Proverbs 10:18-32, Outline and Notes

[Lord willing, I will be teaching from this text this coming Wednesday evening at Kosmosdale Baptist Church.]

Proverbs 10:18-32.

I. Righteous Speech (vv. 18-21)

A. Sins of Speech
1. Slander (v.18)
2. Babbling (v. 19)

B. Speech and the Heart (v. 20; Luke 6:45; Matt 15:18)

C. Righteous Speech Brings Blessings to Others (v. 21)

->Blessing, Wealth, Lack of Sorrows (v. 22)

These proverbs presuppose that God has established the world in a certain way. Blessings are promised that reflect God's character for His glory (Deut 9:5; 26-29).

Definitionally, proverbs are given as timeless truths applicable to people everywhere, yet it seems significant that these sayings are recorded during the Old Covenant administration; the time and place of when these proverbs are given seem to have a bearing on the relationship between "blessing" and "wealth"and on dwelling "in the land" (v. 30).

How do "the blessings of the LORD" make one rich? The connection is not explicitly stated in the text, but Solomon's life gives an example that sheds some light on how this proverb operates in life

II. The Wicked and the Righteous (vv. 23-25)
[The righteous man finds...]

A. Pleasure in Wisdom (v. 23)

B. Fulfilled Desires (v. 24)

C. Security (v. 25)
Calamity is the result of sin... "[Jesus] calls his audience to repentance [Luke 13:3]... repentance is the only way to avoid eternal death, a fate that will fall upon everyone who does persist in sin." [G.K. Beale and D.A. Carson Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2007), 333.]

->The Sluggard (v. 26)

III. The Righteous and the Wicked (vv. 27-30)
[The righteous man has...]

A. Long Life (v. 27)
Again, "we must keep in mind the general-principle nature of Proverbs... Some God-fearing men such as David Brainerd will die young, while some godless fools will live long lives.... [also] we must remember Proverbs' setting within the Mosaic Covenant... there was quite a list of capital-offense crimes under Moses, none of which would befall the man walking in the fear of Yahweh." [Dan Phillips, God's Wisdom in Proverbs (The Woodlands, TX: Kress Biblical Resources, 2011), 87.]

B. Hope -> Joy (v. 28)
Life and death are bound up in rightly discerning how to be found among the "righteous" rather than among the "wicked."

C. Security (v. 29)

Yahweh's justice will be a comfort and a refuge to those who embrace the wisdom mercifully revealed in Proverbs. But that same justice guarantees the destruction of those who refuse the mercy offered in wisdom's call. Yahweh sets his character on display in people's lives as he renders to them according to their works. James Hamilton, God’s Glory in Salvation Through Judgment (Wheaton: Crossway, 2010), 296.

IV. Righteous Speech (vv. 31-32)

A. Wisdom (v. 31)

B. Prudence (v. 32)