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- What attributes of God’s character does this passage reveal?
- How does the passage point to Jesus?
- How should the truth of this passage change me?
- How do the events of today’s reading help you better understand the grand narrative of Scripture?
Prov. 30
I’ve always had trouble making sense of this proverb. It seems to be a series of random, unrelated messages. I get the feeling, though, that it is meant to be one cohesive message. As I tried to put that together this morning, I came up with a rather abstract lesson on unwise living.
I see a connection between verses 11-14, which all start with, “There is a generation”, and the last part of the chapter. The leech’s daughters and four things that can’t be satisfied (vs 15-17) are related to those who rebel against their parents from verse 11. Those who are pure in their own eyes, from verse 12, distort what is good, failing to see their wrongdoing. That would be the message in the four wondrous things and the adulteress (vs. 18-20). Verse 13 addresses the mighty; those who trust in their high position. Yet the lowly often topple the mighty and succeed in spite of their low position and lack of might (vs 21-28). Finally, we see the proud; those who exalt themselves, especially at the expense of others, in verse 14. These who are “stately in their walk” stir up strife with their scheming and foolish self-exaltation (vs 29-33).
All of these then circle back to the beginning; to those who fail to properly acknowledge God. There are those who flat out deny His truth, those who fail to see their need for Him, and those who lack trust in Him. These are the attitudes that lead to the unwise living. The request, then, is for protection from these attitudes because we know the promise is true. “Every word of God is pure; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him.” (Prov. 30:5).
Prov. 31
“There is a generation that curses its father and does not bless its mother.” (Prov. 30:11). The words of Agur, whoever he might be, showed this to be unwise. Thus, King Lemuel, whoever he was, must have had some wisdom. Whether his mother gave him the words of Proverbs 31 to prevent him from taking the path of foolish living or to bring him back to the right path, the fact that he wrote them down shows that he listened. He took his mother’s words to heart. No matter who we are or what stage of life we are in, a good parent has traveled the road before us. Though our road is never exactly the same as theirs, they have a lot of hindsight wisdom that we can’t possibly possess. They have seen, experienced, and learned many things. We do well to humbly pay attention to and respect them.