Matthew 7:7-11

 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. Is there anyone among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you then, although you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!”

— ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭7‬:‭7‬-‭11‬‬

One of my favorite sermons I’ve preached was in a series of “difficult sayings by Jesus.” This passage is not necessarily difficult to interpret, but it’s one that can be difficult to apply or at least difficult to link with our reality. We like to ask for lots of things but don’t always receive them. Is Jesus a liar?

I like to use this passage to challenge common views of prayer or statements like prayer “changes things.” It sometimes makes me cringe. Or talking about the “power of prayer.” I had a favorite gospel group when I grew up singing about “moving the hand of God.” I understand our sentiment, the theology behind these phrases, and even the verses that support them—including Matthew 7:7-11.

Experience even supports saying things like this. We pray for the most outrageous miracles, and healings occur, or financial crisis finds resolution, or estranged relationships become reconciled. Those without any hope find rest and peace. Prayer has worked. Or has it?

I propose two scenarios in response to help double check our theology. (1) The miracle never occurs. Did we not pray long enough, “hard enough”, not have enough people rallying for our cause? Would we say prayer didn’t work? (2) We never pray or tell anyone about a particular crisis. But something insanely beneficial happens anyway. Would we say prayer is unnecessary?

Rather than using someone else’s near death experiences, financial burdens, relational crises, etc, I usually return to our own infertility/adoption journey as an example. My wife Kim has written extensively elsewhere, and this was about a five year process. Yes, we eventually chose the adoption route, we were matched with a birth mother, and we now have two beautiful girls. 

Scenario 1: What if we had never been able to adopt a child? Would that mean we didn’t pray enough or needed more church friends to pray with us? Would Jesus’ words be considered lies, because they weren’t coming true? 

Christian culture at times needs to be careful on two accounts. First, we conveniently slip in the “Wait” answer. “God’s telling you to wait on His timing.” That may well be true, but I tried telling my toddler to wait, and “wait” is actually “no” until it means “yes.” Which again is fine. God is sovereign and in control, just please don’t try to console me with fake promises of what God “may” do in the future.

Another potential problem with the “wait” answer, is that the hopeful believer is so focused on the one desire that he/she waits, waits, waits, and if they finally receive the sought after gift, then praise may rightfully go to God, and the reaction may go something like this: “Yay, I received the gift which I asked for so long. Now I know that God has heard my prayer.” I would hope that God has received just as much gratitude for all the blessings He gave during the interim. 

Second, Christian language/culture can be dangerous when “consoling” a discouraged, praying soul with Psalm 37:4, “Delight in the Lord, and He will give the desires of your heart.” This is not the place to explain genre, or intent of the verse. It may very well mean that God honors those who take pleasure in Him. But when we say God will change our desires once we focus on Him…well, in our case, I just don’t see many infertile couples losing a desire for children. They may gain a heart for adopting or fostering or contributing to the needs of those around them. But we could use a bit more sensitivity in how we address those seeking, asking, and knocking for their desires.

So in our case, I would suggest that God blessed us with children according to His plan because He is a good God. Our open communication with Him was good but did not sway Him one way or another. 

Ok, all of this to ask the main question. Is prayer needed then? If God is going to work or not work whether we pray or not, what’s the point? What is Jesus saying?

Rather than focusing on the act of prayer or even what we receive first, the greatest point of this passage is the character of the Father. He is good. He is kind and gracious and generous. The best of all fathers, and I know many can’t relate to that thought, but this is Jesus’ point. If we are so so imperfect on our best days, God is far superior. He is willing to help.

I could make a point about wisdom literature and these not being promises. In this sermon, Jesus is within the rabbinic tradition and astounding with His authority. These are general, timeless principles. But this is a minor point in light of the overall message.  

I don’t have time here, but we should take time to put this passage in context of Matthew 7 as whole.

Luke’s sermon has a similar passage, but he changes “good gifts” to Holy Spirit, because Luke loves the Spirit throughout Luke-Acts, and that’s a different discussion why. But it would be interesting how the Spirit could be related to our requests.

Best suggestion I’ve heard was in our daily reading to focus on clear commands of Scripture and ask for wisdom to apply them. “Father give me strength to forgive this person. Help me love my wife/husband as you love me. Show me a person in need that I can serve. Give me a heart of generosity. Fill my heart with joy.” 

Keep asking for those gifts. Continue seeking for those gifts, and He will also be a good Father to give them.

Proverbs 22:6

“Train a child in the way that he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.”

— ‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭22‬:‭6‬‬

 Two ways to read this but both get you to the same conclusion:

First way is traditional/all translations way. “Train” is not like in an athletic sense. NET relates it to the word for “dedication” as in the temple or a child being dedicated to the Lord (e.g., Samuel). This would probably go back to Deuteronomy 6 where kids are trained in the OT law. This would make sense since wisdom literature is obsessed with going in one of the two ways, wisdom or foolishness, and wisdom is the path of obedience. 

Child is not necessarily baby or infant. The word applies to anyone under mid twenties. So this applies to all of those early parenting years regardless of interpretation. 

The hard part to this line of thought is the second line. But it doesn’t have to be. Perhaps the problem is with fundamental Christianity and its love of being judgmental. As in, when we see a child go astray, we think the parenting went south or a father wasn’t involved enough or blah blah blah. Well, kids make stupid mistakes. And though prodigals sometimes “come to themselves,” it doesn’t always happen. We can’t forget the genre of Proverbs. Ever. These are not promises. They are general timeless principles. We usually say there are exceptions, but sometimes we see so many wayward children, we wonder if that’s not the rule. But we forget (as is so often the case) the tons of faithful parents raising good, godly children, and the wonderful children remaining faithful to God and their families in the middle of a broken and chaotic world. (And yes, prodigals do still come home, but I’m not sure that’s the point of this verse.)

The other way to read this verse is satirical. No translation does this, but the first Jewish rabbi to use this interpretation was around 1000 A.D. We can’t really use the word “literally” when it comes to translation because words and ideas don’t cross over word for word. That’s not how translation “works.” But if we did what we typically think of as a “word for word” translation it would be “train a child —according to his way—“. His way is usually taken (and in the context of Proverbs probably should be taken) as the way of wisdom. But it could be his natural inclination. How he/she is bent. What they naturally choose. And when he gets old, it would be difficult to turn him away from it. This is satirical, because we all know this would be an awful way to parent. The natural leaning of all children is selfishness, greed, complaining, laziness, etc. Nurturing these characteristics breeds all sorts of problems down the road and would be nearly impossible habits and issues to break. Stated in a positive way leads to another proverb: Spare the rod and spoil the child. So we reach the same conclusion, in that children need guidance, training, “dedication” to the way of wisdom. It’s just a matter of whether the author was being straightforward or sarcastic. 

In either case, there are always exceptions.

James 4:13-17

“Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into this or that town and spend a year there and do business and make a profit.” You do not know about tomorrow. What is your life like? For you are a puff of smoke that appears for a short time and then vanishes. You ought to say instead, “If the Lord is willing, then we will live and do this or that.” But as it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. So whoever knows what is good to do and does not do it is guilty of sin.”

— ‭‭James‬ ‭4‬:‭13‬-‭17‬‬

 The previous section attacks a number of errors that can creep into a church: friendship with the world (4:4), fighting/arguing (4:1), pride (4:6-7, 10), slandering (4:11). As is often the case, the major solution to these issues is an attitude of humility (4:6, 10).

James transitions from an instructional approach to a reasoning approach. “Come now.” This invites the reader to think about the things he/she might be saying.

Just look at that opening statement. The hypothetical person is assuming so much about their travels (not to mention James’ point about tomorrow even coming): They have the precise timing, the perfect place/ business location, temporary shelter, guarantee of profit. None of this is guaranteed. 

It would take more than a day to do all this, probably weeks or months. James reminds them (and us), we can’t even control one day. Not even one breath.

And more, everything that they have assumed is completely out of their control. They may be able to develop strategies or best practices or use past weather diagrams, etc, haha. But God is the only one who controls all things time and space related. If I can’t even control if I take another breath (outside of trying to breathe with my lungs one more time), then how stable can I really say my business model is, my family plan, my budget, my circle of friends??

And for someone who thrives on stability, this passage is a regular gut punch. Nothing is stable or secure or—here’s the key word—controllable. All must be trusted to the Sovereign.

James uses the famous mist analogy to teach about how long we have to live. Granted, their life expectancy was shorter than modern humans, but I don’t think that was the point. (Sarcasm) In light of eternity (and compared to an infinite God), any human life time is here for a second and then gone. (Sounds like we switched to Ecclesiastes. Which is a good place to insert that James is known for his wisdom literature connections.)

James 1:9-10 commanded the poor and the rich to boast. How come? Poor boasts in exaltation. Rich boasts in being brought low, and all of this is done “in Christ.” The point is that within the family of Christ, socio-economic status doesn’t matter (a key theme in James). Our identity is Jesus, and He is our only source of confidence/boasting. Nothing we do for ourselves is worth pretty much anything.

Boasting in arrogance. Probably not a general attitude of arrogance, but it is specific to the context. Their attitude about their plans for the future makes them arrogant. They had not considered God’s will, making them proud.

These ideas are all connected throughout James, even back to James 1. Trusting God believes that trials have a purpose. And in the midst of those trials, the rich and poor (1:9-11) re- late to one another well. They live in humility and serve one another to demonstrate their faith (2:14- 26). Boasting about my business plans and what I can accomplish is not relying on God or (perhaps) giving me a heart for serving others.

This is not really a call to say “God willing” after everything. Sometimes it feels appropriate, and I say it sometimes. This is a lifestyle of surrendering control. No detail of daily life lies outside the realm of needing Him.

Now the biggie. V. 17. How many times have we heard about sins of omission, and pick your favorite, whether not serving the poor, or not evangelizing enough, or not giving enough. All are necessary. All are fine (and in light of James, especially helping the poor would be considered “good.”)

So what’s the “good” in James 4? Is it all good things? It’s probably true that not doing any type of good displeases God. But James was probably thinking of something more specific. 

In light of chapter 1-2, is it only limited to seeing someone in need and not helping? Is this going back to works showing our faith? Perhaps, and I think we’re getting warmer, but it may be more related to this passage.

At least in this context, the right thing would be not to boast/brag or depend on riches. We should rely on God. And that’s the link to helping those in need from ch 2 and even leads into the next passage. If you know to help, and you don’t, that’s a problem. And it may reflect an attitude of pride/arrogance/boasting.

Proverbs 31:10-31

“Who can find a wife of noble character? For her value is far more than rubies. The heart of her husband has confidence in her, and he has no lack of gain. She brings him good and not evil all the days of her life. She obtains wool and flax, and she is pleased to work with her hands. She is like the merchant ships; she brings her food from afar. She also gets up while it is still night, and provides food for her household and a portion to her female servants. She considers a field and buys it; from her own income she plants a vineyard. She begins her work vigorously, and she strengthens her arms. She knows that her merchandise is good, and her lamp does not go out in the night. Her hands take hold of the distaff, and her hands grasp the spindle. She extends her hand to the poor, and reaches out her hand to the needy. She is not afraid of the snow for her household, for all of her household are clothed with scarlet. She makes for herself coverlets; her clothing is fine linen and purple. Her husband is well-known in the city gate when he sits with the elders of the land. She makes linen garments and sells them, and supplies the merchants with sashes. She is clothed with strength and honor, and she can laugh at the time to come. She opens her mouth with wisdom, and loving instruction is on her tongue. She watches over the ways of her household, and does not eat the bread of idleness. Her children rise up and call her blessed, her husband also praises her: “Many daughters have done valiantly, but you surpass them all!” Charm is deceitful and beauty is fleeting, but a woman who fears the Lord will be praised. Give her credit for what she has accomplished, and let her works praise her in the city gates.”

— ‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭31‬:‭10‬-‭31‬‬

 I don’t know how many times I’ve heard a discouraged woman, whether wife, mother, or neither, because of reading Proverbs 31 and not seeing this as a reality in their lives. If that’s the case, we may need to tweak our understanding. Obviously no one is perfect—man or woman— and we can all grow in wisdom, but this passage can’t be the Christian “standard” for women.

The following are select portions from NET notes on this section. It was too good not to reproduce:

“The book of Proverbs comes to a close with this poem about the noble wife. A careful reading of the poem will show that it is extolling godly wisdom that is beneficial to the family and the society. Traditionally it has been interpreted as a paradigm for godly women. And while that is valid in part, there is much more here. The poem captures all the themes of wisdom that have been presented in the book and arranges them in this portrait of the ideal woman (Claudia V. Camp, Wisdom and the Feminine in the Book of Proverbs, 92-93). Any careful reading of the passage would have to conclude that if it were merely a paradigm for women what it portrays may well be out of reach—she is a wealthy aristocrat who runs an estate with servants and conducts business affairs of real estate, vineyards, and merchandising, and also takes care of domestic matters and is involved with charity. Moreover, it says nothing about the woman’s personal relationship with her husband, her intellectual and emotional strengths, or her religious activities (E. Jacob, “Sagesse et Alphabet: Pr. 31:10-31,” Hommages à A. Dont-Sommer, 287-95).” 

Regarding the structure and literary background of the passage:

“In general, it appears that the “woman” of Proverbs 31 is a symbol of all that wisdom represents. The poem, then, plays an important part in the personification of wisdom so common in the ancient Near East. But rather than deify Wisdom as the other ANE cultures did, Proverbs simply describes wisdom as a woman. Several features will stand out in the study of this passage. First, it is an alphabetic arrangement of the virtues of wisdom (an acrostic poem). Such an acrostic was a way of organizing the thoughts and making them more memorable (M. H. Lichtenstein, “Chiasm and Symmetry in Proverbs 31,” CBQ 44 [1982]: 202-11). Second, the passage is similar to hymns, but this one extols wisdom. A comparison with Psalm 111 will illustrate the similarities. Third, the passage has similarities with heroic literature. The vocabulary and the expressions often sound more like an ode to a champion than to a domestic scene. Putting these features together, one would conclude that Proverbs 31:10-31 is a hymn to Lady Wisdom, written in the heroic mode. Using this arrangement allows the sage to make all the lessons of wisdom in the book concrete and practical, it provides a polemic against the culture that saw women as merely decorative, and it depicts the greater heroism as moral and domestic rather than only exploits on the battlefield. The poem certainly presents a pattern for women to follow. But it also presents a pattern for men to follow as well, for this is the message of the book of Proverbs in summary.”

Proverbs 7-8 would also seem to support some of this, since 7 is how to avoid the adulteress woman, and 8 is “Lady Wisdom.” She pleads for all to follow her ways. So she is personified, but in a way that people should implement principles of wisdom. Who can find wisdom? It’s found by incorporating the principles of the book. And then one will become a woman or man of wisdom.

The interesting point is that (as the NET mentions), there is very little about her spiritual or familial roles. The primary emphasis is economic and some social. Not only can we not expect everyone to fulfill these ideals, but also this conclusion makes it more obvious that it’s discussing wisdom/wise principles of Proverbs.

When this is understood, it makes it easier to go verse by verse, identify other Proverbs passages that illustrate this, and agree that wisdom is better than foolishness. 

Proverbs 18:24

“A person who has friends may be harmed by them, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.”

— ‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭18‬:‭24‬‬

I had never heard of the translation differences in this text, keeping in mind these distinctions always go back to the Hebrew. The NET makes this most obvious in “may be harmed by them.” What I’ve heard my whole life is “must show himself friendly,” which apparently is not remotely possible. 

The original phrase is an infinitive, which if we rigidly brought the words over into English would be something like “to harm him/to suffer harm.”

We have to fill in some slight gaps as to who is doing the harming, but we can make safe assumptions it would be the friends based on the rest of the clause. It’s not what we would expect from a verse on friendship, but this is Proverbs. It’s wisdom. And it’s not always fun and games. 

Friends can cause harm. Friends can hurt. Friends run away or isolate. Or perhaps we should put the word friends in quotes.

Proverbs are really mini-poems, and so parallelism is key to understanding. Many times, it’s contrastive parallelism, so the second line still helps us understand the first, even if it provides the opposite situation.

“But” there is a friend that sticks closer than a brother. We don’t need to jump straight to Jesus. I don’t think that’s the author’s point. So-called friends may abandon us, but there is a type of friend that actually sticks around. That’s loyal. That knows what love is. 

This is no surprise since friendship is a key theme of Proverbs (such as money, work ethic, wisdom/foolishness, words, etc). Let’s focus on first, being this kind of loyal, faithful friends. Then we can search for those types of friends. Those who so easily abandon and harm—it doesn’t say how to respond to them. But a close friendship I wouldn’t say is required. It’s okay to let them go. It’s possible to love and serve without giving your soul to them.

Psalm 2:1-12

“Why do the nations rebel? Why are the countries devising plots that will fail? The kings of the earth form a united front; the rulers collaborate against the Lord and his anointed king. They say, “Let’s tear off the shackles they’ve put on us! Let’s free ourselves from their ropes!” The one enthroned in heaven laughs in disgust; the Lord taunts them. Then he angrily speaks to them and terrifies them in his rage, saying, “I myself have installed my king on Zion, my holy hill.” The king says, “I will announce the Lord’s decree. He said to me: ‘You are my son! This very day I have become your father! Ask me, and I will give you the nations as your inheritance, the ends of the earth as your personal property. You will break them with an iron scepter; you will smash them like a potter’s jar!’” So now, you kings, do what is wise; you rulers of the earth, submit to correction! Serve the Lord in fear! Repent in terror! Give sincere homage! Otherwise he will be angry, and you will die because of your behavior, when his anger quickly ignites. How blessed are all who take shelter in him!”

— ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭2‬:‭1‬-‭12‬‬

Mark Futato, Interpreting the Psalms, is one of my most important “go-to” resources for understanding this book. I know there’s hundreds of fantastic books on Psalms and/or commentaries, but this is a small resource to have handy when working through them.

He was one of the first to point out for me the structure of the book. Psalm 1-2 are introductory, with Psalm 1 giving the “why” (wisdom) and Psalm 2 giving the what (submission to the king). The rest of the book does have the 5 books of the Psalms, showing Israel’s history loosely, ending with the praises/doxologies.

We can visualize a battlefield or a large area where multitudes of people are shaking fists, beating shields, yelling in defiance of the king. They devise schemes to perform a coup against him and want to be free from his reign. There’s only one problem: rebelling against the king is rejecting YHWH’s rule as well. YHWH as established the king over this designated territory.

I would assume this is the all the land promised to David and Solomon in their respective covenants. This was at the height of the Israeli empire. Didn’t last long. Would also need more information on how Israel treated her conquered enemies. At least not as bad as Assyria, and of course, we would need to read all records through ancient eyes.

The point of this Psalm, though, is for God to defend his anointed king. The essential thought here is that “son” “God’s son” “son of God” comes from Psalm 2 and 2 Samuel 7. It refers to the king of Israel, and was passed down the Messianic line. This is not foreign to the culture, as Egyptian Pharaohs were pretty much divine. Son of God is not a divine title, per se, but it does show that God is with the king, blessing the king, has chosen the king, will defend the king.  

“This very day” has hints of this being a coronation psalm. This song was probably sung for every rising king.

I will give you the nations, rule with iron scepter. God’s reign through these kings was to defend justice and righteousness. The king had a serious responsibility to uphold the status of God’s people in the world. The wisdom of Psalm 1 began with the king and worked through the people. 

The call for the nations is to submit. By yielding to the king, they would show submission to the true God. Otherwise, their own destruction would come. Rebellion led nowhere quickly. 

“Blessing” points back to Ps 1:1, where wisdom is obedience. Here, obedience leads to refuge. Futato does a great job of showing how several Psalms link these ideas in alternating songs.

Yes, of course, Jesus brought an initial form of the kingdom. He is the ultimate king of Israel/Messiah, and the unique Son of God who truly is divine. Blessing and wisdom come from yielding to His reign. But we must work through original meaning to follow the trajectory until He comes in pattern fulfillment.   

Proverbs 3:5-12

 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding. Acknowledge him in all your ways, and he will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own estimation; fear the Lord and turn away from evil. This will bring healing to your body, and refreshment to your inner self. Honor the Lord from your wealth and from the first fruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled completely, and your vats will overflow with new wine. My child, do not despise discipline from the Lord, and do not loathe his rebuke. For the Lord disciplines those he loves, just as a father disciplines the son in whom he delights.”

— ‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭3‬:‭5‬-‭12‬‬

NET breaks this early part of chapter into 1-4 (admonition) and 5-12 (obedience to Lord). 

First two verses are some of the most recognizable in Proverbs. NET does word studies on most of the major words, but there really isn’t much to dig into here. Trust and rely are synonyms, and basically mean to put confidence in/ use as support. The contrast is whether we use the Lord or our own understanding. God’s wisdom vs. human wisdom. It really doesn’t take much research to see how that goes. The problem is that humans are always necessary to interpret the divine wisdom. There’s the rub and source for even more debate.

As with all Proverbs passages, the key here is going to be genre/wisdom literature. Straight paths? Healing? Financial freedom? This is straight prosperity gospel, but this is contrasting way of wisdom vs fools. I love using the word “skill” or being “clever” when discussing wisdom literature.

This is the type of verses that would speak to a wider audience bc everyone can apply these things.

Not the time to debate discipline or types of discipline. How does God discipline? Are we meant to discern discipline from God vs. bad things in life? Some probably doubt that God even disciplines, but for Proverbs, discipline of some sort = love. 

This is a tough issue to understand all the nuances from a practical standpoint. Theologically it may be easy. We have the verses to nail it down. But how does it actually work? And how does it affect our view (and others who may have a different background from us) of God?

And how can these verses contribute to not only my understanding of God but my wise approach to becoming more clever?

Psalm 32

 “How blessed is the one whose rebellious acts are forgiven, whose sin is pardoned! How blessed is the one whose wrongdoing the Lord does not punish, in whose spirit there is no deceit. When I refused to confess my sin, my whole body wasted away, while I groaned in pain all day long. For day and night you tormented me; you tried to destroy me in the intense heat of summer. (Selah) Then I confessed my sin; I no longer covered up my wrongdoing. I said, “I will confess my rebellious acts to the Lord.” And then you forgave my sins. (Selah) For this reason every one of your faithful followers should pray to you while there is a window of opportunity. Certainly when the surging water rises, it will not reach them. You are my hiding place; you protect me from distress. You surround me with shouts of joy from those celebrating deliverance. (Selah) I will instruct and teach you about how you should live. I will advise you as I look you in the eye. Do not be like an unintelligent horse or mule, which will not obey you unless they are controlled by a bridle and bit. An evil person suffers much pain, but the Lord’s faithfulness overwhelms the one who trusts in him. Rejoice in the Lord and be happy, you who are godly! Shout for joy, all you who are morally upright!”

— ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭32‬:‭1‬-‭11‬‬

The first half (?) of this Psalm is relatively easy for us to understand, those of us who were raised or had any inkling of connection with Christianity. Words like conviction register strong. 

“The one in whom there is no deceit.” NET suggests this obviously means the Psalmist is not completely pure or innocent, but that he is finally being open/honest before God. 

Hebrew phrasing can be taken variously throughout, but all translations are interpretation to some extent. It appear the Psalmist is viewing his situations as some sort of divine chastisement, even drought and summer weather. Depending on faith background this may make sense, feel extreme, or be seen as poetic imagery for how the Psalmist is experiencing his conviction over horrible weight of sin.

Contrast with relief once confession is made. Burden is lifted. Relief is found. Peace is made. 

God is the Psalmists’ hiding place. His refuge (which He always has been throughout the psalms.) And then the Psalmist advises the reader to live in obedience. God is near the faithful but the wicked suffer pain. 

This is the part of the Psalm where we may grow uneasy. But we have to remember things like genre (wisdom literature and poetry), old covenant, and personal expression of faith. 

The real question here is the connection between Psalmist’s deliverance from sin and deliverance from physical chaos. How does he go from horrible guilt to being protected from distress? Are these the same? He is now one of the ones celebrating deliverance, but it sounds like physical deliverance from enemies. As in the morally upright ones that the waters can’t touch. 

The connection between first half and second half is unclear, but I think that’s because I’m still reading it from Western eyes and from my own background.

Proverbs 17:17

 “A friend loves at all times, and a relative is born to help in adversity.”

— ‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭17‬:‭17‬‬

Though same take this as contrasting or adverse parallelism, I think the majority see it as synonymous. Second line builds on the first. Friend and relative have same idea. Relatives don’t only live at difficult times, but we rely on them through difficult times (of course, unfortunately, many cannot for various reasons and this is tragic—but again—genre).

The point is not to rate your family… it may be ok to double check your friends…but wisdom literature echoes this idea often that humans cannot do life alone. And those things that tie us together in our closest circles cannot easily be broken. So necessary to survive as great pastor (Renaut) says, Planet Death.

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

 “Two people are better than one, because they can reap more benefit from their labor. For if they fall, one will help his companion up, but pity the person who falls down and has no one to help him up. Furthermore, if two lie down together, they can keep each other warm, but how can one person keep warm by himself? Although an assailant may overpower one person, two can withstand him. Moreover, a three-stranded cord is not quickly broken.”

— ‭‭Ecclesiastes‬ ‭4‬:‭9‬-‭12‬‬

Aww, I love this book so much. A great introduction to authorship by Bible Project guys, because there’s the author and then a narrator who tells us what the author is thinking through most of the book. May not change how we read it too much but it is significant.

This is definitely wisdom literature so genre is key. Timeless, general principles. God is mentioned but rarely. Overall theme is there’s no purpose in anything we do, even in wisdom because death wins. (Let the book speak on its own…don’t go jumping to 1 Corinthians 15). New generations always come and we are forgotten, so what’s the point? It’s a great therapy book. These wisdom books are always good to use to relate biblical ideas to unbelievers. Wisdom is universal. In fact, we have extra biblical wisdom literature, and if we compared Proverb to the Egyptian version, it would be difficult to tell them apart at times.  We also have a secular version of a righteous sufferer (Job).

This paragraph is not isolated to weddings =-).  We need community, or at least other people in life to stabilize us. We can have Lone Ranger mentality but that’s no good. And that’s not just a “Christian” idea. That’s for everyone. And that helps physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually. We need each other, even if we drive each other crazy sometimes.

Proverbs 1:7

 “Fearing the Lord is the beginning of moral knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.”

— ‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭1‬:‭7‬‬

Fear is a word with three main meanings: terror, awe, and respect. Occurs many times with all three meanings, but that doesn’t mean we can pick and choose which meaning we like best. Fearing God is perhaps best exemplified at Mt Sinai (Ex 20). Israel both shrinks back in terror which ultimately leads them to honor His commands (at least they say they will).

Too often we make this phrase more palatable and say it’s “just” reverence/respect. Everyone who “met” God in OT fell on face, ran and hid, etc. There were storms, earthquakes, winds. Probably because he usually showed up in judgment cause people were not being wise. 

No, I don’t think God wants us to be afraid of Him, but if we knew who He was, we naturally would. This is only one aspect, though. Of course, He’s also father, friend, king, etc. Take each book as it is. 

Moral knowledge includes idea of experiencing the making of wise choices, not just head knowledge. This idea is throughout Proverbs. Those who have a healthy view of God have more skill at life. Those who have an irreverent view of God and an unhealthy view of themselves are not skilled at life.

Genre of Proverbs: General, timeless principles—not all the time guaranteed promises