Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

The one who gets wisdom loves life;
    the one who cherishes understanding will soon prosper.
A false witness will not go unpunished,
    and whoever pours out lies will perish.
It is not fitting for a fool to live in luxury—
    how much worse for a slave to rule over princes!
A person’s wisdom yields patience;
    it is to one’s glory to overlook an offense.
A king’s rage is like the roar of a lion,
    but his favor is like dew on the grass.
A foolish child is a father’s ruin,
    and a quarrelsome wife is like
    the constant dripping of a leaky roof.
Houses and wealth are inherited from parents,
    but a prudent wife is from the Lord.

• Proverbs 19:8-14

Proverbs 19:13 continual dripping ”An obstinate, argumentative woman is literally like a leak so unrelenting that one has to run from it or go mad (cf. 21:9, 19). Here are two ways to devastate a man: an ungodly son and an irritating wife.

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

In Proverbs 19:8, we see a truism that might not always become fact.  The wise usually like life, but the one who cherishes understanding does not always prosper in this world.  In an ideal situation, it is true, but I have seen too many bullies and dull, yet charismatic people prospering.  There are laments in the Bible that talk about why do the righteous suffer while the wicked prosper.

Proverbs 19.9 clarifies the Ninth Commandment.  If you take the commandment literally, it seems telling the truth only applies in a court case, but then in the Levitical Law, telling the slightest fib is against God’s wishes.  I spent time on this last week, but telling the truth is what God wants us to do, but there are extenuating circumstances, like saving someone else’s life, that might alter what you say.

Proverb 19:10 seems odd, but much of Human resource hiring practices follow this logic.  The hiring manager may pass on nine better qualified candidates to pick the person who lives in the right community, drives the right kind of car, and has the right kind of friends.  The others might have done a better job, but the thought is that if they got rich without gradually working up to being rich, they could be the fool in a palace.  The wisdom is that the fool remains a fool, even with fancy clothes and a nice house.  But the fool may be ill equipped in doing the job of a manager or boss.  The slave is a metaphor for anyone who has only followed orders all their lives.  You have no idea if they can successfully give orders.

The NIV translates Proverbs 19:11 to mean someone who is patient, but other translations use words referring to slow to anger.  The second half relates to overlooking an offense.  That is something desperately needed today.  Even when people tell you that they will allow you to speak your mind, they demand equal time.  They are not listening; they are reloading for the next battle.  But before we disregard patience completely, those people of a certain temperament, me being one, can make up their mind quickly, it is hard for them to be patient with others, those who want more input, some will not decide with a mountain of input.  So, a lack of patience often accompanies a failure in being slow to anger.

And then the next verse refers to the previous but focuses on the king.  That could be anyone of authority.  I had a boss who might start the day in a reasonably grumpy mood or a mood much worse.  We used to flip a coin to see who would go in to say “Hello.”  If the “fresh meat” survived the onslaught of abuse, we knew it was a “good” day.  If we had to drag him out, half dead, figuratively, we would let the carcass sit in the boss’ office until the boss had to go to a meeting or the restroom.  No matter how urgent the need to talk to the boss, that kind of day was not worth it.

I almost feel like I need to apologize for Rev. MacArthur’s comments on the next proverb.  He is just clarifying the points, but it sounds rather misogynistic.  If you had all the trouble that Solomon did with his wives and concubines, then you might understand the dripping faucet comment in this proverb.  I had a saint of a wife, but she had her moments.  I could not imagine living with that all the time.  I have also met some husbands who were dripping faucets.  Let us read this verse without gender.  But the son who is ungodly, a non-believer… That hurts to the core.

But then the next verse speaks of the corollary.  The parents can provide riches, but a prudent wife is a gift from God.  I can attest to that.

And now let us sing.

The following song is O Perfect Love, All Human Thought Transcending.  This is sung by the Joslin Grove Choral Society.

Closing Prayer

Dear Lord,
We need Your wisdom.  Again these proverbs talk about the rich and those not telling the truth.  Help us be content for You know our needs.  Help us to be wise to deal with the circumstances that we face.  Help us be truthful in our dealings with others.  It is always a joke to never pray for patience because You will send something to test the little patience that we have, but Lord, we need patience.  Our timing is not the same as Yours, but Your timing is perfect.
In thy Name we pray.
Amen

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.