The Proverbs 31 Project: Commenting May 18th on Proverbs 18:9-12

[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 offer my amateur comments on verses 9-12.  Today's inspired verses are in red, and my comments are neither       (neither inspired, nor red).

PROVERBS 18

1 An unfriendly person pursues selfish ends
and against all sound judgment starts quarrels.


2 Fools find no pleasure in understanding
but delight in airing their own opinions.


3 When wickedness comes, so does contempt,
and with shame comes reproach.


4 The words of the mouth are deep waters,
but the fountain of wisdom is a rushing stream.


5 It is not good to be partial to the wicked
and so deprive the innocent of justice.


6 The lips of fools bring them strife,
and their mouths invite a beating.


7 The mouths of fools are their undoing,
and their lips are a snare to their very lives.


8 The words of a gossip are like choice morsels;
they go down to the inmost parts.

9 One who is slack in his work
is brother to one who destroys.

9) That's because of entropy.  The tendency of all things is to fall apart; to separate, rather than join; to scatter instead of gather and join; to move from order to disorder.  Look at your desk.  Since you last organized the whole thing, has it randomly become more, or less....satisfying to look upon?   We must put intelligent and deliberate "work" in every day just to maintain a certain amount of cleanliness and organization.  If there actually was any observable natural tendency for things to become more systematized, and more greatly advanced (then I MIGHT consider the presently outrageous claims of evolutionary theory), then the common movement of all things toward "destruction" would be obsolete, and we could watch our rooms get cleaner and more orderly while we all just sat around getting better looking and more adorable!

10 The name of the Lord is a fortified tower;
the righteous run to it and are safe.

10) Is there anything "chasing" you?  Guilt?  Fear?  Insecurity?  Sin?  Riches?  Vanity?  Temptation?  Run to "the name of the Lord" and find refuge in that "tower"!  He knows all about it, and wants to be your shelter.

11 The wealth of the rich is their fortified city;
they imagine it a wall too high to scale.

11) I like the subtlety here.  Can't you almost hear Solomon laughing at the idea the wealthy have about the power of their wealth?  I hear his chuckle turn quickly into loud guffaws, and see him ROFL as the rich are shocked and dismayed when their treasures disappear in a flash.

12 Before a downfall the heart is haughty,
but humility comes before honor.


12) So I gather that in God's order, it goes like this:  A person is HAUGHTY (naturally), he has a major or minor DOWNFALL, HUMILITY is born (hopefully), and then he is HONORED!

13 To answer before listening—
that is folly and shame.


14 The human spirit can endure in sickness,
but a crushed spirit who can bear?


15 The heart of the discerning acquires knowledge,
for the ears of the wise seek it out.


16 A gift opens the way
and ushers the giver into the presence of the great.


17 In a lawsuit the first to speak seems right,
until someone comes forward and cross-examines.


18 Casting the lot settles disputes
and keeps strong opponents apart.


19 A brother wronged is more unyielding than a fortified city;
disputes are like the barred gates of a citadel.


20 From the fruit of their mouth a person’s stomach is filled;
with the harvest of their lips they are satisfied.


21 The tongue has the power of life and death,
and those who love it will eat its fruit.


22 He who finds a wife finds what is good
and receives favor from the Lord.


23 The poor plead for mercy,
but the rich answer harshly.


24 One who has unreliable friends soon comes to ruin,
but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother




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

The Proverbs 31 Project: Commenting January 20th on Proverbs 20:1-5

January 20;  Proverbs 20  Verses 1-5

[Please note: The first two paragraphs below are repeated each day for new readers.  My amateur comments are offered below the verses from Proverbs.]

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, the same number as most of our months.  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 the month.  A person might read through the Proverbs a chapter a day during any month, but why mess with your head (reading an extra chapter on one, two, or three days!) like that when there are 7 months every year perfectly suited for the endeavor?

My idea here is to reprint about 1/7 of the verses from each day's chapter throughout this year, every time a 31 day month pops up, and then offer 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, and so on, until December comes around and 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 (is there any doubt?), you will read the whole chapter every day, every 31 day month, and then you will have read the whole book 7 times this year!  By then you are guaranteed to at least be wiser than The Barking Owl , though no one will ever match the wisdom of Solomon!

[All Bible passages are from the NIV, and are copied from www.Biblegateway.com]

Proverbs 20

¹ Wine is a mocker and beer a brawler;
   whoever is led astray by them is not wise.

 ² A king’s wrath strikes terror like the roar of a lion;
   those who anger him forfeit their lives.

 ³ It is to one’s honor to avoid strife,
   but every fool is quick to quarrel.

 ⁴ Sluggards do not plow in season;
   so at harvest time they look but find nothing.

 ⁵ The purposes of a person’s heart are deep waters,
   but one who has insight draws them out.

1) Remember the old add campaign?  "Riunite on ice!  That's nice!"  No?  So either you have a failed memory, or you are pitifully young!  Anyway, when I was a freshman in college in 1977, Wisconsinites could buy alcohol at age 18, so I did.  I fell for this stupid ad and I brought a bottle of wine back to my private dorm room.  Of course I found some ice, and I made a little habit of drinking wine by myself in my room. ( I had always hated the taste of beer, and only drank half a can when I thought I should be drinking with my seminarian classmates during summer get-togethers.   I wonder if Solomon will get around to saying:  Peer pressure is a bastard.)


Anyway, it wasn't very many bottles before I realized that drinking wine changed me (duh!).  That I became something I wasn't without it.  That I was giving my spirit over, and letting its spirit move me instead.  I never got falling down drunk, and nobody ever even noticed what I was doing, but I knew that this wine was not so nice.  That it was mocking me.  I quit.  I thank God today, that He kept me from being led too far astray by the mocking wine, or the brawling beer.


2) We know we should 'fear' the rogue IRS agent, or the uncontrolled social welfare worker, or the poorly vetted cop in the middle of the night.  A person with more power than they can decently manage is a scary thing.  Like a terrible King, or a violent dictator.  But God we should fear, because He is right, and does right.

pic from aaroniswhatever.tumbir.com

3) Ever been tempted to fight?  Think of Marty McFly being called "chicken".  In the end he made the 'honorable' decision and did not enter into the road race that nearly killed Needles, the obvious fool.  Not every fight can be avoided.  When an enemy is pouring over the border, or a fool is invading your home, it must be taken up with vigor until won. 

4) There is a time to work, and a time to play.  Work when the time is right, or there will be no play.


5) Remember Proverbs 18:4?  It was just two days ago!  Anyway, we were told there that "the words of the mouth are deep waters", and they were contrasted with the fountain of wisdom.  Here, another good thing is hidden in the larger volume, and waits to be distilled.  This is encouraging.  You may know someone, or be someone, who speaks too much, or withholds too much.  In either case there may be some refreshing drinks of wisdom, or the promise of great works, that need to be separated and nourished.