your own wisdom for success. You don’t know what’s coming. Don’t put all your eggs in the basket of searching for riches. Those riches can fly away. The economy can crash. The expensive goods you own can be stolen. Your investments can go defunct. Don’t trust in riches. Trust in God.
The application here is that a wise person will keep a work-life balance. He won’t pursue riches with all of his life, but he’ll put work in its proper place and pursue Christ and God instead.
Saying 9: The Man with an Evil Eye
Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, neither desire thou his dainty meats: For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee. The morsel which thou hast eaten shalt thou vomit up, and lose thy sweet words.
Proverbs 23:6–8
This one’s similar to the last one. It’s talking about people trying to take advantage of you. “Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye,” in other words, an eye for evil. He is always looking to take advantage of other people. If you know someone regularly takes advantage of other people, don’t associate with him. He may be a successful businessman or businesswoman. He may have the means to make you wealthy. But if you know he’s evil and does evil, don’t associate with him thinking you’ll be rewarded for it.
It says, “neither desire thou his dainty meats.” This one is like a savory food, compared with the sweet one before. “He has fattening, juicy steaks every day for lunch. If I’m his business partner, he’ll take me to the fanciest restaurant in Columbus, we’ll eat the best food, and it’ll all be paid for by the business three times a year. It’s wonderful.” He’s evil. Is it worth it? No.
Nothing but a Calculation
Why? Verse 7: “For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he.” The word “thinketh” literally means to calculate the economic value of something in his mind. He’s not seeing you as a business partner. He’s seeing you as an economic calculation. You would use this word in Hebrew to say, “What is the value of this item on the market? How much would this vessel go for if I put it up at auction?” So in his mind he’s saying, “What is the value of so-and-so here? If I give him that steak dinner, how much money can I get back?” Don’t trust the evil person. You’re nothing more than a calculation in his mind. He’s only going to give you the bare minimum he needs to use you, and then throw you away.
Verse 7 ends with, “but his heart is not with thee,” and verse 8 says, “The morsel which thou hast eaten shalt thou vomit up, and lose thy sweet words.” Whatever rewards you think you have from working with an evil person, eventually you’re going to lose all of them, because when he’s done with you, he’s going to throw you away. And who’s going to want to work with you? The wise don’t work with the evil. If you associate with the evil, the wise aren’t going to work with you anymore. You’re going to struggle for the rest of your life because of your foolish decision to take an opportunity given to you by an evil person.
All those sweet, savory meals will be vomited up, and all your sweet words will be wasted. You talked so nicely to him. You played along with him in his business: “You’re so smart. This is such a wonderful business trip. You’re doing so great.” In the end you don’t mean any of it anymore, because you found out that the evil man is evil, and the relationship was not about you, but about him. The application here is that a wise person will avoid working alongside people he knows are up to no good. If you see someone going around doing evil things, associate with him in no way whatsoever. Not only will it destroy your finances, but it will destroy your testimony as well.
Saying 10: Speak Not in the Ears of a Fool
Speak not in the ears of a fool: for he will despise the wisdom of thy words.
Proverbs 23:9
Saying number 10, and we’re done for today. This one’s simple. I think we all understand it. Don’t waste your time trying to teach someone who doesn’t want to learn.
The Trash Chute
I couldn’t help but think of one example from my Bible college days. I was a crew chief, in charge of the janitorial work in one of the dormitories, and I had a worker who just was not wise. I’m not going to say his name, but he would come to work and be so lazy, trying to get out of doing anything possible. The culmination of his laziness and foolishness was the day I came up to him and said, “Hey, the trash chute in the dorm is filthy. It looks like you haven’t cleaned it for two weeks.” He said, “I haven’t.” I said, “Why?” He said, “Because I didn’t make it dirty.” I said, “You’re a janitor. You’re paid to clean the trash chute.”
When a person is at that level of foolishness, there’s not much you can do about it. I had to go to my boss and say, “So-and-so is not fit to be a janitor, because he doesn’t understand the concept of a janitor. He doesn’t think he should clean things he didn’t make dirty. There’s no benefit to me going to him time and time again telling him to clean the trash chute when he can’t accept the basic concept that a janitor’s job is to clean things.”
Know Where to Invest Your Time
In the same way, if there’s somebody who purposefully lives in foolishness, who purposely rejects the basic concepts of wisdom, it’s honestly not worth it to try to get him to understand. He’s going to have to learn lessons the hard way first. He’s going to have to go through some difficulty that changes his perspective before you can take the sayings of the wise and give them to him. There are some people today who, if you told them the saying of the wise about taking loans, would tell you you’re crazy: “I can just get another credit card. I can just build on top of it. I’ve been doing it for a couple of years now. I can just not pay it and file for bankruptcy.” There are people who won’t listen. When you get to that situation, as much as you want to help them, sometimes you can’t.
The word “despise” means to think little of, or to consider unimportant. The wise will know where to invest his time. For every person who doesn’t want to listen to wisdom, there’s somebody else who’s ready to take it. So when you decide to learn to be wise, know where to invest your time. The application here is that a wise person will know where he can help the most, and will focus on helping those who are ready to receive his help.
Conclusion
As we bring these first 10 sayings to a close, a pattern begins to emerge. Wisdom is not an abstract or theoretical concept. Wisdom is practical and applicable to daily life. It affects every aspect of how we live. It changes how we listen, whom we associate with, how we handle money, how we work, and how we respond to the influences around us. Each of the sayings we looked at today guides our everyday decision-making, reminding us that living wisely is not about having head knowledge, but about living our lives differently.
Today we’ve only touched the beginning of the words of wisdom. These sayings are part of a larger collection, and we’ve only just begun to uncover the depth they have for us. As we continue, we’ll see that wisdom keeps building on itself layer by layer, challenging us, refining us, and equipping us to navigate life with clarity and conviction.
God wants his people to live wisely in all areas of life. So, will you begin to take these wise sayings, implement them in your lives, and choose to live wisely today?
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