Proverbs 30:21-33

Under three things the earth trembles;
under four it cannot bear up:
a slave when he becomes king,
and a fool when he is filled with food;
an unloved woman when she gets a husband,
and a maidservant when she displaces her mistress.

Proverbs 30:21-23

What?

What is it about these four scenarios that is so earth shattering? Today we often root for the underdog. We like a good rags-to-riches story, so what is wrong with a slave becoming king? And we like a good romance, so what is wrong with an unloved woman finally finding a husband?

The problem isn’t so much that there is anything wrong in the immediate situation, but in the aftermath. That is, what tends to happen within people who suddenly find themselves in positions of privilege or authority? Sad to say, they do not tend to exercise such newfound authority well. They tend to lord it over all around them. A slave who becomes king turns into a tyrant; a maidservant that becomes the mistress looks down on all the other servants. Think of the nouveau riche who flaunt their wealth with newly acquired snobbery.

All of that should serve as a strong caution for us as Christians. None of us deserves the grace we have been given. Each of us represents the ultimate rags-to-riches story. But in our sainthood, we often start looking down on all those sinners “out there”, forgetting that we ourselves are no better. We say that we can’t work our way to heaven, yet we treat the decision to follow Jesus as just such a work. We see our wise exercise of free will as evidence that we are better or smarter than everybody else. Let’s stop patting ourselves on the back and remember the lavish grace of God: “There but for the grace of God, go I…”

Proverbs 30:11-20

There are those who curse their fathers
and do not bless their mothers.
…
The eye that mocks a father
and scorns to obey a mother
will be picked out by the ravens of the valley
and eaten by the vultures.

Proverbs 30:11,17

Honoring one’s parents is a notion that we see often in the Scriptures. Indeed, it is one of the Ten Commandments (Ex. 20:12; Dt. 5:16), and Paul reiterates it clearly (Eph. 6:1-3; Col. 3:20). It forms an undercurrent that runs throughout Proverbs, which takes a dim view of disrespecting parents, as is made abundantly clear here.

Interestingly, the commandment to “honor your father and mother” makes no attempt to focus that honor only on perfect parents or even on reasonably good parents. The commandment is there for us all, whether our parents are good, neglectful, or outright abusive. And that makes this commandment a serious challenge for some, if not most. It is hard to honor someone that we know to be less than what they should be, yet we are still called to honor our parents.

Needless to say, our culture — at war with God in multiple ways — provides little help for us here and makes honoring parents all the more difficult. Sitcoms and commercials routinely bash parents — particularly fathers — as incompetent fools. Psychology and sociology often blame parents for the sins of the children. Teachers and coaches often undermine the very parents that they should be supporting. And, of course, all those things make good sense to us at some level at least some of the time. That is, we laugh at the sitcoms because they ring (partly) true; sometimes criminal behavior is clearly the result of horrendous parenting; sometimes teachers and coaches really do steer kids onto better paths than their parents would. And so we fall into the trap, and we rationalize away a core truth of Scripture.

So I encourage us all to fight back. Take time to evaluate our relationships with our parents. Take a good, honest look at who they are (or were), their strengths and their weaknesses, their successes and their failings. Forgive them for all the ways they messed up. And honor them, simply because they gave you life.

Proverbs 30:1-10

Who has ascended to heaven and come down?
Who has gathered the wind in his fists?
Who has wrapped up the waters in a garment?
Who has established all the ends of the earth?
What is his name, and what is his son’s name?
Surely you know!

Proverbs 30:4

This verse immediately transports me back to our tour through Job, to where God shows up and starts challenging Job, especially in Job 38:5a: Who determined [the earth’s] measurements—surely you know! So take a look back at what we said then. I’ll wait…

Two things I ask of you;
deny them not to me before I die:
Remove far from me falsehood and lying;
give me neither poverty nor riches;
feed me with the food that is needful for me,
lest I be full and deny you
and say, “Who is the LORD?”
or lest I be poor and steal
and profane the name of my God.

Proverbs 30:7-9

I have long thought this to be an exceptionally wise prayer: give me neither poverty nor riches. It recognizes the danger of either extreme, of being either rich or poor. And it seeks to avoid the temptations associated with either end of that spectrum. We see these temptations play out around us — the rich who become arrogant in their wealth under the delusion that they are self-sufficient and have no need of God, and the poor losing faith and taking matters into their own hands. The Lord explicitly warns the Israelites against the “rich” temptation in Deuteronomy 8:11-17. Meanwhile, although we may sympathize with the poor, there are no exemptions for the poor in “Thou shalt not steal.” So, it is safest to have neither too much nor too little. Call it “The Goldilocks Prayer”, if you will, but it’s a good one!

Proverbs 29:15-27

Many seek the face of a ruler,
but it is from the LORD that a man gets justice.

Proverbs 29:26

Proverbs is an immensely practical book, providing wisdom and insight for everything from child rearing (Pr. 13:24; Pr. 29:15,17) to money management (Pr. 22:7), from honesty and integrity (Pr. 20:10) to the value of work (Pr. 6:6-11; Pr. 20:13; Pr. 28:19-20), from sexual purity (Pr. 6:32) to political leadership (Pr. 20:8; 29:4). It is not a book to simply read and find interesting; it is a book to be applied. We are called to exercise its wisdom in every area of life, including politics. And since we live in a democratic republic, that is all the more true, as we the voters bear the responsibility for choosing our elected officials.

Yet pinning all one’s hopes on any particular candidate or political party is folly. Our faith and hope need to be in the LORD, for He is the One Who is sovereign over all, and He is the One Who will ultimately set all things right. So trust in Him. But faith in the Lord does not absolve us from our responsibility to vote — and to vote wisely. Just recognize that it is from the LORD that a man gets justice.

Proverbs 29:1-14

He who is often reproved, yet stiffens his neck,
will suddenly be broken beyond healing.

Proverbs 29:1

This proverb brings to mind the Exodus. God sends Moses to tell Pharaoh to release the people of Israel from slavery, but Pharaoh repeatedly refuses, despite devastating plagues. Again and again he hardens his heart — or stiffens his neck — until the firstborn sons of all the Egyptians are killed in the first Passover. Then he finally relents and lets the people go, only to again harden his heart and chase them to the Red Sea, where the Lord parts the waters and lets the Israelites pass through on dry ground. Pharaoh’s army gives chase, but the Lord brings the waters back onto Pharaoh’s army, drowning the whole army in the sea — suddenly broken beyond healing. (See Exodus 1-14.)

But Pharaoh is not the only example from the Exodus; so are the people of Israel. They also repeatedly show themselves to be stiff-necked. They complain against God and quickly turn away from Him, worshipping the golden calf while Moses is on Mount Sinai receiving the Ten Commandments. The Lord responds with repeated reproofs, but they go on to faithlessly refuse to enter the Promised Land, and so God makes them wander in the wilderness for forty years until that entire generation (except faithful Joshua and Caleb) die out — broken beyond healing.

Let’s not be so stiff-necked. Let’s listen to reproof and learn from our (and others’) mistakes. Let’s walk with the Lord and not against Him. Let’s not be broken beyond healing. (See Psalm 95.)

Proverbs 28:15-28

Whoever works his land will have plenty of bread,
but he who follows worthless pursuits will have plenty of poverty.
A faithful man will abound with blessings,
but whoever hastens to be rich will not go unpunished.

Proverbs 28:19-20

The truth of these proverbs should be reasonably plain to all. Faithful, diligent hard work over time is a much more reliable producer of wealth than get-rich-quick schemes. And yet foolishness persists, fed in large measure by government policy. The prime example of that is state-sponsored lotteries. Proper government should encourage wise behavior, but instead our government actively entices the populace toward “easy” money. We justify the lottery with promises to use the proceeds of all those ticket sales to fund education, but that is just an accounting gimmick that thoroughly ignores all the additional welfare costs resulting from the poverty induced by the lottery itself. Foolishness.

The welfare system reflects similar folly. Through higher tax rates, we punish those who work hard and build wealth, and we reward those inclined to accept “free” money. Yes, some basic safety net is appropriate to guard against short-term crisis situations, but it is counterproductive to promote ever-increasing entitlement programs that do nothing to encourage people to get off those programs. After decades of such programs in this country, it should be clear that they do not actually work, yet they are continually promoted under the guise of compassion. Compassion for the poor may motivate welfare programs on the surface, but the truth is that it is far from compassionate to entice the poor into dependence and away from productivity.

Scripture repeatedly tells us to care for the poor. The question is how. As we can see in these proverbs, the path out of poverty is ongoing productivity, and productivity is the result of faithful, diligent work. We ourselves need to work diligently, and we should encourage that same diligence in others, both through individual interactions and through government policy.

Handouts are not the path out of poverty. Diligent work is. We would do well to listen to the Proverbs.

Proverbs 28:1-14

Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper,
but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.

Proverbs 28:13

This proverb presents a core truth of Christianity. The first real step in receiving mercy is to recognize our own sin and to repent. We cannot stand on our own righteousness.

Yet it is a truth that we seem to forget constantly. So we all come to church each week wearing masks, pretending that we’ve got it all together. Sure, we say “The General Confession” along with everyone else in the service, but when asked individually, “How are you?” we say, “Fine” or we mention some physical malady. We practically never respond with a confession of sin. No. We’re in good shape.

And so, our tendency to conceal transgressions grows, and it extends to the congregation as a whole. Soon it encompasses great swaths of the institutional Church. We see whole denominations covering up scandalous behavior, like sexual misconduct on the part of clergy or other leadership. All this from an institution where only sinners are allowed in to begin with! No wonder the world calls us hypocrites!

That’s one thing I love about Freedom Road. The masks come off, and we admit our powerlessness over sin and our utter dependence on the Lord. And in that confession we find not only mercy but freedom — the freedom that the entire Church should enjoy, if only we would take off the masks.

Proverbs 27:15-27

Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied,
and never satisfied are the eyes of man.

Proverbs 27:20

Madison Avenue survives and thrives on the truth of this proverb. The advertising industry not only recognizes our tendency to always want more, but feeds that tendency, promising us satisfaction if only we’ll buy what they’re selling — knowing full well that the satisfaction we crave will never come. And we fall for it, over and over.

Our trouble, of course, is that our eyes — and hearts — are set on the wrong things. We are looking for satisfaction from things that cannot ultimately satisfy. We need to lay them all aside and come to the only One Who is the true Object of all our desires, the One Who is Himself our only full Satisfaction, our Life.

If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ Who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

Colossians 3:1-4

Nothing Madison Avenue offers can compare with Him.

Proverbs 27:1-14

Better is open rebuke
than hidden love.
Faithful are the wounds of a friend;
profuse are the kisses of an enemy.

Proverbs 27:5-6

How well do you take constructive criticism? How about open rebuke? Do you honestly evaluate critical words to see whether they have merit, whether there is any truth in them? Or do you tend to reject reproofs outright? How we respond to reproof says a lot about our inner condition, whether we find our identity in Christ or whether we are driven by fear and insecurity.

I think it is safe to say that most of us prefer kisses over wounds, but how good are we at interpreting them? Do we recognize the love and faithfulness behind words warning against sin or foolishness? Or do we just hear condemnation? Are we wooed by flattery? Or do we anchor ourselves to truth?

Of course, there is also the other side of relationships; that is, are you that friend who might dare to wound? Or are you an enemy providing kisses? Or do you simply offer hidden love?

It takes courage to speak up against folly or unrighteousness, knowing that your words might sting a friend. And it takes courage and humility to hear that truth. But that is what we are called to do, both to speak the truth, and to hear the truth, especially when it hurts.

Proverbs 26:13-28

For lack of wood the fire goes out,
and where there is no whisperer, quarreling ceases.
As charcoal to hot embers and wood to fire,
so is a quarrelsome man for kindling strife.

Proverbs 26:20-21

Have you been setting — or fueling — any fires lately?

So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! (James 3:5)