PSA Bible Reading Challenge 2023-2024

There is a repetition here of what has been said before.  There is an emphasis on vanity and how the one who works hard never gets to appreciate the fruit of his/her labors.  There is a sense that this is a book of the Bible that kind of discourages a hard nosed work ethic, but rather encourages us to stop and smell the roses periodically.  As Protestants we are known for our work ethic as a result of not thinking that our work will in any way provide a safe-guard to guarantee our salvation.  

I guess I would focus on vs.10 and say that this might be where we see a truth come out.  “Whatever has come to be has already been named”.  There is, again, almost a fatalist perspective that reminds us that our life is to be lived now.  This chapter reminds us that what we do now has an affect on all things, including whether or not we appreciate the gifts that we find in life today.

There is a lot in chapter 5 to cover, but I’m afraid I didn’t cover enough in chapter 4.  I want you to look at 4:9-12.  Stacy and I used these verses in our marriage ceremony.  It is a verse on friendship which can also be used for married life.  The value of a friend is crucial, but the value of God in a friendship is priceless.   This is what these verses reflect in the midst of lifting up an attention to injustice in the world.  If you are someone who has suffered injustice, just think of the value of having a friend who walks alongside you during that time.

Now to chapter 5.  There is a truism which is expressed in vs.10 that the lover of money is never satisfied with how much money they have.  I think I have expressed this before that when we were missionaries in Italy and making $800 a month our life was so simple and so devoid of decisions on what to do with the money which we did have.  We did not want more, but we knew for what the money needed to be spent.  We had to buy food, put gas in the car, pay our rent, and…well, that was about it.  Much of that was covered for us.  We lived in an orphanage where our food was paid for as we ate in the cafeteria, our rent was paid for since we lived in the boys quarters, and that left gas and other supplies.  Life was simple.  Not so much now.  We make so much more than that now and inevitably a thought could creep into our minds that wouldn’t it be nice to make a little more…, not because we need it, because we don’t, but just because…  The lover of money will not be satisfied with money.

For some reason I was struck today by the very first verse of this chapter.  “Again, I saw all the oppressions that are practiced under the sun.  Look, the tears of the oppressed – with no one to comfort them!  On the side of their oppressors there was power – with no one to comfort them.”  There is a reality in society in general that if you are in power you are able to get away with things that other people would never be able to advance.  There simply is not a level playing field when it comes to life in any society, and this is especially true in our society.

I was raised in a setting where as someone who represents the majority, opportunities were provided to me that I absolutely know that people just like me, but different in some very small insignificant way, were not afforded.  I know that there are people that I went to high school whose lives are very different because of the family into which they were born, because of the experiences that they had when they were young, and at no fault of their own were in environments which stacked the deck against them from the time that they were born.  

If you are born into a ruling class, more than likely you will rule.  If you are born into a class or a group of people who have been oppressed over time you will, more than likely, find yourself in a reality in society where the cards are stacked against you.  It certainly doesn’t feel like I am at an advantage, and when things happen that put me at a disadvantage I feel it acutely.  But that is simply because my entire life I have been at an advantage so I didn’t when I was a young child growing up in the neighborhood have to worry about people stopping by and hurting me simply because I was in the wrong place at the wrong time.  I have come to realize that many people do grow up at a disadvantage and I am blind to those realities.  The powerful are able to oppress.  The powerless have no one to comfort them.  I have tried to spend my life giving voice to the powerless, but I don’t often do it well enough simply because I like the position in which I find myself.  You have to give that up at times in order to have a voice for the powerless.

So, this is from where the words of this song came.  It is a pretty well known song and one that I have always enjoyed, and it comes straight out of Ecclesiastes in this third chapter.  

There is more to this chapter than just a song by the Byrds.  There is also the very well known statement that it is from dust that we come and from dust we shall return, vs.20.  This is a direct reference to how we were made in the very hands of God as we find in Genesis 2:7-9.  We also find in this chapter a statement by the author as he focuses on the uncertainty of the future so one might as well: “eat and drink and take pleasure in all their toil.” vs.13.  This chapter does focus on the here and now.  His statement that all is vanity is focused upon his view that what happens after this life is uncertain, so make sure that you take all you can from this life in regards to how you live it.

There is some truth in that, but there is also  a greater truth that we believe  in an eternal life which comes to us as result of a relationship with Jesus Christ that encourages us to live a certain way which is not to focus on our own hedonism, but rather the need that our neighbor might have.  

We have to start this chapter with vs. 24.  “There is nothing better for mortals than to eat and drink, and find enjoyment in their toil.”  Now that is a verse to live by!  The author states the obvious when he notices that the life and the death of the wise and the foolish are the same.  He wonders what the point is  to be wise, or we can also say to be good, if both the good and the bad, the wise and the foolish end up in the same position?  

He lists all of his works which were better and more impressive than anyone else who came before him.  He states, and I don’t think he is bragging simply because he is trying to make a point, that whatever he wanted he allowed himself to have.  It was at this point that he realized that all that he did and all that he pursued was vanity.  This word vanity describes our living our lives for ourselves and for our purposes.  This word vanity describes a life of pursuits as opposed to a life of pursuing the Lord.  When we live a hedonistic life, then it is completely vanity.  Now, we don’t always think it is hedonism, because we don’t think we are living with ourselves, but it is.

But if our pursuit is to please God,  then that is all different, but he does call even that vanity.

We hear in the first verse of the first chapter that the author of Ecclesiastes was a son of David, the king of Jerusalem.  We also read in the final verses of the first chapter that the author was gifted with “great wisdom, surpassing all who were over Jerusalem before me.”  From this we can take that the author of Ecclesiastes was probably Solomon.  There is some debate about this, but I say that if it was Solomon, it was probably a Solomon in his very final years.  Here is someone who has been able to look over his life and see the great power that he had over wealth and people.  Yet he comes to realize that while he had this great power, God was still sovereign.  Even after all his battles, all of his struggles, even after all of his long life, God was still in control.

As a result of this realization he is able to say that all is a chasing after the wind.  After all of this introspection he realized that he is not able to control pretty much anything at all.  That is a great lesson for all of us.  No matter how well things are going, because it is in the good times of life, we are not able to control anything at all.  Job taught us that lesson.  

In this last chapter of Proverbs we find quite a transition from the words of King Lemuel to an inspiring passage to a description of a “capable” wife.  The first few verses give us words of wisdom and advice from the mother of King Lemuel.  So from vs.1-9 we see words of wisdom to a king from his mom.  She focuses on pretty much don’t go with girls who drink or chew or anything else for that matter.  The king’s mom is  looking out for her son.

But then we get these verses that are used so often for mother’s day.  We find a whole slew of attributes of a good wife, all of them are keeping the household and a hard worker.  But not actually all of them, which is a bit shocking.  We also read in vs.  14-20 some really strong attributes which in that time period would have been relegated to the men of that society.  Here are some examples:  considers a field and buys it, makes her arms strong, she perceives that her merchandise is profitable.  While all of these characteristics don’t necessarily have to be matched with the men of the society, back then they were.

The kicker is seen in vs.30 which reminds us that for all people, men or women, what really ought to set up apart is that we fear the Lord.  No matter what else we do or what else we have, if we lack the fear of the Lord then we are fools.  

If you look at this chapter and check out the footnotes that accompany this chapter you will see this statement in a few places: “Meaning of Hebrew uncertain.”  There are certain places in Scripture where we frankly do not know what word or what phrase the author was trying to get to.  Either the Hebrew is damaged in the manuscripts that we have, or we simply do not know the root of the word which is being used.  

I think I have said in the past that Scripture for me is the authority and the lamp unto my feet.  I do not use my experience to trump Scripture, and Scripture is that upon which I base my life.  That is not to say that this is a blind following that I have.  No, I know that when we read in Leviticus the codes for what we should and should not eat, that when Peter  had his dream God said all things that I have made are clean for you to eat.  So there are things that are found in Scripture which we need to take within the full context of the Bible.  There are also events and statements that are made that we know are simply the product of the first century and not of the Word of God.  

This next to last chapter contains a series of statements that have four things which the author uses to describe his current day realities which are unacceptable in some cases, and to be exemplified in other cases.  It is within these statements that we find the unclear phrases.  Interestingly enough we also read in vs.5 and 6 that “every word of God proves true…do not add to his words.”  This reminds me a bit of the verses that we find in Revelation 22:18-19 which gives similar counsel that we are not to add or subtract to the words of Scripture.  They are given to us as a guide unto our feet.

This chapter tells us that we ought to be an abomination.  It ought to be our goal to be an abomination.  Hmmm, not sure where you are going with this one.  Look at vs.27, the last verse in this chapter, and we are told that the upright are an abomination to the wicked (we also see before this its opposite which is the unjust are an abomination to the righteous).  I guess it is important that we understand that our actions ought to be hated by those who pursue their own selfish motives.  Our perspective ought not to be to find favor in the sight of all people, but rather to find favor in the sight of God and then let the chips fall where they might.  

Let’s look at vs.20 and focus on hasty speech.  We are called to pause and ponder what we say.  As Presbyterians our calling card is that we are creatures who try to do all things decently and in order.  As a result this requires that we do not hurry any process in which we find ourselves.  Tom Martin and I went out today to look at a van that we might consider accepting as a donation for the church.  I told the guy that we were definitely interested but it takes time for us to make a decision on this.  We have a process which cannot be hastened, and when it is sped up, it breaks down.  It is so important that we hear what hasty speech is able to produce.  I think also in terms of marriages and how hasty speech tends to be a mainstay in many families.  We get angry so we lash out.  When we lash out we say things that are hasty.  Listen again to what this Proverbs says about hasty speech: “There is more hope for a fool than for anyone like that.”

There is a bit of an undercurrent to this chapter that almost speaks directly to the leader of the people.  We find an admonition for the king to reach out to the poor and the powerless.  If you look at vss.2-3 you hear about a ruler who is intelligent and produces order.  Actually an intelligent ruler not only produces order, but lasting order.  Where an unintelligent ruler is one who oppresses the poor.  This has always been the way in which I have chosen to vote.  Which person is going to be on the side of the poor and the powerless? That is my guiding value.  Who out of the two candidates that I am considering is going to be a friend to the poor?  Jesus states something similar in Matthew 5 when he calls the blessed poor.  I am absolutely convinced that Jesus had a prerogative for the poor.