Key Verse: “Fear of the Lord leads to life, bringing
security and protection from harm.” (v.23)
We met somewhere unexpected today—the city driving range on the edge of town. Bright afternoon sun, the sharp thwack of golf balls splitting the air, green turf glowing almost neon against the blue sky. No rain. No café. Just repetition.
Buckets of balls stacked like little pyramids.
Solomon stood at the far stall, linen shirt sleeves rolled up, silver-streaked hair tied back. Handmade boots planted firmly on rubber matting. He swung—not perfectly, but consistently. Clean contact. Again. Again.
“You ever notice,” he said, setting another ball down, “how no one complains about repetition when it improves their swing?”
I leaned against the divider. “Wisdom’s not as satisfying as watching a ball fly two hundred yards.”
He smiled, faint cedar drifting in the heat. “Only because you can’t see the distance it saves you from regret.”
He didn’t open the notebook today. He didn’t need to.
“Proverbs 19:21–29,” he began. “You may have noticed that today’s passage seems a bit repetitive. A review. And it is! A good teacher repeats what keeps a student alive. Today’s section lends itself to some personal reflection and a check of how wisdom is affecting you. How much progress you’ve made.”
He looked at me. “Ready?”
I nodded, “Sure, I guess.”
“Verse 21 — Many plans, but the Lord’s purpose stands.”
“Do you still over-plan?” he asked casually.
“Yes,” I admitted. “Five-year projections. Backup plans to backup plans.”
“And how often do you pause to ask what the Creator might be shaping instead?”
I hesitated.
He tapped the mat with his club. “You can design your swing. But the wind still exists. Wisdom isn’t abandoning plans—it’s holding them loosely.”
I swallowed. “I don’t like loose.”
“I know.”
“Verse 22 — Loyalty makes a person attractive; better poor than a liar.”
“Integrity check,” he said, glancing sideways.
“I haven’t lied,” I said defensively.
“Half-truths?”
I winced.
He nodded gently. “Loyal love. Steadfast kindness. It’s better to lose money than lose your soul in deception.”
A ball arced high into the distance.
“Where are you tempted to polish the truth?” he pressed.
“Work,” I muttered. “Performance metrics.”
“It is so much more important to protect your name than your numbers.”
“Verse 23 — ‘Fear of the Lord leads to life, bringing security and protection from harm.’”
He set the club down.
The driving range noise seemed to dull for a moment.
"This isn’t talking about panic or terror. It means awe. Alignment. Living aware that God is real and near.”
I folded my arms. “But harm still happens.”
“Yes,” he agreed. “But not the harm that corrodes your core. Reverence builds a life that doesn’t implode.”
He leaned closer. “You chase security through control. But security flows from surrender.”
That landed harder than any golf ball.
“Verse 24 — The lazy won’t even lift food to their mouth.”
He raised an eyebrow.
“I’m not lazy.”
“You procrastinate.”
“That’s strategic delay.”
He laughed—warm, not mocking. “Sometimes. Other times it’s avoidance.”
He gestured at the row of buckets. “Change doesn’t happen because you understand something once — it happens because you practice it repeatedly.
I nodded slowly. There were emails I hadn’t answered. Conversations I’d delayed.
“Verse 25 — Fools learn when consequences hit. The wise learn by watching.”
“Have you been watching?” he asked.
“I think so.”
“Then why repeat what you’ve already seen wreck someone else?”
That stung.
He didn’t soften it. “Wisdom means learning from other people’s bruises.”
“Verses 26 and 27 — Don’t shame your parents. Don’t stop listening to instruction.”
He glanced toward a teenage boy two stalls down, frustrated, slamming his club.
“Pride isolates,” Solomon said. “When you stop listening, you start drifting.”
“I don’t ignore advice,” I protested.
“You filter it through ego.”
Silence.
“Stay teachable, Ethan. Especially when you feel certain.”
“Verse 28 — False witnesses mock justice.”
He exhaled slowly. “Words shape worlds. Don’t use yours carelessly.”
I thought about sarcasm. About conversations where I’d exaggerated for effect.
He saw it in my face. He always does.
“Verse 29 — Penalties exist for mockers. Consequences are real.”
“Grace doesn’t cancel reality,” he said. “Choices carve grooves.”
The boy two stalls down packed up and left, shoulders tight.
Solomon watched him go. “Absence teaches too.”
The stall felt quieter.
He picked up one final ball.
“Ethan,” he said, voice steady, “review isn’t regression. It’s reinforcement. Wisdom fades when it isn’t revisited.”
He swung.
Perfect contact.
“Fear of the Lord leads to life,” he repeated. “When awe anchors you, everything else finds proportion.”
I stared downrange at the scattered white dots.
I’ve been trying to improve my swing without respecting the wind.
He handed me a club.
“Your turn.”
I stepped onto the mat, aware of my grip, my stance, the heat on my neck. A hundred small adjustments.
Repetition.
Maybe wisdom isn’t a breakthrough moment.
Maybe it’s buckets of practice under a wide, honest sky.
What? Proverbs 19:21–29 reviews core wisdom themes: surrendering plans to God’s purpose, valuing integrity, staying teachable, working diligently, and living in reverent awe of the Lord.
So What? We don’t drift into wisdom—we drift away from it. Rehearsing these truths protects our character from slow erosion.
Now What? Choose one area from today’s review—plans, integrity, diligence, teachability, or reverence—and take one concrete step this week to realign it with God’s wisdom.
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