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I’ve already cautioned you on drawing blanket applications from individual Proverbs, and a few samples from today’s reading reinforce that advice.  Here’s one: “The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is the slave of the lender.”  One interpretation of this could be prescriptive: this is the way things should be… or this is the way God has ordered things.  But it doesn’t have to be prescriptive; it could be descriptive: this is the way things are. 

Compare this with what you hear just a few verses on, where the oppressor is warned that: “Whoever oppresses the poor to increase his own wealth, or gives to the rich, will only come to poverty.”  Put aside the implications for a second: in terms of their tenor and structure, is there any difference between these two?  Is one a warning while the other is an observation?  Are they both simply descriptive?  Or are they both instructive?  How do you know? 

I call attention to this not to confuse, but rather to draw your attention to the very nature of wisdom.  It is meant to be chewed on, mulled over, contemplated, and held in the full context of the Bible.  Given what we’ve seen in the law and the prophets, it’s hard to believe that God would condone a system where the rich rule over the poor, simply because they are rich.  But there is nothing in the style of the individual proverb that directs this application.  This – and all proverbs – must be held in the full context of the book of Proverbs, and indeed all of Scripture, to be faithfully applied.

There is a break in the middle of chapter 22 that reminds us of one of the most reaffirmed ideas in Proverbs: Incline your ear, and hear the words of the wise, and apply your heart to my knowledge, for it will be pleasant if you keep them within you, if all of them are ready on your lips.  That your trust may be in the LORD, I have made them known to you today, even to you.  Remember the thesis statement from chapters 1 and 9: The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom.  Often in these chapters the author reminds us that it is not simply healthy living that they are advising, but to fear the LORD, and to “not join with those who do otherwise.”

Our verse for this week is Psalm 119:105: Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

Proverbs 22 through 25.  Now let’s read it!

You might have noticed a shift in rhythm around chapter 15, which is almost fully completed today.  By chapter 18, Proverbs designed around contrast have become rare and have been replaced by many that are built around a reinforcing redundancy.  For example: “A false witness will not go unpunished, and he who breathes out lies will not escape,” or “Good sense makes one slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook an offense.”  Notice that the first line makes an assertion, and the second either reinforces it, focuses it, or propels it. 

These are mixed with straightforward observations such as “The getting of treasures by a lying tongue is a fleeting vapor and a snare of death,” and “Whoever keeps his mouth and his tongue keeps himself out of trouble.”  This makes at least three styles of proverb with which you’ve become familiar.

Today there are a few recurring themes to attend to.  Personal relationships fill the conversation today, with fathers, sons, husbands, and friends receiving advice and encouragement.  Remember, as I’ve said before, that proverbs are descriptive, observational: they come from the pen of those who have “been around the block,” who have observed the world and come to certain conclusions.

This descriptive nature is highlighted by verse 14 of chapter 21: A gift in secret averts anger, and a concealed bribe, strong wrath.  Is this making a righteous recommendation, or is it simply making an observation?  Taken as a prescription, you could argue that bribery is an acceptable option; taken as an observation, you could easily confirm that, “Yes, this is how the world works.”  The next verse offers some context, with: “When justice is done, it is a joy to the righteous but terror to evildoers,” but this still doesn’t really answer the bribery question.  That the Bible offers proverbs such as these, without exposition, is one more mark of its remarkable character.    

Our verse for this week is Psalm 119:105: Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

Proverbs 18 through 21.  Now let’s read it!

You might have noticed a shift in rhythm around chapter 15, which is almost fully completed today.  By chapter 18, Proverbs designed around contrast have become rare and have been replaced by many that are built around a reinforcing redundancy.  For example: “A false witness will not go unpunished, and he who breathes out lies will not escape,” or “Good sense makes one slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook an offense.”  Notice that the first line makes an assertion, and the second either reinforces it, focuses it, or propels it. 

These are mixed with straightforward observations such as “The getting of treasures by a lying tongue is a fleeting vapor and a snare of death,” and “Whoever keeps his mouth and his tongue keeps himself out of trouble.”  This makes at least three styles of proverb with which you’ve become familiar.

Today there are a few recurring themes to attend to.  Personal relationships fill the conversation today, with fathers, sons, husbands, and friends receiving advice and encouragement.  Remember, as I’ve said before, that proverbs are descriptive, observational: they come from the pen of those who have “been around the block,” who have observed the world and come to certain conclusions.

This descriptive nature is highlighted by verse 14 of chapter 21: A gift in secret averts anger, and a concealed bribe, strong wrath.  Is this making a righteous recommendation, or is it simply making an observation?  Taken as a prescription, you could argue that bribery is an acceptable option; taken as an observation, you could easily confirm that, “Yes, this is how the world works.”  The next verse offers some context, with: “When justice is done, it is a joy to the righteous but terror to evildoers,” but this still doesn’t really answer the bribery question.  That the Bible offers proverbs such as these, without exposition, is one more mark of its remarkable character.    

Our verse for this week is Psalm 119:105: Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

Proverbs 18 through 21.  Now let’s read it!

In the fear of the LORD one has strong confidence, and his children will have a refuge.  The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, that one may turn away from the snares of death.  - Proverbs 14:26-27

Of the 25 or so occurrences of the phrase “The fear of the LORD” in the Old Testament, over half of them are found in the book of Proverbs.  With another handful sprinkled throughout Job and Psalms, it’s easy to conclude that wisdom and the fear of the LORD are connected in the Israelite mind. 

In Psalm 110 we heard that the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the first Act of Proverbs was bookended, in chapters 1 and 9, with this affirmation.  In Job 28 and Proverbs 16, the fear of the LORD is synonymous with turning away from evil.  It is the fountain of life, greater than treasure and the trouble that attends it, a trustworthy refuge, and a defense against evil.  Let not your heart envy sinners, chapter 23 exhorts, but continue in the fear of the LORD all the day.

Our reading continues today with quick lines of wisdom, typically by setting contrast between behaviors and outcomes.  Reading Proverbs can be taxing: the cadence is repetitive, and the subject matter is narrow.  Individual proverbs catch our attention when cited separately, but when reading through they can get lost in the rhythm. 

My illustration above is one tool that can help.  As I did with the fear of the LORD, focus on one theme or instruction and trace how it’s handled throughout the book.  This is not only useful for keeping attention, but, importantly, for placing individual proverbs in a larger context, and protecting them from being misused.  As with other genres, context matters.  The structure of Proverbs makes this context slightly more difficult to trace, but it’s nonetheless imperative for honest application. 

Our verse for this week is Psalm 119:105: Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

Proverbs 14 through 17.  Now let’s read it!

In the fear of the LORD one has strong confidence, and his children will have a refuge.  The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, that one may turn away from the snares of death.  - Proverbs 14:26-27

Of the 25 or so occurrences of the phrase “The fear of the LORD” in the Old Testament, over half of them are found in the book of Proverbs.  With another handful sprinkled throughout Job and Psalms, it’s easy to conclude that wisdom and the fear of the LORD are connected in the Israelite mind. 

In Psalm 110 we heard that the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the first Act of Proverbs was bookended, in chapters 1 and 9, with this affirmation.  In Job 28 and Proverbs 16, the fear of the LORD is synonymous with turning away from evil.  It is the fountain of life, greater than treasure and the trouble that attends it, a trustworthy refuge, and a defense against evil.  Let not your heart envy sinners, chapter 23 exhorts, but continue in the fear of the LORD all the day.

Our reading continues today with quick lines of wisdom, typically by setting contrast between behaviors and outcomes.  Reading Proverbs can be taxing: the cadence is repetitive, and the subject matter is narrow.  Individual proverbs catch our attention when cited separately, but when reading through they can get lost in the rhythm. 

My illustration above is one tool that can help.  As I did with the fear of the LORD, focus on one theme or instruction and trace how it’s handled throughout the book.  This is not only useful for keeping attention, but, importantly, for placing individual proverbs in a larger context, and protecting them from being misused.  As with other genres, context matters.  The structure of Proverbs makes this context slightly more difficult to trace, but it’s nonetheless imperative for honest application. 

Our verse for this week is Psalm 119:105: Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

Proverbs 14 through 17.  Now let’s read it!

Our reading opens with a symbolic lecture on wisdom and folly in chapter 9.  “Wisdom has built her house…” it begins, and folly likewise “sits at the door of her house…”  Each has set the table, sent their emissaries into town, and invites “Whoever is simple” to dinner.   Pay as much attention to this curious exchange as to the interlude, where the reader is warned that “Whoever corrects a scoffer gets himself abuse…”  and is reminded again that “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom.” 

A second Act begins in chapter 10, and gone is any sense of setting or conversation.   While there are a few variants, many of the verses are self-contained statements of contrast.  If you’re familiar with Proverbs at all, this is the style you probably expect: When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with the humble is wisdom… Whoever is righteous has regard for the life of his beast, but the mercy of the wicked is cruel.

They are succinct and memorable, like pithy sayings that are recited by the sage and the grandparent alike.  They are collected wisdom: descriptive, but not exclusive.   I encourage you to take a closer look at their truth.  For example: “The righteous will never be removed, but the wicked will not dwell in the land” is contrasted by the experiences of many a Psalmist who feels unfairly threatened by wicked men.  Likewise, “Whoever guards his mouth preserves his life; he who opens wide his lips comes to ruin” does not guarantee safety for the well-spoken, nor destruction for the brash.   

In other words, these proverbs are not, it appears, of the same genre as God’s promises.  Listen for elements of the law, as well as for effective advice.  Listen for the presence and worship of the LORD.  And listen for the writer’s hopefulness, as he envisions the world working as it should. 

Our verse for this week is Psalm 119:105: Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

Proverbs 9 through 13.  Now let’s read it!

Our reading opens with a symbolic lecture on wisdom and folly in chapter 9.  “Wisdom has built her house…” it begins, and folly likewise “sits at the door of her house…”  Each has set the table, sent their emissaries into town, and invites “Whoever is simple” to dinner.   Pay as much attention to this curious exchange as to the interlude, where the reader is warned that “Whoever corrects a scoffer gets himself abuse…”  and is reminded again that “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom.” 

A second Act begins in chapter 10, and gone is any sense of setting or conversation.   While there are a few variants, many of the verses are self-contained statements of contrast.  If you’re familiar with Proverbs at all, this is the style you probably expect: When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with the humble is wisdom… Whoever is righteous has regard for the life of his beast, but the mercy of the wicked is cruel.

They are succinct and memorable, like pithy sayings that are recited by the sage and the grandparent alike.  They are collected wisdom: descriptive, but not exclusive.   I encourage you to take a closer look at their truth.  For example: “The righteous will never be removed, but the wicked will not dwell in the land” is contrasted by the experiences of many a Psalmist who feels unfairly threatened by wicked men.  Likewise, “Whoever guards his mouth preserves his life; he who opens wide his lips comes to ruin” does not guarantee safety for the well-spoken, nor destruction for the brash.   

In other words, these proverbs are not, it appears, of the same genre as God’s promises.  Listen for elements of the law, as well as for effective advice.  Listen for the presence and worship of the LORD.  And listen for the writer’s hopefulness, as he envisions the world working as it should. 

Our verse for this week is Psalm 119:105: Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

Proverbs 9 through 13.  Now let’s read it!