Why "Proverbs"?

The eyes of the Lord are everywhere, keeping watch on the wicked and the good. Proverbs 15:3

My Bible-reading routine is taking me at the moment through Proverbs. I always enjoy this, because while Proverbs is full of good things, the demands it makes on our understanding aren’t all that great: no heavy doctrine, no unpronounceable names, no references that defy comprehension (well, not many, anyway).

No, you can just read your way through, nodding sagely at the many flashes of wisdom (3:5-6, for example, or 15:1,17:14 or 18:8), or furrowing your brow at things that don’t seem very connected with most people’s lives (14:35), or shrugging your shoulders at what seems like a statement of the obvious (13:8), even wondering if perhaps something really needs to be challenged (17:12 – call me old-fashioned but, personally, I’m not too keen on the idea of running into an angry she-bear one day outside the Co-op).

And as for 16:31, well, it’s one of my favourite Bible verses (if you know me you’ll understand why), but I must confess I have serious doubts as to how true it is literally…

Very often we need to take a Proverbs saying simply as a springboard for further reflection. We could use 14:35, for example, to trigger a prayer for wise counsellors in high places (how we need them!), or 13:8 either (a) to prompt compassion for the poor or (b) to reflect that perhaps not being rich has its compensations after all.

Whatever.

The other day I found myself reflecting on 15:3: “The eyes of the Lord are everywhere, keeping watch on the wicked and the good”. (The Message puts it, “God doesn’t miss a thing – he’s alert to good and evil alike”.) And I found myself wondering “Now, is this good news or bad?”

Is it a warning, like those plaques people used to have on their wall: “Christ is the Lord of this home: the unseen guest at every meal, the silent listener to every conversation” (Big Brother is watching over you, so you’d better look out!). Or is it an encouragement: “Of course, you can’t see God; but never doubt that he is caring for you with deep, fatherly love”.

The answer, surely, is “Both”, depending whether we fall into the category of “the wicked” or “the good”.

I can almost hear a chorus of protest from those readers who are well taught in the Bible: “But none of us are good! We are all sinners in the sight of God!” And of course I fully agree.

But we know what the writer means. He is, broad-brush style, dividing the human race into two categories: those who seek to order their ways in step with God, and those who don’t. For category one, these words are an encouragement; for category two, a warning.

But of course human beings don’t all slot neatly into compartments. Nobody believes more strongly than me that “by grace I have been saved, through faith” (Ephesians 2:8). But does that mean that I never need to take Proverbs15:3 as a warning? You must be joking!

No, even the finest, most Christ-centred, Spirit-filled Christian is far from perfect. Even as you read these words, is there, in some dark and ugly corner of your soul, a secret stirring that is known only to you? Is Proverbs 15:3 exactly what you need as a warning, even though your salvation is sure? -  “My dear child, you have lapsed into sin, and you need to put it right…” For, of course, that dark secret “known only to you” is, in fact, known also to God.

Just asking.

A footnote…

Another advantage of reading Proverbs is that it reminds us what a wonderfully varied book the Bible is. I say “a book” because the Bible is ultimately a single book. But of course, as I’m sure we all know, it’s made up of a whole collection of books, dating from many hundreds of years.

And books – any books - need to be read and understood according to their types. A car maintenance manual and a spy thriller are both “books”; but you’d need to be pretty daft to read them in the same way, wouldn’t you? And the same is true of, say, Leviticus and Luke, or Isaiah and 2 Peter. Try and construct New Testament doctrine out of the Old Testament Song of Songs and you’ll soon be in a hopeless muddle.

Of course we can, and should, draw connections between the various parts of the Bible, for ultimately the Bible points to one great over-arching Truth: Christ crucified and risen from the dead. But the key to understanding Bible truth is to let each part speak in its own voice, not to impose on it a meaning it doesn’t contain.

So… just in case you don’t know it very well, welcome to the Book of Proverbs! If we read it rightly it will instruct us, inspire us, puzzle us, perhaps even annoy us.

But with the help of the Holy Spirit it will add another building-block to the ever-growing structure of our faith.

Father, thank you for the light you shine for us in the Book of Proverbs. When it instructs me, help me to learn. When it challenges me, help me to obey. When it puzzles me, help me to be patient. When it comforts me, help me to be thankful. Amen.