Read Proverbs
16-17 & 2
Corinthians 1
To discover:
As you read consider what
lessons strike you most forcefully.
To ponder:
Some lessons from
Proverbs 16: We may plan things, but it is God who determines if people agree
to them. We may think we are acting in innocence, but it is God who judges
whether we are. If we commit our plans to the LORD, then he will grant them
success. This probably refers to both asking him to give us success and
deciding what we do according to his will. And it is qualified by his own plans
(16v1-2, 4,9). Everything that happens is being used by God for his purposes.
This includes the existence of the wicked, because his justice will be seen in
their destruction. This doesn’t mean God is pleased with wickedness. He hates
the proud and will punish them. Human love and faithfulness atones for sin in
the sense of proving genuine repentance, or “fear of the LORD,” by which people
also avoid evil. God causes enemies to be at peace with the one who pleases
him. Better to have little and be righteous, than a lot but have acted
unjustly. We make plans, but ultimately it is God who determines what we
actually do. Kings speak authoritatively and so should not command what is
unjust. Honesty in business (or indeed in anything) is from God. Rulers (good ones)
hate wrongdoing as their authority is established through doing right. They
therefore delight in those who speak truth. Their anger can bring death,
although the wise can find ways to appease it. Likewise, a ruler’s pleasure can
bring life. It is better to get wisdom than money. The upright avoid evil.
Pride goes before destruction, perhaps because it leads to foolish action, or
simply because God chooses to humble the proud. And it is better to be
oppressed and humble than be wealthy or do well with the proud. No doubt this
is because pride and the influence of the proud puts one under God’s judgement.
Those who listen to instruction and trust God experience prosperity and joy.
The wise will be known for their discernment and instruction. Understanding brings
life but foolishness punishment. Our hearts (inner desires and attitudes)
determine what we say. Pleasant words can be good for people’s souls and
bodies. Hunger (and so need) is what drives people on in their work. A
scoundrel’s speech is like fire in causing damage. Gossip separates friends, no
doubt as it causes them to think ill of each other. A perverse man causes
argument, and a violent man leads others into what’s bad. Evil can be spotted
by mere body language. Long life signified by grey hair is a crown of reward
for righteousness. As the perspective of wisdom affirms righteousness is
supreme to all else, it is better to be patient and control one’s temper, than
be a great warrior who takes a city. Even random decisions like the lot are
determined by God.
Some lessons from Proverbs 17:
Better to be poor than have much, if having much means strife. Parents will
favour wise servants (today, close acquaintances or employees) more than
disgraceful children, placing godliness above privilege. God tests our hearts
with trials to rid them of impurities and increase their preciousness. The
wicked and deceptive listen to evil and malicious speech. To mock the poor is
to show contempt for God who made them. Those who gloat over disaster will
therefore be punished. Grandchildren are a reward to the elderly, and children
take pride in their parents. Arrogance doesn’t suit the fool, no doubt because
he has nothing to boast in. Likewise, lying lips don’t suit the ruler, as they
don’t fit his station. Although not commended, bribes do work. Bringing up
wrongdoing separates friends in bringing tension, but covering over offences as
if never done promotes love between the two. A rebuke to the discerning teaches
them more than severe punishment teaches the fool. Evil men will receive no
mercy at the hands of the state. It is better to face an angry bear than a fool
carrying out his foolishness, no doubt because it can be so harmful. Trouble
will come on those who respond to good with evil. Starting a quarrel can cause
a much more intense argument to break out. God hates injustice in the court.
Money is useless to the fool, presumably because he will waste it. So managing
money requires wisdom. Friends always love, but siblings argue. It lacks good
judgement to provide financial security for another, probably because it makes
you dependent on them, and they may be encouraged to foolish action by it. Just
as a secure home invites robbers, so quarrelling invites destruction because it
is to love sin. The perverse and deceitful face trouble, no doubt because they
bring it on themselves. A foolish son brings grief. The wicked accept bribes to
pervert justice. A discerning man keeps focused on wisdom, but the fool will
consider anything and everything as a possibility. The wise restrain their
speech and temper, and even the fool is thought wise and discerning if silent.
Praying it
home:
Praise God for
whatever he has most brought home to you. Pray that he would help you live
according to that wisdom.
Thinking
further: Do the righteous really prosper?
This is a
subject we thought a little about in the psalms, and it cries out for an answer
throughout the proverbs. The righteous are said to prosper, succeed, and enjoy
wealth, peace and long life, whilst the wicked face disaster. How are we to
understand this, when we see the wicked prospering, and godly Christians often
struggling, failing, impoverished, oppressed, and dying just as others do? A
number of things need to be said. First, even the proverbs recognise the righteous
don’t always prosper. Repeatedly they affirm it is “better” to be righteous
without such things than have them but sin. They are therefore intended only as
generalizations. Indeed, Job, Joseph, David and Daniel, are all examples of
righteous people who suffered nevertheless. Second, in being written to Israel
the proverbs reflect on life under God’s covenant with the nation, in which he
promised such prosperity to the righteous in the context of the people in
general obeying his law (Deut 28-30). In these circumstances, the wicked would
be brought to account for their deeds, sometimes with capital punishment. And
the righteous would not only live, but be favoured by those around them. For
the Christian, this covenant points to the more perfect working out of these
principles in the new creation, when the wicked will be punished and the
righteous live forever. Moreover, as Christians now live amongst those who
generally don’t believe, they are subject to hostility and injustice in a way
Israelites wouldn’t have been amongst their peers during the days of Solomon.
Third, we need to understand this different experience in Christians is
purposeful. Just as Christ’s obedience was proved and drawn out through
suffering, so is ours (Heb 2v10). So for those who live by the Spirit not the
law, God actually intends suffering as one of his means of sanctifying us, and
enabling us to identify with Christ, who had to suffer before entering into
glory.
Fourth, having said all this,
because God’s wisdom was involved in creation, its principles do also apply to
humanity in general. So given the exceptions, the proverbs still stand. Paul
can therefore say that those who obey their parents will enjoy “long life on
the earth” (Eph 6v3). The point is that by receiving godly training,
instruction and therefore wisdom from our parents, we are better equipped to
navigate life in our fallen world. The writers of the New Testament assume as a
general truth, that the Christian will, by obeying God, be free from
prosecution by the law (Rom 13v3), protected against oppression (Rom 13v4), and
enjoy favour with others (1 Thess 4v11-12), no doubt leading to success and so
increased wealth through being known to work hard and be trustworthy. One can
even conclude that in respecting their bodies and not being given to
drunkenness, the Christian will live a healthier life too (Eph 5v18). So God’s
wisdom really does make a difference. However the critical thing is not to seek
these benefits in themselves, but seek to fear and so obey God, knowing these
will usually follow, but submitting to whatever plans he has for us (Prov
16v9).
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