SS - Wise Woman PDF

7/29/2019 SS - Wise Woman PDF

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Wise WomanEvery wise woman buildeth her house: but the foolish plucketh it down with her hands. ~ Proverbs 14:1

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! Wisdom is the primary subject in the book of Proverbs and it is the themeof this book. It would behoove us to study this lady in this particular book to betterunderstand how we might become like her! As we study her will will see that shelearns knowledge, exercises understanding, and applies wisdom. She is willing tolearn from others and to accept reproof. She is notable because it is easier to befoolish than to be wise. The Wise Woman is highly treasured and in highdemand. As we study her, let us decide now to choose to take on as many of herattributes as we can. As we study the Wise Woman in Proverbs let us parallel herto another wise woman in the scriptures, Abigail in I Samuel 25. Take a fewmoments to Read I Samuel 25.! The setting for our scene is found in I Samuel 25. David was anointed tobe the next king of Israel before Saul had died. He was going to be takingJonathans, (Sauls oldest son and rightful heir to the throne) place as king. Longbefore this, because of Sauls disobedience the presence of God had been takenfrom him. This made Saul very angry. To further his anger and bitterness he findsout David is ordained by God to be the next king. Saul spends the rest of his timeas king searching for David to kill him. David is forced into hiding. During thistime, many men join themselves to David, later coming to be known as DavidsMighty Men.! Part of Davids journey took him into Nabals part of the country. Whilethere he gives Nabal and his servants protection. He asks in return for a bit offood but Nabal rudely denies him any such courtesy. This inflames David and hegoes to seek his revenge against Nabal and his household. The servants find outabout this and tell Abigail. Abigail, in her wisdom, provides food for David and his

men, diffusing the situation. When she gets home she notices Nabal is a littletipsy so she waits until the morning to tell him. When Nabal hears the news hegets sick and dies a week later.! This has left Abigail a widow. David recognizes qualities in her that wouldmake a great wife and he asks Abigail to marry him. She graciously and wiselyaccepts. As we study her life we are going to see what a wise woman looks like.Examine her life closely and ask God to reveal areas where you need wisdom.The Bible gives us a promise in James 1:5, If any of you lack wisdom, let him askof God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be givenhim. God has not only promised to give us the wisdom we need, but he has alsopromised to not chide us or get on to us for asking for it. Each of us need wisdom

on a daily basis and this is only found by spending time with God in his word! AskGod to help you become the wise woman he wants you to become.

! Give a definition for the word Wise using a dictionary and/or theConcordance:


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I. The Behavior of a Wise Woman! A. The wise woman works hard. Read I Samuel 25:18. When Abigail was presented with a problem

what did she personally do?

Proverbs 6:6-11 says to Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider herways, and be wise: Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler,Provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in theharvest. how long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? when wilt thou ariseout of thy sleep? Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of thehands to sleep: So shall thy poverty come as one that travaileth andthy want as an armed man. We all know the story of the Ant and thegrasshopper. Have you ever considered how the story might be

written today?!! Old Version: The ant worked hard in the withering heat all summerlong, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter. Thegrasshopper thought the ant was a fool and laughed and danced andplayed the summer away. Come winter, the ant was warm and well fed.The grasshopper had no food or shelter so he died out in the cold. Moral ofthe story: Be responsible for yourself!

Modern Version: The ant worked hard in the withering heat allsummer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter. Thegrasshopper thought the ant was a fool and laughed and danced andplayed the summer away. Come winter the shivering grasshopper called apress conference and demanded to know why the ant should be allowed tobe warm and well fed while others were cold and starving. CBS, NBC, PBS,CNN, and ABC showed up to provide pictures of the shivering grasshoppernext to a video of the ant in his comfortable home with a table filled withfood. America was stunned by the sharp contrast. How could this be in acountry of such wealth. This poor grasshopper was allowed to suffer so?Kermit the Frog appeared on Oprah with the grasshopper and everybodycried when they sang, Its Not Easy Being Green. ACORN staged ademonstration in front of the ants house where the news stations filmedthe group singing, We shall Overcome. Jeremiah Wright then had thegroup kneel down to pray to God for the grasshoppers sake. Nancy Pelosiand Harry Reid exclaimed in a interview with Larry King the ant had got

rich off the back of the grasshopper and both called for an immediate taxhike on the ant to make him pay his fair share. Finally, the EEOC draftedthe Economic Equity and Anti-Grasshopper Act retroactive to the beginningof the summer. The ant was fined for failing to hire a proportionate numberof green bugs and having nothing left to pay his retroactive taxes his homewas confiscated by the government Green Czar. The story ends as we seethe grasshopper finishing up the last bits of the ants food while thegovernment house he was in which just happened to be the ants oldhouse, crumbled around him because he did not maintain it. The ant haddisappeared in the snow. The grasshopper was found dead in a drug


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related incident and the house, now abandoned, was taken over by a gangof spiders who terrorized the once peaceful neighborhood. Moral of thestory: Be careful how you vote!

How do you think our society could profit from Proverbs 6:6-11?

What can you glean from this passage?

B. The wise woman receives instruction

Read I Samuel 25:14-18. We see in this passage that Abigail ispresented with a problem essentially beyond her control! Herservants give her counsel and she acts properly on it! What might

have been your response in this situation? !

Read Proverbs 8:33, 10:8, 18:15, 19:20, 23:19. Look at theseverses in Proverbs on listening to wisdom. Write down your favoriteone and explain why you chose that one.

! C.The Wise Woman Accepts Reproof Read I Samuel 25:24. We see Abigail is taking the blame for Nabals

actions. Why? She was not wrong. It was her churlish husband whohad acted foolishly! I believe one reason she could take the blamewas because she was humble enough to accept reproof at othertimes before this.

Proverbs 15:31 says that The ear that heareth the reproof of lifeabideth among the wise. We dont see Abigail staying with Nabal verymuch longer. Actually only a week and a half and then Nabal passedinto eternity. Abigail is now free to do what she wants. Her husbandwas wealthy and she could have continued on her own but instead


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she chooses to marry David. I think because Abigail was able toaccept reproof that God made this verse a reality in her life!

What are some reactions to reproof you have observed in thosearound you either negative or positive?

How do you respond to reproof?

How should a person respond to reproof?

! D. The Wise Woman refrains from speaking. Read I Samuel 25:14-18. Abigail is presented with an opportunity to

go tell her husband just what kind of man he is. Do we see her doingthat in this passage?

She takes actions and saves not just herself and her household buther husband as well. Read I Samuel 25:36. She again shows shehas the ability to hold her tongue and doesnt tell Nabal anything thathappened until the morning. From her example what do you think wecould learn and how could we put it into practice in our own lives?

Proverbs 10:19 says that In the multitude of words there wanteth notsin: but he that refraineth his lips is wise. Do you think this verse is

saying that talking is a sin? Why or why no?


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Proverbs 17:28 tells us that Even a fool when he holdeth his peace,is counted wise: and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man ofunderstanding. Have you ever seen that person, usually a braggart,and you cant help thinking, If you will just shut your mouth, youwould look a lot smarter! Or perhaps you see that beautiful womanwalking in, she looks so refined with her perfectly highlighted hair,manicured nails, nicely tailored outfit with appropriately matchingaccessories and then . . . she opens her mouth and you think, Wow!She really was just a performing monkey in heels! That is what thisverse is telling us! Sometimes it is good to just be quiet because forone silence cant be misquoted - yes is can be misinterpreted butnever misquoted!

! E. The Wise Woman listens to counsel. Read I Samuel 25:39-41. Nabal is dead, and from the looks of it, he

was a pretty wealthy man, essentially making Abigail a wealthywidow. David counsels her to marry him, what is her response inverse 41?

She was a foot-loose and fancy-free woman of means, able to travel,see the world, live it up, and instead she sets that all aside and tellsDavid that she would be glad to wash the feet of NOT David, but ofhis servants! WOW! What a response! How might you have reacted?

Read Proverbs 12:!5, 13:10 and 19:10. These verses talk abouthearing counsel. How do you respond when given counsel that youhave asked for?

How do your respond when someone gives you biblical counsel youwere not looking for or perhaps not even wanting?

! F. The wise woman obeys her parents. What does Abigails name mean?

Read Proverbs 23:24. Now look at the verse before and after thisverse. If you read just verse 24 you might think some children are


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born good and some are born bad. Now Read Proverbs 23:22-26.This gives us the insight that the parents had to first put some goodthings into the life of the child to produce such a child. What aresome of those things in these passages you think had to go into thischild?

What do you need to change or start doing for your children?

What if your children are grown? or you have no children? What canyou do to help someone else?

! F. The Wise Woman fears the Lord. Read I Samuel 25:25. Did you notice in this verse that Abigail

realized there was a God who lived. That knowledge must have

brought a respectful fear to Abigails heart that enabled her to go toDavid and seek peace! Go down a few verses and read verse 28.Abigail realized someone was making David great, who was it?

Read Proverbs 9:10. What does this verse promise for those thatfear God?

Proverbs 15:33 says that The fear of the Lord is the instructions of

wisdom; and before honour is humility. We can see in Abigails lifethat she feared the Lord and it led her to making wise decisions.Before Abigail ever came to the palace with David she led a life ofhumility: Read I Samuel 25:41, II Samuel 2:2-3. Are you willing totake the humble route in order to have honor? Definehumility:


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What are some things you may have to change in order to have morehumility?

II. The Beliefs of a Wise Woman! Our beliefs determine our behavior. What we do and how we do it stemsfrom what we believe. Lets look at some of the things the wise woman believesand how that is manifested in Abigails life:

! A. The wise woman is wise in heart. Read I Samuel 25:3. What was Abigail a woman of?

Read Proverbs 11:29. How does this apply to Nabal and hisactions?

! B. The wise woman wins souls. Read I Samuel 25:17. When presented with the fact that the entire

household was in danger, Abigail took action. Too often weacknowledge the temporal needs of a person forgetting their spiritualneeds. I think Abigails actions were hasted by the knowledge thatthere was a God in heaven who could save them all! Today we have

a Savior who is living. If you have never accepted Jesus as yourSavior from your sins, today can be your day of salvation! Your sinhas gotten you in trouble with God and because God is a holy andrighteous God cannot allow your sin in heaven. But God in hislovingkindness sent his son, Jesus to die on the cross for us. Thisknowledge alone is not enough to save us. We must accept Godsfree gift of salvation. All you simply have to do is pray and ask God toforgive you of your sin, accepting this free gift of salvation from yourimmense debt of sin that you have no ability to pay for by yourself.

Read Proverbs 11:30. Do you want to be wise? What areyou doing to help see the lost come to know Jesus as their Savior?

! What else could you do to further the glorious saving gospel of our

Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ?


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! C. The Wise Woman speaks healing words. Read I Samuel 25:23-31. Abigail comes down the hill with a peace

offering. She comes face to face with David! She jumps off herdonkey and went facedown to the ground in humility and respect.The next 8 verses record her eloquent peace speech - she calls himmy lord 14 times. This is one of the longest speeches by a womanever recorded in the Bible. She uses healing words of peace todefuse this difficult situation.

Read Proverbs 12:18, 31:26. These verse talk about healing words.In Proverbs 12:18 we are presented with a choice. The Bible tells usour words can be one of two things. What are those two things?

Which is better words to choose?

What are a majority of your words?

Ask God to show you where you have used words that hurt andconfess them. If need be, go to the person you hurt and ask for theirforgiveness.

! D. The wise woman builds her home. Read I Samuel 25:18, 41. These verses clearly show us that Abigail

was a hard worker. She didnt mind using her own strength to do thedirty work to help her family. Her servants obviously trusted her bycoming to her. This happened because Abigail had laid groundworkto build moral in her family.

Read Proverbs 11:2, 14:3-4. Abigail had the opportunity to telleveryone what a nincompoop her husband was, instead she tookaction and used words to build her home. How about you? Do youhave the confidence of your family? Do you try to build them up?What are you currently doing to build your home?

What should you start doing?


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! E. The wise woman is humble. Read I Samuel 25:23, 41. What do these verses show us about

Abigail?

Read Proverbs 11:2, 14:3. How do you see these verses manifestedin Abigails life?

! F. The wise woman is a servant. Read I Samuel 25:18, 41. It is interesting to note that after

everything Abigail went through with Nabal she was more than willingto continue her life of service!

Read Proverbs 14:35 and II Samuel 25:14-31. We see Davidsreaction to Abigails speech and this verse in Proverbs to be verytrue! David was one day going to be king, because of Abigailswisdom and graciousness, his favor towards her essentially gave hera future position in the kingdom! If you had been given Abigailsopportunity, how would you have responded?

! G. The wise woman speaks with knowledge. Read I Samuel 25:14-31. Lets look at Abigails speech to David and

examine it with Proverbs 15:2, 7. How did Abigail use knowledgewhen she spoke:

vs. 24 - Abigail took the blame with humility - have you ever been in asituation where someone defused the situation by taking the blame?Describe the account here:

vs. 25 - Abigail did not lie about her husband. She calls him what heis, but she also doesnt dwell on that information. The authority Godplace in our lives are human. These verses reveal what amismatched couple Nabal and Abigail were. How do women inAbigails position cope?

vs. 26 - Abigail reminds David in a subtle way that vengeancebelongs to God! Sometimes it is important to come to those who arein authority with something we dont understand or agree with. Whatkind of spirit should we come with?


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vs. 27-31 - In these next few verses Abigail then prophecies andencourages David. As women, one of our most powerful tools is ourability to see our man as we know they are in character or as theyare going to be, not necessarily how they are at that moment. If wewill do this, more often than not, our men will rise to be that man weare telling them we already think they are. Can you think of a timewhen you have done that for your man? Determine to findways this week to let your man know how great you think he is!Watch and observe how he responds!

Proverbs 15:2, 7 says that The tongue of the wise useth knowledgearight: but the mouth of fools poureth out foolishness. The lips of thewise disperse knowledge: but the heart of the foolish doeth not so.We can choose to use our tongue for knowledge and wisdom or wecan use it for foolishness. What is your choice?

What actions can you take this week to further your choice?

! H. The wise woman is prudent Read I Samuel 25:18. We see Abigail was prepared for the wants of

the men. A prudent woman would wisely be prepared.

Read Proverbs 8:12, 14:18, 16:21, 19:14. What does the wordprudent mean in these verses?

What are some ways we as women can be prudent?

! I. The wise woman is not wasteful. In I Samuel 25:13b we see that two hundred abode by the stuff. Now

go down to verse 18, how many loaves of bread do we see Abigailtook with her?

Read Proverbs 21:20. Abigail didnt waste. She gave just enough. if

we give as the Lord directs us, we will always give just enough andthe church and those around us wont be hurting! Pray and ask Godto tell you one person you can encourage this week. Be creative, acard is great but maybe consider going beyond that. Write down theirname and how you plan on encouraging them this week and whatday you accomplished your task.


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! J. The wise woman is not a respecter of persons. As you have read through I Samuel 25 you see that Abigail was not a

respecter of persons. She treated the servants and those who couldhave killed her with respect, dignity, and graciousness.

Read Proverbs 24:23. Have you ever been treated ill by someonewho doesnt consider you in their same social class? If so,how did it make you feel?

! K. The wise woman has an understanding heart. Read I Samuel 25:3. Notice the order: Abigail had a understanding

heart and then a beautiful countenance. I think this is awesome thatthe Bible placed both in there. It shows us several things:

True beauty comes from inside You can be beautiful on theoutside and so ugly on the inside that people wont even have achance to see your physical beauty.

It teaches us that it is ok to be beautiful. There was a lady in Ohiothat dressed in sizes that were two sizes too small. Her hair washardly ever done and she never wore makeup. She signed up tostart selling Mary Kay and she told me that for the first time in herlife she learned it was ok to be pretty and that prettiness was notsexiness! Why do you think she thought this?

Why is it ok to be pretty?

Read Proverbs 10:23, 14:33. What do these verses tell us abouthaving an understanding heart?

III. The Benefits of Being a Wise Woman! A. Glory. Read Proverb 3:35.

In this day and age, we are surrounded by people seeking their ownpersonal glory to advance their own careers and/or agendas. We

have seen that being a wise woman brings glory. What are one ortwo areas you noticed in this study that you might be lacking in yourheart and life? Write them down and ask God to give you help andunderstanding in these areas. If need be, commit to a friend yourdesire to change these areas and ask them to be an accountabilitypartner committing to pray and/or help you in these areas.


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! B. Riches. Read Proverbs 8:11, 14:24. In these verses what kind of riches do you think this is talking about?

! C. Protection. Read Proverbs 2:10-19, 28:26. What are we protected from when we have wisdom?

! D. Happiness. Read Proverbs 3:13. What kind of happiness do you think this is?

Is it temporal? Why or why not?

Is it conditional? If so, on what?

! E. Grace Read Proverbs 3:21, 22. In this verse Wisdom is the what thing?

What does that mean?

When you get wisdom what else do you get?

What are we supposed to do with wisdom?

According to Proverbs 2:6 where does wisdom come from?

What are some ways we can get wisdom?

! G. Good. Read Proverbs 16:20, 19:8. Have you ever heard the phrase, Its a Good Life? We all want that

dont we? Some may consider this a life of ease, but as someoneolder and wiser than me once say, God sometimes removes thestorms from His childrens lives, but sometimes He chooses to bringthem safely through the storm. Truly a life of wisdom, lived for God

is, The Good Life! Romans 8:28, 29 are still in the Bible and still saythe same thing. God is going to work all things out for our good andHis glory and if the only thing that happens to us as we go throughthe trial is that we become a little bit more like Christ, then it wasDEFINITELY good and it brought glory to Him as well! Determinetoday to let this simple truth rule your life!


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In conclusion, what can we learn from the Wise woman?

How has God spoken to you?

What decisions are you going to make?

Name one thing that is going to change in your life as a result of this study?

When are you going to start?


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SS - Wise Woman PDF