Proverbs 29

3. He who loves wisdom makes his father glad, but one who keeps company with harlots squanders his substance.

11. A fool gives full vent to his anger, but a wise man quietly holds it back.

17. Discipline your son, and he will give you rest; he will give delight to your heart.

23. A man’s pride will bring him low, but he who is lowly in spirit will obtain honor.

25. The fear of man lays a snare, but he who trusts in the Lord is safe.

In the Book of Proverbs, many times we have been reminded to remain humble and not to let pride get in the way. As stated in verse 23, A man’s pride will bring him low, but he who is lowly in spirit will obtain honor. As they say, pride goes before a fall. The above are some of the selected good verses for today’ reading from Proverbs written by King Solomon, the richest man who ever lived.

Below are some of the verses that impressed upon me this morning from chapter 28 of the book of Proverbs.

6. Better is a poor man who walks in his integrity than a rich man who is perverse in his ways.

14. Blessed is the man who fears the Lord always; but he who hardens his heart will fall into calamity.

20. A faithful man will abound with blessings, but he who hastens to be rich will not go unpunished.

24. He who robs his father or his mother and says, “That is no transgression,” is the companion of a man who destroys.

25. A greedy man stirs up strife, but he who trusts in the Lord will be enriched.

In verse 14, it says blessed is the man who fears the Lord. In this context, the word fear means giving reverential honor to the Lord. As I honor the Lord and his word, I will not fall into calamity or disaster. More importantly, I need to keep my pride in check and to remain humble if possible. Prosperity comes to those who are humble and not deceitful and it comes from God the Father. Our heavenly Father has established tithing as a way to be prosperous.

Today’s church sermon was presented by a professional lawyer who gave up his profession after 16 years in secular service to become a full time church preacher. He is still studying for his theology to be a qualified preacher. In his preaching in today’s Sunday service, he mentioned about Psalms 90 which was the only Psalms written by Moses, while the rest are authored by King David. This is something new to me and I thought of highlighting it here. Moses also wrote the first 5 books in the Old Testament starting from Genesis. One of the highlights was Methuselah, the oldest man mentioned in the Bible. He lived to be 969 years of age (Gen. 5: 21-27). In view of the precision of the language and the chronology of events, it is apparent 969 is to be understood as a literal number.

These are my favorite verses taken from the book of Colossians verses 12 to 16 below:

12. Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;
13. Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also [do] ye.
14. And above all these things [put on] charity, which is the bond of perfectness.
15. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.
16. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.

It is written to apply kindness, humbleness of mind and meekness in our daily lives as we mingle with people, our families, colleagues and even fellow bloggers. The non-Christians will perceive this as weakness, but God knows better and tells us to forgive our enemies so that you don’s carry the hurt and fester into a disease later on. Many illnesses are borne due to unforgiveness and bitterness in the heart. But when you forgive and forget, you move on and don’t harbor bitterness anymore. This is good for you and ensures healthy longevity.

Matthew 4:4
It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.

Elvis Presley had everything he wanted – money, fame, a beautiful wife, a kid, big house, nice car, etc. Yet he was feeling empty inside. When he approached his pastor, he was crying and shared this with his pastor. Fast forward to another famous personality many years later, Leslie Cheung, a Hong Kong actor and musician who suffered from clinical depression also followed suit. Known affectionately as “Gorgor,” Leslie Cheung, 46, committed suicide on April 1, 2003 by jumping from the 24th floor of Central Hong Kong’s Mandarin Oriental Hotel.

And you read in the newspapers of people committing suicide even though they have everything that we desire, the fame and money that we envy. It is very true as written in the first book of the New Testament of Matthew in chapter 4, verse 4 which says, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.” Do you place God first in your lives or do you put temporal tangible things and unreliable human relationships first in your lives? Let God the Heavenly Father be the master of your lives and He will guide you to health, wealth and prosperity.