Proverbs, The Ways Of The Wise: Part 3, Practical Wisdom From The Book Of Proverbs

Today we’re wrapping up our series on the book of Proverbs. Last month we looked at Psalm’s and all the great truth in those amazing psalm and this month we’re looking at the wisdom or common sense from the book of Proverbs.

Last week we saw that wisdom is available to anyone that will ask for it.

James 1:5–8 (NKJV) 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.

6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.

7 For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord;

8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

Also that Jesus is our Wisdom today.

1 Corinthians 1:30 (NKJV) 30 But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption—

Today I want us to look at the importance of word or what we say with our mouth’s.

Proverbs 18:20–21 (NKJV) 20 A man’s stomach shall be satisfied from the fruit of his mouth; From the produce of his lips he shall be filled.

21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit.

Proverbs 18:20,21 (NIV) From the fruit of his mouth a man’s stomach is filled; with the harvest from his lips he is satisfied.

The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.

Proverbs 18:20,21 (AMP 2015) A man’s stomach will be satisfied with the fruit of his mouth; he will be satisfied with the consequence of his words.

Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it and indulge it will eat its fruit and bear the consequences of their words.

Proverbs 18:20–21 (TPT) 20 Sharing words of wisdom is satisfying to your inner being. It encourages you to know that you’ve changed someone else’s life.

21Your words are so powerful that they will kill or give life, and the talkative person will reap the consequences.

Those are some pretty powerful word’s but yet we see that Jesus said the same thing.

Matthew 12:34–37 (NKJV) 34 Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.

35 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things.

36 But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment.

37 For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

James the half brother of Jesus knew the importance of word’s and wrote almost a whole chapter about it.

James 3:1–12 (NKJV) 1 My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment.

2 For we all stumble in many things. If anyone does not stumble in word, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle the whole body.

3 Indeed, we put bits in horses’ mouths that they may obey us, and we turn their whole body.

4 Look also at ships: although they are so large and are driven by fierce winds, they are turned by a very small rudder wherever the pilot desires.

5 Even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things. See how great a forest a little fire kindles!

6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell.

7 For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and creature of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by mankind.

8 But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.

9 With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God.

10 Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so.

11 Does a spring send forth fresh water and bitter from the same opening?

12 Can a fig tree, my brethren, bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Thus no spring yields both salt water and fresh.

Look again at our foundational verse.

Proverbs 18:21 (NKJV) 21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit.

So we see how words can build a wrong picture within us and have us defeated.

We see this so clearly with this Bible story.

Numbers 13:26–33 (NKJV) 26 Now they departed and came back to Moses and Aaron and all the congregation of the children of Israel in the Wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh; they brought back word to them and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land.

27 Then they told him, and said: “We went to the land where you sent us. It truly flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit.

28 Nevertheless the people who dwell in the land are strong; the cities are fortified and very large; moreover we saw the descendants of Anak there.

29 The Amalekites dwell in the land of the South; the Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the mountains; and the Canaanites dwell by the sea and along the banks of the Jordan.”

30 Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, “Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it.”

31 But the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we.”

32 And they gave the children of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, “The land through which we have gone as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great stature.

33 There we saw the giants (the descendants of Anak came from the giants); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.”

Of these 12 spy’s only the one’s with the good report, Caleb and Joshua got to enter the land, but the other 10, WELL, not so good!

Numbers 14:36–38 (NKJV) 36 Now the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land, who returned and made all the congregation complain against him by bringing a bad report of the land,

37 those very men who brought the evil report about the land, died by the plague before the Lord.

38 But Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh remained alive, of the men who went to spy out the land.

As we start to wrap up, Let’s look at some more verse’s about the tongue from the book of Proverbs.

Proverbs 15:4 (NKJV) 4 A wholesome tongue is a tree of life, But perverseness in it breaks the spirit.

Proverbs 15:4 (AMP 2015)

A soothing tongue [speaking words that build up and encourage] is a tree of life, but a perversive tongue [speaking words that overwhelm and depress] crushes the spirit.

Proverbs 21:23 (NKJV) 23 Whoever guards his mouth and tongue Keeps his soul from troubles.

Proverbs 21:23 (NIV) He who guards his mouth and his tongue keeps himself from calamity.

Proverbs 18:7 (NKJV) 7 A fool’s mouth is his destruction, And his lips are the snare of his soul.

Proverbs 13:3 (NKJV) 3 He who guards his mouth preserves his life, But he who opens wide his lips shall have destruction.

Proverbs 12:18 (NKJV) 18 There is one who speaks like the piercings of a sword, But the tongue of the wise promotes health.

Proverbs 12:18 (NIV) Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.

Proverbs 10:19–22 (NKJV) 19 In the multitude of words sin is not lacking, But he who restrains his lips is wise.

20 The tongue of the righteous is choice silver; The heart of the wicked is worth little.

21 The lips of the righteous feed many, But fools die for lack of wisdom.

22 The blessing of the Lord makes one rich, And He adds no sorrow with it.

Ecclesiastes 5:6 (NKJV) 6 Do not let your mouth cause your flesh to sin, nor say before the messenger of God that it was an error. Why should God be angry at your excuse and destroy the work of your hands?

As we end let’s remember to put a check over our mouth.

Proverbs 18:21 (NKJV) 21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit.

Joel Osteen:

One of the main reasons, people get stuck in life is because they haven’t learned how to control their mouth. They say hurtful things, they put people down.

They argue, they gossip. They don’t realize their tongue is keeping them from rising higher.

God won’t promote you, if you don’t have the character to back it up. You don’t have to be perfect, but we shouldn’t be where we were five years ago.

We should be improving. Pay attention to what you’re saying, sometimes we’ve done it so long we don’t realize we become harsh, condescending, sarcastic, saying things just to please our flesh. Before you say something, you need to ask is this going to be beneficial to someone? Is it going to build them up or tear them down?

Is this comment going to make my spouse feel better about themselves or is it just going to feed my ego.

Some people the only thing that hold them back from the healthy marriage from good relationships from a promotion is their mouth!

They're talented, they're skillful but they pop off, their sarcastic, they stir up strife.

You can’t say everything you feel, your emotions will get you into trouble. When somebody gets on your nerves, and you feel irritated annoyed instead of popping off and saying things that you know you’re going to regret later you need to step back, take a deep breath, and pause for 30 seconds. Think about what you’re going to say.

Don’t speak out of your emotions, let your tongue run wild, that’s the easy way out.

You have to be disciplined and tame your tongue. The scripture say’s “be quick to listen and slow to speak”.

If you pause for a moment, let your emotions calm down you’ll realize some things are better left unsaid. You don’t have to win every argument. You don’t have to comment on every situation. You don’t have to straighten everyone out. You may know they’re wrong and you’re right, but you have to ask yourself. Is this worth starting World War III over. Just bite tongue and walk away.

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