Open in the app
Mid-century illustration of a tree planted by a pool of water on a path

Proverbs 23:19 · World English Bible

Proverbs 23:19 Meaning Listen

Listen, my son, and be wise, and keep your heart on the right path!

Read it in the app

What does Proverbs 23:19 mean?

To hear, in the deepest sense, is to let a gentler teacher be heard above the ego's constant noise. Wisdom is not information gathered but the willingness to listen inward, where love is quietly instructing the mind in how to see.

From the Christian Psychology reading below.

Proverbs 23:19 through 1 lens

The same verse, read by one tradition.

CHRISTIAN PSYCHOLOGY

Christian Psychology

To hear, in the deepest sense, is to let a gentler teacher be heard above the ego's constant noise. Wisdom is not information gathered but the willingness to listen inward, where love is quietly instructing the mind in how to see. The learner is asked only to lean toward that voice.

Guiding the heart along the way is the daily work of choosing which teacher will direct the mind's decisions. A mind that keeps returning its choosing to love finds the path was never hard to walk; it was only hard to stop arguing with.

Son: the part of the mind still learning to listen, the self being led gently back to its own peace Way: the single direction in which every choice for love points, the path the mind walks by deciding rightly again and again

Christian Psychology lensGo deeper in the app

Christian Psychology lens

Live Proverbs 23:19 today

  1. Give yourself five quiet minutes today with no screen and no podcast, on the commute or in the car before you go in. Not to figure anything out, just to let the noise drop a level.
  2. In your next real conversation, stop planning your reply while the other person talks. You will hear something you would have missed.
  3. Before you answer the hard email, wait until you can tell which voice is talking: the one that wants to be right, or the one that wants it to go well. Then write.

How much of your day is loud enough to keep you from hearing yourself?

The same truth in other traditions

Zen

To sit still is not to add anything but to let the clamor settle until the quieter thing can be heard. The teacher was never silent, only drowned out.

Taoism · Tao Te Ching

Muddy water clears when it is left alone, and the way becomes visible to a settled mind. Effort stirs it up again.

Hinduism · Upanishads

The deepest guidance speaks from within rather than from outside, and turning the attention inward is the whole of the listening. Nothing had to be fetched from far away.

Mid-century illustration of Jesus teaching the crowd on a hillside above the sea

Free · No account needed

Read all of Proverbs 23 through 17 lenses

Lensightful opens every verse of the Bible through the traditions you choose. Save readings, ask a follow-up question, and get one verse a day.

Get Lensightful on the App Store