Proverbs 9 The Two Ladies

4/21/10

Time Spent: 18 min

Main Idea: The lady of folly and the lady of wisdom are compared and contrasted with one another.

What I learn about God: The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.

Summary: The father's instruction to his son ends with the comparison of these two ladies. There is a woman of wisdom (Prov. 9:1-12) compared to that to the wisdom of folly (vv. 13-18). This section does well to summarize the lengthy proverbs of the father. Pursue wisdom rather than folly. They are always pitted against each other. Wisdom will make the slow wise and the patient strengthened as folly will lead the person to destruction. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; an idea that was stated in 1:7 is used to close out this book. The writer is showing throughout his pleadings with his son that this is the central, internalized idea which will grant his son wisdom.

Application: The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom talks about a reverent fear one has before the Lord. A man that fears the Lord is the one who obeys the woman of wisdom. How does that look like in my life? Fear of the Lord is found in the daily decisions one makes in life. If I understood the nature of God in every decision, would I really act out or get upset against people? Would I continue to do school work for myself? Would I be too busy not to pray? One of the ways that I lack the "fear of the Lord" is in my dedication to prayer. I need to pray and ask for God's help in my ministry and I do not appeal to prayer as much as I need to as a pastor. Therefore, I will try to pray for 5 min in the morning to start off my day on the right track.