Bible Study for Today

How do the Proverbs apply to specific life decisions and experiences?
Proverbs are divine guidelines and wise observations that teach underlying principles of life (24:3, 4). They are not inflexible laws or absolute promises. This is because they are applied in life situations that are rarely clear-cut or uncomplicated by other conditions. The consequences of a fool’s behavior as described in Proverbs apply to the complete fool. Most people are only occasionally foolish and therefore experience the occasional consequences of foolish behavior. It becomes apparent that the proverbs usually do have exceptions due to the uncertainty of life and the unpredictable behavior of fallen people.
The marvelous challenge and principle expressed in 3:5, 6 puts a heavy emphasis on trusting the Lord with “all your heart” and “in all your ways [acknowledging] Him.” Even partly practicing the conditions of those phrases represents a major challenge. Because of God’s grace, we don’t have to perfectly carry out the conditions in order to experience the truth that “He shall direct your paths.”
God does not guarantee uniform outcome or application for each proverb. By studying them and applying them, a believer is allowed to contemplate God’s mind, character, attributes, works, and blessings. In Jesus Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge which are only partly expressed in Proverbs (Col. 2:3).

Reading for Today:

Joshua 3:1–4:24

Psalm 42:1-5

Proverbs 13:17-18

Luke 9:1-17

Notes:
Joshua 3:10 Canaanite people to be killed or defeated were sinful to the point of extreme (see Gen. 15:16; Lev. 18:24, 25). God, as moral judge, has the right to deal with all people, as at the end (Rev. 20:11–15) or any other time when He deems it appropriate for His purposes. The question is not why God chose to destroy these sinners, but why He had let them live so long and why all sinners are not destroyed far sooner than they are. It is grace that allows any sinner to draw the breath of life (see Gen. 2:17; Ezek. 18:20; Rom. 6:23).
Joshua 3:16 rose in a heap. The God of all power, who created heaven, earth, and all else according to Genesis 1, worked miracles here. The waters were dammed up at Adam, a city 15 miles north of the crossing, and also in tributary creeks. Once the miracle was completed, God permitted the waters to flow again (4:18) after all the people had walked to the other side on dry ground (3:17). As the Exodus had begun (see Ex. 14), so it ended.
Psalm 42:4 When I remember these things, I pour out my soul. Such language also characterizes Jeremiah’s Lamentations, indicating a heavy dirge. On “pouring out one’s soul” or “heart,” see 1 Samuel 1:15; Psalm 62:8; Lamentations 2:19. These are attempts at trying to unburden oneself from intolerable pain, grief, and agony.
Luke 9:3 Take nothing. Slight differences between Matthew, Mark, and Luke have troubled some. Matthew 10:9, 10 and this text say the disciples were not to take staffs, but Mark 6:8 prohibited everything “except a staff.” Mark 6:9 also instructed them to “wear sandals,” but in Matthew 10:10 sandals were included in the things they were not to carry. Actually, however, what Matthew 10:10 and this verse prohibited was the packing of extra staffs and sandals. The disciples were not to be carrying baggage for the journey, but merely to go with the clothes on their backs.