Proverbs 10:21 Meaning: The lip of righteous feeds

Introduction

Before getting into the meaning of Proverbs 10:21, here’s different Bible translations:

King James Version

The lips of the righteous feed many: but fools die for want of wisdom.

American Standard Version

World English Bible version

Proverbs 10:21 Meaning & Commentary

In the Bible, we see pastors being likened to shepherds, which feed the flock, which refers to the people of God: John 21:17 He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep”. So, food is equated to the word of God. So, a righteous person feeds people with The Word, and the flock (Church) is nourished and built up by The Word of God fed to them (Spoken through the righteous person).

There is, however a deeper meaning to this verse as well. A righteous person will not only speak and preach The Word of God from their lips but even through their speech, they will be able to “feed” people. Righteous people, through their words, can build people up. So, this is more than just preaching or teaching The Word of God, but this is about the word of the righteous impacting people’s lives. This can be through counsel, speaking words of wisdom, encouraging someone, or even just sharing life experiences.

The Bible also says in Proverbs 10:21 that fools die for lack of sense. This seems obvious; the most basic common sense in life is not even wisdom, but just the basics of life which need to be applied to our lives. Without it, we set ourselves up for “death”. This is not necessarily physical death, but depending on where we are lacking common sense, it could be referring to our dream, plans, and good intentions dying due to us not adhering to and following basic common-sense principles.

Application

How then can we apply Proverbs 10:21 to our lives?

We all need people in our lives who can “feed” us. Whether that is our Pastor, a friend, a mentor, etc. But we need someone who can nourish and encourage us to become better and grow. Many times, these could even just be friends. We need someone to sharpen us: Proverbs 27:17 Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another. Having said that, it is needed for each one of us to receive The Word of God from someone in our lives, usually our pastor.

We are told that we will know a person by their fruit: Matthew 7:15-16 Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. ¹⁶ You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? So, we need to find people with good fruit in their lives who we can “eat from” and grow. We need to try and find people who are already where we want to get to. As Proverbs 10:21 warns us, fools die for lack of sense, so common sense and wisdom need to be commonplace in our lives!

The Bible says that if we ask for Wisdom, God grants it to us: James 1:5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. So, God’s wisdom and common sense are not far from us, we just need to ask Him for His wisdom. As God works in our life, let’s pray and trust Him to take us to a place where our lips and words can feed many, and we can be a blessing and a beacon of life and good sense in Christ to many others!

Prayer

Heavenly Father, I come right now In Jesus’ name, and I ask that you direct and lead me to the right people who can feed me spiritually with their words and their lives. I ask that you take me to a place where I can also feed others with my life and my words. As your Word always exhorts me, I ask you for Wisdom now and common sense to govern my life. I pray that you would keep me walking in your ways, and that foolishness would not be found in my life. I ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen!