Day 157 (Proverbs 10-12) - Year 7
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Hey, Bible readers, I'm Tara Lee Cobble, and I'm your host for The Bible Recap. As we keep moving through Proverbs, today is our first day not reading the counsel of the father to his son. These are just general wise sayings of Solomon to everyone, although he does start out by talking about how great it is to have wise children.

The way we live, whether foolish or wise or even as a simple person, impacts the other people in our lives. This is a universal truth. It's not just true for Christ followers. Think about it. Don't many of your frustrations come from people who are either doing wicked things or just doing things without thinking about them? The foolish and the simple cause a lot of struggle through their actions and inaction. 1017 says the foolish person also leads others astray.

Solomon implores everyone to be intentional about seeking truth and living by it. It may mean more work on the front end, but it will bless you in the long run. 10.8 gives us a picture of someone who submits to leadership and authority versus a know-it-all. It says, The foolish think they know it all, so they not only don't receive correction, but they don't even listen to it to begin with. They just keep talking. I recently heard a man say it like this,

You never learn when you're talking. If we were to zoom out on the book of Proverbs as a whole and highlight each theme in a different color, much of the book would be highlighted in the color that pertains to our speech. While our words may not have the literal power of life and death, that power belongs to God alone, they certainly do have a measured effect on our emotions and our perspective, whether they're the words we speak or the words we hear.

The words we speak have to be measured carefully. Solomon repeats this over and over in this chapter. Here's a sampling of those proverbs. The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life. On the lips of him who has understanding, wisdom is found. The mouth of a fool brings ruin near. Whoever utters slander is a fool. When words are many, transgression is not lacking. But whoever restrains his lips is prudent. The tongue of the righteous is choice silver.

And that's just in chapter 10.

I also want to point out again that this is wisdom literature. It's not promises or prophecies or law, and it all has to be weighed by its context and measured by the rest of Scripture, or we'll be led to believe something that Scripture isn't actually saying to us. For example, 10.15 says, "...a rich man's wealth is his strong city, the poverty of the poor is their ruin." But over and over again, we've seen that God has rendered wealth meaningless and that He has lifted up the poor.

Even in 1128 today, he says, whoever trusts in his riches will fall. So what is Solomon trying to say here? Is he contradicting himself? Based on the context of 1015, it seems like the message he's trying to send there has more to do with work ethic than wealth. Laziness is frowned upon and poverty shouldn't be romanticized because so many problems are adjacent to it.

While hard work and poverty aren't always at odds, the Proverbs speak general truths. There are always exceptions to the rule. Some people are born on third, so to speak. So even though they may work hard, they can advance further than someone who was born in the dugout, for instance. Other Proverbs require us to be nuanced in the way we interpret them and show us the attention to detail and the balance that wisdom brings.

For instance, 1018 says, "...the one who conceals hatred has lying lips, and whoever utters slander is a fool." This isn't contradictory either. It's telling us what to say and what not to say. We shouldn't lie about our feelings, but we shouldn't gossip about the person either.

Chapter 11 puts a lot of emphasis on the connections between humility and wisdom and righteousness and wisdom. Humility and righteousness are so closely linked because the humble person will realize that they don't have all the answers and that the wise thing to do is to walk in God's ways, not their own.

Even though submitting to someone else, namely God, doesn't sound like freedom, it truly is. Otherwise, like verse 6 says, we will live in bondage to our sins. It says, "...the treacherous are taken captive by their lust." I would rather be a bondservant to God than my sins any day.

This chapter also emphasizes the way the righteous are not only blessed themselves, but also serve as a blessing to those around them. Verse 25 says it this way, No matter how you say it, it's clear that God loves for His people to be generous.

Chapter 12 dives back into our speech. Here's an excerpt where Solomon keeps driving the point home, juxtaposing the wise against the foolish based on their words and reactions. The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice. The vexation of a fool is known at once, but the prudent ignores an insult. Whoever speaks the truth gives honest evidence, but a false witness utters deceit. There is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts.

but the tongue of the wise brings healing. Truthful lips endure forever, but a lying tongue is but for a moment. Essentially, we can boil it down to this. The wise man might keep his mouth shut even if he has something awesome to say. The fool blabbers on endlessly and it usually results in errors, lies, and wounds. As someone who talks for a living, this is really important counsel for me to pay attention to.

What was your God shot today? I noticed two sections that explicitly tell us things God loves and hates, which I'm always on the lookout for. 1120 says, "'Those of crooked heart are an abomination to the Lord, but those of blameless ways are His delight.'" And 1222 says, "'Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, but those who act faithfully are His delight.'"

So we see that God hates a crooked heart and lying lips. And the word crooked here is most often translated perverse, which usually means behaving in a way that is belligerent or unreasonable. It's rebelling against God's standards, as are the lying lips. And we see that God loves those of blameless ways and those who act faithfully. So what if you see yourself in both categories? Haven't we all lied and rebelled? So does God love us or hate us?

Aren't we all a bit like the Israelites who worship Him, then turn away, then come back, then turn away again? The good news is that Christ's death not only covers the sins of our moments of rebellion, but even the selfish moments behind our so-called good actions. Sometimes I quote-unquote act faithfully because I want to feel like a good Christian, not because I love God. And His death covers even the broken parts of me that taint my so-called good deeds—

Because He has covered my sins, He can delight in me as His righteous daughter. And because He delights in me, I can delight in Him. He's where the joy is.

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