Listening to Advice

1. Proverbs teaches humility in listening

• Proverbs 1:5 – “The wise will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels.”
  This means a truly wise person doesn’t shut themselves off to advice or correction, but is willing to weigh, discern, and even change if God shows a clearer path.
  So, if someone refuses to even consider historical evidence, textual realities, or other Christian perspectives, they are acting against the spirit of Proverbs, which praises teachability and humility.

2. Proverbs 16:9 – God directs the steps

• “The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps.”
  We can plan, preserve, translate, and study God’s Word, but it is God Himself who sovereignly directs the preservation and transmission of Scripture.
  This verse shows that our human systems (like TR, KJV, or VPP claims) are not ultimate; God is. His providence guided the Word through many manuscripts and languages, not just one perfect edition.

3. Psalm 37:5 – Trust God, not human absolutism

• “Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him, and he will act.”
  This is a call to trust in God’s faithfulness, not in our own ability to declare one printed edition or one translation as “perfect.”
  To say only the TR or only the KJV is perfect is actually shifting trust from God’s providence to man’s product. True faith commits the matter to God, knowing He has preserved His Word faithfully across the manuscript tradition, not bound to one version.

4. Application to VPP / KJV-Only / Perfect TR proponents

• Proverbs reminds them: wisdom means listening humbly and not dismissing all other Christians or textual evidence.

• Proverbs 16:9 reminds them: God’s providence is bigger than human systems—the Bible did not fall from heaven in 1611 or in Erasmus’ TR.

• Psalm 37:5 reminds them: our confidence is in the Lord’s preservation, not in absolutist claims about one text or translation.

“If you truly believe the Bible, then the Bible itself calls you to humility, to listen, and to trust God rather than to insist on human-made absolutes. Scripture itself shows that preservation is God’s providential work, not tied to one edition or translation.”