And in that day you will say: “O LORD, I will praise You; though You were angry with me, Your anger is turned away, and You comfort me. Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid; for YAH, the LORD, is my strength and song; He also has become my salvation.’ ” Therefore with joy you will draw water fom the wells of salvation. And in that day you will say: “ Praise the LORD, call upon His name; declare His deeds among the peoples, make mention that His name is exalted. Sing to the LORD, for He has done excellent things; this is known in all the earth. Cry...

A generous  will himself  be blessed, for he shares his food with the poor. Proverbs 22: 9, NIV. Dear Father, we thank You that no act of kindness goes unnoticed by Your all-seeing eye. Please bless our study today we pray, in the precious name of Jesus! Amen. A lot has been said about sharing what we have with the poor, in the Word of God. That must mean a lot to God! It surely does! And every time God encourages us to do something, it is because He has a blessing reserved for us in return. Perhaps the reason so much time...

He who sows wickedness reaps trouble, and the rod of his fury will be destroyed. Proverbs 22: 6, NIV. Gracious God, we thank You that You have not left us unwarned. Today, please help us to begin to plant wisely, that we might receive a good harvest. In the blessed name of Jesus we humbly pray. Amen. Proverbs comprise an interesting genre. They are usually written in two parts. The first half tells you one half of the story, while the second half sheds more light on what the first half said. Or, it tells you the rest of the story, or,...

The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender. Proverbs 22: 7, NIV. Our Gracious God, we are so grateful to You for Your everlasting love and mercies. We praise You for all that You have done for us, and we ask that You will bless us now as we study Your Word. In the blessed name of Jesus Christ we pray. Amen. Today we will continue looking at verse 7 of Proverbs 22. Yesterday we concentrated on the effects of riches on its owners, or, on those aspiring to become rich. We saw that if...

The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender. Proverbs 22: 7, NIV. Merciful God, as we bow in Your presence we give You thanks for all the blessings we receive in the study of Your Word; and we ask You to please clear our minds, as we continue our study today, in the precious name of Jesus. Amen! Our proverb for today is divided into the rich and the poor, the borrower and the lender, the slave, and the slave master. The slave master is tacit in the proverb. But I believe, that it is...

Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it. Proverbs 22: 6, NIV. Dear God, it is such a privilege to remain in Your way, and to help others to do the same. As we meet in Your presence to study Your Word, please teach us how. This we ask in the blessed name of Jesus! Amen. In my study of this text, the first point of interest that I found was the original reading of the text. In the Hebrew it would be more accurate to say,  "Train up a child in...

In the paths of the wicked lie thorns and snares, but  who guards soul stays far from them. Proverbs 22: 5, NIV. Gracious God, into Your hand I commend this study. Please help us as we seek wisdom from Your Word. In the blessed name of Jesus Christ we pray. Amen. As we continue in Proverbs 22, we come to verse 5. It speaks of the dangers that strew the path of the wicked. It also speaks of the way to protect one's soul from these dangers:  by "stay far from them." That does not seem too hard to do, does it? And it makes a...

The reward for humility and fear of the LORD is riches and honor and life. Proverbs 22: 4, NRSV. LORD God Almighty, please accept our prayer as we come into Your presence this day. Please speak to our hearts through the study of Your Word. This is our prayer, in the blessed name of Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen. This text brings to my mind the story of Solomon, the son of David and Bathsheba. I have said this before, permit me to say it once again:  Solomon was never greater, than when he knelt before God, and admitted that he was "only...

A prudent sees danger and takes refuge, but the simple keep going and suffer for it. Proverbs 22: 3, NIV. Dear God, please teach us how to live our lives wisely. In so doing may we bring honor to Your name. In the holy name of Jesus we humbly pray. Amen. Just like we said, we are continuing in Proverbs 22, using these words of wisdom and caution to live our lives productively! I believe that I have used this adage on our website before, but I will use it again because it seems to fit well with this proverb. It is from...

Rich and poor have this in common:  The LORD is the Maker of them all. Proverbs 22: 2, NIV. Holy Father, as we continue to study about the "common ground" that exists between the rich and the poor, we realize just how blessed we are to have a God who is "no respecter of persons." Please bless our study today, in the name of Jesus Christ we pray. Amen. Yesterday we ended on the premise that God is the Creator of rich and poor alike. He is "the Maker of all." We spent some time looking at the speech Paul made on Mar's...