Anger's Snare

For Friday, June 29, 2007
Proverbs 22:24-25

Make no friendship with a man given to anger,
nor go with a wrathful man,
lest you learn his ways
and entangle yourself in a snare.

What might you learn from a man given to anger?

You might confuse a temper tantrum for forceful action. Men given to anger think that the expression of anger shows they "mean business," when it merely means they are immature. Those on the receiving end of the anger lose respect for such a man. If they seem to jump to orders at his rage, it is because of his position of power not because of the anger itself which they resent and behind his back will mock.

You might believe that anger is necessary to motivate yourself. This really is a danger, because such an idea has even become institutionalized. Athletes buy into wholesale, as do many others in competitive situations. They believe that anger gives them the competitive edge. They don't understand that it is not anger that marks the champion, but the commitment to excellence. Anger may gives spurts of energy, but more often than not it gives the competition the edge as the wise competitor knows how to use the other man's anger to his own advantage.

You might discover too late that you have unconciously taken on the traits of the angry friend, just as children of angry parents take on their parents' anger. You don't notice how the tone in your voice has changed, how quick you are to take offense. What you begin to see is how "sensitive" your friends are becoming, how impatient they seem to be with you, how irritating small things become. And then you are caught in the snare of losing those closest to you and lacking the patience to win them back.

The Pleader for the Poor

For Thursday, June 28, 2007
Proverbs 22:22-23

Do not rob the poor, because he is poor,
or crush the afflicted at the gate,
for the Lord will plead their cause
and rob of life those who rob them.

How can one rob the poor? Why bother to crush the afflicted? Why bother, even if one is wicked, to do what brings no gain? Perhaps there is a robbery and an affliction that occurs by ignoring the plight of the poor and the afflicted. Concerning the commandment not to steal, the Larger Catechism contends this means we are to "endeavor, by all just and lawful means, to procure, preserve, and further the wealth and outward estate of others, as well as our own." The poor and the afflicted are the class of people least likely to be given consideration. For we condemn them for the ills they have brought on themselves or else are embarrassed by them. As there may be no gain in robbing the poor or crushing the afflicted, so we do not see gain in helping those who "won't help themselves" or those who have given up in despair.

We need to take note of the class of people that Scripture time and again says God is on the side of. We need to do some soul-searching, because God evidently is quite willing to search our souls about this. He is taking sides. He becomes the pleader of their cause. He is not an indifferent judge on this matter. Indeed, he is ready to judge us according to our response to them. Whose side do you want to be found on?

Trust in the Lord

For Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Proverbs 22:17-21

17 Incline your ear, and hear the words of the wise,
and apply your heart to my knowledge,
18 for it will be pleasant if you keep them within you,
if all of them are ready on your lips.
19 That your trust may be in the LORD,
I have made them known to you today, even to you.
20 Have I not written for you thirty sayings
of counsel and knowledge,
21 to make you know what is right and true,
that you may give a true answer to those who sent you?

Note the central motivation for learning the proverbs: that your trust may be in the Lord. Knowing what is right and true, gaining wisdom and knowledge lead to trust, not skepticism. Faith in God is not based upon superstition, myth, and old wives' tales. It flows out of knowledge from the Scriptures which is then reinforced by knowledge from natural revelation and experience.

Why, then, do "educated" people not turn more naturally to faith? For the same reason "uneducated" people do not - sin. Man fails to trust God because he does not want to trust God. He wants to take pride in himself, to boast of his own wits. He therefore chooses his own path to knowledge, proving in his own mind that knowledge leads him from God.

But for you who believe, who want to grow closer to God, then seek knowledge; seek wisdom. Study the Scriptures; continue to study the Proverbs and meditate upon them so that your trust may be in the Lord alone.

Real Poverty

For Monday, June 25, 2007
Proverbs 22:16

Whoever oppresses the poor to increase his own wealth,
or gives to the rich, will only come to poverty.

A lot of rich people will dispute this proverb. It is precisely by taking advantage of the poor (i. e. those who do not how to or are incapable of making wealth) that wealth is achieved. Furthermore, a key to wealth making is knowing to whom to give and so open doors for getting even more back.

But this proverb is not about how to get rich; it is about justice. As we have already seen, Proverbs does not despise wealth, but how one obtains it. Steady accumulation over time is praised; get rich quick schemes are frowned upon, especially when such schemes (as most do) depend upon taking advantage of the poor and others who cannot defend for themselves. This proverb addresses that injustice, plus the added element that goes with it, which is forming a good old boy network of the haves against the have-nots.

The ugliness of the scenario presented is that of relationships formed - both adversarial and friendly - based purely upon what one's neighbor can and cannot do for one's own financial advancement. The one who has money is a friend; the one doesn't is a sucker. In both cases the neighbors are merely means to an end. They have no other significance.

Treating both the poor and the rich like this, you will certainly end up in poverty regarding relationships. You will impoverished spiritually. You can only end up cynical, and you die with no satisfaction. And, for that matter, you stand a good chance of dying financially impoverished. For when likely difficult times come, your "friends" want to take advantage of you. Grow rich in relationships and you cannot really be poor.