Proverbs – Lesson 13 – Proverbs 3.9-10 (July 22, 2026)

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Review

 

In our series we have assigned a nickname to the book of Proverbs. What is that nickname?

• God’s Instruction for Wisdom
• God’s Handbook for His Image Bearers
• God’s Guide for His Children

God’s Handbook for His Image Bearers

Who is the main author of Proverbs?

• David
• Paul
• Solomon

Solomon

True or False? – Proverbs teaches that wisdom is only for select people. If you do not have wisdom there is nothing you can do about it?

False

Who is Solomons Father? David

Who is the Son of Solomon that became King after him, but failed to follow the wisdom of his father? Rehoboam

Currently, this study has covered up to Proverbs 3:1-8. In these verses, Solomon has warned his son not to forget his law, and to make mercy and truth be evident in his character.

He also warned his son about the most dangerous voice that will speak into his life? The voice of his own understanding.

In the previous lesson, we learned what it looks like to trust in the LORD with all our heart and lean not to our own understanding: Solomon said “Be not wise in your own eyes, fear the LORD, and depart from evil.”

Proverbs 3:9–10 (KJV) 9 Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase: 10 So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine.

 

Multiple Choice — What are these two verses teaching?

• Make Tithing a Priority
• Make God the Priority of Life
• Give God 10% of Your Income
• Give to God and He Will Make You Rich

Answer: Make God the Priority of Life

How do we know this is correct? Look at the exact words Solomon chose. We will examine each word to understand exactly what he was saying:

Honour

 

Honour literally means ‘to be heavy’ or ‘weighty.’

In the ancient world, gold and silver were weighed on a scale — the heavier it was, the more valuable it was.

We still use this idea today.

When someone is extremely valuable to us, we say they’re ‘worth their weight in gold’ — their value compared to something as precious as gold.

We also say someone’s opinion ‘carries a lot of weight’ when we trust and value what they think.

To honour something means to place a heavy value on it.

Question: Is honour something we feel, or something we do?

Answer: Throughout Scripture, honor is demonstrated by our actions, not merely by our words.

Malachi 1:6–8 (KJV) 6 A son honoureth his father, and a servant his master: if then I be a father, where is mine honour? and if I be a master, where is my fear? saith the LORD of hosts unto you, O priests, that despise my name. And ye say, Wherein have we despised thy name? 7 Ye offer polluted bread upon mine altar; and ye say, Wherein have we polluted thee? In that ye say, The table of the LORD is contemptible. 8 And if ye offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? and if ye offer the lame and sick, is it not evil? offer it now unto thy governor; will he be pleased with thee, or accept thy person? saith the LORD of hosts.

 

God’s priests claimed to honor Him, but the sacrifices they offered told a different story.

They offered blind, lame, and diseased animals on His altar.

God asked, “Where is mine honour?”

Their offerings revealed how little they valued Him.

Honor was measured by what they offered on the altar not what they said with their words.

Solomon’s son would have remembered the account of Eli, where God revealed what it truly means to honor Him.

1 Samuel 2:29–30 (KJV) 29 Wherefore kick ye at my sacrifice and at mine offering, which I have commanded in my habitation; and honourest thy sons above me, to make yourselves fat with the chiefest of all the offerings of Israel my people? 30 Wherefore the LORD God of Israel saith, I said indeed that thy house, and the house of thy father, should walk before me for ever: but now the LORD saith, Be it far from me; for them that honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed.

 

This account illustrates exactly what Solomon is teaching.

Eli’s sons placed a greater value on themselves than they did on the LORD.

Instead of honoring God with the sacrifices and offerings that belonged to Him, they took the best portions for themselves.

Their actions revealed what held the greatest weight in their hearts.

God responded by saying, “Them that honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed.”

Those who give God the highest place in their lives are honored by Him, while those who treat Him as having little value are lightly esteemed or treated without respect.

Keep this principle in mind because Solomon returns to it in Proverbs 3:10 when he describes God’s response to those who honor Him.

LORD

 

The word LORD in your Bible is printed in all capital letters because it is God’s covenant name, given personally to Israel — the name attached to the God who heard their cries in Egypt, delivered them, and provided for them in the wilderness.

Question: Why does this specific name deserve the heaviest value a person has?

Answer: Deuteronomy 8:17–18

Deuteronomy 8:17–18 (KJV) 17 And thou say in thine heart, My power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth. 18 But thou shalt remember the LORD thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day.

 

Before Israel entered the Promised Land, Moses reminded them that every house they would live in, every field they would harvest, every flock they would own, and every blessing they would enjoy came from the LORD.

The God who gave them those blessings deserved the highest place in their lives.

Substance

 

Solomon says to honour the LORD with thy substance — his whole estate: land, livestock, crops, houses, gold and silver, servants, family.

Question: What did honoring the LORD with your substance actually look like?

Answer: One example is found near the end of David’s life.

Although God had told David that Solomon would build the temple, David spent years gathering gold, silver, bronze, wood, stone, and other materials so the work could begin with abundance. After presenting those gifts to the nation, David prayed:

1 Chronicles 29:14 (KJV) But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly after this sort? for all things come of thee, and of thine own have we given thee.

 

David’s prayer reveals how he viewed his wealth.

He recognized that everything he offered had first come from God. His generous gift reflected the honor he gave to the LORD.

Solomon watched his father worship this way long before he became king and later used those resources to build the temple.

Firstfruits

 

Solomon could have used the Hebrew word ma’aser, which referred to a fixed tenth. Instead, he chose reshith, meaning the firstfruits or first and best portion.

Question: Why did Solomon emphasize what comes first instead of a fixed amount?

Answer: Firstfruits revealed priority.

A person could calculate a tithe after the harvest was complete, but firstfruits had to be given before the full harvest was gathered.

By giving the first and best, an Israelite acknowledged that God came before the security of a finished harvest.

Firstfruits did not simply measure how much was given; they revealed who held first place in the heart.

Deuteronomy 26:2 (KJV) 2 That thou shalt take of the first of all the fruit of the earth, which thou shalt bring of thy land that the LORD thy God giveth thee, and shalt put it in a basket, and shalt go unto the place which the LORD thy God shall choose to place his name there.

 

Giving the firstfruits required faith.

The first portion was offered to God before the rest of the harvest had been gathered.

Solomon’s son had already learned this principle in Proverbs 3:5: “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding.”

Honoring God with the firstfruits was one practical way that trust became visible.

The Reward

 

Proverbs 3:10 (KJV) 10 So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine.

 

Solomon has already taught his son this principle.

God told Eli, “Them that honour me I will honour” (1 Samuel 2:30).

Proverbs 3:10 describes one way God may honor those who honor Him.

Full barns and overflowing winepresses picture God’s blessing on the one who gives Him first place.

Question: Does this mean everyone who gives to God gets rich, or everyone who struggles financially has dishonoured Him?

Answer: NO

Job 1:1 (KJV) 1 There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil.

 

Job 1:8 (KJV) 8 And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?

 

God Himself called Job “perfect and upright,” yet Job lost everything.

Proverbs describes how life ordinarily works, not what happens in every individual case.

Verse 10 teaches God’s normal pattern of blessing, not a guarantee that every faithful believer will become wealthy.

Review

 

Let’s return to where we started. We learned that honor means assigning great weight and value to someone. Solomon calls his son to give that honor to the LORD, the covenant God who had already proven Himself faithful to His people. That honor is expressed by placing God first with the substance He has entrusted to us and by giving Him the first and best. Those actions reveal the value we place on Him. Solomon then reminds his son that God honors those who honor Him. The message of Proverbs 3:9–10 is simple: Make God the Priority of Life

Question 1: What did you discover from Proverbs 3:9-10 that you did not know before?

Question 2: How does understanding the meaning of honor change the way you view tithing?

Question 3: Why do you think Solomon chose the word firstfruits instead of the Hebrew word for a tithe?

Question 4: How does 1 Samuel 2:30 help explain Proverbs 3:10?

Proverbs 3:10 (KJV) 10 So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine.

 

1 Samuel 2:30 (KJV) 30 Wherefore the LORD God of Israel saith, I said indeed that thy house, and the house of thy father, should walk before me for ever: but now the LORD saith, Be it far from me; for them that honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed.