angela hormberg

Tag: Wisdom

  • Proverbs 11:30

    Proverbs 11:30

    A Tree of Life

    Commonplace –

    “The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise” (Proverbs 11:30).

    The words of Proverbs 11:30, “[t]he fruit of the righteous is a tree of life”, hearken back to Genesis and the Garden:

    “And the Lord God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever. Therefore, the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden” (Genesis 3:22-23).

    After Adam and Eve sinned, they were sent out of the Garden to prevent them from eating of the tree of life, which would have given them eternal life. Now in Proverbs 11:30, we read that those who are righteous bear fruit that is a tree of life. We know that righteousness only comes through faith in Christ; the righteous are those who have professed belief in Christ. The fruit of these Christians is sharing their faith with unbelievers.

    With this understanding that the fruit is the gospel, the second part of the verse, “he that winneth souls is wise”, becomes clear. A wise believer shares this fruit with unbelievers to win souls. Therefore, let us be wise and share the gospel with all we meet. As Matthew Henry notes in his commentary,

    “He that is wise, by communicating his wisdom, wins souls, wins upon them to bring them in love with God and holiness, and so wins them over into the interests of God’s kingdom among men” (701).

    Works Cited

    Henry, Matthew. “Proverbs 11:30.” Matthew Henry’s Commentary On the Whole Bible: New Modern Edition. Volume 3 and Volume 6, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., March 1996.

    Holy Bible: Giant Print with Study Aids. Dugan Publishers, Inc., 1984.

    © 2026 Angela Hormberg

  • Proverbs 10:31

    Proverbs 10:31

    Bringing Justice

    Commonplace –

    “The mouth of the just bringeth forth wisdom: but the froward tongue shall be cut out” (Proverbs 10:31).

    Proverbs 10:31 is the ninth verse in Proverbs 10 dealing with the mouth and speech; it specifically addresses the speech of the contrary person. It’s difficult to deal with a contrary person, as they are always of the opposite opinion. Where does this contrary speech come from? The state of the heart.

    “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh” (Luke 6:45).

    The trouble is we all experience moments of being contrary. The key is correcting the attitude and working to figure out what is causing this desire to be opposite. Is it rooted in right? Or is it simply we are hungry or tired? Or are we really experiencing a heart issue that needs to be corrected? The goal is to bring forth wisdom, and, in order to do that, we need to be filling our hearts with wisdom.

    Works Cited

    Henry, Matthew. “Proverbs 10:31.” Matthew Henry’s Commentary On the Whole Bible: New Modern Edition. Volume 3 and Volume 6, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., March 1996.

    Holy Bible: Giant Print with Study Aids. Dugan Publishers, Inc., 1984.

    We'd love to hear from you!

    © 2025 Angela Hormberg

  • Proverbs 10:21

    Proverbs 10:21

    Wisdom and Words

    Commonplace –

    “The lips of the righteous feed many: but fools die for want of wisdom” (Proverbs 10:21).

    Once again, Solomon reminds us how impactful our words are. In Proverbs 10:21, Solomon tells us the “lips of the righteous feed many”. If our words are good, they are nourishment to those who hear us. Good words come from a heart of wisdom. That same wisdom that fills us overflows to others around us, feeding those who hear us, building good relationships, which brings goodness back to us. In contrast, “fools die for want of wisdom”. When our words are wicked, they are indicative of a wicked heart. Nothing good flows out of a wicked heart. So when we speak wicked words, we not only harm those around us, we harm ourselves by destroying relationships.

    In regard to Proverbs 10:21, Matthew Henry wrote:

    “The lips of the righteous feed many; for they are full of the word of God, which is the bread of life, and that sound doctrine wherewith souls are nourished up. Pious discourse is spiritual food to the needy, to the hungry” (693),

    while “Fools die for want of a heart (so the word is); they perish for want of consideration and resolution; they have no heart to do any thing for their own good. While the righteous feed others fools starve themselves” (694).

    Works Cited

    Henry, Matthew. “Proverbs 10:21.” Matthew Henry’s Commentary On the Whole Bible: New Modern Edition. Volume 3 and Volume 6, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., March 1996.

    Holy Bible: Giant Print with Study Aids. Dugan Publishers, Inc., 1984.

    We'd love to hear from you!

    © 2025 Angela Hormberg

  • Proverbs 10:13

    Proverbs 10:13

    Understanding

    Commonplace –

    “In the lips of him that hath understanding wisdom is found: but a rod is for the back of him that is void of understanding” (Proverbs 10:13).

    In Proverbs 10:13, Solomon contrasts the life of those who seek understanding and those who do not. The pursuit of understanding brings the reward of wisdom to the seeker: words of wisdom are on his lips. Based on what Solomon has already taught us in Proverbs, we know that if wisdom is on a person’s lips, there is a potential for a heart full of wisdom. Further investigation would be required to determine the extent of understanding.

    Let’s think about that for a minute. If a person picks up the Bible and reads a Proverb, then, in that moment, wisdom is on their lips. Does that mean their heart is full of wisdom? No, it does not. One quick reminder of this is recalling the temptation of Christ in the desert in Matthew 4:1-11. The devil was able to quote scripture and use it effectively in an argument; he could use verses out of context to support his argument, proof texting. Christ, however, had a heart full of wisdom, was able to discern the devil’s agenda, knew the actual context of those quote verses in relation to the entire message of the Bible, and countered quickly with the correct scripture. Another good reminder of the importance of knowing the word deeply is James 2:19, which says, “Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble”. So, a person who simply gives lip service to Bible verses does not necessarily have wisdom, understanding is crucial.

    For grasp this more clearly, we can turn to Matthew Henry’s Commentary, where he notes the following:

    “Wisdom and grace are the honour of good men: He that has understanding, that good understanding which those have that do the commandments, wisdom is found in his lips, that is, it is discovered to be there, and consequently that he has within a good treasure of it, and it is derived thence for the benefit of others. It is a man’s honour to have wisdom, but much more to be instrumental to make others wise” (692).

    Works Cited

    Henry, Matthew. “Proverbs 10:13.” Matthew Henry’s Commentary On the Whole Bible: New Modern Edition. Volume 3 and Volume 6, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., March 1996.

    Holy Bible: Giant Print with Study Aids. Dugan Publishers, Inc., 1984.

    We'd love to hear from you!

    © 2025 Angela Hormberg

  • Proverbs Chapter 9

    Proverbs Chapter 9

    Commonplace –

    “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding” (Proverbs 9:10).

    Proverbs 9 is the culmination of Solomon’s plea for readers to embrace wisdom. He describes wisdom and compares her with the foolish woman; Wisdom cries upon the high places and declares that “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and knowledge of the holy is understanding” (v.10) , while folly loudly declares at her own doorstep that “stolen waters are sweet, and bread eaten is secret is pleasant” (v.17). The result of following wisdom is long life (v.12), and the result of following folly is death and hell (v.18).

    In his introduction to Proverbs 9, Matthew Henry shares the following:

    “Christ and sin are rivals for the soul of man, and here we are told how they both make their court to it, to have the innermost and uppermost place in it. The design of this representation is to set before us life and death, good and evil; and there needs no more than a fair stating of the case to determine us which of those to choose, and surrender our hearts to. They are both brought in making entertainment for the soul, and inviting it to accept of the entertainment, concerning both we are told what the issue will be; and, the matter being thus laid before us, let us consider, take advice and speak our minds. And we are therefore concerned to put a value upon our own souls, because we see there is such striving for them” (686).

    In his summary, Henry gets to the heart of Proverbs 9. Solomon does set the scene well. Wisdom prepares her home with seven pillars, kills the beast, which will be served, prepares the wine and the table; it is a hospitable and welcoming scene. Then, she sends out her handmaids to call in the guests. Her message is how to get wisdom and understanding: fear the Lord. In contrast, folly is loud and boisterous as she sits at the door of her house, and her only preparation is her enticement to the simple to partake in stealing and secrecy, while inside her home is death and hell.

    Solomon opens Proverbs 9 with the following verse:

    “Wisdom hath builded her house, she hath hewn out her seven pillars” (v.1).

    What these seven pillars are we are not told directly, but there is speculation. Some believe they are a reference to: the fear of the Lord, knowledge, understanding, discretion, counsel, correction, and instruction. Henry makes the following reference related to the seven pillars: “Some reckon the schools of the prophets to be here intended” (687).

    I really like what Hebrew4Christians.com has to say about today’s chosen commonplace, Proverbs 9:10.

    “The scriptures declare that the starting point for wisdom is not to be found in speculative or abstract reasoning, but in understanding that a personal, holy, and righteous God has give us absolute imperative to love and do justly (see Mark 12:28-31). That is we are truly wise when we reverentially submit our lives to God in obedience to His commandments” (“Binah”).

    Works Cited

    “Binah”. Hebrew4Christians.com, John J. Parsons. https://hebrew4christians.com/Meditations/Binah/Printer_Version/printer_version.html. Accessed 9 Dec 2025.

    Henry, Matthew. “Proverbs 9.” Matthew Henry’s Commentary On the Whole Bible: New Modern Edition. Volume 3 and Volume 6, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., March 1996.

    Holy Bible: Giant Print with Study Aids. Dugan Publishers, Inc., 1984.

    © 2025 Angela Hormberg

  • Proverbs Chapter 1

    Proverbs Chapter 1

    Commonplace –

    “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction” (Proverbs 1:7).

    As noted by Matthew Henry, “the first nine chapters of [Proverbs] are reckoned as a preface, by way of exhortation to the study and practice of wisdom’s rules, and caution against those things that would hinder therein” (648).

    Chapter 1 begins with Solomon introducing himself, “the son of David, king of Israel” (v.1). He then offers the following objectives of the text:

    1. “To know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding” (v.2);
    2. “To receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, and judgment, and equity;” (v.3);
    3. “To give subtilty to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion (v.4)”.

    The profit to those who heed the wise counsel offered is safe dwelling and “quiet from fear of evil” (v.33).

    Also within Proverbs 1, Solomon compares the call of wisdom vs. folly, which echoes the opening of David’s Psalm 1, which compares the path of good vs. evil. The call of folly sounds like sinners conspiring with you to join them as they hide and lay in wait for an innocent victim, who has not caused them any harm, intent on destroying their victims by, essentially, burying them alive. These are people who run toward evil and are in a hurry to harm others. The fate of the evildoer is fear, destruction, distress, and anguish.

    The call of wisdom is very different from the call of evil. Unlike evil who hides and lurks, wisdom is out in the open, spreading her message loudly in the streets. She asks thought provoking questions to the crowds around her. How long will you remain simple? How long will you delight in scorning? How long will you hate knowledge? Wisdom offers to pour herself into her listener, allowing the hearer to understand all she reveals. The fate of those who seek wisdom is safe dwelling and a quiet spirit, free “from fear of evil” (v.33).

      Works Cited

      Henry, Matthew. “Proverbs 1.” Matthew Henry’s Commentary On the Whole Bible: New Modern Edition. Volume 3 and Volume 6, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., March 1996.

      Holy Bible: Giant Print with Study Aids. Dugan Publishers, Inc., 1984.

      © 2025 Angela Hormberg, LLC

    1. Psalm 37

      Psalm 37

      Commonplace –

      “Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright: for the end of that man is peace.

      But the transgressors shall be destroyed together: the end of the wicked shall be cut off” (Psalm 37:37-38).

      In Psalm 37, David is offering wise counsel. He is contrasting the life of the wicked man with the life of the good man. He opens the conversation by advising the saints not to fret over or be jealous of what appears to be the success of the wicked in the moment, but, instead, take the long view and know the wicked “shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb” (v. 2).

      What, then, shall the good man do?

      1. “Trust in the Lord and do good” (v. 3).
      2. “Delight thyself also in the Lord” (v. 4).
      3. “Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him” (v. 5).
      4. “Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him” (v. 7).
      5. “Cease from anger, and forsake wrath” (v. 8a).
      6. Refrain from considering to do evil (v. 8b).

      What is the reward for pursuing good?

      1. “[T]he meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace” (v. 11).
      2. “A little that a righteous man hath is better than the riches of many wicked” (v. 16).
      3. “The Lord knoweth the days of the upright: and their inheritance shall be for ever” (v. 18).
      4. The righteous “shall not be ashamed in the evil time: and in the days of famine shall be satisfied” (v. 19).
      5. “The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: and he delighteth in his way” (v. 23).
      6. “[T]he Lord loveth judgment, and forsaketh not his saints; they are preserved for ever” (v. 28a).
      7. “The righteous shall inherit the land, and dwell therein for ever” (v. 29).
      8. “The mouth of the righteous speaketh wisdom, and his tongue talketh of judgment” (v. 30).
      9. “The law of his God is in his heart; none of his steps shall slide” (v. 31).

      David then adds his own testimony and counsel to all of the above:

      1. “I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging for bread” (v. 25).
      2. “Wait on the Lord, and keep his way, and he shall exalt thee to inherit the land: when the wicked are cut off, thou shalt see it” (v. 34).
      3. “I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a green bay tree. Yet he passed away, and, lo, he was not: yea, I sought him, but he could not be found” (v. 36).
      4. “Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright: for the end of that man is peace” (v. 37).
      5. “[T]he salvation of the righteous is of the Lord: he is their strength in time of trouble. And the Lord shall help them, and deliver them: he shall deliver them from the wicked, and save them, because they trust in him” (v. 39-40).

      David says much about the wicked in Psalm 37, as well, but it seemed best today to dwell on the good.

      Matthew Henry puts it beautifully, when he says,

      “[Psalm 37] is a sermon, and an excellent useful sermon it is, calculated not (as most of the psalms) for our devotion, but for our conversation; there is nothing in it of prayer or praise, but it is all instruction; it is “Maschil – a teaching psalm”; it is an exposition of some of the hardest chapters in the book of Providence, the advancement of the wicked and the disgrace of the righteous, a solution of the difficulties that arise thereupon, and an exhortation to conduct ourselves as becomes us under such dark disposition” (300).

      Further on, he adds,

      “In singing this psalm we must teach and admonish one another rightly to understand the providence of God and to accommodate ourselves to it, at all times carefully to do our duty and then patiently to leave the event with God and to believe that, how black soever things may look for the present, it shall be “well with those that fear God, that fear before him” (301).

      I’d say that was some pretty good news.

      Works Cited

      Henry, Matthew. “Psalm 37.” Matthew Henry’s Commentary On the Whole Bible: New Modern Edition. Volume 3 and Volume 6, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., March 1996.

      Holy Bible: Giant Print with Study Aids. Dugan Publishers, Inc., 1984.

      © 2025 Angela Hormberg

    2. Psalm 32

      Psalm 32

      Commonplace –

      Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.

      Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile” (Psalm 32:1-2)

      What a beautiful meditation for this Sunday morning. Psalm 32 is a maschil of David, a psalm written to impart wisdom. David begins by pondering what a blessing it is to have one’s sin forgiven. It is no small thing when God chooses to “imputeth not iniquity” (v.2). As one thought leads to another, David considers what his life was like while living in sin, his bones grew old (v. 3), the hand of God was heavy on him, and his moisture “turned into the drought of summer” (v. 4), a dreary time to be sure. But when he chose to confess his sins to the Lord, the Lord forgave him. He notes, “[f]or this shall every one that is godly pray unto the Lord” (v.6). The reward of a contrite heart is relief, “mercy shall compass” the forgiven. The relief of the weight of sin is a blessing indeed.

      Matthew Henry shares the following in his summary:

      “This psalm, though it speaks not of Christ, as many of the psalms we have hitherto met with have done, has yet a great deal of gospel in it” (283).

      Works Cited

      Henry, Matthew. “Psalm 32.” Matthew Henry’s Commentary On the Whole Bible: New Modern Edition. Volume 3 and Volume 6, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., March 1996.

      Holy Bible: Giant Print with Study Aids. Dugan Publishers, Inc., 1984.

      © 2025 Angela Hormberg

    3. Psalm 4

      Psalm 4

      Commonplace –

      “Stand in awe, and sin not: commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still. Selah

      Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, and put your trust in the Lord” (Psalm 4:4-5).

      Psalm 4 is credited to David. David begins this psalm with a plea to God to be heard; he predicates his argument to be heard on God’s previous responses to his cries. In the past, God blessed him in his distress, and he is asking for the same again: “have mercy upon me and hear my prayer” (Psalm 4:1b).

      David then turns to his oppressors and calls them out for their shaming him to stoke their own vanity. He warns them that God will hear him, when he prays.

      Then, David turns his face to God, and the glory of God fills him to overflowing as the wisdom pours out in his song. He instructs the reader in the way of the good in verses 5 and 6. This receiving from God and sharing with others has “put gladness in [his] heart” (v. 7), and his prayer has been answered. He receives the calm and comfort only God can impart: “for thou, Lord, only makes me dwell in safety” (Psalm 4:8). In this psalm, David leads the reader from being perturbed to being at peace and the pathway is prayer.

      Matthew Henry paints a beautiful picture of David as we see him in Psalm 4.

      “David was a preacher, a royal preacher, as well as Solomon; many of his psalms are doctrinal and practical as well as devotional; the greatest part of this psalm is so, in which Wisdom cries to men, to the sons of men (as Prov. 8:4,5), to receive instruction” (204).

      Works Cited

      Henry, Matthew. “Psalm 4.” Matthew Henry’s Commentary On the Whole Bible: New Modern Edition. Volume 3 and Volume 6, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., March 1996.

      Holy Bible: Giant Print with Study Aids. Dugan Publishers, Inc., 1984.

      © 2025 Angela Hormberg