Category: Devotions

1. The Summer is the Right-Now Time of Life. A wise son is contrasted with one bringing shame. A wise son is identified by a. His Particularity: He is meticulous about the smallest things, the details of the crop, the weather, the seasons. He takes care of little coins as of larger, of moments as of hours, of every engagement, the trifling with the most important. Mr. Gladstone, once Prime Minister of England, when speaking to the young, said, “Thrift of time will repay you in after-life with a usury of profit beyond your most sanguine [hopeful] dreams.” b. His Opportunity: He seizes or makes the most of it. He gathers in summer. He does the work at hand; never leaves till tomorrow what is today’s duty. A sense of timing is important to him. He tries to master his circumstances rather than be their victim. When God opens a gate he goes through it at once. c. His Prosperity: His hand makes rich. The law of industry is generally a benevolent law. Sloth is the mother of poverty. We hear today about working smarter not harder. There’s nothing wrong with that, provided it does not mean shady or dishonest work. God expects His children to use brains as well as brawn. Why should the children of darkness be smarter than the children of light? d. His Spirituality: It is equally true of holiness. Put your whole soul and mind into that business (2 Cor. 6:2). It will repay richly, for your labour is not in vain in the Lord. Strive for the Master’s Well done!

These two proverbs are closely linked. They complement the promise in v.3, and v.4 finds support in v.5. Some may piously announce they have no interest in getting rich, but vs.5 reveals that if poverty is not a disgrace, idleness is! There is also the good name of your Lord and your family to consider as well. D.L. Moody once said there should not be one drop of lazy blood in the body of truly saved person, and surely he was on Scriptural grounds in saying that. The Bible clearly teaches that we cannot work for our salvation (Eph. 2:8-9), but it just as clearly asserts that we must work out our salvation with fear and trembling (Phil. 2:12; Jas. 2:20). You will find this word diligent used five times in Proverbs. Its root meaning refers to a sharp-cutting, threshing instrument (Isa. 41:15). Thus it came to describe “the sharp-pointed and determined activity of the truly dedicated, decisive person.” By using these contrasts Solomon shows once again that hard work distinguishes between the moocher’s hand and the Master’s.

Righteousness (v.2) and righteous (v.3) contrast with wickedness and their substance. Righteousness is what profits. It delivers from famine and death.

Here treasures of wickedness (v.2), and the substance of the wicked (v.3) set over against righteousness and the righteous; one is blasted, the other blessed!

Without the ties of family-love, life would be less painful, but a whole lot poorer as well. When Benjamin was going to be imprisoned in Egypt, Judah made a moving appeal for his release based on the anguish and sorrow it would cause their father. Judah said in part; His life (Jacob’s) is bound up with the lad’s life (Gen. 44:30). The first proverb (10:1) is addressed to sons (and daughters). It makes the point that a choice may be very personal, but it is seldom only private. How significant that the first proverb in this new section deals with the fundamental relations of human society! What does Solomon mean by a wise son? Is he a great brain and a renowned scholar? Is he one who has risen to great wealth by his business ability? Is an honoured million-dollar athlete necessarily a wise son? Surely, for Solomon, the wise son is a godly son (Pr. 9:10).

Let us close this section on a positive note struck in a previous study. The word Holy, you recall (v.10) was plural, referring, we believe, to the Godhead. Let us expand this by considering God’s Goal for His sons and daughters. We must be:

This is no imaginary picture, but one drawn from real life. “Mankind has sat for the picture; there is no mistake in the outline, there is no exaggeration the colouring” (Arnot).

The Introduction to Proverbs ends here with a contrasted picture of Wisdom and Folly. She, too, has her house, has provided her entertainment, and invites her guests. The two houses are over against each other, on opposite sides of the way. It is her purpose to prevent those who pass by from entering Wisdom’s House. As already noted, some believe that Wisdom is merely an attribute or likeness of God, and thus they argue here that Folly is only a metaphor, over against Wisdom (Pr. 9:1). Hebrew introduces the word woman jointly with folly, whereas Wisdom stands alone. “May not a study of that picture lead to an opposite conclusion? Folly is no mere abstraction; she is a sinful woman of impure life, whose guests are in the depths of hell. Folly enhances our impression that Wisdom is personal” (Liddon). Who is this Temptress? The work of Lady Folly is the work of the Evil One, the real antagonist of the Divine Wisdom. Coupled with the language of v.17 it seems clear that one particular form of vice, not vice generally, is in view here.

This is perhaps the strongest expression of individualism in the Bible (Kidner). This (and similar statements) does not mean that people profit or suffer from each other’s characters (Pr. 10:1). What is stressed here is that each of us is the gainer or loser! Your character is you and you can’t escape its consequences (Pr. 14:10). The gainer or loser is man himself. “Those that are wise for their souls are wise for themselves, for the soul is the man” (Henry). Man rescued from his own folly and sin enters into the joy of the Lord, but scorners must bear their own ruin. The gainers can thank God, but the losers have only themselves to thank! Here the Gospel Law is set forth. It is the principle of the Talents, either use them or lose them! To him that hath shall be given (Mt. 25:29).

Here we have the theme of longevity again. Obedience to God’s will leads to length of days (Ex. 20:12). Conformity to God’s will brings blessings in the present, and the promise of life and health in the days ahead. Precious as physical life is, there is something infinitely more priceless. It is not how long but how well we live that matters. For identifies the connection between wisdom and righteousness (vs.9-10). The truly godly life leads to the most gratifying life as well. In the New Testament this has an eternal application. “We are not so to live,” said J.C. Ryle, “as if we had nothing but a body.”