The Proverbs 31 Project: Commenting July 3rd on Proverbs 3:16-20

Got 31 days in the month?  

God's got 31 chapters in the book of Proverbs! 

What a coincidence!

For each date then, again this month, you will find commentary on a few verses from the corresponding chapter. There are 7 months in the year with 31 days, so I divided each chapter into 7 parts and spread them out so that each verse will be reviewed on the date related to its chapter by the same number name.  No, I am not deliberately trying to make this explanation complicated! (But, if you can explain my system any better than I have tried to do in the past three 31-day months, there is probably a proverb proclaiming your wisdom, and you will be recognized here for your high achievement!).

Below this introduction you will find the whole chapter representing today's date, with this month's verses highlighted in red, and my amateur comments for today low lighted in blue. Enjoy!

PROVERBS 3

Wisdom Bestows Well-Being

1 My son, do not forget my teaching,
but keep my commands in your heart,
2 for they will prolong your life many years
and bring you peace and prosperity.


3 Let love and faithfulness never leave you;
bind them around your neck,
write them on the tablet of your heart.
4 Then you will win favor and a good name
in the sight of God and man.


5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
6 in all your ways submit to him,
and he will make your paths straight.


7 Do not be wise in your own eyes;
fear the Lord and shun evil.
8 This will bring health to your body
and nourishment to your bones.


9 Honor the Lord with your wealth,
with the firstfruits of all your crops;
10 then your barns will be filled to overflowing,
and your vats will brim over with new wine.


11 My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline,
and do not resent his rebuke,
12 because the Lord disciplines those he loves,
as a father the son he delights in.


13 Blessed are those who find wisdom,
those who gain understanding,
14 for she is more profitable than silver
and yields better returns than gold.
15 She is more precious than rubies;
nothing you desire can compare with her.
16 Long life is in her right hand;
in her left hand are riches and honor.

16) Who is the "her" here?  "She" is Wisdom!

And she brings long life, riches and honor!  Why do we not beckon her and listen to her counsel, instead of resist and scorn what she has to say?

17 Her ways are pleasant ways,
and all her paths are peace.

17) Oh no!  Now pleasant ways and paths of peace!

18 She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her;
those who hold her fast will be blessed.

18) It all comes back to free will.  Freedom of choice.  On what basis will you make your decisions, big and small?


19 By wisdom the Lord laid the earth’s foundations,
by understanding he set the heavens in place;

19) Any cursory glance at the "earth's foundations", or deep look into the heavens, will reveal the under girding wisdom of God.   Our scientists continually reveal the intricacies and marvels of the material world, yet constantly work to dissuade the natural tendency of rational man to connect the wonderfully created with a wonderful creator; instead they propose improvable and scandalously unscientific alternative explanations for its workings and its origin.  Let the truth stand.  It was by His wisdom, accomplished.

20 by his knowledge the watery depths were divided,
and the clouds let drop the dew.

20) If wisdom is knowledge applied correctly, imagine what foundational knowledge God does inherently master. 


21 My son, do not let wisdom and understanding out of your sight,
preserve sound judgment and discretion;
22 they will be life for you,
an ornament to grace your neck.
23 Then you will go on your way in safety,
and your foot will not stumble.
24 When you lie down, you will not be afraid;
when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet.
25 Have no fear of sudden disaster
or of the ruin that overtakes the wicked,
26 for the Lord will be at your side
and will keep your foot from being snared.


27 Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due,
when it is in your power to act.
28 Do not say to your neighbor,
“Come back tomorrow and I’ll give it to you”—
when you already have it with you.
29 Do not plot harm against your neighbor,
who lives trustfully near you.
30 Do not accuse anyone for no reason—
when they have done you no harm.


31 Do not envy the violent
or choose any of their ways.


32 For the Lord detests the perverse
but takes the upright into his confidence.
33 The Lord’s curse is on the house of the wicked,
but he blesses the home of the righteous.
34 He mocks proud mockers
but shows favor to the humble and oppressed.
35 The wise inherit honor,
but fools get only shame.




[Anyone willing to author an explanation of my system, let me know, and if it makes more sense than my attempts (how could it not?) I will use it in October.]


By the way...MILLERWRITES copy is COPYRIGHTED. Why cut and paste when you can simply copy the link?

The Proverbs 31 Project: Commenting May 3rd on Proverbs 3: 11-15

[If you have been here before, in May, then you might want to skip down below the green for today's post.]

"Thirty days hath September, 

April, June and November

All the rest have 31

Except February which has 28

Except during leap year when it has 29"

NO I DID NOT WRITE THIS "POEM"!  (Talk about free verse!)

Why didn't somebody just point out that the four months that do NOT have 31 days (except February, and everyone knows all about February The Exceptional) come every other month except that there is no 30 day month between July and August?  The silly poem above mixes up the order just to hide the fact that the real 30 day months come in two orderly pairs: April/June and September/November.  Can somebody please write a non-silly poem for us that will make this clear, and stick in our minds, but without gooping them up with exceptions (and please just leave February out of it!)?

And to make matters (far) worse, MILLERWRITES has created a Proverbs Pull-A-Part Plan that decimates that fine collection of wisdom in the book of Proverbs, by spreading commentary on each chapter out over 7 months (the good 31 day months)!  Oh don't ask me to explain his system.  You can try to decipher what he said about it at the top of any P31P posts from January or March if you like, or just follow along this month and figure it out.

All Bible passages are from the NIV, and are copied here from Biblegateway.com

REMEMBER: My ideas may be oh so mesmerizing, but you will get more benefit from simply reading the chapter itself!

So here I will offer my amateur comments on verses 11-15.  Today's inspired verses are in red, and my comments are....neither (neither inspired, nor red).

PROVERBS 3

Wisdom Bestows Well-Being

1 My son, do not forget my teaching,
but keep my commands in your heart,
2 for they will prolong your life many years
and bring you peace and prosperity.
3 Let love and faithfulness never leave you;
bind them around your neck,
write them on the tablet of your heart.
4 Then you will win favor and a good name
in the sight of God and man.
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
6 in all your ways submit to him,
and he will make your paths straight.
7 Do not be wise in your own eyes;
fear the Lord and shun evil.
8 This will bring health to your body
and nourishment to your bones.
9 Honor the Lord with your wealth,
with the firstfruits of all your crops;
10 then your barns will be filled to overflowing,
and your vats will brim over with new wine.
11 My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline,
and do not resent his rebuke,

11) "Thank you Lord, for your discipline and rebuke!"  How far off the 'proverbial' deep end would we be without God's interference?  Deep enough.  I remember realizing that water doesn't have to be 100 feet deep to drown in; if it's over your head, that's enough.  So much of this life is 'over my head', and I need God's help.  ALL of His helps.

12 because the Lord disciplines those he loves,
as a father the son he delights in.

12) How God honors us by His love!  Remember Psalm 8?  "What is man, that you think of Him?"  And here He goes on to say that He 'delights' in us!  I know that joyous feeling I get when I think of any one of my three adult kids.  No matter what is/was going on, I get a dreamy eyed, smiley, DELIGHT in the back of my mind.  God gets something like that when He remembers ME  (and YOU)!

13 Blessed are those who find wisdom,
those who gain understanding,

13) Back to the subject: Being subject to the 'Lord's discipline' is the same thing as 'finding wisdom' and 'gaining understanding'.  Let Him do His work in the way He deems fit, and all will be well.  Embrace it all.  (Rewards mentioned below.)

14 for she is more profitable than silver
and yields better returns than gold. 

14) God knows how to speak our language doesn't He?  'Yields better returns than gold.' He says.  Sounds like a midnight infomercial, but with credibility, and without shipping and handling fees.  I'm in.  "Lord, help me to be ALL in."

15 She is more precious than rubies;
nothing you desire can compare with her. 

15) This claim that 'nothing you desire can compare with [wisdom]' will appear again in Proverbs 8:15 (which we will discover on May 8th).  We used to sing a worship song based on this idea, but after listing various beautiful and precious things (silver, gold, diamonds), the chorus declared that "Nothing I desire compares with YOU" referring of course, to our great God.  I loved that song, and I remember the time the worship leader asked for more down to earth examples of wonderful and rare things we might actually desire, but would gladly exchange for God's presence.  In Ketchikan Alaska (where it is almost always either raining or overcast), we then sang about sunshine!  What lovely thing are you longing for, but would give up in a minute, if you could have more of God Himself?

16 Long life is in her right hand;
in her left hand are riches and honor.
17 Her ways are pleasant ways,
and all her paths are peace.
18 She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her;
those who hold her fast will be blessed.
19 By wisdom the Lord laid the earth’s foundations,
by understanding he set the heavens in place;
20 by his knowledge the watery depths were divided,
and the clouds let drop the dew.
21 My son, do not let wisdom and understanding out of your sight,
preserve sound judgment and discretion;
22 they will be life for you,
an ornament to grace your neck.
23 Then you will go on your way in safety,
and your foot will not stumble.
24 When you lie down, you will not be afraid;
when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet.
25 Have no fear of sudden disaster
or of the ruin that overtakes the wicked,
26 for the Lord will be at your side
and will keep your foot from being snared.
27 Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due,
when it is in your power to act.
28 Do not say to your neighbor,
“Come back tomorrow and I’ll give it to you”—
when you already have it with you.
29 Do not plot harm against your neighbor,
who lives trustfully near you.
30 Do not accuse anyone for no reason—
when they have done you no harm.
31 Do not envy the violent
or choose any of their ways.
32 For the Lord detests the perverse
but takes the upright into his confidence.
33 The Lord’s curse is on the house of the wicked,
but he blesses the home of the righteous.
34 He mocks proud mockers
but shows favor to the humble and oppressed.
35 The wise inherit honor,
but fools get only shame.




By the way...MILLERWRITES copy is COPYRIGHTED. Why cut and paste when you can simply copy the link?

The Proverbs 31 Project: Commenting January 3rd on Proverbs 3:1-4

January 3;   Proverbs 3:1-4



Christians looking for a simple way to review the Bible regularly have long been convenienced by the fact that the book of Proverbs has 31 chapters.  Each chapter includes multiple bite-sized verses (uhm, proverbs) and can be read through simply in one sitting, one appropriately numbered chapter per day through a month.  My simple mind balks at the idea of trying this pattern in any month with less than 31 days  (It just does, all right?), but there are 7 months every year that are suitable for the effort.

My idea here is to share about 1/7 of the verses of each day's chapter on my blog throughout this year, every time a 31 day month pops up, along with a few comments from The Barking Owl.  So in January, we will get through the first few verses of every chapter and then in March, the next group, so that by the time December comes around we can finally get to the last set of verses in each chapter and complete the book's reading.  If you  are smarter than I am, you will read the whole chapter related to each day, every 31 day month, and then you will have read the whole book 7 times this year!  By then you are guaranteed to be wiser than Solomon AND The Barking Owl together!


Proverbs 3

¹ My son, do not forget my teaching, 
   but keep my commands in your heart, 
² for they will prolong your life many years 
   and bring you peace and prosperity.

 ³ Let love and faithfulness never leave you;
   bind them around your neck,
   write them on the tablet of your heart. 

This admonition from Solomon to his son echos what our heavenly Father would want us to hear.  As my own Dad used to yell when Walter Chronchite started talking over our raucous noise at home: "LISTEN!"  But here Solomon starts to connect promises with his counsel.  Spock used to say "Live long and prosper" right?  But it seems he only suggested logic as the key.  And Solomon throws a life of peace in to sweeten the deal even more!

Then old Sol ups the ante by telling his sons to incorporate love and faithfulness in with the wisdom!  And I do mean incorporate.  These two ingredients should apparently be as intimate as our breathing and blood flow!