Chapter 21

Just as a farmer can direct an irrigation rivulet in any direction he wishes in order to water his plants, so God can turn the attention and energy of a ruler towards the achievement of whatever purpose he wills. Perhaps Solomon’s theme here is change, and finding new directions.

If God can direct the king’s heart, can we not redirect our own interest and energies into more profitable directions when the time is right? Water stimulates the growth of plants, and when we focus our minds on a situation, creative new insights spring up. Do we need a new direction in our lives? Have we been too preoccupied with our present activities to give adequate thought to planning, improvement and innovation? What are we neglecting? What opportunities need our attention?

Perhaps the theme continues. Are we too set in our ways, are our minds closed to change and fresh ideas? Are we really doing the right thing with our lives? Are our actions ethical, based on truth and kindness, or are we deceiving ourselves? Are we prepared to examine our basic beliefs and motives, and make changes where necessary? Do we ever question aspects of our lives in case there might be room for improvement?

When controversy arises, opposing groups become entrenched. Faced by the same facts, both camps interpret them in radically different ways for different reasons. Each side is sure it is right. Why is this?

In Solomon’s time a rich person might impress others with his expensive sacrifices at the temple, but God was far more pleased with the person who pursued justice and judgment and needed no sacrifice in the first place. Are we more concerned with appearances and image than with personal integrity?

Prevention is better than cure. Best not to need a sacrifice at all. Do we get it right first time – or do we keep on making avoidable mistakes? How can we exercise better quality control in what we do?

A haughty look is the visible manifestation of the hidden attitude in the heart of a person. The Hebrew word for ploughing comes from the word "to gleam" -- because as the plough turned up the moist soil it reveals what was previously hidden below the ground, and a gleaming brown furrow is seen, cutting across the green grassy field.

According to Solomon’s metaphor, every word and action of the proud person exposes the hidden contents of his heart in a similar manner. Once the soil is revealed, a farmer can judge its quality and properties. Even the varieties of grass, weeds and wild flowers that thrive there give him clues to its nature.

Are we proud? How does it show in our body language, the way we work, the words we use and our tone of voice? Can we really see ourselves and judge our own actions objectively? Or does everything we do seem right in our own eyes?

The diligent person has no time for pride and appearances, and what other people think of him. His mind is focused instead on more important matters, on long-term planning, on results, on solid, enduring achievement. Consequently, he pays careful attention to detail and works hard to ensures that all goes according to plan. Diligence is a productive, meticulous attitude of mind. Do we have it?

The hasty person, on the other hand, wants quick results, and is reluctant to invest the time and effort required to make his plans work properly. He is happy to sacrifice long-term benefits for short-term profit. He wants a quick fix, the cheapest possible job and minimal investment. What is our inclination?

A soap bubble is pretty, sparkling and colorful, but it collapses to a nothingness when finally grasped. Solomon says that those who pursue wealth by dishonest means are chasing a mere bubble, an illusion, a fantasy.

If they do finally acquire the fortune they seek, it will be found to be worthless, hollow, empty and unable to satisfy. Meanwhile, their desperate pursuit is also likely to trap them in all kinds of evil snares.

Robbery is an even more desperate and wicked get-rich-quick strategy than lying. The thief knows full well that his actions are wrong, yet he continues. He refuses to do what is right, and is actively destroying his hope of eternal life and a place in the Kingdom of God.

Some people rob by direct action, whilst others do so by deceptive business practices -- and governments by punitive taxation.

Solomon continues to comment on the conduct and fate of the wicked. Their whole approach is devious, and it shows in their conduct. They love fine print, misleading advertising and crooked schemes of all kinds. Their goal is not to serve and provide value, but to exploit and rob. As a result, they are guilty before God and will be dealt with accordingly.

Are you devious in your dealings – or open, honest, pure and right?

How desperate are you for riches? What price are you prepared to pay for success?

It is better, if needs be, says Solomon, to be short of money and live in a cramped apartment where love is, than with a bad-tempered woman in a big house. But what makes a woman bad-tempered? Why is she always angry and scolding her husband, despite the fact that he has apparently made enough money to buy a nice big house? There are choices to be made.

The wicked person looks for trouble and meets it half way. He is totally negative, suspicious, scathing and hostile, devoid of mercy and condemning of everybody’s motives.

What makes a person’s soul desire evil? If we repeatedly fail in our pursuit of success, we may well become disillusioned, bitter, cynical and disaffected – but we do not have to. We have a choice. We can change our attitudes and control our emotions.

But why have we failed? Have been looking for happiness in the wrong place, or thinking it can be bought? Are we miserable because we have been living with problems, perhaps in our marriage, rather than solving them?

Solomon reminds us once again of a basic choice that we have to make in life. Are we willing to listen and learn, or must we suffer first? Even the simple minded person takes a warning from the punishment of others -- but the scorner refuses to learn even from his own punishment. He knows he is right, and feels he is being unjustly treated. He will begin to bang his head against the wall again, just as soon as he gets the chance.

What makes a person scornful? What can we learn from our mistakes? What can we learn from other people’s mistakes?

As we have just seen, the scorner refuses to learn. The wise man, however, is continually learning because he is an astute observer, and draws valuable lessons from the success and failure of other people. To appraise something, such as a vase or piece of furniture, means to examine it very carefully, to check out every detail and take note of every crack and flaw and place a valuation on it.

What makes some people so successful when others fail dismally? What hinders our own success? What don’t we understand yet?

Solomon reminds us again of the basic fact that God treats us as we treat other people, especially the needy. If we expect God to listen to our requests for help, then we must listen and respond when the poor cry out to us for help.

God can work miracles in our life, and we can, in effect, intervene and work miracles in the lives of other people, by making good things happen that would not otherwise happen in the natural course of events.

The key principle here appears to be diplomacy. Many matters are best dealt with in private, on a one-to-one basis, rather than by public confrontation.

Offering a gift, a concession or an apology can defuse a difficult situation, especially if we are the one in the wrong, and out-of-court settlements avoid painful and expensive legal battles. Are we prepared to take the initiative in such cases? Are we prepared to give a bit for the sake of good relations? Are we peacemakers?

The theme continues. There is a joy to be found in diplomacy, in defusing difficult situations and handling them with wisdom. The foolish person, however, becomes angry and combative when provoked and will never back down, accept blame or make concessions for the sake of harmony.

Can we become skillful and even find pleasure in dealing with difficult people and potentially unpleasant situations? Can we keep our cool, take control and be gracious and conciliatory rather than taking offense ourselves?

The person Solomon describes here seems to be loner, a person who shuns conventional society and wanders off on his own, and ends up in the company of other like-minded and disaffected individuals. Together they espouse all manner of weird and way-out teachings that they hope will bring them enlightenment. They think they have found Truth, but in reality they have joined the congregation of the dead and are destroying their lives.

Why does a man wander out of the way of understanding and become lost? How can we be more inclusive and help those who might be becoming disaffected? How can we stop our children being led off into strange cults? How can we find out what they are thinking and what their deepest concerns are? Are we prepared to listen to their ideas and discuss them with an open mind, and so keep open the channels of communication?

Here is a basic key to financial success. Most rich men do not set out to make money for the sake of what they can buy with it. Instead they are motivated by a vision, a burning desire to accomplish some important purpose – and that translates into diligent, carefully planned action. That is the real source of their pleasure and satisfaction.

What drives you? What is your dream? If you love pleasure and possessions and eating and drinking for their own sake, to the extent that work becomes bore and an intrusion into your enjoyment, then you will probably never be rich.

The key principle here appears to be valuation and worth. In a war situation, where captives might be taken away to be slaves in another land, perhaps it was sometimes be possible for trades to take place – so that a criminal or two might be swapped for the return of a good man.

How valuable are we – to our family, to society, to an employer? What constitutes value? How is it measured? Can you establish a checklist of criteria? What steps are we taking to increase our value? How can we polish out and eliminate the flaws that might detract from that value?

The scolding woman we read about above has now become very angry, as well, probably because her patience is running out.

Are we living with problems and letting them get worse, day by day? Are we tempted to run away from our problems, rather than solve them? Have we got to the stage where we feel that there is nothing we can do? Is it the angry woman who needs to change – or is her anger caused and justified by our foolish behaviour?

If we buy an expensive bottle of the whiskey for consumption when guests drop in, do we end up drinking it all ourselves instead? Do budget our income and put something away for emergencies, or do we spend it as fast as we get it? Are we frugal in our expenditure and moderate in our habits -- or are we foolishly and greedily self-indulgent, with little thought for the inevitable consequences? What does our credit card balance tell us about our character?

How can we get control of our immediate impulses and begin to plan for the longer term? The wise businessman is keeps a very tight rein on expenditure, and builds up a contingency fund for use in case of emergency. He minimizes waste and looks for ways to work more economically.

The theme of right values continues with a bit of contrarian thinking. The way to find the good life, with prosperity and honor too, says Solomon, is by actually by pursuing something else instead – namely, righteousness and kindness.

Success and satisfaction in life come as a consequence of the kind of person you are. They are spin-offs, and cannot be set as goals in themselves.

Success often brings over-confidence and complacency, which is why so many corporations that were household names a century ago no longer even exist. They were destroyed by more creative competitors who innovated and provided better and cheaper goods and services.

The city looks impregnable to the casual observer, but by close inspection the wise man searches out enough cracks and footholds to enable him to scale its walls. Many problems look intractable at first sight, but the wise man persists, obsessively analyzes and works with his imagination until he finds a solution. Nothing is perfect. Your most powerful competitor has weaknesses and imperfections waiting to be found.

Most of the time a security guard at gate of a premises has very little to do, and his mere presence is enough to warn off intruders. As a result he may think he is wasting his time, and it becomes very hard for him to stay as alert as he should be.

So it is with the guard that should be mounted over our mouth. Much of the time there is no problem, but, on occasion, if just one wrong word slips out it may cause a great deal of trouble, even serious financial loss. As Solomon reminds us, there are two things we have to control – the opening of the mouth, which comes first, then the wagging of the tongue, which actually does the damage.

We have already met the proud and haughty person, as well as the scorner. But here is a double whammy – both of them combined in one package. This person not only refuses to listen and ignores advice, but also gets very angry with anybody who dares to suggest that he might have something to learn. Some so-called experts exhibit this kind of arrogance, but, for some strange reason, the attitude can also afflict very ordinary individuals.

Perhaps Solomon is warning us that pride is a progressive disease that grows worse with time if it is not spotted early on and treated. Is it contagious, or even hereditary?

Just a few generations ago, let alone in ancient times, people in remote parts sometimes starved to death when crops failed. The wise man no doubt built up stores of less perishable staples such as grain, beans and dried fruit to tide his family over such emergencies.

What Solomon is describing here a man who is too lazy to do what is necessary to stay alive in such conditions. How can anybody be that stupid? Although this man knows better, he carries on neglecting his own welfare, and puts his very life in jeopardy.

Do we smoke heavily? Are we grossly over weight? Is our diet killing us? Do we care? What about exercise? Does it matter? Perhaps Solomon wants us to examine our lives and stop doing foolish things that rob us of health, wealth and happiness.

Why would we do such silly things, when we know better? Could we, like the man in the proverb, be ruled by our emotions, by cravings for pleasure and the easy life? His mind has lost control of his body, he cannot make his hands work.

The catalog of human failing and misunderstanding continues. He, the slothful person in the previous proverb, covets the prosperity of other people, and envies their success. Perhaps he still entertains the delusion that they all made their money by lucky breaks, like winning a lottery. This is his perennial day dream.

The righteous person, on the other hand, works hard to make a worthwhile contribution to society and takes interest in the welfare of other people, not simply himself. He is willing to help out and finds great pleasure and lasting satisfaction in so doing. Our emotions, as we have already seen, are influenced by our actions.

The purpose of sacrifices was to remind people of their sins, to provide a symbol of repentance. The person Solomon describes here, however, is set in his wicked ways, with no intention of changing and so has no business offering a sacrifice anyway. However, he does so in order to appear righteous and impress and deceive other people for some reason. His actions are an abomination to God.

How easily duped are we by wicked people – by deceptive marketing ploys, by special offers, free lunches, gifts, free trials and other forms of misrepresentation whose only purpose is to gain our trust and hook us into unwise agreements that we will later regret? How gullible are we?

A false witness misrepresents a situation, like the wicked person in the previous proverb who puts on a false front. The attentive man, however, is observant and gives an accurate account of what really happened.

When closely questioned, the false witness ends up contradicting himself and is found out, as is commonly demonstrated in courtrooms. The account given by the attentive and honest man, however, will stand up to repeated questioning and will endure. Perhaps this is Solomon’s lesson – when in doubt, ask some probing questions, get the truth, do not be taken in so easily by appearances.

The theme continues. The wicked person from the previous proverbs seeks to achieve his ends by trickery and deception. To do so, he assumes an air of confidence and speaks very confidently, smoothly and convincingly.

When confronted by such a charming rogue, by his smile and compliments, people tend to drop their defences and become gullible, having let him relax them in a hypnotic, suggestible state. Do we? Or do we keep thinking and analyzing, putting two and two together to see if they make four?

Nothing can frustrate the will of God, and, as we saw in the first verse of his chapter, he can even bend the mind of rulers to fulfill his purposes. Do we really grasp the power of the God who offers to help and guide us in our lives if only we are willing -- the one who bothered to inspire the writings of Solomon in order to inform us of this fact?

We have just been looking at the many and varied ways that people can muddle through their lives. Is it time to ask God to sort out our emotions and attitudes and goals? He will if we want him to.

Can we trust God? Can we afford to forsake lying and cheating and all the other deceitful and deceptive practices that so many people believe are essential to success in this mad world?

The warrior prepares his horse for battle, he does his best to get ready, he does what he can himself – but safety and victory come from the Lord. Perhaps there is some truth in the old saying that God helps those who help themselves.

Is it time to stop and take stock of our lives? Should we make righteousness, justice and mercy our priorities? Can we make new plans and identify better goals? Can we pray and seek God’s guidance? That is what he wants us to do – and therein lies our ultimate security.

"Seek you first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness," says Jesus (Matthew 6:33) – then everything else you need will be added to you.