Proverbs (Part 132) - Pro 10:21

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21. Pro 10:21 – "The lips of the righteous feed many: but fools die for want of wisdom." A. The lips of the righteous feed many: i. The lips are used to consume physical food and to produce spiritual food. ii. Any fool can use his lips to consume food, but only the righteous feeds many with his lips. a. Righteous adj. – 1. a. Of persons: Just, upright, virtuous; guiltless, sinless; conforming to the standard of the divine or the moral law; acting rightly or justly. b. Feed v. – 1. a. trans. To give food to; to supply with food; to provide food for. 2. fig. of I. Const. as above. a. simply; esp. in spiritual sense. iii. The food that the righteous feed to the hungry is the food of knowledge (Jer 3:15). a. Only those who are hungering and thirsting after the knowledge of God will be fed (Mat 5:6; Psa 107:9). b. The words of a righteous and wise man's mouth are like deep waters (Pro 18:4) which must be drawn out of him by the thirsty (Pro 20:5). iv. One of the "many" whom the righteous feeds with his lips is himself (Pro 12:14; Pro 13:2; Pro 18:20). a. A good (righteous) man shall be satisfied from himself (Pro 14:14). b. A wise man is profitable to himself (Job 22:2). c. Wisdom is its own reward. v. Preachers feed many with their lips (Act 20:28; 1Pe 5:2; Joh 21:15-17). vi. But you don't have to be a preacher to feed many with your lips. a. Every Christian should have the lips of knowledge to feed those around him. b. Christians can feed others by: (i) Speaking a word of comfort to them when they are weary (Isa 50:4). (ii) Teaching others the truth (Heb 5:12). (iii) Edifying them (1Th 5:11). (iv) Giving them a good word which will bring them joy (Pro 12:25). (v) Exhorting (Heb 3:13) and admonishing them (Rom 15:14). (vi) Rebuking them (Lev 19:17). c. Fathers and mothers should be feeding their children the knowledge of God (Eph 6:4), and so should grandparents be doing so to their grandchildren (Deut 4:9). B. but fools die for want of wisdom. i. Definitions a. Fool n. - I. 1. a. One deficient in judgement or sense, one who acts or behaves stupidly, a silly person, a simpleton. (In Biblical use applied to vicious or impious persons.) The word has in mod.Eng. a much stronger sense than it had at an earlier period; it has now an implication of insulting contempt which does not in the same degree belong to any of its synonyms, or to the derivative foolish. b. Want n. – - 1. predicatively, or quasi-adj. (Something that is) wanting, missing. In Ormin const. with dative. Obs. rare. (last usage in 1400) 2. a. Deficiency, shortage, lack (of something desirable or necessary, esp. a quality or attribute). 3. a. The state of lacking the necessaries of life; penury; destitution. Also, the condition of lacking food; famine; starvation. to come to want: to be reduced to penury. c. Wisdom n. – 1. a. Capacity of judging rightly in matters relating to life and conduct; soundness of judgement in the choice of means and ends; sometimes, less strictly, sound sense, esp. in practical affairs: opp. to folly. ii. Wisdom is food for the soul. a. Just as people die if they lack food, fools will die because they lack wisdom. b. Death may result from a lack of wisdom for the following reasons: (i) Fools mouth off and get themselves killed for it (Pro 18:7, 21). (ii) Fools commit fornication and adultery and die for it (Pro 5:20, 23; Pro 7:22, 26-27). (iii) Fools do sinful and stupid things such as excessive drinking and eating, drunk driving, drugs, and doing dangerous things which all lead to death. (iv) Fools die as a result of the judgment of God for their wickedness (Pro 19:16; Ecc 7:17). iii. You can't feed a fool knowledge because he is not hungry for it (Pro 1:7; Pro 23:9). iv. Wisdom is available from wise men, but fools don't want it. a. How can you know if a man desires wisdom? He asks for advice from others. b. How can you know if a man does NOT desire wisdom? He does NOT ask for advice from others. c. How can you know if a man is a wise man? He asks for advice from others (Pro 1:5). d. How can you know if a man is a fool? He does NOT ask for advice from others. e. Are you a wise man or a fool? (i) Ask yourself this question: "How often do I ask for advice from others?" (ii) Your honest answer will tell you how wise or how foolish you are. (iii) If you think you ask for advice from others often, ask yourself when was the last time you did so? (iv) If you can't remember, you likely lack wisdom.