Proverbs is a book every counselor should consider his good friend. It is a book with which, if he is wise and wishes to impart wise counsel, he will want to become as familiar as possible. And as he becomes increasingly familiar with its teachings, he will discover himself using it more and more in the process of counseling. Indeed, soon he will want to learn the whole of it as quickly as possible so that he may have all its wisdom at his disposal at all times.

One reason Proverbs is so helpful to the counselor is that a proverb can be seen as portable truth. It is often a generalized truth compacted into a vivid or picturesque situation that may be readily learned, easily memorized, carried about in one’s mind, and applied to any number of life’s situations as they occur. Both the general principle and the method of application are transportable. For counselees who are in the process of learning how to address a variety of circumstances in a truly biblical way, the practical usefulness that a proverb supplies is phenomenal.