Proverbs: Chapter 17

For additional notes and resources check out Douglas’ website.

Salient points:

• It can be painful when the Lord purifies our hearts (v.3). Like gold or silver in the crucible, it is through fire that our hearts change.
• V.9 in a more literal version: "One who disregards a fault, one who seeks friendship / One who insists on it, one who loses a companion."
• The fool isn't "impressed" with 100 lashes because he doesn't learn from his mistakes (v.10).
• Your friend will remember your support in tough times long after he's forgotten your companionship in good times (v.17).
• Religious people who practice their faith are healthier than unbelievers, as many studies have shown (v.22).
• The undisciplined often hop from one latest great thing to another (v.24). They start projects but rarely complete them. They are susceptible to easy fixes and may be taken in by schemes to part them from their money. Wisdom is found in focusing, not flitting from one thing to another. Alternate translation: "In front of the perceptive: wisdom / but the eyes of a fool, on the ends of the earth."

Challenge:

• Learn from my mistakes!
• Looking back over our lives, we can see patterns. Better self-awareness and more reflection on why things went wrong when they did will prove invaluable.
• "A wise man learns by the mistakes of others. An ordinary man learns by his own mistakes. A fool learns by nobody’s mistakes."

Next: Proverbs 18 (of course).