Proverbs 29

Proverbs 29

1 He who is often reproved, yet stiffens his neck, will suddenly be broken beyond healing. 2 When the righteous increase, the people rejoice, but when the wicked rule, the people groan. 3 He who loves wisdom makes his father glad, but a companion of prostitutes squanders his wealth. 4 By justice a king builds up the land, but he who exacts gifts tears it down. 5 A man who flatters his neighbor spreads a net for his feet. 6 An evil man is ensnared in his transgression, but a righteous man sings and rejoices. 7 A righteous man knows the rights of the poor; a wicked man does not understand such knowledge. 8 Scoffers set a city aflame, but the wise turn away wrath. 9 If a wise man has an argument with a fool, the fool only rages and laughs, and there is no quiet. 10 Bloodthirsty men hate one who is blameless and seek the life of the upright. 11 A fool gives full vent to his spirit, but a wise man quietly holds it back. 12 If a ruler listens to falsehood, all his officials will be wicked. 13 The poor man and the oppressor meet together; the Lord gives light to the eyes of both. 14 If a king faithfully judges the poor, his throne will be established forever. 15 The rod and reproof give wisdom, but a child left to himself brings shame to his mother. 16 When the wicked increase, transgression increases, but the righteous will look upon their downfall. 17 Discipline your son, and he will give you rest; he will give delight to your heart. 18 Where there is no prophetic vision the people cast off restraint, but blessed is he who keeps the law. 19 By mere words a servant is not disciplined, for though he understands, he will not respond. 20 Do you see a man who is hasty in his words? There is more hope for a fool than for him. 21 Whoever pampers his servant from childhood will in the end find him his heir. 22 A man of wrath stirs up strife, and one given to anger causes much transgression. 23 One's pride will bring him low, but he who is lowly in spirit will obtain honor. 24 The partner of a thief hates his own life; he hears the curse, but discloses nothing. 25 The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe. 26 Many seek the face of a ruler, but it is from the Lord that a man gets justice. 27 An unjust man is an abomination to the righteous, but one whose way is straight is an abomination to the wicked.

Devotional

Introduction

I don't know about you, but sometimes it feels like Proverbs is offering much of the same content. It's all very good content, but because your reading the same kind of style over and over again, it feels very repetitive. When I thought how I could address these Proverbs it was quite difficult. Often something will stand out to me.

In my usual fashion I highlighted or grouped certain topics together. It helps me to not only see the passage clearer, but also new information worth looking over. What I found was that there were stray verses, ones that didn't really belong to any of the topics I had formed (most of which I have already studied).

Before I overshare on the behind of the scenes of these devotionals, there were five main verses that I think we can learn from, even if they don't fit in with many of the topics I found in these verses. Let's see what we can learn...

Study

1) "He who is often reproved, yet stiffens his neck, will suddenly be broken beyond healing." (vs.1)

The stiffen neck is reference to wayward livestock that were too stubborn to put on the yoke. Essentially, the person is too stubborn to accept reproof. Assumedly, such reproof can come from anyone, from people, from their conscience, from the Lord (and, likewise, the Holy Spirit).

Note that not only will they face a burdensome ruin, but they actually don't have an easy time of it either. People think following Christ, or God's law to be a burden. A yoke seems like a dreadful thing to be caught in. But the truth is, we are either following God or sin. We often think we are free, as if not following God releases us from burden. But either way, we are controlled by something.

And following God, being under his reigns, is not burdensome. Jesus says in Matthew 11:

"Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:29-30)

Don't stiffen your neck to the yoke that would be so much easier to carry than the weight of your sin.

2)"The poor man and the oppressor meet together; the Lord gives light to the eyes of both." (vs.13)

Note that there is both the guilty and the innocent. You might find this reminiscent of Matthew 5:45b which says: "For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust."

When it talks about the Lord giving light to both, I think it could refer to many things. There is common grace, where God sustains the earth and provides the needs of people, whether they are righteous or not. There is the idea that man, made in the "imago Dei", may carry some attributes of him, whether righteous or unrighteous (eg. You might be quite charitable, but you are not a Christian). As well as this, God has revealed himself to us all in creation - called General Revelation. In any of the three cases, God has bestowed gracious blessings upon his creation, even though they sinned against him.

3) "Where there is no prophetic vision the people cast off restraint, but blessed is he who keeps the law." (vs.18)

Remember, prophecy is the word of God. Whilst there is debate on what sort of prophecy exists now, I think it stands that if it is not in line with God's words in the Bible, then it is not God's words. God never contradicts himself.

Prophecy is such a large debate amongst Christians nowadays because we argue about its necessity. We as Christians are actually "cast of restraint" and can fall into sin or temptation, when we believe we cannot hear the word of God for ourselves.

But when Paul talks about Prophecy many times to the Corinthian church, he does not just mean new words of God, but those preached from the very words of God that we can read today in the Bible. Unfortunately, we become discontented, like the Israelites who waited for Moses and became impatient, seeking a word from God. But when we are faithful to hearing and responding to the proclamation of God's word, when we are attentive to what God says to us in the Bible, when we transform by the power of the Spirit, we are "blessed".

Be careful not to "cast off restraint" and become discontented with the very words God has blessed you with here and now.

4)"The partner of a thief hates his own life; he hears the curse, but discloses nothing." (vs.24)

Its very simple, become an accomplice to any sin, and you are guilty. To not own up to your own sin is to even accept responsibility for the curse of not only aiding sin, but lying about it as well. It is a very serious crime. And it will lead to spiritual death if it continues without repentance.

I think we think we are protecting ourselves when we remain silent. Matthew 16:26 says: "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?". Ultimately, our eternal lives are more important than anything else. So why do we try and protect ourselves on this earth and risk ruin? Why do we think that appeasing any sinner will be to our greater benefit?

We must think carefully before we act.

5) "The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe." (vs.25)

The snare is ultimately the loss of eternal life. The fear of man is the absence of the fear of God. We distrust God and his promises. And yet, to fear God is our ultimate safety and prosperity.

I have realised recently, that what we blame is what we trust. This is not a foolproof saying. Many people blame God for the bad things in this world, but they don't trust God. But you might blame government for what's going wrong - so you are really trusting the government because you are saying it was their duty to begin with. You might blame a friend for betraying you, meaning that you trusted your friend to remain loyal.

Its similar to how we encounter our fears. When we fear something, we live for it. I'm scared of making people unhappy, so I continually try to appease them. I'm scared that my dog might die soon, so I'm going to spend every waking moment with it.

But when have we regularly heard "I fear the Lord, so I'm going to live for him"?

And I'm not saying, be scared of God. But if we truly honored God, respected him, wouldn't we live for him? Wouldn't we then be safe?

Conclusion

Look, I'm not saying the book of Proverbs is always neat and organised how we like it. But you have to say, these little chips of wisdom are incredibly helpful.

And yet I may remind you, that no matter how many proverbs you collect along the way, you must always ask the Lord to continue to make you wise. God shows us himself in his word. At the heart of the Lord is wisdom. Pray that God's wisdom might surface in your life, and within your heart.

Thanks for joining me on day 29 of #31daysofproverbs!!