Plymothian

The rich rule over the poor,     and the borrower is slave to the lender.

¹⁶ One who oppresses the poor to increase his wealth     and one who gives gifts to the rich—both come to poverty.

Bob

After I preached today at church, a man called Bob came up and we talked about his life.  He was working through a lot of pain because of where his life had taken him.  Ultimately, though, it became clear that he lacked a clear idea of who he wanted to be.  Proverbs are useful in that they show that our actions reflect the vision of those doing them.  Who do you want to be?  How can you create an environment that is conducive to that?

Questions

1. In this passage what kinds of actions are perpetrated by what kinds of people?
2. What kinds of people, not metioned in this passage, does God want his people to be?
3. What defines you?
4. If other people used three words to describe you, what would be the first three words?
5. How can you adjust your life to reflect your goals?

A good name is more desirable than great riches;
    to be esteemed is better than silver or gold.
2 Rich and poor have this in common:
    The Lord is the Maker of them all.
3 The prudent see danger and take refuge,
    but the simple keep going and pay the penalty.
4 Humility is the fear of the Lord;
    its wages are riches and honor and life.
5 In the paths of the wicked are snares and pitfalls,
    but those who would preserve their life stay far from them.

6 Start children off on the way they should go,
    and even when they are old they will not turn from it.

When Proverbs Don’t Come True

Raising your child up in the way they should go is often taken as a promise from God that if you do this, they will grow up to become outstanding citizens.  It is sometimes taken by those who want to raise capitalist Christians who will get high paying jobs, attend respectable churches and get a ranch house in the suburbs.  The way a child should go has nothing to do with some of our North American materialistic ideas and everything to do with the kingdom of God.  Remember that the Kingdom of God is what children should be taught is of the utmost importance.  If we instruct children in the ways of The Kingdom of God, it is less likely that they will depart from that way.  Proverbs, though are no gaurantee.  Proverbs are principles that are generally true that we should think about as principles for living.  There are, of course, examples of those who have raised a child in Kingdom principles and the child has rebelled against those principles entirely.  This does not negate the general truth of the proverb, it shows that the proverb is only a general truth.

Questions

1. How do the Proverbs bring us back to the general principle that they are words of instruction for children and parents?
2. Where do paths of instruction lead?
3. What, then, is the goal of Jewish education?
4. What is the goal of western education?
5. Where would your teaching of your children lead them?

The wise store up choice food and olive oil,
    but fools gulp theirs down.

21 Whoever pursues righteousness and love
    finds life, prosperity[c] and honor.
22 One who is wise can go up against the city of the mighty
    and pull down the stronghold in which they trust.

23 Those who guard their mouths and their tongues
    keep themselves from calamity.
24 The proud and arrogant person —“Mocker” is his name—
    behaves with insolent fury.

25 The craving of a sluggard will be the death of him,
    because his hands refuse to work.
26 All day long he craves for more,
    but the righteous give without sparing.
27 The sacrifice of the wicked is detestable —
    how much more so when brought with evil intent!
28 A false witness will perish,
    but a careful listener will testify successfully.

29 The wicked put up a bold front,
    but the upright give thought to their ways.
30 There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan
    that can succeed against the Lord.
31 The horse is made ready for the day of battle,
    but victory rests with the Lord.

Futility

There is a certain futility about some of our plans.  At the time we see the plans as being foiled by evil.  In the long run we see how God worked for us in ways that seemed opposed to us.  In my wife and my personal experience, it was the long journey through infertility where we made choices that, if they had worked, would have led us on a completely different path from the one that we walked down.  Each road block seemed so discouraging at the time, but ultimately the path led to the adoption of two children who we love.

Questions

1. How is God magnified in these verses?
2. What kind of things do you think people in the ancient world did to pursue their own agenda?
3. How do these verses once more reinforce the basic idea of the Book of Proverbs?
4. How have you found God blocked your path?
5. How have you seen God’s hand working for good?

When a mocker is punished, the simple gain wisdom;
    by paying attention to the wise they get knowledge.
12 The Righteous One[b] takes note of the house of the wicked
    and brings the wicked to ruin.
13 Whoever shuts their ears to the cry of the poor
    will also cry out and not be answered.
14 A gift given in secret soothes anger,
    and a bribe concealed in the cloak pacifies great wrath.
15 When justice is done, it brings joy to the righteous
    but terror to evildoers.
16 Whoever strays from the path of prudence
    comes to rest in the company of the dead.
17 Whoever loves pleasure will become poor;
    whoever loves wine and olive oil will never be rich.
18 The wicked become a ransom for the righteous,
    and the unfaithful for the upright.

19 Better to live in a desert
    than with a quarrelsome and nagging wife.

Final Outcomes

Decisions have their outcomes.  How does one become a good decision maker?  One has to think of the goals one has for one’s life and then see if the decisions line up with those goals.  The goal for the Christian is one.  The goal is to enrich an harmnious relationship with God.  God created the world to be a certain way and its function is to lead people to him.  Of course, fallen people no longer see how Creation leads to the Creator.  Fallen people see huge tracts of their life as having nothing to do with God.  What such people will find is that their destiny has nothing to do with God.  They will be in the outer darkness.  In this sense ‘outer’ means far from Him.

Questions

1. What final outcomes are described in these verses?
2. How do such outcomes reflect the biger picture of whether one is in relationship or out of communion with God?
3. How did Jewish people in the stories from the Bible act with wisdom or folly in ways that were directly related to God?
4. How has your fate been determined by your concern for God?
5. Whois a role model who is more aware of God than you are?

The wicked crave evil;
    their neighbors get no mercy from them.

11 When a mocker is punished, the simple gain wisdom;
    by paying attention to the wise they get knowledge.
12 The Righteous One[b] takes note of the house of the wicked
    and brings the wicked to ruin.
13 Whoever shuts their ears to the cry of the poor
    will also cry out and not be answered.
14 A gift given in secret soothes anger,
    and a bribe concealed in the cloak pacifies great wrath.
15 When justice is done, it brings joy to the righteous
    but terror to evildoers.

Wicked Evildoers

What is the opinion of a psychopath about morality?  They believe that right and wrong are defined by the individual in an individual context.  Often when they commit heinous crimes, they have judged that they are doing what is right for them as far as they are concerned.  The wisdom of Proverbs depends on the perspective that there is a greater good that others can be held accountable to.  It is not the consensus of a majority in a particular culture.  It is the belief that something greater exists than the human individual.  That entity has the right to define right and wrong; good and evil.

Questions

1. How can a person crave evil but probably define it as good?
2. How do people think that they are good enough to stand in judgment over the actions of others?
3. Why do some people think that the police and others who uphold righteousness have no right to tell them what to do?
4. How might you be unaware of your own tendency to redefine evil as good?
5. Could you go for a week without justifying or defending yourself?

Better to live on a corner of the roof
    than share a house with a quarrelsome wife.

No Comment

I would have written something here, but I wanted some peace and quiet on my corner of the roof. 🙂

Questions

None

In the Lord’s hand the king’s heart is a stream of water     that he channels toward all who please him.

⁸ The way of the guilty is devious,     but the conduct of the innocent is upright

Fate

Who decides the fate of mankind?  Where is mankind headed?  What is the role of free will and what is the role of God’s sovereignty?  I would sacrifice much of my free will for God’s will to rule my life.  Is my free will an illusion anyway?  Is life predestined down to every last detail from the day we are born until the day we die?

I believe God brings a band together and lets us improvise like jazz bands do.  However, he subtly influences and redirects at crucial points.  He has the right to select who will be in the band and who will be excluded.  He has the right to dictate what will be played.  However, good jazz allows the freedom of improvisation.  God allows free will to operate.  When the band goes ways that will not do, though, he has his ways to make sure each member of the band, the audience and the world gets to where he wants them to be.  Not a whimsical ‘want’ of a self-absorbed autocrat.  It is the loving and just desire of a righteous God.

Questions

1. What can God redirect?
2. How easily does he redirect leaders?
3. How does God’s easy redirection of leaders affect prayer?
4. Which leaders particularly need your prayer for direction?
5. In retrospect how has God redirected your life?

Do not say, “I’ll pay you back for this wrong!”
    Wait for the Lord, and he will avenge you.

³⁰ Blows and wounds scrub away evil,
    and beatingspurge the inmost being.

God and Man’s Judgment

The New Testament tells us to not repay evil for evil, but in stead leave room for God’s wrath.  The wrath of the Lord is an appropriate execution of justice from a truly righteous source.  When we as humans hold vendettas it corrodes our soul.  My grandmother held grudges and I believe it physically twisted her body.  She thought that her anger was an exercise in power and control over the person who offended her.  We need to realise that we do not hold such power and we need to relinquish such false notions to God.  Forgiveness from one human to another is a true healing experience.

Questions

1. Why shouldn’t you say, “I’ll get you for that?”
2. What keeps a king safe?
3. Why is it surprising in the Old Testament to find forgiveness preferred over judgment?
4. Who do you need to forgive?
5. Do you wish for justice in a situation?  How can you let it go?

Plans are established by seeking advice;
    so if you wage war, obtain guidance.
19 A gossip betrays a confidence;
    so avoid anyone who talks too much.

20 If someone curses their father or mother,
    their lamp will be snuffed out in pitch darkness.
21 An inheritance claimed too soon
    will not be blessed at the end.

Why I Support The UN

The verses here talk about diplomatic counsel.  I would interpret this as not only wise internally, but externally as well.  Of course there are maverick and rogue nations in the world, but states should talk without the primary objectives being their ‘own interests’.  This is not the path of wisdom in the Kingdom of God.  The path of wisdom seeks to walk the road toward God.  God says that discussion and counsel are wise to obtain.  For example, rather than engaging in a spiral of vendetta and violence, it would be good to find out why someone has attacked key points of interest.  What is the perspective of foreigners on US and UK industries selling weapons overseas?  Although the sales make economic sense, do they make theological sense?  Why do Russia and China often veto resolutions made by other members of the security counsel?  Is it just so that power-crazed leaders like Putin can seem stronger to disillusioned Russians?  Isolationists who want the USA to pull out of the UN and take US financial support and reinvest it domestically ignore the principles of responsibility in wisdom literature.  Those who God has blessed with much are held responsible to use those resources for others.  Although some may have theological reasons for wanting the USA to withdraw from international politics, I think many have a thinly veiled xenophobia and lack of compassion for those with whom they don’t have direct contact.

Questions

1. How does Proverbs support the idea that conflict is resolved by strategy and not by strength?
2. What should be entertained rather than gossip when making decisions?
3. Why did my father post Proverbs 20:20 on my door (he really did)?
4. Is the United Nations a valid use of US resources and energy?
5. What is the role of self-interest in theologically correct thinking?