Proverbs 15:25 ESV The Lord tears down the house of the proud but maintains the widow’s boundaries. [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=proverbs+15%3A25&version=ESV] Powerlessness is a terrifying thing. When “the enemy comes in a’roaring like a flood, coveting the kingdom, and hungering for blood,” we generally feel quite powerless. What are we against the culture’s overwhelming depravity? What are…
Proverbs 15:24 ESV The path of life leads upward for the prudent, that he may turn away from Sheol beneath. [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=proverbs+15%3A24&version=ESV] At first glance, this verse seems only a recapitulation of the truth that righteousness brings life. Indeed I thought precisely that when I first read it (and it’s not entirely wrong). Yet consider the…
Proverbs 15:23 ESV To make an apt answer is a joy to a man, and a word in season, how good it is!. [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=proverbs+15%3A23&version=ESV] The right word at the right time means a lot. In a story, it’s the proverbial lightning. When you’re in trouble, when you’ve got a problem that’s really not working…
Proverbs 15:22 ESV Without counsel plans fail,but with many advisers they succeed. [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=proverbs+15%3A22&version=ESV] Men throughout history have recognized the value of wise council. “These were hard times, heartbreaking for the prince of the Shieldings, and powerful counselors… would lend advice,” states the poem Beowulf (1). As much as we like to think that we…
Proverbs 15:21 ESV Folly is a joy to him who lacks sense, but a man of understanding walks straight ahead. [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=proverbs+15%3A21&version=ESV] Doing stupid stuff can be a blast. Sometimes this ‘stupid stuff’ is innocent, a matter of taste, thrill-seeking balanced with the rest of life. Sometimes, though, we place our own pleasure before wisdom.…
Proverbs 15:20 ESV A wise son makes a glad father, but a foolish man despises his mother. [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=proverbs+15%3A20&version=ESV] Modernity as a whole despises its ancestors. Progress is the creed of liberal and conservative alike, and we look at the past with something like contempt. Even when we honor it, we honor the past for breaking…
Proverbs 15:19 ESV The way of a sluggard is like a hedge of thorns, but the path of the upright is a level highway. [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=proverbs+15%3A19&version=ESV] ‘The path of the upright is a level highway,’ the proverb states, and this conjures to mind images of ease, of walking in comfort, of a life of pleasantness. An…
Proverbs 15:18 ESV A hot-tempered man stirs up strife, but he who is slow to anger quiets contention. [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=proverbs+15%3A18&version=ESV] The world gives us a lot of reasons to be angry. People, politics, and the simple inconveniences of live, there’s always something else we could be angry about. It’s an easy temptation to give into.…
Proverbs 15:17 ESV Better is a dinner of herbs where love is than a fattened ox and hatred with it. [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=proverbs+15%3A17&version=ESV] Modern society is ridiculously wealthy by historical standards. You and I, simply by having the electronic device that allows us to read this, have surpassed the vast majority of people who have ever existed.…
Proverbs 15:16 ESV Better is a little with the fear of the Lord than great treasure and trouble with it. [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=proverbs+15%3A16&version=ESV] Humans have an innately skewed ability to prioritize. We value the here-and-now, the physical, the fun over the eternal, the spiritual, and the virtuous. We see this world, and we forget the next. Christ…