Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

The proverbs of Solomon:
A wise son brings joy to his father,
    but a foolish son brings grief to his mother.
Ill-gotten treasures have no lasting value,
    but righteousness delivers from death.
The Lord does not let the righteous go hungry,
    but he thwarts the craving of the wicked.
Lazy hands make for poverty,
    but diligent hands bring wealth.
He who gathers crops in summer is a prudent son,
    but he who sleeps during harvest is a disgraceful son.
Blessings crown the head of the righteous,
    but violence overwhelms the mouth of the wicked.
The name of the righteous is used in blessings,
    but the name of the wicked will rot.
The wise in heart accept commands,
    but a chattering fool comes to ruin.

• Proverbs 10:1-8

“Proverbs 10:8 receive commands ”To finish the parallelism, the wise listens and is teachable; therefore, he will be lifted up. The fool, always talking, falls because he rejects God’s commands.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

Not that there was not a lot of wisdom in the nine chapters explaining that a son should seek wisdom, we are now in the “proverbs” of Solomon.

The first proverb is a parallelism between the wise son and the foolish son.  It is rather obvious that the wise son brings joy while the foolish son brings grief, but Solomon adds a little bit of human nature to those emotions.  The joy is that of the father, but the grief is felt more by the mother.  My wife explained it in that she loved the child for nine more months than I did.  She was joking, but she did have a more vested interest in that child growing up to be wise for those nine months.  As a typical dumb-old Dad, the child in my wife’s womb was an abstract concept, with the terror looming of the birth and being a father in another nine months, minus the countdown.

The next contrast is that ill-gotten gain, by something sinful, has no lasting value.  The old expression is “Easy come, easy go,” although if you are caught, it may not be that easy come.  And righteousness pays for itself beyond the grave.  This could be that a wise father has money left to pass along, but righteousness is its own reward, especially after death and in the presence of Jesus.

The next verse is similar to the last.  The righteous do not go hungry, but in these days of inflation, unemployment, and greed, some are hungry.  Yet the wicked have cravings that go unanswered.  No matter how much they have, they will crave more.

The next parallelism is that laziness can lead to poverty while the diligent brings wealth.  In my experience, I maintained my job at a couple of my employers by being the workhorse.  It led to a sustained job, but not wealth.  Yet, I might have easily been a “righteous” person who was hungry if I had not been so diligent.

The parallelism of prudent versus disgraceful is looking at whether we harvest the crops at the right time or if we sleep.  This kind of parallels three of the previous four verses, with the exception of 10:2.

Now in the sixth proverb, verses 2 and 3 return with violence afflicting the wicked, and the seventh proverb associates the wicked with rot.

The eighth proverb reminds me of a Mark Twain saying, “It is easier to remain silent and thought a fool than to open one’s mouth and remove all doubt.”  But Solomon is talking about how listening to God’s voice and God’s Commands are hard to do if you are talking, especially telling others what to do without understanding the situation in the first place.

And now let us sing.

The following song is sung by Rosemary Siemens, with Jack and Mary Siemens, Take Time to Be Holy.  The old hymn gives practical examples of how we can seek righteousness, which is a repeated theme in these proverbs.

“Take time to be holy, speak oft with thy Lord;
Abide in Him always, and feed on His Word.
Make friends of God’s children, help those who are weak,
Forgetting in nothing His blessing to seek.

Take time to be holy, the world rushes on;
Spend much time in secret, with Jesus alone.
By looking to Jesus, like Him thou shalt be;
Thy friends in thy conduct His likeness shall see.

Take time to be holy, let Him be thy Guide;
And run not before Him, whatever betide.
In joy or in sorrow, still follow the Lord,
And, looking to Jesus, still trust in His Word.

Take time to be holy, be calm in thy soul,
Each thought and each motive beneath His control.
Thus led by His Spirit to fountains of love,
Thou soon shalt be fitted for service above.”

• William D. Longstaff, Take Time to Be Holy

Closing Prayer

Dear Lord,
We need Your wisdom.  Lord, help us to seek righteousness and turn away from sin.  Remind us that hard work is necessary in life.  We must not shirk it.  And Lord, we need to practice our concentration on You.  We must listen to You and study Your Word to test the voice that we hear.
In thy Name we pray.
Amen

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.