Give Me Context

Proverbs 27:26 (KJV) The lambs are for thy clothing, and the goats are the price of the field.

When you hear sheep and goats mentioned together you think of judgment and Jesus separating them, or at least I do.  Our conception is that sheep, or here lambs, are the righteous and goats are the bad guys.  Notice that does not apply here.

Be careful in your choice of words.  Even more important be careful of your interpretation of words.  They do not always mean the same.  Another example might be milk.  At one place you have the joy of a land of milk and honey.  At another you are urged to grow beyond the milk of the word as baby food.

So?  Never get complacent.  Be aware of the danger of drifting and not thinking.  God speaks but we need to listen.  

There Is an Answer

(Pro 27:11 KJV)  My son, be wise, and make my heart glad, that I may answer him that reproacheth me.

We all come across times when others “reproach” (2778) us for one reason or another.  That is life but we don’t need to enjoy it.  Neither do we need to let it drag us down.

The obvious qualifications should be noted.  When someone criticizes you start by listening to what they are saying.  Consider it as objectively as you can.  Ignore or implement change as required.  That should be part of our basic response.

With me the emotional pressure is what mounts and does not want to go away.  When criticized unjustly I can acknowledge that it is unjust, but it still inflicts pain.  How do I deal with it, or more accurately, how should I deal with it?  The suggestion here implies that there are areas of our lives where we have done well.  The example here is a son who has shown wisdom.  The idea is to keep reminding yourself of your successes to keep the negatives in check.

So?  I think we have all done some good.  It may take a bit of thinking when we are being attacked but give it some time.  Just as you relied on God’s grace to do well now you need to call on the Holy Spirit to bring those times to mind.  

Not Always

Proverbs 27:13 (KJV) Take his garment that is surety for a stranger, and take a pledge of him for a strange woman.

At other places we are told not to borrow or loan.  We are told to return someone’s coat at night so they can stay warm.  Here it seems to be totally different advice.  What is different?

The Bible differentiates between the deserving and the undeserving poor.  One is poor through no fault of their own.  The other has generally made of lot of bad decisions that put him in his situation.  Here we are confronting the one who has violated God’s directions and we are told to let him be cold tonight.  These two situations have people taking the resources that God has given them and turning them over to the undeserving.

So?  We are told be generous, yes.  We are also to be discerning.  We are not to be motivated by the touchy feely values of the world.  Share with those in need but not if you know they will use it for a life of dissipation and rebellion. 

Preserving Riches

Proverbs 27:24 (KJV) For riches are not for ever: and doth the crown endure to every generation?

Don’t be distracted by the word “riches”.  The immediate context here is the obvious meaning of the word.  The connotation has to do with David and his descendants.  It applies to us in our daily life.

Think of the holidays that are just past.  Think of the gatherings to come.  In your mind look around the table and see all the people that you have influenced over the years.  The point here is that you continue to influence them.  They’re still watching.  You may not think they’re listening, and it’s true.  They may not actually hear the words you say, but they hear the words you live.  Your influence over your children and your extended family never ends.

I know that, especially when you get older, you feel like no one cares and that you have nothing else to give.  That is not true.  Even your neighbors watch how you respond to things.  People in the car next to you watch how you drive.  When you pray over your meal in a restaurant, other diners, watch how you treat servers.

So?  We always have to maintain our spiritual and social accounts.  Live is God designed you to live and the investment will pay off.  

Trust Resolution

Proverbs 27:27 (KJV) And thou shalt have goats' milk enough for thy food, for the food of thy household, and for the maintenance for thy maidens.

Does God make New Year’s resolutions?  Somehow, I don’t think He needs to do that.  Since He has no weaknesses or failures, what is there to resolve?  If there is any resolving to be done it’s on a constant basis and it’s part of His character.  So maybe we can assume that an attribute of God is continually providing for us.

Remember in the Lord‘s prayer we are to ask for our daily bread.  It’s not a matter of a long-term investments.  It’s a matter of being provided for now.  I think God lives in a constant state of resolution.  Probably a better word for that is commitment.  God is committed to see that we have enough goats milk.  You don’t like goats milk?  Talk to God about that; I can’t help you.

So?  As we moved towards throwing out our old calendar and digging out the new one it’s a time for us to be reminded not just that we need to continually improve, but there are certain things that we can continually count on.  

Details, Details

Proverbs 27:20 (KJV) Hell and destruction are never full; so the eyes of man are never satisfied.

I was listening to a podcast where a Bible teacher named Stephen Gregg was talking about the different historical views of hell.  Evidently before Augustine there were various views that are still around today, but are not quite as popular.  It was interesting.  Here though we get some insight into what hell would be like.

The keyword here that I’m looking at is the word “satisfied”.  What doesn’t come through in the KJV, but is there in the NASB, is that the word “full” is the same word in Hebrew as "satisfied".  This is giving me an insight into what hell will be like.  Excepting the lake of fire and the torment this would give an explanation of a part of the torment.

Just as we as human beings in this life seem to be never satisfied, we always want more, so it will be if we spend an eternity in hell.  In addition to the torment, there will be this unremitting sense of incompleteness.

So?  Anyway you look at it, eternity without Jesus is going to be utter misery.  This just makes it a little worse.  Of course the alternative is to trust in Him and have eternal life.  It seems an easy choice to me  

Stop Braying

Proverbs 27:22 (KJV) Though thou shouldest bray a fool in a mortar among wheat with a pestle, yet will not his foolishness depart from him.

First a word for you King James enthusiasts.  Do you know what it means to bray?  I have to guess that most people under age would have no idea.  Those who are a little bit older might think of the noise a donkey makes.  Neither one of those is satisfactory here.  You need to find a modern translation and do a little research.  Modern translations come up with “pound”.

What caught my attention this morning was this idea of trying to convince a fool of truth.  Since I’m reluctant to call people fools in the biblical sense, in my mind I insert something less damning.  I just think of someone who’s naïve or possibly uninformed.  It does apply though to a certain mentality that refuses to listen or to seek deeper truth.

This seems to imply that there are some people who are just not open to the truth.  Not only do they not listen but even if you get them to repeat your words, one at a time they don’t get beyond the wax in their ears.  I think the idea here is to stop beating the dead horse.

So?  I hope this type of fool never applies to me.  What it does tell me is that I need to find more positive and different ways to try and get around the obstruction in other people’s minds and hearts.  May God guide me and make me sensitive to where other people are.  

Observing Curfew

Proverbs 27:14 (KJV) He that blesseth his friend with a loud voice, rising early in the morning, it shall be counted a curse to him.

I must confess that this verse mystifies me.  I can’t ever think of a time where I got up early in the morning to shout blessings across the lawn at my neighbor.  Rarely do I see my neighbor early in the morning and when I do he’s inside a car with his stereo on, and his windows rolled up.  I do wave, but I don’t shout.

I think part of the issue here is us wanting attention when we do things that are correct.  I think we should be asking God’s blessing upon our neighbors.  We should double that if they are our friends.  Triple it if they are family.  We should be willing to offer up prayers for people around us without calling attention to ourselves.

So?  Just as our giving to charity and the needy should be done in a quiet way that does not embarrass them, so our blessings should also be restrained.  Let God be the one that hears.  

Who Is That in the Mirror?

Proverbs 27:22 (KJV) Though thou shouldest bray a fool in a mortar among wheat with a pestle, yet will not his foolishness depart from him.

It would seem that fools never learn.  It would seem that they constantly knock their heads against the same branch and trip over the same root.  We have all met these kind of people.  They are all around us.  We can’t avoid them.

What do we do when we see them in the mirror?

As I read this this morning, the Lord impressed upon me how often I have had to relearn the same lessons.  I know that there are times when walking away from a confrontation just leads to deeper problems.  I tend to walk away anyway.  I know the tire needs more air, but I convinced myself that it will go one more day.  I’m sure that if I wanted to embarrass myself, I could give you many more examples.

So?  I need to get in the habit of applying these lessons to myself, and not just worrying about you.  Oh, I will still worry about you, but I need to make sure that’s not just an excuse to ignore my own shortcomings.  

Faint Praise

Proverbs 27:2 (KJV) Let another man praise thee, and not thine own mouth; a stranger, and not thine own lips.

What do you do if no one ever praises you?  Most of us would admit that is a bit of an exaggeration, even though it often feels that way.  Very few people never get any praise.  The praise may not be sincere, it may not be deserved, but it still shows up somewhere in your life.  I remember in summer camp.  One of the boys was pinning over a young damsel, and we were giving him ideas about how to praise her.  My contribution was that he should tell her, “I like the way you hold your fork.”  I didn’t think it would work then and it probably wouldn’t work now, but it was my contribution.  You can see why people didn’t ask me for advice in the area of romance.

What if it doesn’t seem like anybody is praising you.  That could be for a very good reason, you don’t broadcast the wonderful things you do.  When it comes time to contribute to a special need at the church, you may slip your gift in quietly while others will make a show of it.  You may be the one who comes in in the middle of the week and scrubs the toilets and no one ever thinks about it.  It could also be because you never do anything worth praising. That is something to think about.

So?  Christian humility is a real thing.  It’s a matter of having a lack of pride and arrogance.  It’s a matter of putting others before yourself.  It’s a matter of turning the other cheek and going the extra mile.  Sometimes faint praise is the best kind of praise.  

Some Things Never Change

Proverbs 27:15 (KJV) A continual dropping in a very rainy day and a contentious woman are alike.

Every time I read this I find it a bit amusing. I also find it a bit painful.  I’ll let you guess why it’s painful.

It’s amusing because for one thing it makes me feel the brotherhood of humanity.  Every once in a while I come across things which make me realize that I am not the only one who has experienced something, and when I have one of the great wisdom sources of history producing an idea like this it rings such a loud bell, I feel a oneness with humanity.  Isn’t it amazing how things that are so common today were common 3000 years ago.

So?  Is it any surprises the Bible can speak to us today?  If Solomon was wise enough to find something in common with us, how much more could God do the same?  Read with expectation.

Guardrail

Proverbs 27:15 (KJV) A continual dropping in a very rainy day and a contentious woman are alike.

As I was reading through this chapter this morning, I began wondering about how the Bible speaks to us, and why the Bible speaks to us.  Much of what I was reading could’ve been written by almost anyone.  I picked out the verse today simply because it could have been written by Mark Twain, Ben Stein, or many other people.  But it wasn’t.  It was written by someone.  It was edited by God himself.

That makes it more than just part of a routine at Comedy Central.  It makes it something for us to carefully consider.  It makes it something for us to call upon the Holy Spirit to understand, interpret.  It becomes eternal wisdom.  In that way, it helps to direct us toward truth.  It becomes a guard rail or one of those hand rails that they put in the shower for us old people.  It becomes the card catalog that helps us to find answers that we couldn’t find on our own.

So?  Read and consider what God is trying to say.  He has something for you today.  Just because it’s raining today as I sit on the porch doesn’t mean that I have a contentious woman inside.  There may be another message for me.  I’m listening. 

Not a Coward

Proverbs 27:12 (KJV) A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself; but the simple pass on, and are punished.

Americans tend to channel John Wayne.  We tend to take things head-on and think that our courage, honor and bravery will triumph.  Sometimes that’s the way to go, other times it is better to be “prudent.”  And what does prudent mean in this situation?  It means hiding.  I don’t think that means actually going into a closet, huddling down and covering ourselves with a blanket.  It could simply be a matter of not walking through the door.  It could be a matter of not reading a certain book or magazine article.  It definitely could be avoiding certain movies or entertainments. It is the prudent thing to do.

The hard part is knowing when we should stride forward with confidence that God will protect us, and when we are supposed to avoid the “evil.”  That is where discernment, knowing our scriptures, listening to the Holy Spirit and being willing to be obedient are so crucial.

So?  The place to start is in reading the scripture but we do that with an awareness that the Holy Spirit is going to try and speak to us.  The value in scripture is not how many verses we read, but carefully listening to what they might want to say to us. 

Overflowing

Proverbs 27:7 (KJV) The full soul loatheth an honeycomb; but to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet.

There are times when you read a bit of scripture and send your mind down the trail that might not be specifically the point of the verse, but the idea is real.  Here I got to thinking about how unattractive certain foods are, since we’re talking about honey, when you have just finished a big meal.

When you have all that you need to the point of being satiated, an extra helping doesn’t sound very good.  Where this took me this morning was the experience that a morning filled with worship of Almighty God fortifies me to resist a lot of the nonsense of the day.

I think there may also be an element of discernment here.  When you’re really hungry, you might eat things that you would not normally eat.  When you were really hungry, spiritually, you might fall for appealing ideas that would not even make it to first base if you were healthy.

So?  Prepare your mind as you prepare your heart.  Spending time with the Lord in the morning, or whatever time works best for you, and fill all the empty spaces in your life.  OK, you still need to eat breakfast, but it helps you to control what you have for breakfast. 

Antidote to Temptation

Proverbs 27:7 (KJV) The full soul loatheth an honeycomb; but to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet.

The basic point of this verse resonates.  At the end of a meal, we are less tempted by desert than we would be at the beginning.  We are less inclined to overindulge in sweets when we have overindulged in meat and potatoes.  When we’re hungry, anything tastes good.

This is where the other translations make this a richer understanding.  My first indication of this was looking at the Septuagint, which uses the word “scorn” instead of the KJV’s “loatheth”.  My iPad software is set up right now to run the Septuagint in parallel with the Legacy Standard Bible. In the LSB it has “trample” (947).  When I looked across different translations, I saw that idea of trampling as being echoed, so I looked to the Hebrew a little bit.  There I saw that the basic idea was to step on, or to tread upon, so trampled is probably the best of the translations.

What this told me was that one of the best ways to resist the temptations of life, the sweets or the honeycomb, is to be satiated with the things that God considers righteous and holy.  If I am in a Sunday morning service where we are passionately singing to him “Holy!  Holy!  Holy!”, I find that I have very little inclination to rush off and open a bag of Doritos.  The comparison is foolish, but you get the idea.

So?  Spend some time focusing on the things of God.  I find that meeting with Him in the morning and just thinking about His attributes and the ways in which he has interacted with His chosen people through the ages, gives me a different perspective on my day. Of course, as usual, results may vary. 

Honing

 (Pro 27:17 KJV)  Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.

In this verse, Moffett hits the nail on the head.  Instead of “sharpening” he uses the word “honing” for what is being described.  Iron is not sharpened with iron. It is generally sharpened with stone, grinding stones and such as that.  Think of your workshop.  If you have a grinder, it’s not a steel or iron wheel, but a stone wheel.

Sharpening with a stone removes large amounts of material.  When you have major chips out of your blade, then you need to sharpen it ,which grinds it down to the point where it can be made sharp.  If you are dealing with a knife that’s just a little bit dull you don’t need to grind off a lot of steel. What you do is you straighten out the blade.  This is honing or stropping, which I believe is another word for it.

I think honing is a better word here.  Honing is a kind of sharpening but it’s more fine, more precise, more delicate.  It’s more the approach that we need when we get together with friends to talk about spiritual things.  We usually aren’t out to attack and grind them down, but to fine-tune.

So?  Help your friends to get that razor edge of spiritual life that allows them to cut through all the garbage that is given to us.  Don’t assume they need a major work over.

Literalism Awards

(Pro 27:7 KJV)  The full soul loatheth an honeycomb; but to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet.

The New American Bible gets the award for literalism today.  It has us “trampling” (947) on the honey instead of “loathing” it.  That word is what got my attention.  What makes the difference between rejecting and desiring a bit of food, or many other areas of our lives?  It often comes down to our inner attitude.

Do you laugh at other people’s jokes?  Have you ever noticed that you laugh when one person makes a comment but the same words from someone else will get your hackles up?  It isn’t the words.  It is the attitude.  We assume it is the other person’s attitude but in reality it may be ours.  This is why we are told to turn the other cheek and go the extra mile.  It is why we are to forgive seven times seventy.  It is why a marriage based on the love and grace of God has so much more chance than the generic pagan match-up.

So?  It is always a good time for an attitude check.  It is always a good time to build our foundation of knowledge about God and His standards.  Learn and apply.  Today is a good day to start. 

Slippery! Beware!

(Pro 27:16 KJV)  Whosoever hideth her hideth the wind, and the ointment of his right hand, which bewrayeth itself.

Certain relationships and encounters mark us and we can’t hide them.  Here the conflict is with a nagging wife.  The mark is compared to having “oil” (8081), which is the most common translation of the KJV “ointment” even in the KJV, on your hands.  I recently was using some lubricant out of a spray can.  In the process it adhered everywhere including the outside of the can.  That transferred to my fingers.  Once you get oily substances on your fingers it is almost impossible to get rid of them totally.  If you are forced into repeated contact, then forget it.

So it is in some relationships.  Solomon does not offer a simple solution although the next verse talks about iron sharpening iron.

So?  Accept that your relationships effect you.  Be careful whom you rub shoulders with so that you don’t spread what is negative.  There are probably times when it is better just to do something in solitude and let your attitude get back in shape.

Better a Landlord than a Tenant

(Pro 27:26 KJV)  The lambs are for thy clothing, and the goats are the price of the field.

What are the goats and lambs of your life?  I am not a shepherd.  I have no desire to be a goatherd.  I am content admiring them from afar and letting the children pet them.  At the same time there are things in my life that take their place.  This is a verse in support of free market responsibility.  We are to use our assets to provide for our needs.  Notice that you are not eating the sheep, you are shearing them.  And you are encouraged to buy land.

God expects us to be givers, not takers.  That is a bit of a jump from this but consistent with it.  I am not to expect my neighbors goats to supply my clothing.  I think it also implies it is better to own the field than rent.

So?  Consider God’s guidance of your financial life as much as your spiritual walk.  Maybe they are intertwined more than we think.

Face It

(Pro 27:23 KJV)  Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks, and look well to thy herds.

My eyes were drawn to the marginal readings of this verse.  The word “condition” (6440) seems pretty straightforward but the margin says it literally means “face”.  We have run into this before.  

(Pro 24:23 KJV)  These things also belong to the wise. It is not good to have respect of persons (6440) in judgment.

In the other references it is a negative application.  We are not to give special preference because of class or income.  Here it is a positive instruction.  It is the personal touch in managing our life.  This might be a caution in the age of working from home, social media and attending church on zoom.  Those activities in themselves are not evil.  The caution is that we are not to lose the personal touch that is best done face to face.

So?  Keep thinking and applying God’s principles.  Stay involved with family, friends, neighbors and other contacts.