I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Proverbs 29-31.

    Today’s passage begins with a continuation of unconnected proverbs. Then the Book of Proverbs ends with three sets of sayings, “The Sayings of Agur”, “The Sayings of King Lemuel”, and an ode to a virtuous wife. The first part ends with, “The righteous despise the unjust; the wicked despise the godly.” This sums up a point which is made by many of the proverbs throughout the book. You can judge a person by the people they despise. We often judge people by whom they admire, but the problem with that is that they may admire them for characteristics we do not see. However, the wicked universally despise the godly because they feel condemned by their good behavior, while the righteous despise those who treat others unjustly.

    As with all of the other portions of this book, there are multiple pieces of good advice contained within “The Sayings of Agur”. I want to focus on the two requests he makes of God. First, he asks God help him never tell a lie. We should all request this of God. More importantly, we need to recognize that we can only be truthful if God aids us in doing so. Further, we can only avoid sinning if God’s Spirit works within us to accomplish it. We should continuously ask God to keep us from sinning because it is only through the action of His Spirit that we will be able to do so. Second, he asks God to give him only enough wealth to satisfy his needs and perhaps a bit more. Great wealth may cause us to think that we do not need God. Poverty may cause us to sin in order to supply our needs.

    The “Sayings of King Lemuel” finish out the Book of Proverbs. There are two major themes in these sayings. The writer warns those who have authority to drink alcohol only in moderation. Alcohol in large quantity is only a good idea to ease the pain of those who suffer, whether the suffering is physical or otherwise. If those in authority drink alcohol in quantity, they may fail to fairly enforce the laws and may deprive the oppressed of their rights. The writer’s thoughts go on from this to emphasize the importance of looking out for the rights of those who cannot defend themselves.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Proverbs 22-24.

    Today’s passage begins with the final few short proverbs that we have been reading over the last few days, then transitions into a section of longer sayings. The shorter sayings are one phrase long, the longer sayings are two or three phrases long. All of these sayings contain wisdom which can help us live richer, fuller, happier lives. However, they are not really connected to each other in any other way.

    However, once again there are themes here which the writer returns to multiple times. The writer reminds us that God looks after the poor. If we use our resources to aid the poor God will bless us, but if we use our resources to oppress the poor, God will make us pay. The writer goes into more depth on his advice that we choose who we spend time with and who we seek to emulate with care. If we spend time with people who cannot control their temper, we will learn not to control our own temper. On the other hand if we spend time with people who are wise, we will gain wisdom. Evil people stir up trouble, if you spend time with them, or even just emulate them, you are likely to find yourself caught up in that trouble. Spend time with those who do good and you will find yourself doing good, which will lead to more blessings than you can imagine (Do not mistake blessings and material wealth. While blessings are sometimes material wealth, the ones to be truly desired are not). Seek to emulate the good done by others and you will find eternal happiness and joy.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Proverbs 18-21.

    Again today’s passage contains many unconnected proverbs. However, there are several themes which are touched on from different perspectives by different proverbs. The writer repeatedly comes back to the importance of being careful in what we say. In today’s passage his emphasis is on more than just being careful about what words we choose. He emphasizes the importance of actually knowing what we are talking about. when we argue/debate with others we should be seeking to deepen our understanding of the situation, not just to express our opinion. To that end we need to seek to learn all of the facts before we form an opinion, let alone express it. The writer does not stop there, he points out that we need to listen to both sides of the story before we come to a conclusion. Even if person A is being completely honest with us, it is possible that there are aspects of the situation which they do not know. Which will result in their interpretation being incorrect.

    Something I had never noticed, or perhaps, just never made the connection: If you wish to teach someone not to do wrong, tell them that they have done wrong. Those who are wise enough will change their ways. Those who do not respond to instruction will not learn from punishment. Punish those who failed to learn from instruction in order to teach others. You do not punish someone in order to teach them not to do wrong: you punish them in order to teach others not to do wrong. Understanding this should inform both our criminal justice system and how we deal with subordinates in the work place (or anyone else over whom we have power).

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Proverbs 9-13.

    Both wisdom and folly extend open invitations to all who choose to listen. Wisdom offers us change and hard work, do what wisdom advises and live. Folly offers taking the easy way out, relying on deception. Folly fails to mention how her path always ends in death. In between these two examples the writer warns us that if we correct a mocker for mocking the innocent, they will turn their insults against us. And if we rebuke the wicked, they will turn their assaults against us. However, the wise welcome correction and change their ways when someone shows them how they were doing wrong.

    The rest of today’s passage contains a series of independent proverbs, each one composed of one or two sentences which make important points. Despite the fact that each of these proverbs is independent of the others there are several themes which are repeated. The writer mentions again that fools act wickedly and that the wicked behave foolishly. The righteous do what is wise, even when they are not wise. The writer emphasizes in these many proverbs something which all too many people fail to understand: Wisdom and righteousness go hand in hand, as do wickedness and folly. If you do not know what the wise action is, do what is right to the best of your knowledge and you will not be far off. If you know that an action is wicked or evil, you can be sure that it is also foolish. God honors those who are honest and straightforward, but He despises those who lie and are deceitful.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Proverbs 14-17.

    Today’s passage contains many proverbs begging to be expanded. There are several which are at first glance obvious, but which contain much more than the simple truism they first appear. For example,

An honest witness does not lie;
a false witness breathes lies.

That seems so obvious that one wonders why even say it? But giving it the careful thought it deserves reveals that there is more to it than the obvious. There is both an element of advice about whose word to take when people’s testimony (and not just in court) disagrees. If one person has repeatedly lied while the other has been truthful, trust the latter. However, it also contains advice for how we lead our lives. If you always tell the truth, people will believe you when it matters. Every time you say something which is not the truth, you risk never being trusted again. Today’s passage contains many proverbs which are worded as advice about judging others but also contain advice on how to live our own lives.

    I am not going to take the time to review all of the proverbs within today’s passage for which I find value in doing that. Instead, I am going to take the time to hit on the high points of the writer’s advice. To some degree, all of the writer’s advice expands on choosing humility of pride. Living humbly will lead one to do almost all, if not all, of the other actions which the writer advises, while being full of pride leads to the actions which he warns against. The writer makes a second foundational point, all of his other advice, including the point I just made, flows from this. Fear of the Lord results in wisdom, not fearing the Lord results in folly. Early on the writer reminds us that this works both ways. While those who fear the Lord will do what is right, it is also true that those who do not know God but seek to do right will learn to fear the Lord. On the other hand, those who despise God will do evil and those who choose to do what is wrong will learn to despise God.

    Finally, I want to spend a few minutes going over some of the other advice the writer gives in this passage.

• Choose your words carefully

The right word at the right time can do wonders, while the wrong word can create disaster.

• Control your anger

Allowing anger to dictate your actions will lead you to do things which you will later regret. If the cause of your anger justifies an action there is time enough to take it once your anger has passed.

• Do not start arguments

What happens once you get someone worked up and angry will no longer be within your control and you may regret the results.