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 of their immovable possessions and exercising charity in Acts 2:42-47; we, therefore, must give up all private property and enjoy the pleasure of each other’s wives. Right? Or perhaps the flowers need not for clothing, for the Lord has clothed them (Matt. 6:28-29), so we ought to content ourselves with the sum total of clothing as accidentally falls on us as the day passes? Perhaps, because ‘faith without works is dead’ (James 2:14-26), rather than ‘faith without works’ being a type of faith that is dead, we should take it as an indication that God really needs our help to save us, that faith requires works to keep it alive (when in fact the relationship is very much the opposite; works are the fruit of living faith, its vindication rather than its content). We all disagree with at least one of the above (I hope so at least); in the grace of God, we recognize the folly of all three. How, though, are we to know when such interpretations are silly? These examples, the second if not the first or the third (the second being the only one I made up), are a bit obvious, but sometimes it’s difficult to tell. Sometimes, as in the third example, the letter of James, the interpretation seems at once impossible to miss and impossible to exist.
For the purpose of today, we’re going to consider Matthew 6:34, “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” The apparent construction some have placed on this verse is that it countermands any planning for the future. We are not to worry, they plead, about the future; we are therefore not to worry about how we’re to eat, not to plan for it. The disjunction here is plain, of course- worrying and planning are hardly the same- but the ‘don’t plan’ moral could be drawn (e.g. you’re not supposed to worry, and worry is the motive for planning, so there’s no right reason to plan). Nevertheless, today’s proverb, Proverbs 14:22, calls for us to ‘devise (plan) good’, and so we must consider the verse with care.
The first step, of course, is prayer and perspective. Only by the Holy Spirit can man reach the truth of Scripture aright. Without His aid, we would so quickly turn aside, pursuing our own self-interest or preoccupation, making mistakes motivated or unnoticed, and generally slaughtering any hope of finding the truth. Further, only by the Holy Spirit and the regenerating work of God (John 3:3-6) can man attain the proper perspective on the Bible’s authority: humility. We must be prepared to admit that the Word of God is true, however much it terrifies, perplexes, or condemns us. We must be prepared to find at the end that the verse, however problematic, is indeed true and possessed of authority higher than any we could boast.
The second step in identifying and understanding these passages is considering the context, near and far. The near context is the paragraph, chapter, and book in which you find the passage. In the case of Matthew 6:34, for instance, the passage is part of an instruction regarding anxiety over the future, in light of God’s sovereign provision. In James, the assertion regarding faith without works is part of a discussion of one who asserts he has faith but shows none of the signs of it.
The far context is a little more expansive: it’s rest of the Bible, as well as any non-Biblical information that may be relevant (cultural information, history, linguistics, etc.). In the case of Matthew 6:34, that far context includes Proverbs 14:22, today’s proverb, which clearly limits the extent of the warning against worry to not preclude planning. A basic element of this practice (using the ‘analogy of Scripture’ as many hermeneutical texts will call it) in affording the clear passage more weight than the unclear and affording the passage more weight in an area it is intended to address than in an area is only peripherally addresses.
In none of these cases are we assuming or predicting contradiction; the Bible is completely self-consistent. No, we’re judging here between a verse that is very easy to understand and a verse that is not so easy to understand. The first, our interpretation of its being more reliable, should be afforded more weight than the second, not because the original verse has more weight but because the interpretation has more weight. Further, if, as in the case of Matthew 6:34 on the subject of planning for the future, its voice is only tangential, derived through somewhat tenuous implication or as a passing note, the text must be afforded less weight upon the subject than a passage specifically intended to clear it up, as is Proverbs 14:22. This, again, is not because one verse is more authoritative than the other but because the verse that intends to speak about the topic is much more likely to be interpreted correctly than the verse which only peripherally addresses it.
The final step I’ll discuss here is checking your own assumptions. If I wanted to justify socialism, it’d be all too easy to misread Acts 2:42-47 as supporting it by assuming it means the same thing by ‘all in common’ that I do and for the same reasons. Likewise, with Matthew 6:34, the assumption that not worrying must result in not planning is just plain wrong. Plans can be made out of obedience to God, out of prudence, in full recognition that however man recks the way, it is God who gives the fruit. Worry doesn’t have to have anything to do with it, though it often will.
In summary, be careful when you’re reading the Bible. Unfounded assumptions, personal biases, and cultural misconceptions can all taint our understanding, noticed or not. This process, though most obviously good to go through for difficult or unclear passages, is the same process we should go through with every passage. God’s Word interprets God’s Word, and no greater word on the Bible has been spoken than the Bible itself. By its counsel and by the counsel of the Holy Spirit who inspired it, we may find truth and peace in Him. By this truth and peace we may leave behind the worries of the world, exchanging them for the surety that those who devise good will meet the steadfast love and faithfulness of one who never grows weary or faint in His way, who stands though the mountains depart and the hills be removed (Is. 54:10).
God bless.
Sanctuary Functional Medicine, under the direction of Dr Eric Potter, IFMCP MD, provides functional medicine services to Nashville, Middle Tennessee and beyond. We frequently treat patients from Kentucky, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Ohio, Indiana, and more... offering the hope of healthier more abundant lives to those with chronic illness.
