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The book of Proverbs was written by a father to a son — and it begins with an assumption that children do not naturally make wise choices. "Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child" (Proverbs 22:15) is not a harsh verdict. It is an accurate description of developmental reality. The same Solomon who wrote about child-raising also watched his own children depart from wisdom. The book of Proverbs is not the testimony of a parent whose children all turned out perfectly. It is the testimony of a father who kept talking to his son about wisdom anyway, through frustration and joy and everything in between.
Get These Verses Daily — Free“And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.”
The Greek word 'provoke' — parorgizete — means to exasperate through unrealistic demands or harsh authority. The warning against provoking is as significant as the call to nurture. God does not require perfect composure — he warns against bitterness. The parent who loses patience but does not become harsh is not failing in the way they fear.
“Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him.”
Foolishness bound in the heart of a child is a description of developmental reality, not a condemnation. The author is telling parents: this is what you are working with. The expectation that a toddler will reason well is not biblical. The work of correction is normal parenting, not a sign of failure.
“They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.”
The Hebrew word 'new' — chadash — means freshly renewed, not carried over. The compassion available to the parent who was impatient yesterday does not carry yesterday's failure. It is genuinely new. The morning after a hard parenting day is a fresh start, not a continuation of the previous night's record.
“He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.”
God gently leads those who are with young — the Hebrew verb nahal means to lead with care, to guide patiently. The parent tending a small child is someone God leads with particular gentleness. The care with young is named as a specific condition that adjusts God's pace.
“I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”
The Greek participle 'strengtheneth' is present tense: ongoing, continuous strengthening. Not a one-time infusion for a specific crisis but sustained enabling for the ordinary, exhausting, daily work of keeping a toddler alive and loved. The mundane is included in 'all things.'
Ephesians 6:4 gives parents a two-part instruction: "provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord." The Greek word for "provoke" — parorgizete — means to exasperate, to embitter through unrealistic demands or harsh authority. The warning against provoking is just as significant as the call to nurture. God does not expect parents to be infinitely composed. He expects them not to embitter their children through harshness. The parent who loses patience but does not become harsh is failing less than they think.
Numbers 14 records an often-overlooked detail about God's parenting of Israel. After the Israelites' fortieth failure to trust him, God said: "How long will this people provoke me? and how long will it be ere they believe me?" He sounds like a parent with a toddler. He did not abandon them. He disciplined the immediate failure and continued to provide. Divine parenting in the wilderness looks remarkably like the daily experience of raising a young child.
Commentary is from a charismatic Protestant perspective, drawing on KJV text and public-domain sources including Spurgeon, Andrew Murray, and Matthew Henry.
Lamentations 3:22–23 was written from the wreckage of Jerusalem by someone whose community had failed God repeatedly. The conclusion is: "his compassions fail not. They are new every morning." The Hebrew word for "new" — chadash — means freshly renewed, not carried over from yesterday. The compassion that met the Israelites in the wilderness every morning is the same compassion available to the parent who was impatient yesterday. It does not carry over yesterday's failure.
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