Introduction
Are you willing to be discipled by God’s wisdom in the ordinary decisions of your life, or will you keep trusting your own instincts and the loud voices around you? The central teaching of Proverbs 9 is that every day, in every category of life, you are accepting one of two invitations: the feast of wisdom that leads to life, or the counterfeit meal of folly that ends in death. This summer we’re walking through Proverbs as “instructions for life.” Proverbs isn’t just a list of moral math problems; it teaches through pictures, stories, and vivid contrasts so you can feel the difference between wisdom and foolishness. Proverbs 1–9 functions as an extended invitation into wisdom, Proverbs 10–29 contains many of the “wise sayings,” and the final chapters show what a life shaped by wisdom looks like. We began with the anchor verse: “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge” (Proverbs 1:7), a reverent awe that respects God’s ways above ours. Proverbs then presents a fork in the road: the wise receive instruction, and fools despise it. Proverbs 9 brings that fork to life with two invitations, one to a feast and one to a funeral, so you and I can see clearly what we are really choosing.
Main Points
Are you willing to be discipled by God’s wisdom in the ordinary decisions of your life, or will you keep trusting your own instincts and the loud voices around you? The central teaching of Proverbs 9 is that every day, in every category of life, you are accepting one of two invitations: the feast of wisdom that leads to life, or the counterfeit meal of folly that ends in death.
This summer we’re walking through Proverbs as “instructions for life.” Proverbs isn’t just a list of moral math problems; it teaches through pictures, stories, and vivid contrasts so you can feel the difference between wisdom and foolishness. Proverbs 1–9 functions as an extended invitation into wisdom, Proverbs 10–29 contains many of the “wise sayings,” and the final chapters show what a life shaped by wisdom looks like. We began with the anchor verse: “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge” (Proverbs 1:7), a reverent awe that respects God’s ways above ours. Proverbs then presents a fork in the road: the wise receive instruction, and fools despise it.
Proverbs 9 brings that fork to life with two invitations, one to a feast and one to a funeral, so you and I can see clearly what we are really choosing.
Wisdom Offers A Built-Life Foundation
Proverbs opens this scene with a surprising image: wisdom personified as a woman.
“Wisdom has built her house; she has hewn out her seven pillars.” (Proverbs 9:1)
Those “seven pillars” paint a life that is stable, weight-bearing, and strong. Wisdom is not flimsy advice; it is a foundation you can build on. When we sang, “I will build my life upon Your word; it is a firm foundation,” we were echoing this very picture.
Jesus used the same logic when He said the one who hears His words and does them is like a wise man who built his house on the rock (Matthew 7:24–27). I want you to hear this personally: discipleship is not merely learning Bible facts, it is building your life on God’s Word so your home, your decisions, and your future can bear weight when storms hit.
Wisdom Prepares A Joyful, Nourishing Feast
Wisdom doesn’t invite you into a cold classroom; she invites you into a feast.
“She has slaughtered her meat, she has mixed her wine, she has also furnished her table.” (Proverbs 9:2)
This is costly hospitality, real nourishment and real joy. God’s wisdom is good for your soul. It strengthens you. It brings life and gladness. Wisdom is not God scolding you into behavior modification; it is God feeding you with what you were made to live on.
So when you open Proverbs, or sit under preaching, don’t approach it like, “Here we go, more rules.” Come expecting food. Come expecting strengthening. Come expecting your heart to be steadied and your life to be shaped.
Wisdom’s Call Is Public And For The Simple
Wisdom is not hidden knowledge for a spiritual elite.
“She has sent out her maidens… [and] cries out from the highest places of the city.” (Proverbs 9:3)
She wants maximum reach. God sends His Word out broadly, through preaching, through parents discipling children, through missionaries sent to the nations, through ordinary believers inviting neighbors into truth. The point is simple: no one should be spiritually malnourished. God has made His wisdom accessible.
And notice who is invited:
“Whoever is simple, let him turn in here… As for him who lacks understanding…” (Proverbs 9:4)
That’s not an insult; that’s mercy. I want you to admit what I have to admit: we all have categories where we are “simple” and “lacking understanding.” Parenting humbles us. Marriage humbles us. Work decisions humble us. Ministry humbles us. As soon as we think we’ve figured it out, life changes again and we realize we need help.
Wisdom looks at the humble learner and says, “Come in. There’s a seat for you.”
Wisdom Requires Turning From Foolishness To Live
The invitation is warm, but it is not vague. Wisdom calls for a decisive change.
“Come, eat of my bread and drink of the wine I have mixed. Forsake foolishness and live, and go in the way of understanding.” (Proverbs 9:5–6)
To follow Jesus and grow as a disciple, you cannot keep treating foolishness like a harmless hobby. Wisdom is not merely addition (“I’ll add a little Bible to my life”); it’s a new direction: forsake foolishness and live.
And Proverbs frames it as life and death. Just before this chapter, wisdom says:
“Whoever finds me finds life… but he who sins against me wrongs his own soul; all those who hate me love death.” (Proverbs 8:35–36)
So I’m urging you gently but clearly: don’t negotiate with the Word. Don’t hover at the door. Enter. Eat. Obey. That is where life is.
Folly Mimics Wisdom With A Counterfeit Invite
Then the scene shifts. A second woman appears.
“A foolish woman is clamorous; she is simple, and knows nothing.” (Proverbs 9:13)
She’s loud, confident, attention-grabbing, and empty. Folly can be glamorous and persuasive while having no true understanding. She positions herself to be heard:
“She sits at the door of her house… by the highest places of the city, to call to those who pass by.” (Proverbs 9:14–15)
Do you see the imitation? High places. Public call. Same target audience. Folly competes for the same people at the same crossroads. This is why the Christian life can feel like constant decision-making: wisdom and folly often present themselves at the same time, in the same space, with competing “invitations” for your attention.
Even getting to worship can feel like that fork in the road, God’s Word calling, and other loud, time-matched “offers” calling too.
Folly Serves Secret Pleasure That Ends In Death
Folly targets the same kind of person wisdom invited:
“Whoever is simple, let him turn in here… As for him who lacks understanding…” (Proverbs 9:16)
But the meal is different.
“Stolen water is sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant.” (Proverbs 9:17)
This is the logic of temptation: forbidden, secret, thrilling, quick. It offers pleasure, but it cannot nourish. It’s not a feast, just enough to hook you, not enough to heal you.
And Proverbs is honest: sin often is pleasant for a moment. But it is destructive in the end. Folly never shows you the final room of her house:
“But he does not know that the dead are there, that her guests are in the depths of Sheol.” (Proverbs 9:18)
This is the funeral invitation. It promises sweetness and delivers death, spiritual deadness now, and judgment if unrepented. Folly always hides consequences. Wisdom tells the truth up front: “forsake foolishness and live.” Folly whispers: “No one will know… it’s just this once… it’s not that serious.”
I want to help you grow in discernment here: when something in your life depends on secrecy, theft (what isn’t yours to take), or hiding, it is not wisdom calling. It is folly leading you toward a grave you cannot yet see.
Conclusion
Proverbs 9 leaves you with a clear fork in the road: two women, two houses, two meals, two outcomes. Wisdom builds a sturdy home and sets a real feast for the humble, those willing to fear the Lord, listen, and obey. Folly imitates wisdom’s invitation, offers secret pleasure, and escorts her guests to death.
So here is the discipleship step I want you to take: identify one area of your life where you’ve been “simple” and lacking understanding, parenting, marriage, spending, speech, work, purity, friendships, entertainment, anger, and intentionally accept wisdom’s invitation there. Open the Word. Seek counsel. Practice obedience. Don’t just admire wisdom from the street; enter the house and eat.
Father, we confess that we are often simple and lacking understanding. Forgive us for the times we have despised instruction, trusted our own ways, or followed loud and glamorous foolishness. Give us the fear of the Lord, a reverent awe that submits to Your Word and honors Your ways above ours.
Lead us to the feast of Your wisdom. Nourish us through Scripture, strengthen our foundations, and teach us to forsake foolishness so that we may truly live. Protect us from secret temptations, from counterfeit invitations, and from the slow drift toward spiritual death.
Holy Spirit, make us teachable, quick to repent, and steady in obedience. Build our lives on the rock of Christ and let our choices reflect Your wisdom in every area of life. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Conclusion
Proverbs 9 leaves you with a clear fork in the road: two women, two houses, two meals, two outcomes. Wisdom builds a sturdy home and sets a real feast for the humble, those willing to fear the Lord, listen, and obey. Folly imitates wisdom’s invitation, offers secret pleasure, and escorts her guests to death.
So here is the discipleship step I want you to take: identify one area of your life where you’ve been “simple” and lacking understanding, parenting, marriage, spending, speech, work, purity, friendships, entertainment, anger, and intentionally accept wisdom’s invitation there. Open the Word. Seek counsel. Practice obedience. Don’t just admire wisdom from the street; enter the house and eat.
Closing Prayer
Father, we confess that we are often simple and lacking understanding. Forgive us for the times we have despised instruction, trusted our own ways, or followed loud and glamorous foolishness. Give us the fear of the Lord, a reverent awe that submits to Your Word and honors Your ways above ours.
Lead us to the feast of Your wisdom. Nourish us through Scripture, strengthen our foundations, and teach us to forsake foolishness so that we may truly live. Protect us from secret temptations, from counterfeit invitations, and from the slow drift toward spiritual death.
Holy Spirit, make us teachable, quick to repent, and steady in obedience. Build our lives on the rock of Christ and let our choices reflect Your wisdom in every area of life. In Jesus’ name, amen.