Proverbs (Page 2)

The means of a child’s happiness is not so much what they receive from their parents, but what they see in their parents. Doing the right things, obeying God, settling accounts with others all yield blessing (happiness) for our children (Prov 20:7), as well as for us. Everyone loves aRead More

A person’s own folly leads to their ruin, yet their heart rages against the LORD. (Pr 19:3) When a “fall guy” is needed for our negative circumstances, we readily acknowledge God’s sovereignty (Prov 19:3). Nevermind our impetuous choices along the way and the untethered zeal with which we’ve lunged ourselvesRead More

Just a few observations today. Whether self, fame, or riches, we all have something in which we put our faith and trust. Prov 18:10-11 reminds us of two sources for our confidence and the two kinds of people our confidence produces: 1) those who are safe and 2) those whoRead More

Those who think too highly of their economic achievements likely have few empathic skills and harbor contempt toward the poor (Prov 17:5). Empathy is uniquely human and is quite possibly part of the imago Dei (image of God within). Due to our sinful nature, which constantly seeks to diminish orRead More

Heading downhill from this series on Proverbs, we come to one of my favorites. Several times the sage insists that God alone is the sovereign One. He alone controls all things. A plain reading of Proverbs 16:1, 4, 9, 11 suggests there is no getting around the fact that GodRead More

In this series I have purposively chosen not to consult any commentaries or supplemental readings. These fragments (pensées) or ruminations are strictly my own. The objective in blogging my way through Proverbs is twofold 1) to read regularly the Word of God and 2) to gain more of the wisdomRead More

Each heart knows its own bitterness, and no one else can share its joy. (Proverbs 14:10) I’ve gotten a lot of mileage out of this proverbial saying. Everyone, on some level or another, can relate to it. Some time ago I wrote a rather pensive essay on this proverbial saying.Read More

A wise person is unmistakable: she learns by her mistakes (Prov 13:1, 13, 18), uses her words to produce and sustain goodness for others (13:2-3), finds satisfaction in her diligent efforts (13:4), loves the truth (13:5), finds protection in living consistently with her beliefs (13:6) and modestly with her wealthRead More

In the Bible, foolishness is most often an ethical concept and goes beyond a lack of native intelligence. Although the fool might be one who acts boorishly, naively, or imprudently (e.g., Prov. 10:23; 20:3; cf. 21:20), he is more particularly one who lacks the wisdom which comes with the knowledgeRead More

On a cursory reading it’s apparent this proverb is replete with antithesis: pride / humility, integrity / duplicity, righteous / wicked, kindness / cruelty, life / death, riches / poverty, generosity / selfishness. Parallelism is not an unusual literary device in Hebrew poetry. The stark contrast left by the extremitiesRead More