“The proverbs of Solomon. A wise son maketh a glad father: but a foolish son is the heaviness of his mother. Treasures of wickedness profit nothing: but righteousness delivereth from death. The Lord will not suffer the soul of the righteous to famish: but he casteth away the substance of the wicked. He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand: but the hand of the diligent maketh rich. He that gathereth in summer is a wise son: but he that sleepeth in harvest is a son that causeth shame.” (Proverbs 10:1-5, KJV) [Read Proverbs 10].Beginning with Proverbs 10 and continuing through chapter 22, the wisdom sayings cover well the subject of one’s right response to wisdom and the earthly consequences resulting. Likewise wisdom or righteous living is starkly contrasted to the consequences that come from following after sin and folly. Ancient thinkers evidently observed the orderliness of the world and recognized that living in harmony with certain laws of God and of nature brings good to those who follow this way. Given in the familiar poetic form of Hebrew parallelism, the positive statement and result of following wisdom are compared to the foolishness and suffering of following folly. For example, this is a known fact and should, therefore, form a way of life: “A wise son makes a glad father, but a foolish son is the grief of his mother” (Proverbs 10:1). And so the wise advice continues, covering almost every subject the sage can think of and giving sound advice to those who need to choose the righteous way over the foolish way.
The major subject of chapter 10 of Proverbs is that the righteous enjoys blessings but the wicked suffer greatly. Involved in this sage advice is a lot of practical living. We know that harmony in the home comes from love, nourishing and proper instruction from loving parents. A result is that the son then makes his father glad (we could say makes parents glad, but in the days of Solomon, the emphasis was upon a male-dominated society). On the other hand, a non-obedient and foolish son brings great grief upon a mother. This instruction undergirds the command of God: “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you” (Exodus 20:12).
“But what about when bad things happen to good people?” we want to ask. The emphasis of Proverbs 10 is always positive on the side of righteousness. What if a person follows wisdom’s ways and lives a righteous life, but things do not always turn out in a prosperous manner? Think of Job and all he lost, and the condemnations his ‘friends’ leveled at him because of what they considered his sin and folly. We must remember in our consideration of Job that he never lost the “fear of the Lord,” and as Proverbs emphasizes, that is “the beginning of wisdom.”
These parallelisms and contrasts in Proverbs offer centuries of observation in living the God-fearing life. They prove true in the majority of cases but may not be true in every case. They should not be used to condemn ourselves and others if we do not reach a certain standard of blessings and prosperity. In each of these proverbs, on a variety of subjects and situations faced in the course of normal living, we have the ideal in perseverance, courage, integrity, and right living. The rewards are the care and presence of God and respect from those among whom we live. Without fail, these proverbs teach that we are to reach toward our maximum potential in living the righteous life. When we seek God and follow His way, joy, fellowship and satisfaction result. And after all, these are our ultimate goals, not worldly prosperity.
c Ethelene Dyer Jones; Thursday, July 8, 2010
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