Poetry – Proverbs 11-12

I’ve come to the realization that the reason why I find it so difficult to write about Proverbs is simply because it reveals so many of my shortcomings!  And I would rather choose not to confront them than to read and reflect upon them.

Today’s passage is no different.

Bible Passage:  Proverbs 11-12

When you read through today’s passage, what comes to mind?

I think if you take the time to read through each verse, think and reflect upon it and then see how it applies to you… it will take you a very long time to read through this passage.

But I can essentially summarise it to the following…

Chapter 11 talks a lot about righteousness and the author encourages us to perform acts of righteousness and be a righteous person (whew!  lots of ‘righteousness’ in one sentence).

And Chapter 12 continues in the same vein by comparing the righteous man and the wicked. You can see lots of contrast between the consequences of the actions of the good and evil.

I would leave you all to reflect upon it yourself

But for me today, I would just like to concentrate on this verse…

Anxiety in the heart of man causes depression,
But a good word makes it glad.

Prov 12:25

This is definitely a verse to be memorized and remembered when encountering those who are prone to worry. An encouraging word is a word of love, faith, or hope.

What causes us to be anxious in our hearts?  There are so many possible reasons…

• Our children.  We are worried about their education.  We are anxious about their spiritual lives.  We are worried how they will turn out…
• Our jobs or careers.  There is no longer job stabiity.  Competition is tougher.  We need to work twice as hard as we used to just to maintain what we have now…
• Our failed relationships.  This does not just refer to our potential partners but also broken friendships because of misunderstandings or unkept promises …
• Our examination fears.  The finals are round the corner but we are just not prepared and there’s still loads to be done…
• Our work for God.  We are concerned that what we have prepared or done is not good enough for Him…
• Our… the list can just go on…

And if we continue to allow all these anxieties of life weigh us down, it will bring us swiftly down the road of depression.

Sin of Silence

Last week when we did Proverbs, we discussed about the need to be careful ’cause in a multitude of words sin is not lacking.  Quite a number of readers shared that watching our words is one thing we have to work at.

But today I would like us to look at it from the other way.

In Prov 12:25 it tells us that it is important for us to say a ‘good word’ to those who are bogged down with anxieties – because the ‘good word’ that we say can make their hearts glad.

How many of us have seen a fellow brethren suffering and not offered any words of encouragement or comfort?

I will freely admit that I am one of those that do not really know how to react when someone I know has suffered a setback.  I always feel that I do not really know what to say or how to say things.  And so I do what comes naturally… I say nothing at all and hope that someone else will come along and offer that word of comfort.

Or I’d just pretend that I know nothing and ignore the matter…  I know it is wrong but …

There are many reasons why I do not speak.  I’ve already mentioned that one of them is because I do not know what to say.  Another reason is that I do not want to the other party to think that I am a nosey parker – meddling with their private affairs.

Elder James reminds me…

Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.

James 4:17

To offer a good word in times of need is indeed a good thing to do.

And if I do not do it… it is to me a sin.

What is a good word?

Of course the ‘good word’ can be drawn from the Words of God – the Bible.

So keeping quiet is not an option when there is a need to speak.  And this is a lesson I am still trying to learn everyday.

Sometimes you don’t even have to say much for it to be a ‘good word’.  As long as what you say is from your heart – to the listener it is a ‘good word’.

I learned this valuable lesson from one of kids in church.  There was one occassion when I was feeling really down and my eyes were red after prayer.  And as I sat there trying to compose myself, this young sister came up to me and asked, “Are you ok?”.  And then she just sat them quietly with me… saying nothing else but just keeping me company.

I often think back that incident and wonder… many other members could see that I was not feeling right.  And yet no one came up to ask me how I was.  Only this young sister.

But her simple “Are you ok?” and just sitting there with me brought me comfort and gladness in my heart.

This reminds me of a verse in Isaiah:

“ The Lord GOD has given Me
The tongue of the learned,
That I should know how to speak
A word in season to him who is weary.”

Isaiah 50:4

This verses shows that saying the right thing at the right time and place makes the heart glad.

The tongue can be a very powerful weapon of destruction.  But in many parts of Proverbs, we also read that the tongue can be used for blessing, comfort and encouragement.

God tells us to cast all our cares on Him (1 Pet. 5:7) and not to be anxious (Phil. 4:6).  We know these verses very well an have experienced how uplifting it is in the midst of a trial to hear a word of encouragement! Encouragement stirs up, provokes, incites people in a given direction.

We can choose how we want to use our tongue.  I choose to speak ‘good words that will gladden the heart from now’.  May God help me.