Scripture
1Whoever stubbornly refuses to accept criticism
will suddenly be destroyed beyond recovery.
2When the godly are in authority, the people rejoice.
But when the wicked are in power, they groan.
3The man who loves wisdom brings joy to his father,
but if he hangs around with prostitutes, his wealth is wasted.
4A just king gives stability to his nation,
but one who demands bribes destroys it.
5To flatter friends
is to lay a trap for their feet.
6Evil people are trapped by sin,
but the righteous escape, shouting for joy.
7The godly care about the rights of the poor;
the wicked don’t care at all.
8Mockers can get a whole town agitated,
but the wise will calm anger.
9If a wise person takes a fool to court,
there will be ranting and ridicule but no satisfaction.
10The bloodthirsty hate blameless people,
but the upright seek to help them.[1]
11Fools vent their anger,
but the wise quietly hold it back.
12If a ruler pays attention to liars,
all his advisers will be wicked.
13The poor and the oppressor have this in common—
the Lord gives sight to the eyes of both.
14If a king judges the poor fairly,
his throne will last forever.
15To discipline a child produces wisdom,
but a mother is disgraced by an undisciplined child.
16When the wicked are in authority, sin flourishes,
but the godly will live to see their downfall.
17Discipline your children, and they will give you peace of mind
and will make your heart glad.
18When people do not accept divine guidance, they run wild.
But whoever obeys the law is joyful.
19Words alone will not discipline a servant;
the words may be understood, but they are not heeded.
20There is more hope for a fool
than for someone who speaks without thinking.
21A servant pampered from childhood
will become a rebel.
22An angry person starts fights;
a hot-tempered person commits all kinds of sin.
23Pride ends in humiliation,
while humility brings honor.
24If you assist a thief, you only hurt yourself.
You are sworn to tell the truth, but you dare not testify.
25Fearing people is a dangerous trap,
but trusting the Lord means safety.
26Many seek the ruler’s favor,
but justice comes from the Lord.
27The righteous despise the unjust;
the wicked despise the godly.
Translation notes (1)
- 29:10 Or The bloodthirsty hate blameless people, / and they seek to kill the upright; Hebrew reads The bloodthirsty hate blameless people; / as for the upright, they seek their life.
25Fearing people is a dangerous trap,
but trusting the Lord means safety.
I was on the phone earlier today talking with a friend while my niece and nephew whom I was babysitting were both trying to talk to me as well. Neither my phone conversation nor my conversations with my niece and nephew very productive. I could not fully embrace either conversation when I was trying to hold on to both. The truth is, living trying to split your focus and attention does not work well at all. This is particularly true when we consider dividing our attention between Christ and anything else. It simply does not work. Because of this, Scripture teaches that we are called to live for Christ and Christ alone.
When it comes to dividing our attention, the approval of people is one of the biggest hang ups that gets in the way. The writer of the book of Proverbs reminds us of this in Proverbs 29 where he wrote, “Fearing people is a dangerous trap, but trusting the Lord means safety” (verse 25). Fearing people is an example of what it looks like to live for the approval of people. It means making decisions based on what people think. It means doing everything you can to make people happy. It means living so that others will be pleased with you. This is a trap, Proverbs 29:5 tells us. Instead of fearing people, this verse calls us to trust God. Trusting God means living for Him and trusting what He says about you and what He teaches in His word. This means safety and security. Now, if fearing people leads to danger, and trusting God leads to safety, we clearly cannot do both. We will be torn in two completely directions and end up either going nowhere or in a spot we never intended to be. We have to make the decision: will we fear people or will we trust God?
We cannot live for God and for the people around us. Living this way simply will not work. It is an ineffective and dangerous way to live. We have two options: living for God or living for others’ approval. Only one of these leads to safety. I do not know about you, but I want to live solely for God and find safety as a result. Let’s make 2023 a year where we solely lived for Him, and nothing else.
Moving toward action
Whose approval have you found yourself living for? God’s or other people’s? Take a few minutes to honestly answer that question. If you have been living for others, what step can you take this week to turn solely to Christ instead of others? If you have been living for Christ, what benefits have you found? How does this encourage you to keep living for Him in the future?
Going Deeper
Proverbs 29:1-27 (NLT)
Loading saved progress…
Your place is saved in this browser. It will not follow you to another device, and clearing browser data removes it.