Make a list of sins condemned in chapter 17. What choices concerning our conduct ought we to make, if we wish to avoid them? Answer: I am not seeing anything specific about condemning a specific sin. However, I do see those who mock the poor show contempt for their maker, wicked listen to evil lips, arrogance is to the fool, evil men are rebellious, the Lord hates those who condemn the innocent and set free the guilty, and the wicked accept bribes. I do like the pieces on discernment. Like v10; The rebuke impresses the discerning.
What reasons are given in chapter 18 why we should ‘watch the door of our lips’? Answer: v6 fools lips bring strife. V7 fools lips are his undoing and are a snare.
Other: fruit of the mouth fills the stomach v 20. V21tongue has power of life and death.
An overriding theme is the tongue!! Don’t gossip, don’t lie, don’t condemn others with your tongue.
Consider the two fortresses in 18:10-11; and cf. John 10:27-28; Luke 12:15-21. Answer: I prefer to live in His love than depend on my own way. Money can be lost. That “fortified city” is a very scalable wall.
Note 18:10. ‘The name of the Lord’ denotes the character of God himself, as revealed to us in the scriptures. Cf. e.g. Exod. 34:5ff. For us it is summed up in Jesus.
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