Proverbs 14: 1-14

Contrast the Upright and the Wicked

¹The wise woman builds her house,
But the foolish tears it down with her own hands.
²He who walks in his uprightness fears the LORD,
But he who is devious in his ways despises Him.
³In the mouth of the foolish is a rod for his back,
But the lips of the wise will protect them.
⁴Where no oxen are, the manger is clean,
But much revenue comes by the strength of the ox.
⁵A trustworthy witness will not lie,
But a false witness utters lies.
⁶A scoffer seeks wisdom and finds none,
But knowledge is easy to one who has understanding.
⁷Leave the presence of a fool,
Or you will not discern words of knowledge.
⁸The wisdom of the sensible is to understand his way,
But the foolishness of fools is deceit.
⁹Fools mock at sin,
But among the upright there is good will.
¹⁰The heart knows its own bitterness,
And a stranger does not share its joy.
¹¹The house of the wicked will be destroyed,
But the tent of the upright will flourish.
¹²There is a way which seems right to a man,
But its end is the way of death.
¹³Even in laughter the heart may be in pain,
And the end of joy may be grief.
¹⁴The backslider in heart will have his fill of his own ways,
But a good man will be satisfied with his.

Today's Thought Question:

1. What proverb in today's passage spoke to you and why?

There would seem to be an abundance of good choices for verses to look at today. Again, I'm having difficulty picking just one....


Verse 4: "Where no oxen are, the manger is clean, but much revenue comes by the strength of the ox." For the mother of a preschooler, having a clean "manger" is fairly impossible most days. Sometimes, you just long for having a clean house. If you could just send the kids away long enough to clean it....

Sometimes, an investment in something big, unwieldy and possibly dirt-producing is just what you need to bring strength to your day. You might not like cleaning up after your "ox," but where would you be without it?

I feel a little guilty thinking about "oxen" I have acquired over the years to get "jobs" done. Those preschooler toys, for instance. What some children (and maybe their moms, too) see as a play palace, for my daughters, who have some sensory needs, the purchase of special equipment, like a trampoline, swings for their doorways and a large exercise ball is just what they need. Those investments--along with the resulting adaptations to the "manger"--are what they need to function at a level of quality.

Sometimes the "oxen" is the job that's the monkey on our back! But God provides each with his or her own work to do, and we need to rejoice and be glad in it, and in the strength and, yes, revenue, provided by that chosen "oxen."

Verse 13 doesn't tie into the above, but it definitely spoke to me with sobering thoughts: "Even in laughter the heart may be in pain, and the end of joy may be grief." We are fools if we see laughing without looking at the context of the bigger picture. So often upon a person's passing, there is laughter in the remembrances, but the pain of the loss doesn't just disappear with a laugh. There are also those cases in which people laugh to hide their pain. One needs to truly know a person to see the difference in real laughter versus fake.

Joy is so difficult to explain, which is why this proverb is so rich in truth. Even as we know a situation works out for the good of those the Lord loves--and that is joy--that doesn't mean we might not also be crying, experiencing loss, suffering. Jesus would know about that.

"Backslider in heart"--now there's a phrase to remember! That could be a whole post in itself. Looking forward to your thoughts and your choices today!



Photo: http://www.istrianet.org/istria/fauna/cattle/images/oxen-yoked1tm430.jpg

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Tomorrow's Scripture Focus and Thought Question:

Proverbs 14: 15-25

1. What proverb in today's passage spoke to you and why?
   

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Note: I read from the New American Standard Bible translation, specifically, The MacArthur Study Bible (NASB). I will quote other sources if used in a post.
I also use Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (with notes from the King James Version).