Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 611 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

I am Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

Words and Wealth - Proverbs 10

Thank you for joining us for our 5 days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. Today is Day 611 of our trek, and it is Wisdom Wednesday. Every Wednesday along life’s trails we dig for the nuggets of wisdom that are found within the book of Proverbs. Today we will explore Proverbs 10 from The Voice Translation which will give us a fresh perspective on this book of timeless wisdom.

We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. It has been a cooler but pleasant week so far. This past weekend I was able to finish cutting up the trees that we had chopped down in February. We will wait until fall to split the larger pieces, which will give them time to dry out. We certainly will have enough firewood for a few winter seasons.

Our granddaughter Hazel is at Nationwide Children Hospital for two days again this week as she begins the next phase of her treatments. She is responding very well to the treatments, and at this point, her blood, spinal fluid, and bone marrow are all clear of leukemia cells. Her hemoglobin and immune system have also stabilized back within a normal range for a child of her age.

Although these great results will not shorten the treatment period, it does mean that the treatments will not have to be quite as extensive. We are grateful to God and to everyone who has prayed or helped out in any other manner. If you would like to keep up with the news about Hazel, and read the blog posts that her father Nat is writing about Hazel’s progress, you can access it at basilforhazel.org. We would appreciate your continued prayers for Hazel and her tribe.Our life trek will always be full of unexpected twist and turns, obstacles and hardships, but also days where the seemingly smallest of actions can overwhelm our soul with gratitude for the blessings of another day in which we can enjoy life. The smallest of words, a smile, or a kind deed can bring wealth untold. As we begin a new section in the Book of Proverbs with Chapter 10, our focus will be called…

Words and Wealth

This chapter begins the collection of the proverbs themselves. These are short, two-line sayings that are easy to memorize and pack a punch.

This first collection of proverbs extends from 10:1 through 22:16, and we’re told that they come from King Solomon. We know it’s been carefully designed, at least as a whole. There are 375 proverbs in this section, and interestingly, the numerical value of the word “Solomon” in Hebrew is 375! Someone has thoughtfully curated these sayings for us to read and ponder.

Among all the Proverbs in Chapter 10, two themes are repeatedly highlighted: words and wealth.

There’s a strong emphasis on the power of our words and how they can create good or bring disaster. A person who is full of “meaningless chatter” doesn’t control his mouth (8, 10) and invites ruin (14). In contrast, “the mouth of the righteous is a spring of life,” and adds value to others (11, 16, 20).

You’ll also notice that verses 2-5 speak of abundance or poverty as the long-term result of one’s behavior. “A slack hand produces nothing but poverty,” but God loves to bless the “industrious” and hard work of the wise (22).

As you listen to the various proverbs, pay attention to how wealth is acquired or lost. Sometimes our own decisions play a key role, but other times forces beyond our control are at work. How does this lead to the Reverence for the Eternal One and how you think about your own money and possessions?

Now listen up as I read Proverbs 10.

1 The proverbs of Solomon:

A wise son makes his father glad,