Proverbs 14:29 ESV Whoever is slow to anger has great understanding, but he who has a hasty temper exalts folly. [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=proverbs+14%3A29&version=ESV] We like to reduce theology and morality to the simplest possible set of commands. “Don’t kill,” we say- and then get all tripped up about war, capital punishment, and (most commonly) self-defense. “Don’t…
Proverbs 14:28 ESV In a multitude of people is the glory of a king, but without people a prince is ruined. [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=proverbs+14%3A28&version=ESV] For humans, the glory of being a leader is bound up in those led. In paintings and in popular memory, perhaps, the shiny medals and the impressive title and the energetic speeches…
Proverbs 14:27 ESV The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, that one may turn away from the snares of death. [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=proverbs+14%3A27&version=ESV] The world is dangerous to body and soul. Toes can be stubbed, fingers can get squashed, and cars can crash into each other at distressingly high speeds. Temptation is ever…
Proverbs 14:26 ESV In the fear of the LORD one has strong confidence, and his children will have a refuge. [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=proverbs+14%3A26&version=ESV] The world is a precarious place nowadays. Politics are crazy (whatever position you hold), false religions are abounding (from child murder to mere castration, the rituals are impressively depraved), and the economy is……
Proverbs 14:25 ESV A truthful witness saves lives, but one who breathes out lies is deceitful. [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=proverbs+14%3A25&version=ESV] We often condense the ninth commandment (Ex. 20:16) to ‘don’t lie’, and very often, the summarization is perfectly valid. Not lying, usually, is sufficient to avoid bearing false witness against your neighbor. Yet the ninth commandment, like…
Proverbs 14:24 ESV The crown of the wise is their wealth, but the folly of fools brings folly. [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=proverbs+14%3A24&version=ESV] Nuclear bombs and foolishness have something in common: they are, barring divine intervention, self-perpetuating phenomenon, at least until the side effects blow the whole thing to smithereens. See, that’s another way they’re alike. Nuclear bombs…
Proverbs 14:23 ESV In all toil there is profit, but mere talk tends only to poverty. [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=proverbs+14%3A23&version=ESV] It’s an unfortunate reality of life that when we try to get our jobs done by talking about getting them done, nothing really happens. At some point, you have to sit down, buckle up, and get to…
Proverbs 14:22 ESV Do they not go astray who devise evil? Those who devise good meet steadfast love and faithfulness. [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=proverbs+14%3A22&version=ESV] The fine art of misinterpreting the Bible is an old and honored profession, a favorite of prelate, king, and common man alike. The early Christians anticipated the destruction of Jerusalem by getting rid…
Proverbs 14:21 ESV Whoever despises his neighbor is a sinner, but blessed is he who is generous to the poor. [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=proverbs+14%3A21&version=ESV] Today’s verse is the moral counterbalance to last week’s realism. Last week, we got the realpolitik of the situation, the way things are whether we like it or not: people like people who…
Proverbs 14:20 ESV The poor is disliked even by his neighbor, but the rich has many friends. [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=proverbs+14%3A20&version=ESV] ‘Unpleasant but true’ is a fittingly unpleasant commonality. Today’s proverb fits that category well, pointing out as it does the human tendency to align our affections to petty, selfish reasons. We like powerful people, the ones…