Life Project Blog

Pay attention and turn your ear to the sayings of the wise;
    apply your heart to what I teach,
for it is pleasing when you keep them in your heart
    and have all of them ready on your lips.
So that your trust may be in the Lord,
    I teach you today, even you.
Have I not written thirty sayings for you,
    sayings of counsel and knowledge,
teaching you to be honest and to speak the truth,
    so that you bring back truthful reports
    to those you serve?

Proverbs 22:17-21

At this point in our study of the Proverbs, we begin a new section that runs from 22:17 through the end of Chapter 24. This section contains 30 sayings of the wise. These sayings will usually be comprised by 2 or 3 sentences that become 2 or 3 verses. Interestingly, don’t expect to see the word “wisdom” again. In all the chapters of the last section, the word “not” was used all of 2 times. In this section, it is used frequently. I’ll be pointing out other structural and stylistic differences as we go.

Today’s saying is 3 sentences long, and is the introduction to the section. As you can see, the author is calling the young man to study these sayings and giving some reasons for him to bother with it. He should put time and effort into the study, for it will pay great dividends as time goes on. I might also note that for many of us, fatherly advice seems somewhat a thing of the past. In my case, I’m the grandfather these days…

Even so, I am also the “son” seeking to learn things that have eluded me in the past, and the author’s plea for the readers’ attention really should be heeded, don’t you agree?

For now, have a great weekend and I’ll see you next time!

Proverbs 22:1-16

This section is all about having a good name. Little has changed since Solomon’s time as far as a good name goes, although in our time we are probably not quite as serious on the subject as our forbears were. Verses 1-6 offer a description of a person with a good name. Verse 1 tells us in parallelism that having a good name is better than having lots of money. The second follows this thought by pointing out that both the rich and the poor are created by the same God. In the following verse we see that one attribute of the esteemed person is that they are smart enough to see danger coming and to take refuge, rather then ignoring trouble and being run over by it.

Humility is the fear of the Lord;
    its wages are riches and honor and life. (22:4)

This is an interesting verse because it gives us insight on two levels. First, we have the Biblical definition of the expression “the fear of the Lord” which confuses the modern reader in both the Old and New Testaments. Humility is what that means. Usually we give very log explanations, me included, but this is so very simple: Humility. The result of humility (wages) are “riches, honor and life”.  

Maintaining a good name requires that we stay far clear of the paths of wickedness and raise our children in the ways of righteousness.

Verses 7-12 show us how we protect our good name; some are more obvious than others, and this one struck me as interesting:

The generous will themselves be blessed,
    for they share their food with the poor. (22:9)

People who are generous and share their food with the poor are usually thought to be the kinds of people who will stand by a friend even in hard times, and in my experience, this is rare. Many people will share their food with others who have plenty; this is good business. Yet how can the poor, or the friend in need repay? To serve God is to serve others without expecting anything in return.

…as Chapter 21 wraps up. Here, we continue our look at Proverbs 21, with the final six verses. You will no doubt recall that when we left off last week, we were amid a rather large collection of proverbs that deal with very practical everyday life advice from the wise. Here are the final verses in this chapter:

²⁶ All day long he craves for more,
    but the righteous give without sparing.

This verse reflects two ways to live with reference to material things: (1) how can one get more for himself even at others’ expense? and (2) how can one help others who are in need? The first majors on selfishness, the second on service. Psalm 37:26 and Psalm 112:9 blesses the giver.

²⁷ The sacrifice of the wicked is detestable—
    how much more so when brought with evil intent!

The first statement is also found in Proverbs 1523. God does not want people to substitute religious rites for actual righteousness: “To obey is better than sacrifice” (I Samuel 15:22). Thus, God deplores the sacrifice of people who are not trying to live right (Jeremiah 6:20; Amos 5:22; Isaiah 1:ll-15). To bring a sacrifice with a “wicked mind” must be to bring it with some motive to deceive God or to “buy God off” because of some sin being persisted in or because of some illegitimate gain from which he is bringing the sacrifice.

²⁸ A false witness will perish,
    but a careful listener will testify successfully.

Very similar to Proverbs 19:5, 9, both of which say, “A false witness shall not be unpunished.” “will testify successfully” in the second statement stands over against “shall perish” in the first, meaning that the true witness (one who speaks what he knows through his own seeing and hearing) will not be executed for perverting justice through lying such as will befall the false witness.

²⁹ The wicked put up a bold front,
    but the upright give thought to their ways.

Another contrast between the wicked and the upright in which the wicked hardens his face instead of repenting and having his ways established like the upright. This continued wickedness will bring destruction. After showing the prosperity of the righteous. (cf. Psalm 1:4-6)

³⁰ There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan
    that can succeed against the Lord.

God may allow many things that are wrong to happen (until judgment), but when there is a known showdown between God and the forces of unrighteousness, His opposition always comes out on the short end. Aaron’s rod that miraculously became a snake ate up those of Pharaoh’s magicians (Exodus 7:lO-12). When they tried to duplicate the plagues brought upon the land by Moses, they finally had to give up and acknowledge the supremacy of God (Exodus 8: 19). Baal lost out to Jehovah on Mt. Carmel (I Kings 18:26-39). The people of Samaria could see the difference between Simon the sorcerer’s fake miracles and Philip’s genuine ones (Acts 8:6-13). Herod of Acts 12 began laying hands on the apostles, killing James and intending to do the same to Peter (v. 1-3). But before the chapter was over, Herod was dead (v. 21-23), and the very next verse shows God’s triumph: “But the word of God grew and multiplied” (v. 24). As 1 Cor. 13:8 says, we cannot really do anything against the truth.

³¹ The horse is made ready for the day of battle,
    but victory rests with the Lord.

Horses were used in Bible days for war and not for agricultural purposes. This verse shows that even if horses were used (representing human military might), Israel’s victory really came from God and not the human elements. (Cf. Psalms 20:7; 33:17; Isaiah 31:1; Psalm 3:8.