Recovering Some Ancient Proverbs (Proverbs 25–29)

Ever felt how quickly a small slight can swell into a public mess? We open Proverbs 25–29 and find a clear road map for moments like that—when to stay quiet, how to protect your name, and why private reconciliation often outperforms a courtroom victory. These chapters meet us where life actually happens: in tense conversations, fragile reputations, and the quiet tug to make ourselves look good.

We start with the surprising backstory—Hezekiah’s scribes preserving Solomon’s sayings centuries later—then move into the nitty-gritty. Solomon warns against rushing to court and urges us to settle disputes personally and quietly. He calls gossip tasty but toxic, a spark that becomes a blaze when we lend an ear. The simplest discipline? If you’re not part of the problem or the solution, step back and starve the fire. From there we turn inward: “As water reflects the face, so the heart reflects the person.” Honest self-examination, anchored in Scripture, shows what we truly love and leads us to confession and real change, where mercy waits.

We also confront pride in its many disguises—self-importance, self-promotion, and the illusion of control. Solomon cautions against boasting about tomorrow, not to kill planning but to restore humility: “If the Lord wills” is a posture, not a punchline. He pushes us to let others do the praising and reminds us that God never overlooks quiet faithfulness. The thread running through it all is integrity. Walk straight and you’ll find deliverance; twist the path and collapse can come suddenly. This conversation offers practical tools you can use today—guard your speech, pursue peace, seek counsel, confess quickly, plan humbly, and keep serving even when nobody claps.

If this resonates, follow the show, share it with a friend who needs calm wisdom for a noisy week, and leave a review with the proverb that challenged you most. Your voice helps others find a steadier path.

Chapters

• 0:00 Hezekiah’s Scribes And Structure
• 1:59 Don’t Rush To Court
• 3:28 Settle Disputes Quietly
• 4:08 The Firepower Of Gossip
• 5:26 Stay Out If Not Involved
• 6:35 Heart As The True Mirror
• 7:38 Confession, Mercy, And Growth
• 8:27 Pride’s Blind Spots
• 9:14 Boasting About Tomorrow
• 9:50 Let Others Praise You
• 11:08 God Sees Unnoticed Work
• 11:16 Integrity Delivers, Crookedness Falls

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:26

Today in our wisdom journey through the book of Proverbs, we begin a new section here in chapter 25. We're told in verse 1 here that these are more Proverbs of Solomon, which the men of Hezekiah, King of Judah, copied. Solomon composed these proverbs, but they're collected and they're copied, and they're now added to this book, we're told here, 200 years later by the scribes who would have been on the payroll of King Hezekiah. Now, in this section that runs from chapter 25 all the way through chapter 29, most of the proverbs are presented as contrasts or comparisons. And just like the previous chapters, these are words of wisdom on a variety of topics that we're going to encounter in our lives. Now remember, wisdom is the ability to make the right decision at the right time and for the right reason. For instance, here in chapter twenty five and verse seven, Solomon gives some wisdom on handling a legal dispute. He writes, What your eyes have seen, do not hastily bring into court. For what will you do in the end when your neighbor puts you to shame? In other words, don't be so quick to run to court. Many people take others to court and it only backfires on them. And Solomon frankly wants you to consider that in rushing into court, whether you win or lose your case, by the way, you run the risk of losing your reputation. Your reputation is far more important than winning a case in court. Solomon offers a better solution here in verse 9 and verse 10. He says, handle it personally, handle it quietly if at all possible. Try to settle that case with your neighbor, try to resolve that issue without throwing mud back and forth in a public courtroom setting. Now with that, Solomon is going to tackle once again the subject of gossip here in chapter twenty six. He offers this wise counsel writing here in verse twenty-two. The words of a whisperer are like delicious morsels that go down into the inner parts of the body. Gossip is tasty, it's it's irresistible, isn't it? Somebody once said that the phrase this is none of my business is usually followed by the word but this is none of my business, but well then that juicy gossip morsel begins. Solomon warns in verse twenty-one that the gossip is going to be like wood added to the fire, which which makes it even a bigger fire than before. The simplest solution, by the way, is not to listen to it, because if you don't listen to it, you're probably not going to be tempted to repeat it. Here's a rule of thumb that'll protect you and and many others around you in this regard. If you're not part of the problem and not part of the solution, stay out of the situation. Let me say that again. If you're not part of the problem and you're not part of the solution, stay out of the situation. And like Solomon promises here in verse twenty, without the fuel of gossip, the fire is going to die out. Now we find this unique uh proverb here in chapter twenty-seven and and verse nineteen. As in water, face reflects face, so the heart of man reflects the man. In other words, uh just as you see a reflection in water, so your heart gives you a reflection of who you really are. Your heart uh reflects back to you what you treasure, what you value, love, desire, uh pursue. That's a reflection of your true character, even though you try to convince yourself perhaps that you're you're somebody else. Regular, careful self-examination in light of God's word, which is a mirror, reveals to us who we are, and it's going to drive us to repentance and daily dependence on the Lord. Now, along that same line, Proverbs 28, verse 13 warns us and it encourages us at the same time to get real with ourselves, to get real before the Lord. Solomon writes here, whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy. Uh that are going to be emphasized. These are traits, by the way, to avoid, as well as some of the character traits to develop. Now on the negative side, there are several warnings against conceit or pride. Here in chapter 26 and verse 12, we read, Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes? There's more hope for a fool than for him. In other words, no matter how intelligent or talented a person you might be, conceit will make you almost a hopeless case. Why? Well, if you're too proud to listen to counsel or to admit to sin or see any need for God, you're closing all the avenues of God's grace, intercepting your life. And if you don't have the grace of God, intercepting your life, your life is going to end up without hope, and certainly without growth. Well, here's another dangerous sign about pride in chapter 27 and verse 1. Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring. Now this doesn't condemn the idea of making plans or thinking through tomorrow, but listen, all the wise planning in the world isn't going to guarantee tomorrow. That kind of boasting effectively ignores the truth that God is in control. God is ultimately in control of your day today. He's in control of your tomorrow. So we need to learn, as James writes in his letter, we need to learn to say, if the Lord wills, or if it's the Lord's will. That's James 4.15. Now Solomon goes on to deliver another practical piece of wisdom here in chapter 27, now at verse 2. Let another man praise you and not your own lips. By the way, this is a good practice to develop at any age. I remember teaching our sons this. I remember their mother training our twin boys when they began playing soccer in elementary school. One of our sons was amazingly talented at scoring, and the other son intuitively good at defending. In fact, they would go on in high school to win all-state recognition as top offensive and defensive players. It wasn't unusual to watch one of our sons score three or four goals in a game while his brother defended so well that the other team remained scoreless. Well, you can imagine the conversation on the way home. Hey, did you see what I did in that play? Did you see what I did over there and in that uh quarter? And my wife was so good to consistently say, Boys, remember, let another man praise you and not your own lips. Well, let me tell you something, beloved. You never outgrow the temptation to say, Hey, did you see what I just did? There are so many people who've quit serving the Lord in the church, on the mission field, in some volunteer role. Why? Well, frankly, because they didn't get the recognition they felt they deserved. Nobody seemed to notice, nobody praised them. Now keep in mind, beloved, the Bible says that the Lord Himself will not overlook your work and the love which you have shown for His name. That's Hebrews chapter 6 and verse 10. The Lord never misses one thing you do for him. Well, here's another promise to encourage you to keep walking in wisdom. Solomon writes here in now in chapter twenty-eight and verse eighteen, this wonderful proverb Whoever walks in integrity will be delivered, but the one who is crooked in his ways will suddenly fall. Now integrity refers to walking uprightly, that is, walking according to what is right. But those whose ways are crooked, that is, according to what's wrong, well, they're in danger of ruining their lives, and that can happen suddenly. It might happen, so to speak, overnight. Regardless of the circumstances around you, walking with integrity, following God's instructions about what's right and what's wrong is always going to be the wisest path to walk. How gracious was God to make sure these five chapters, this section in the book of Proverbs, wasn't lost to the ages. God motivated King Hezekiah more than two centuries after Solomon lived. He put together a team of men to collect and copy down these Proverbs so that we would have the benefit of all this wisdom to this day. Here's how to live, here's how to act, here's how to view yourself, here's how to treat other people. Listen, here's how to make the right decision at the right time for the right reason. Well, until our next wisdom journey together, beloved, may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.