The Proverbs 31 Project: Commenting May 24th on Proverbs 24:10-14

[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 10-14.  Today's inspired verses are in red, and my comments are neither       (neither inspired, nor red).

PROVERBS 24

Saying 20


1 Do not envy the wicked,
do not desire their company;
2 for their hearts plot violence,
and their lips talk about making trouble.
Saying 21


3 By wisdom a house is built,
and through understanding it is established;
4 through knowledge its rooms are filled
with rare and beautiful treasures.
Saying 22


5 The wise prevail through great power,
and those who have knowledge muster their strength.
6 Surely you need guidance to wage war,
and victory is won through many advisers.
Saying 23


7 Wisdom is too high for fools;
in the assembly at the gate they must not open their mouths.
Saying 24


8 Whoever plots evil
will be known as a schemer.
9 The schemes of folly are sin,
and people detest a mocker

Saying 25

10 If you falter in a time of trouble,
how small is your strength!

10) So having any "strength" at all is defined by its ability to carry us through "trouble" without faltering.  Notice that trouble is assumed.  We all will have a measure of trouble in life, and in fact, the longer we live, the more trouble we should expect.  Under the right conditions, however, strength should keep up with the trouble, and even grow at a greater rate.

11 Rescue those being led away to death;
hold back those staggering toward slaughter.

11) Would that it were so easy!  At least spiritually speaking, "those staggering toward slaughter" resist being "held back".  I am convinced, however, that the reality of a guilty concience's voice is never truly unnoticed.  It is waving its arms to help avoid the slaughter as well, but needs the heart to relent, so the very spirit can be saved.

12 If you say, “But we knew nothing about this,”
does not he who weighs the heart perceive it?
Does not he who guards your life know it?
Will he not repay everyone according to what they have done?

12) Thankfully, when it comes time to be judged by God, none of us will be tempted to try to lie our way out of the trouble we deserve.  Standing (or falling) before the righteous, all-knowing God, all truth is self-evident.  No denials, excuses or fingerpointing blame games will impact what God already knows to be the truth.  Adam tried to blame Eve, and Eve tried to blame the serpent, but God's judgement did not flinch.  He already knew what was needed and had to be done.  Death did indeed enter the world that day, and man and women both began to live under the symbolic curses God imposed.

BUT BY GOD'S EXTREME LOVE AND GRACE, HE ALREADY KNEW WHAT HE WOULD HAVE TO DO TO REDEEM MANKIND!  Also that day, God began His plan of redemption through the Son, and predicted (promised) that His Son would crush Satan's head!

Saying 26

13 Eat honey, my son, for it is good;
honey from the comb is sweet to your taste.
13) Amazing!  He mentions nothing here about eating the honey with peanut butter!  That must come in Proverbs 32.

14 Know also that wisdom is like honey for you:
If you find it, there is a future hope for you,
and your hope will not be cut off.

14) I guess we will find out later what peanut butter "is like" for you.  The first month that comes along with 32 days, we will discuss among ourselves!

Saying 27


15 Do not lurk like a thief near the house of the righteous,
do not plunder their dwelling place;
16 for though the righteous fall seven times, they rise again,
but the wicked stumble when calamity strikes.
Saying 28


17 Do not gloat when your enemy falls;
when they stumble, do not let your heart rejoice,
18 or the Lord will see and disapprove
and turn his wrath away from them.
Saying 29


19 Do not fret because of evildoers
or be envious of the wicked,
20 for the evildoer has no future hope,
and the lamp of the wicked will be snuffed out.
Saying 30


21 Fear the Lord and the king, my son,
and do not join with rebellious officials,
22 for those two will send sudden destruction on them,
and who knows what calamities they can bring?
Further Sayings of the Wise

23 These also are sayings of the wise:


To show partiality in judging is not good:
24 Whoever says to the guilty, “You are innocent,”
will be cursed by peoples and denounced by nations.
25 But it will go well with those who convict the guilty,
and rich blessing will come on them.


26 An honest answer
is like a kiss on the lips.


27 Put your outdoor work in order
and get your fields ready;
after that, build your house.


28 Do not testify against your neighbor without cause —
would you use your lips to mislead?
29 Do not say, “I’ll do to them as they have done to me;
I’ll pay them back for what they did.”


30 I went past the field of a sluggard,
past the vineyard of someone who has no sense;
31 thorns had come up everywhere,
the ground was covered with weeds,
and the stone wall was in ruins.
32 I applied my heart to what I observed
and learned a lesson from what I saw:
33 A little sleep, a little slumber,
a little folding of the hands to rest —
34 and poverty will come on you like a thief
and scarcity like an armed man.




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