June 11, 2023 - Proverbs 10-15

These chapters are full of antithetical parallelisms, that is, statements of contrast: “This . . . but that . . .” I would not be surprised if Solomon, as he writes, is thinking about Psalm 1 (written by his father David?), which lays out two contrasting paths: the way of the righteous and the way of the wicked. Selected proverbs from these chapters . . .

“The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable, but the mouth of the wicked what is perverse” (10:32).

“Whoever belittles his neighbor lacks sense, but a man of understanding remains silent” (11:12).

“One gives freely, yet grows all the richer; another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want” (11:25). Now, that’s an interesting observation!

“The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied” (12:4).

“A tranquil heart gives life to the flesh, but envy makes the bones rot” (14:30).

I might be wrong (I have not actually counted), but it seems the preponderance of the proverbs in these chapters has to do either with possessions or the mouth. I wonder, as James wrote his epistle, if he often referred to these chapters. Certainly, these are two areas of our lives that are greatly susceptible to Satan’s temptations. How easily we speak badly of others. And how we strive after that which perishes, is eaten by moths, and is taken by thieves. Better like the man of Psalm 1 who “is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers” (Psalm 1:3).

All that I am and have,

Thy gifts so free,

In joy, in grief, thro’ life,

Dear Lord, for Thee!

And when Thy face I see,

My ransom’d soul shall be,

Thro’ all eternity,

Something for Thee. -- S. Dryden Phelps (1862)