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Handling the Bible’s wise sayings
Every culture seems to have its own unique, collected wisdom, pithy insights of the wise. Oftentimes, these tidbits of wisdom are preserved in the form of the proverb. We have proverbial sayings in American culture. We may be thinking of sayings such as ‘a stitch in time saves nine’ or ‘a penny saved is a …
Every culture seems to have its own unique, collected wisdom, pithy insights of the wise. Oftentimes, these tidbits of wisdom are preserved in the form of the proverb. We have proverbial sayings in American culture. We may be thinking of sayings such as ‘a stitch in time saves nine’ or ‘a penny saved is a penny earned’. The Bible, of course, has an entire book of such pithy sayings — the book of Proverbs. However, this compilation of proverbial wisdom is different from all other such collections in that these sayings reflect not
just human wisdom but divine wisdom, for these proverbs are inspired by God. Still, we must be very careful in how we approach and implement these wise sayings. Simply because they are inspired does not mean that the Biblical proverbs are like laws, imposing a universal obligation. Yet, some people treat them as if they were divine commandments. If we regard them in that way, we run into
all kinds of trouble. Even divinely inspired proverbs do not necessarily apply to all life situations. Rather, they reflect insights that are generally true. To illustrate this point, first, we often say, ‘Look before you leap’. That is a valuable insight. But we have another proverb that seems to contradict it: ‘He who hesitates is lost’. If we tried to apply both of these proverbs at the same time and in
the same way in every situation, we would be thoroughly confused. In many situations, wisdom dictates that we examine carefully where we should place our steps next so that we are not moving blindly. At the same time, we cannot be so paralysed in our evaluation of the pros and cons of our next move that we hesitate too long before making a decision and lose opportunities when they present themselves to us.
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