Proverbs

The Book of Proverbs.

2. Wisdom is Treasure

21-22: Important in an age of fears of disinheritance.

3. Trust in the Lord with All Your Heart

I have the love... but what if I'm not steadfast?

5-6:

My mother's bible verses for me.

This is a discipline you can actively pursue.

It should not take you long to find thoughts in yourself, ways of being, that do not yet acknowledge God. Choose to trust. A lot of people feel rotten in their bones because they haven't set all their thoughts to him.

9: This is not just money - this verse assumes you make things. With what you make, does it honor God? The wealth of your life is its time, your words, your enjoyments, your people. Dedicate them to God.

29: Important to keep this in mind in malicious group chats you may encounter.

I fear greater anarchy and injustice in this land as selfish, wicked men band together to exert control over the weaker and less organized.

30-32: Young people are becoming more vicious and some will be tempted to abandon this wisdom more than their parents were.

4. A Father’s Wise Instruction

Everyone wants wealth and glory, few want to be wise.

13 - do not let go - but I find myself forgetting so many of the great insights I've learned, moments of pure love and trust and glory. By the grace of God sometimes they pop back into your head. But I don't always know how to bring back to mind at the right time.

18-27: Straight on the sunshine path!

How do I know what counts as crooked speech? Deception, malice... what about obscure or discreet speech?

5. Adultery

All these warnings apply to pornography - wasted time, guilt, no discipline, berating yourself in church. Don't scatter your streams in desert places.

24. The Words of the Wise

1-2: On the internet, or in business, or in politics -- factions of evil men speaking evil roam about. They can get a lot done and acquire a lot of power, and its easy to envy what success God gives them.

3-4: Wisdom is household building. Homes are not merely sites of relaxation, but of productivity. A couple, or a family with kids, should all be seeking ways to make themselves useful in the local economy - and national, for that matter. What are the things you can make and provide that others can't? Making your family business essential is the test of wisdom. People who haven't established this over decades this should probably not be leaders in the church.

5-6: We cannot expect ourselves to win the culture war in America if we have no property, no leverage, no owned space.

10-12: What's the context here? An unexpected day of battle? Having the foresight to predict what will go wrong so that you can help your neighbor?

17-18: Love your enemy. Overwhelm them with love. Don't rejoice in their humiliation. God does not help gloaters, and if this person really ought to be punished, be humble about it.

19-20: The future is ours if we are righteous.

23-26: We are becoming an obsequious culture that is ill equipped to offer correction. We do not have impartiality and we hesitate to correct wickedness. Then when we rush to overcorrect, we make fools of ourselves.

27: Get your income lined up before you start the house project. Don't get wrapped up in a mortgage and big debts and don't be dependent on other people. Get your own income streams and make things yourself.

28: Don't speak bad about the people you know based on hearsay. You should know firsthand what kind of person they are before you give a report on their conduct.

29: Vengeance belongs to God.

30-34: This still applies perfectly in a non-agricultural context. In craftsmanship, the office, entrepreneurship, academia -- every man has a field. You can usually pick up very quickly if he is a senseless sluggard whose walls are broken down, or if he is careful to tend to whatever yard God has given him.

The sluggard is not preparing to exercise good judgment, he is not taking in wisdom, he is not preparing for the day of adversity, he is not ready to rescue anyone, he is incapable of waging war, and riches are floating through his leaky house.

25. The Proverbs of Solomon

6-7: Don't be a striver, directly. You probably don't belong in Washington D.C. You probably don't belong in the bishop's seat. The young man should focus on developing the kind of wisdom that is unparalleled on earth in his generation, in whatever field he has, and all the executives and presidents will invite you when they have need of you.

8-10: Be slow to litigate. Don't badmouth people even if they screwed you over -- because they can find out what wrong you've done and humiliate you, too. Just put an end to it quietly.

21-22: Love your enemy.

25: Missionaries bring cold water to God's new children.