Brain Outdo Muscle III

Tuesday, August 16, 2022

26

13-14 Eat honey, dear child—it’s good for you—

    and delicacies that melt in your mouth.

Likewise knowledge,

    and wisdom for your soul—

Get that, and your future’s secured,

    your hope is on solid rock.

27

15-16 Don’t interfere with good people’s lives;

    don’t try to get the best of them.

No matter how many times you trip them up,

    God-loyal people don’t stay down long;

Soon they’re up on their feet,

    while the wicked end up flat on their faces.

28

17-18 Don’t laugh when your enemy falls;

    don’t gloat over his collapse.

God might see and become very provoked,

    and then take pity on his plight.

-Proverbs 24:13-18 The Message

13 My son, eat honey, for it is good,

    and the drippings of the honeycomb are sweet to your taste.

14 Know that wisdom is such to your soul;

    if you find it, there will be a future,

    and your hope will not be cut off.

15 Lie not in wait as a wicked man against the dwelling of the righteous;

    do no violence to his home;

16 for the righteous falls seven times and rises again,

    but the wicked stumble in times of calamity.

17 Do not rejoice when your enemy falls,

    and let not your heart be glad when he stumbles,

18 lest the Lord see it and be displeased,

    and turn away his anger from him.

-Proverbs 24:13-18 ESV

Verse 13 study: Honey is not a metaphor. Good food is part of a prosperous life and wisdom.

Verse 14 study: Wisdom keeps us in shape internally, just as honey does for the body.

Verses 15-16 studies: There is always the assumption that God does not allow the unrighteous to prosper permanently. On the other hand, the righteous can suffer many adversities, yet God finally vindicates them.

Verse 16 study: For the wicked, falling is fatal.

Verses 17-18 studies: After Saul’s death, Solomon’s father, David, refused to gloat over the death of his lifelong enemy (see 2 Samuel 1). The nation of Edom had a different reaction. They rejoiced over Israel’s defeat and were punished by God for their attitude (see Obadiah 12). Gloating over others’ mishaps is making yourself the avenger and putting yourself in place of God, the ultimate judge of all the earth. God may view a person’s gloating over others’ mistakes as punishment for the sinner.

35 Vengeance is mine, and recompense,
    for the time when their foot shall slip;
for the day of their calamity is at hand,
    and their doom comes swiftly.’ -Deuteronomy 32:35 ESV

Verse 17 study: Don’t rejoice over mishaps. This verse would make sense implying that compassion should not be withdrawn from anyone. While the motive cited in verse 18 may appear vindictive, it teaches that when we are devoid of kindness to our enemy, we deserve God’s wrath more than our enemy.