The Bryce Crawford Podcast - Proverbs Series Chapter 4 (EP 104)

Episode Date: July 4, 2025

Proverbs 4

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fall. What's going on, guys? Welcome back to another episode of the Bryce Crawford podcast. I'm Bryson. Today, we are on Proverbs chapter 4 out of 31 days in the Proverbs series in the month of July, guys, if you want to follow along and track your progress, go to Jesus in the street.org slash Proverbs and download the free PDF today. Guys, we're going to break down Proverbs chapter 4. Here we go in verse chapter 1. Hero sons, a father's instruction, and be attentive that you may gain insight. For I give you good precepts. Do not forsake my teaching. So Solomon right off the bat is saying, here, look, this is a father's instruction. This is a good instruction.

And he goes, be alert. Be awake. We live in such an immediate gratification society right now where if the first frame of a short or the first five seconds of a video isn't good, then we leave. But Solomon is saying, wake up. Listen to me. Be attentive. Press in.

This stuff is good. I give you good precepts. Don't forsake my teaching. And then he advice us into his story. He says, when I was a son with my father, tender, the only one in the side of mother he taught me and said to me let your heart hold fast my words keep my commandments and live get wisdom get insight do not forget and do not turn away from the words of my mouth i believe that this these few verses is a prophetic image of what the father speaks to us god is saying my son my daughter hold fast

to what i tell you keep my commandments and you'll live you won't just physically die you want spiritually die you won't kill your soul you'll live get my wish wisdom, get my insight, do not forget and do not turn away from the words of my mouth. Then verse six, we see the reference of wisdom again as a woman. Do not forsake her and she will keep you. Love her and she will guard you. It is easy to guard your heart with the word of God when you're in love with God than when you view his word as a textbook. When you view God as a rule book, then it is harder to guard your heart with the word of God because then you're trying to strong men, oh no, well, it's these 10 commandments and 613 laws. I've got to focus. This isn't that. But if you're in love with God,

it is easy to guard your heart with His word because you care and love. It's not a threat. It's love. Verse 7 says, the beginning of wisdom is this. Get wisdom and whatever you get, get insight. Prize her highly and she will exalt you. She will honor you. If you embrace her, she will place you on her head. She will place on your head a graceful garland. She will bestow on you a beautiful crown. Meaning that the reward for you submitting to wisdom is beautiful. Treasure wisdom, prize her highly, and she will exalt you and you will be embraced by her. She will place a graceful garland on your head. Did you know that when you trust the word of God and his wisdom, that the outcome of good

situations and hard situations is peaceful and gracious? You can have this peace and grace inside of you, even if a circumstance is hard, even if the trial is hard. Why? Because you're trusting in the Lord. Verse 10, hear my son and accept my words that the years of your life may be made. Again, echoing the same thing in verse one. I have taught you the way of wisdom. I've led you in the paths of righteousness. When you walk, your step will not be hampered. And if you run, you will not stumble again. This whole Proverbs chapter four is echoing the same stuff he's been echoing in the first three chapters. Treasures commandments. Keep your foot from evil. If you trust me, you won't stumble. Keep hold of

instruction. Do not let go. Guard her for she is your life. Verse 14. Do not enter the path of the wicked and do not walk in the way of evil. Avoid it. Do not go on it. Turn away from it and pass on. For they cannot sleep unless they have done wrong. They are robbed of sleep unless they have made someone someone someone. This is literally echoing Proverbs 1. Keep your foot from evil. Don't join the bad company. They lie in wait in their own blood. Proverbs 1 says. Proverbs chapter 4 is echoing the same thing. Again, it's a father's instruction. Do I think it's a bad thing that Solomon is echoing the same things. No, because sometimes you've got to hammer the information in your brain. Bryce is a knucklehead. Bryce needs someone to tell me multiple times what they do. Bryce needs someone to tell me and reiterate the

same thing in my brain because then it becomes a rhythm and then it becomes a pattern and then you understand the weight and importance of it. Verse 17 is going to exemplify what the simple do, what the gulib will do, what the simple do. They eat the bread of weakness and they drink the wine of violence, but the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until full day. Like I said a few episodes ago, sin feels like freedom until you try to quit. Then it's choking you out. The way of the wicked is like deep darkness. They do not know over what they sumble. My son, be attentive to my words and cladne your ear to my understanding again. Listen to me. Listen to me. God says, let them not escape from your sight. Keep them within your heart. Do you know why you

saying let them not escape. Do you wonder why you have such a hard time when you go through a drought of reading your Bible? Because when you let the wisdom of God escape from your sight, your life is crumbling. Your soul is crushed. The weight on your chest, the anxieties and the depressions of the world is killing you. And Solomon is saying, do not let this escape your sight. Because in in verse 22, he says, they are life to those who find them and healing to your flesh. The weight that is crushing your chest, the anxiety is the depressions of the world, the crushing of your bones because you've gone through this drought of the Word of God. If you cling to the rhythm of holding to the wisdom of God, it will actually be life and healing to you. And in the Psalms, David says that when

he confesses his sin that this weight is released, that his bones aren't crushed anymore. That's the same with reading the Word of God. Yes, it's hard sometimes. Yes, we're human. Yes, we get tired. Yes, we don't want to read our Bible. But when we persevere and kill our flesh, it is healing to our soul. Verse 23, keep your heart with all vigilance. For from it flows the springs of life. Put away from you crooked speech and put devious talk far from you. Let your eyes look directly forward and your gaze be straight before you.

Look to Christ. Don't steer here. Don't steer there. Don't look at the things because when our eyes are up, it doesn't matter what temptations are down here. Our eyes are on him. We keep our gaze on him. We walk straight towards him.

Ponder the path of your feet. Then all your ways will be sure. Way your decisions with the Lord is what he's saying. Verse 27 to close. Do not swerve to the right or to the left. Turn your foot away from evil. If there was a thesis statement to summarize, Proverbs chapter four, it would be this.

Listen to your good father who is in heaven. He cares for you. His instruction is just and necessary. And the good life is listening to your father who's in heaven and not to your feelings. Guys, I pray that Proverbs chapter four was a blessing to you. I'll see you guys tomorrow for Proverbs chapter 5. Guys, thank you so much for watching and listening to this episode.

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