Justin Houtz

Proverbs 1-3; Romans 7

DateVersionReading Plan
May 26, 2026ESV (2016)ESV Life Journal Plan – 2026

Proverbs 1-3

Observation & Interpretation

Solomon speaks speaks that the fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge. He urges his son (and us by extension) to not consent to the enticement of sinners and the calamity that awaits them. There is great value in wisdom, providing protection and deliverance from evil. Solomon exhorts his son to remember his teaching, to bind it around his neck, trusting in the LORD with all his heart and lean not on his own understanding. The one who finds wisdom and gets understanding is blessed. Solomon personifies wisdom as a woman, saying that she is more precious than jewels and that long life is in her right hand. He speaks several exhortations of what his son is to avoid and contrasts the LORD’s curse on the house of the wicked with the wise who will inherit honor.

Romans 7

Observation & Interpretation

Paul speaks of release from the law, giving the example of a woman who is bound to the law while married but released from it if her husband dies. He provides instruction that the law is not sin but that it was through the law that he knew sin. It was not the law that brought death in him (and us) but rather sin in order that sin might be shown to be sin. Paul confesses that nothing good dwells in his flesh and that he does not do the good that he wants. Instead, the evil that he does not want to do is what he keeps doing. When he does such evil, it is no longer he who does it but sin that dwells within him. He finds it to be a law that when he wants to do right, evil lies close at hand. In contrition, Paul declares his wretchedness and asks who will deliver him from his body of death, giving thanks to God through Jesus Christ our Lord. The chapter ends with Paul’s humble admission that he serves the law of God with his mind but with his flesh he serves the law of sin.

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