What Should I Do?: A Verse-By-Verse Study on the Book of Proverbs

By Pamela Johnson

Do you need some wisdom? Do you want to know how to handle everyday situations that come your way? Is there a way to handle your finances, friends, family, employer, coworkers, etc.? Then this book is for you! This book will go verse by verse through the book of Proverbs. It will make it practical so anyone can understand.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: May 15, 2018
• ISBN: 9781973624400

Pamela Johnson

Pamela Johnson, a former Senior Editor of Essence magazine and now a frequent contributor, is a graduate of Stanford University.

Book preview

What Should I Do?

A VERSE-BY-VERSE STUDY ON THE BOOK OF PROVERBS

Pamela Johnson

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Copyright © 2018 Pamela Johnson.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture quotations in this publication are from the Contemporary English Version Copyright © 1991, 1992, 1995 by American Bible Society, Used by Permission.

Scripture quotations marked (AMPCE) are taken from the Amplified Bible, Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

ISBN: 978-1-9736-2441-7 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-9736-2442-4 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-9736-2440-0 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2018903880

WestBow Press rev. date: 05/07/2018

Contents

Introduction

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Conclusion

About the Author

Endnotes

To my mother, Mozzie, my sister, Allison, and my nephew, Collins. This proves that when you’re focused, you can do anything. So too, by trusting God, you can gain wisdom.

I also dedicate this book to my church family, Christ Centered Ministries, and Pastor Daniel Roberson. Thank you for consistently teaching me about God’s Word and the incredible fellowship.

Introduction

Do you need some wisdom? Hey, we all need some wisdom. How do you handle everyday situations that come your way? You may ask yourself, Should I go to work or call out sick? What should I do when people are talking about me? Is there a way to handle these? And is there a way to handle it according to the Word of God?

We all have ways of handling situations, no matter what the situations are. These could involve relationships, finances, or other things. You can handle them wrongly, or you can handle them correctly. So how did I handle the previous two examples? Well, with the first one, it’s a real struggle. There are times when my body is in pain or I’m struggling with so much fatigue. In those times, I could go to work, but I may not be as effective. But then if I stay home, I could get the rest that my body needs. So sometimes I fight the urge and get up, and other times I call out. Is that right or wrong? Only God knows. As for the second example of people talking about me, I just let them talk. I know who I am, and if they don’t like it, it’s just too bad. This study is not about giving my opinion on how to handle things. I’m going to let you think about it and see what the Bible says.

Hopefully, this study will make the Bible practical and not super spiritual. Remember, we are going to use the Bible. So go get yours now. Dust it off if you haven’t taken it out in a while, and let’s get going. We’re going to go chapter by chapter, so our analysis isn’t all over the place. If you haven’t opened up a Bible before, open it to the table of contents and find Proverbs. You can use whatever translation that you feel you can understand. I’m going to use the Contemporary English Version (CEV). This version uses everyday language. At times I may use the Amplified Bible, Classic Edition (AMPC) because it amplifies and explains the text even more.

To begin, the majority of the book of Proverbs was written by Solomon. Who is Solomon? you might ask. Well, he was the wisest man on earth. Do you remember the story about the two women who came before him, arguing about the rightful claim to a child? Each of them said that the child was hers. One of them had accidently rolled over on her child and killed him. So the real mother and this other woman both wanted this child. Now how could anyone tell which mother was the true mother of the child? Even now, if there was one boy and two women came and said that he was hers with tears in their eyes, what would you do? Solomon said, Give me a sword, and I will divide the child in two. What? He’s going to do what? Well, one mother said, Go ahead and cut the child in two, and the other mother said, Give the child to her and don’t cut him in two. Solomon then said, Give the child to the second one, for she is the mother. The true mother wouldn’t want any harm to come to the child. She would rather give the child up to someone else than to see her child hurt. Who would have come up with a statement of cutting the child in two? Only God could have imparted that wisdom. It would be great to have that wisdom when we’re faced with others situations.

The Bible also says that Solomon was and will always be the wisest man on earth. In 1 Kings 3:5–14 states that God asked Solomon what He should give him. Solomon could have asked for long life, riches, or the lives of his enemies. However, he asked for wisdom.

God said: Solomon, I’m pleased that you asked for this. You could have asked to live a long time or to be rich. Or you could have asked for your enemies to be destroyed. Instead, you asked for wisdom to make right decisions. So I’ll make you wiser than anyone who has ever lived or ever will live. I’ll also give you what you didn’t ask for. You’ll be rich and respected as long as you live, and you’ll be greater than any other king. (1 Kings 3:11–13 CEV; emphasis added)

If we ask God for wisdom in situations, He will give it to us. We don’t need to ask for things. If we have wisdom, we can get things. This is not a way to get stuff from God. We are learning how to use the wisdom of God in our everyday lives. Do you want the kind of wisdom Solomon had? I know I would want it! I would like to be able to discern situations that come my way and know how to handle them. How about you? Well, if so, are you ready to begin? Here’s a little tip before we start. Read the chapter once and then twice and maybe a third time before you do the study of each chapter. At the end of each chapter, there are questions you can answer to make the lesson more relevant to your life. Again, this book isn’t meant to be deep. You don’t need a faith practice that spans years to understand it. It’s meant for those of us who want something that’s relevant, simple, and down-to-earth. Hopefully, this book will get your mind thinking more about wisdom.

Chapter 1

Let’s read the first four verses. These verses are just the introduction to the book of Proverbs, and they tell us the purpose of this book. Proverbs 1:2–4 (CEV) says, Proverbs will teach you wisdom and self-control and how to understand sayings with deep meanings. You will learn what is right and honest and fair. From these, an ordinary person can learn to be smart, and young people can gain knowledge and good sense.

So are you a person? Of course you are. Do you want to know godly wisdom and learn how to discern situations in life? I hope so, or else you wouldn’t be doing this study. Are you simple or ordinary? Hey, we all are simple in certain areas of our lives. We’re not all that deep! So we fit the description of someone striving for wisdom.

Verses 5 and 6 also talk about what a wise person would do. If you are already wise, you will become even wiser. And if you are smart, you will learn to understand Proverbs and sayings, as well as words of wisdom and all kinds of riddles (Proverbs 1:5–6 CEV).

I also like verse 5 in the Amplified Bible, Classic Edition, which says, The wise also will hear and increase in learning, and the person of understanding will acquire skill and attain to sound counsel (so that he may be able to steer his course rightly).

If you think that you are wise, you can always become wiser. If you’re smart, you should want to get smarter. You shouldn’t want to stay where you are at. Hopefully, you should want to learn more and acquire skills in various areas of your life.

Say that you’re getting a new job and it’s in an area that you somewhat know but not totally. What would you do? Hopefully, you’ll try to learn more or acquire skills so that you can do that job more effectively. You could take additional schooling or train with a professional who’s in that field. Once you learn more about that job, you can better steer your course without fail.

Verse 7 is the most important of all the verses. This verse tells you how everything begins. Respect and obey the Lord! This is the beginning of knowledge. Only a fool rejects wisdom and good advice (Proverbs 1:7 CEV).

What does it mean to respect and obey the Lord? I mean, we all want some respect in life. If we as humans want respect, surely the Lord wants it too! Let’s look at what Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary¹ gives for the definition of respect. Respect—act of giving particular attention (consideration); high or special regard (esteem); expressions of high or special regard or deference.

We respect and give honor all the time. We all respect or honor the president, the Queen of England, music celebrities, and sport legends, among others. When these individuals come into the room, people usually stand up and give them respect. God would like it if we just paid attention to Him and held Him to high regard. I mean, of all the people you can think of, God is the only one who deserves respect since He is the Creator!

Okay, now you’re saying, Well, I can see those people. I can’t see God. Well, you believe there’s air. You can’t see it, but you feel and breathe it. Although you can’t see God, you can feel Him and see His creation. Well, this is not a study on believing in the existence of God. This study is about wisdom, which begins with God.

What about obey? No one likes that word. During wedding vows, many women don’t like to say, Honor and obey. I mean, who wants to do that? To obey people means to defer to their way and not act out your own. According to the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary,² obey means to follow the commands or guidance of; to conform to or comply with.

Even though most of us don’t like that word, we all do it to some degree. We obey our bosses. If we didn’t, we wouldn’t have jobs. We obey the laws of the road (hopefully) and of the land. If not, we would get a ticket or end up in jail if we got caught. Even if we don’t know all of the laws, deep down we know if we’re doing something wrong.

Well, how do we obey God? We obey Him by following His commands and His guidance. We conform to and comply with His ways. Well, you may ask, What are His commands? Everyone knows about the Ten Commandments, and everyone knows that we can’t keep them all. If we miss the mark in one area, we miss it all. Jesus gave a very succinct answer to what is the most important command of God. Jesus answered: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind. This is the first and most important commandment. The second most important commandment is like this one. And it is, ‘Love others as much as you love yourself.’ All the Law of Moses and the Books of the Prophets are based on these two commandments (Matthew 22:37–40 CEV).

So the most important commandment is love. We must love God, love ourselves, and love one another. All we need is love, as the song goes. When we love God, we do the things that please Him. When we love ourselves, we take care of our bodies. When we love one another, we don’t do things that will hurt or cause harm to others.

Now let’s get to some real life stuff! Read verses 10–19. Verse 10 says, Don’t be tempted by sinners or listen when they say.

Has anyone ever tried to get you involved in something that you knew wasn’t kosher? These people are trying to find ways to ambush your ways of thinking so that they will get ahead. But when you set a trap for someone, you end up walking into it yourself. Has that ever happened to you? Think about all those investment schemes out there. These people always end up getting caught one way or another. Just think about a trap for any kind of animal. If that animal sees the trap, that animal won’t go near it no matter how nice or elegant that trap is. It won’t work. So when you see people doing evil or trying to do something you know is not right, run! Don’t even go near them. That’s wisdom. It’ll save you a whole lot of trouble in the future.

Verses 20–33 are interesting. Verse 21 says, She shouts in the marketplaces and near the city gates as she says to the people. Wisdom is now a person, a she. When reading these verses, think of a person trying to get your attention. This person is trying to speak to you above all the other voices and noises in your life. These verses are also scary. Make sure you listen to Wisdom.

Wow! That’s a mouthful! Let’s break it down.

We see that the person Wisdom is trying to get our attention. She’s not whispering. She’s shouting. Are we listening? Wisdom is telling us to turn or repent from our own ways and listen to her. We need to stop being stupid fools! If we first repent and turn, Wisdom will make her words known to us. We’ve got to turn from our way of thinking and start thinking the way God wants or the way the Word of God says. If we don’t listen to God and do things the way we think they should be done, we can’t say one word if it doesn’t work out. God will warn us and show us things, but we need to heed what He says. As the last verse says, if we listen to Him, we will dwell safe and securely and without fear of disaster. I always say and believe that God only wants what’s best for us.

Even when you look at this text from the view of a parent, it makes sense. Parents or older people have lived their lives and made their mistakes. As parents, you don’t want to see your children go through the same problems you did. When you see your child doing something that you know will lead to disaster, you try to warn him or her. You can warn the child because you have already been through that situation. For example, you may feel your children are hanging out with the wrong crowd. Of course, children don’t think the parent knows anything. They only think that parents are trying to hinder their fun. Well, the children decide to go against what the parents say and then end up in some terrible situation. The children then realize that they should have listened to the wisdom of their parents. This is the same with God. God has all wisdom and all knowledge and only wants what’s best for us. We can decide to listen to His wisdom and succeed or listen to ourselves and fail. The choice is ours!

Assignment

1. Are you going to be wise or a stupid fool (verse 22)?

2. Have there been any times when people tried to get you involved in some type of scheme that you knew wasn’t right? Or were you the one scheming?

3. Can you think of times when you tried to set a trap for someone and it backfired on you? If so, what did you learn from it?

4. Are you going to listen to Wisdom when she calls, or are you going to live your own way?