Proverbs 15:3 ESV The eyes of the Lord are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good. [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=proverbs+15%3A3&version=ESV] Surveillance is a fact of modern life. You might be in London and China, where cameras watch your every move; you might be on eBay or Netflix, where your information is (probably) fodder…
Proverbs 15:2 ESV The tongue of the wise commends knowledge, but the mouths of fools pour out folly. [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=proverbs+15%3A2&version=ESV] We expect good things from good people, bad things from bad people, and lies from politicians. This is as it should be, but it’s only the beginning of the truth this verse points to: the…
Why do we need scientific studies to convince us that common sense was right in the first place? On one hand, sometimes common sense is not exactly right and studies disprove myths and legends. On the other hand, we are limited as humans in our knowledge and insight such that biases and blind spots can…
Proverbs 15:1 ESV A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=proverbs+15%3A1&version=ESV] Proverbs is known as a book of practical advice, and today’s verse is one of the reasons why. This verse admonishes us to consider the impact of our words and actions. Harshness encourages anger, and gentleness discourages…
Proverbs 14:35 ESV A servant who deals wisely has the king’s favor, but his wrath falls on one who acts shamefully. [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=proverbs+14%3A35&version=ESV] We live in a world which rewards evildoing, to all appearance. In politics, evil men prosper, are raised up by their fellows to great heights of power and wealth, exercise their ill…
Proverbs 14:34 ESV Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people. [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=proverbs+14%3A34&version=ESV] How do we assess the nations we live in, the governments we live under, the peoples we are born amidst? We could run calculations and figure out the local or national GDP; we could consider how much we…
Proverbs 14:33 ESV Wisdom rests in the heart of a man of understanding, but it makes itself known even in the midst of fools. [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=proverbs+14%3A33&version=ESV] Wisdom is recognizable. Even the most foolish of men occasionally has a good idea; even the most foolish can recognize wisdom. We are, after all, made in the image…
Proverbs 14:32 ESV The wicked is overthrown through his evildoing, but the righteous finds refuge in his death. [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=proverbs+14%3A32&version=ESV] Isaiah 57:1 echoes (in much more poetic terms) a sentiment that our lives and our world urges on us perpetually: “The righteous man perishes, and no one lays it to heart; devout men are taken…
Proverbs 14:31 ESV Whoever oppresses a poor man insults his Maker, but he who is generous to the needy honors him. [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=proverbs+14%3A31&version=ESV] God made man in His image. The Fall marred that image but did not destroy it. Therefore, when man harms his fellow man, he assaults the image of God, not mere arrangements of…
Proverbs 14:30 ESV A tranquil heart gives life to the flesh, but envy makes the bones rot. [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=proverbs+14%3A30&version=ESV] The idea of calm is antithetical to modernity. Social media, politics, and the thousand other things we put time into suck us up and portion us out into frenetic, burying bundles of ‘what’s next?’, and I…