Chuck Larsen

The pursuit of happiness has always been central to much of human life. It was so important to our founding fathers that they included “The pursuit of happiness” as one of the major rights of human life endowed by their creator. In every generation, happiness has always been big business. There is no lack of salesmen who will happily tell you how their products will make you happy. It might be a material possession, a new food, a new experience, a new feeling, a new thought, or any number of other things. Furthermore, anyone who has an e-mail address, a Facebook page, or any of the other social media accounts sees dozens of ads telling them how such and such will fulfill their lives and make them happy. Some even sell drugs without a prescription that will bring that sense of feeling good no matter what is happening in your life. When prescribed by doctors, there are some that have legitimate benefits, but all of them have limitations as far as real, lasting happiness is concerned.

Another big business is dealing with unhappiness. There are all kinds of drugs for depression, anxiety, and other maladies that can be treated. But there is also a push to promote different ways of thinking that will promote happiness and deal with our unhappiness. One of the more recent trends is “cognitive therapy.” Although it is more complex than this, It deals with changing the way we think.  I’m not sure what is involved with the psychological therapy called cognitive, I am sure that the way we think affects our level of happiness. Solomon, 3000 years ago, said in Proverbs 4:23, “Be careful what you think, because your thoughts run your life.” Then two thousand years later, Paul tells the Philippians to think about good things. Philippians 4:8 says, “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable if there is any excellence if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”

Often, we are our own worst enemy when it comes to being happy. We feast on “feel bad” thoughts rather than on that which nourishes us. The New Living Translation of Proverbs 15:14 says, “A wise person is hungry for truth, while the fool feeds on trash.” The Message translations put it this way, “An intelligent person is always eager to take in more truth; fools feed on fast-food fads and fancies.” What we feed our minds has an impact on our happiness in a profound way. God has given us the food we need that will help in this regard.He even provides us with a virtual feast in the Bible designed to satisfy our hunger for truth. Jeremiah explains his experience with this banquet in chapter 15, verse 16. He says, “Your words were found, and I ate them, and Your words became for me a joy and the delight of my heart.”

Discipline and diligence are two prominent themes in the book of Proverbs. They show up over and over again. Solomon gives them to us with the down-home, backwoods wisdom that is hard to miss.  He uses images that are hard to get out of your mind. In Chapter Six, Verse 6, he says, “Take a lesson from the ants, you lazybones. Learn from their ways and become wise!”

According to John Silling, a Purdue University entomologist, the ant is an exemplary worker. “Basically, the ant’s entire life, which can range up to seven years, is spent working,” says Silling. “They gather food, bring it back to the nest, and use it for day-to-day meals as well as to store for the winter.” In addition, the amazing insects can be adept horticulturalists, states the professor. Some species “gather bits of grass or leaves and take them back to their nest. On this organic matter, which is used much like fertilizer, they place tiny mushroom spores and grow them for food.” But ants as dairy keepers? That’s right. “Some ants get the majority of their food by ‘milking’ aphids or plant lice, which are often known as ‘ant cows,’ says the scientist. “The ants sometimes herd the aphids down into the ant nests at night or when it starts to get cool; then when it gets warm again, they herd them back up to the plants.”

The Jewish Publication Society’s commentary on this passage says that the illustration of the ant teaches us to be honest. It says, “If the Torah had not been given, we could have learned modesty from the cat [which relieves itself in private], honesty from the ant [which doesn’t steal the food of another ant], and fidelity from the dove [which is monogamous].”^[1] I’m inclined to go along with the standard understanding that the lesson from the ant is industry. The ant is hard working all of its life and is never deterred from this mission. An old English proverb that you’ve all heard is that “idleness is the Devil’s workshop.” Notice that the exhortation to watch the ant in Proverbs 6 is sandwiched between exhortations against sexual promiscuity in chapter five and chapter seven. Just as David’s leisurely walk along the roof of his palace opened the door to adultery with Bathsheba, so too is it the case with us all. Many a man has fallen prey to Satan’s devices while leisurely browsing the internet. When we become actively engaged in doing what we’re supposed to do, we are much less likely to fall into the temptation to do what we’re not supposed to do. In the book of Ecclesiastes, Solomon tells us that one of the more satisfying pursuits in life is work. It’s a gift from God. Ecclesiastes 2:24-25 says, “There is nothing better for mortals than to eat and drink and find enjoyment in their toil. This also, I saw, is from the hand of God; for apart from him, who can eat or who can have enjoyment?”

^[1] Levy, Sarah, and Steven Levy. 2017. The JPS Rashi Discussion Torah Commentary. JPS Study Bible Series. Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society.

There was a poster that hung on the wall of one university’s weight room. It illustrated the importance of living a disciplined life.  It shows a man straining to lift a weight, sweat fairly bursting from a grimacing face, veins bulging on his neck. The caption reads: “There are two kinds of pain: the pain of discipline and the pain of regret.” According to Solomon, this is most specifically true regarding sexual purity. Chapter five of Proverbs deals with the issue of adultery. Solomon warns his son that nothing good will ever come from it in the long run. He speaks to his son and pleads with him to reserve his activity with his wife only. If you are promiscuous, he says, if you don’t discipline your sexual appetite, you will live to regret it. Verses 11 & 12 of chapter five say if you don’t practice discipline in this area specifically, “At the end of your life, you will lament when your physical body has been consumed, and you will say, how I hated discipline, and how my heart despised correction.”

According to a Reuters report from Stockholm, Sweden has long ago arrived at complete sexual freedom and liberty. Parents quite accept old-fashioned fornication as normal for their youngsters. It is reported that only 5% of the girls and 2% of the boys go with their purity to the marriage altar. Is this moral deterioration reflected in Sweden’s having the highest percentage of suicides of any country in the world? According to Akin, adultery and sexual promiscuity are one of those little foxes that will steal the good things from your life without you noticing it right away. He talks about, like Solomon, not falling for the little advances from the opposite sex that lure you into the trap of sexual sin. He says, “These are just a few of the foxes that open the door to an affair, to adultery. It comes about slowly, over time, almost without notice. It is a deadly and devastating fox that will take you where you don’t want to go and cost you so much more than you want to pay. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 6:18, “Run from sexual immorality.” Wiser words have never been written.”^[1]

Sex is like a fire. If you keep it in the bounds of a fireplace or furnace, it can keep you warm and safe. On the other hand, if it’s allowed to have its way freely, it will wipe out everything in its path. Deborah Ogans says, on her website, under the title of “Proverbs Daily Devotionals,” “Sex outside of marriage is like fire outside of a fireplace. It is dangerous and will burn your house down!”[2] Solomon encourages his son to enjoy the God-given gift of sex within the fireplace of marriage. He then warns of the dangers of letting the fire burn out of control. Solomon, in essence, tells his son that there are two kinds of pain—the pain of discipline and the pain of regret.

^[1] Akin, Daniel L. 2015. Exalting Jesus in Song of Songs. Edited by Daniel L. Akin, David Platt, and Tony Merida. Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary. Nashville, TN: Holman Reference.

[2] Quote by DeBorrah K. Ogans: “Sex outside of marriage is like fire outside of…” (goodreads.com)

Proverbs 4:23 advises us to guard our hearts. It says, “Guard your heart above all else, for it is the source of life.” When Paul writes to the Philippians, he tells them not to worry about anything but to commit all their problems to God in prayer and then trust Him for the results. If we do that, Paul goes on, “The peace of God will guard your heart…” Guarding the heart is of paramount importance. The heart is not the seat of emotions only, as it is in modern jargon. It’s the core of one’s very being, according to scripture. Carson writes, “If the heart is nothing other than the center of your entire personality, that is what must be preserved. If your religion is merely external, while your ‘heart’ is a seething mass of self-interest, what good is the religion? If your heart is ardently pursuing peripheral things (not necessarily prurient things), then from a Christian perspective, you soon come to be occupied with the merely peripheral. If what you dream of is possessing a certain thing, if what you pant for is a certain salary or reputation, that shapes your life. But if, above all else, you see it to be your duty to guard your heart, that resolve will translate itself into choices of what you read, how you pray, and what you linger over. It will prompt self-examination and confession, repentance, and faith, and will transform the rest of your life.”^[1] Unfortunately, we still struggle with our flesh and can’t maintain that kind of vigilance.

Having spent many years in the military, I’m always excited about military phrases. The word “guard” is a military term that describes a Roman soldier holding his weapon, walking back and forth in front of an open gate so that no one could enter. It is an exhortation to vigilance. Shih Huang-ti, one-time emperor of China, claimed to have eighty thousand eyes. For along the Great Wall of China were forty thousand watchtowers, and every day and night, a sentinel was posted at each one of them to guard the safety of China. This is said to have been “the greatest example of vigilance ever known to the world.” This is wrong! The Prophet Isaiah tells us about the greatest vigilance known to the world. He writes, in Isaiah 40:28, “Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable.”

Although vigilance in the Christian life is crucial, it’s a vigilance that rests on God’s sovereignty. I get tired. I get weary. I will let my guard down. We are always susceptible to the weaknesses of the flesh. We cannot maintain a vigilant mindset 24/7. It’s not in the realm of possibility. It’s the watchfulness of Almighty God that I must put my trust in. He is ever vigilant over those who “trust in Him.” Psalmist affirms the reliability of God, our Shepherd. Psalm 121:3-4 says, “He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber.  Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.” Then, in Psalm 127, we get even better news. The Psalmist tells us in Verses 1 and 2, “Without the help of the Lord, it is useless to build a home or to guard a city. It is useless to get up early and stay up late …God takes care of his own, even while they sleep.”

^[1] Carson, D. A. 1998. For the Love of God: A Daily Companion for Discovering the Riches of God’s Word. Vol. 2. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.

Solomon begins his address to his son by pleading for him to pay attention. At least a dozen times in the book, the word “hear” is an imperative, i.e., a command.  It is used as such twice in the first chapter.  It’s also used three other times in the first chapter just as a regular verb. There is also a clear connection between hearing and obeying. This is also what Jesus meant when he said, “Let those who have ears to hear, hear.” Both Solomon and Jesus want us to hear and heed their instructions on how to live a healthy, happy, and holy life. Many verses throughout this book point out the benefits of following God’s directions in life. One of those verses is found in the first chapter of the book in Verse 33. It says, “But whoever listens to me will dwell secure and will be at ease, without dread of disaster.”

But we must always remember that Proverbs are not promises. They are general truths that apply to everyone in life in a very extensive manner, but they are not promises that can be applied to everyone in a very specific manner. God sometimes chooses to test us, like He did Job, by allowing circumstances to go against our life choices. Notice these examples:  “A friend loves at all times,” but we’ve all experienced arguments, disagreements, and disappointments with those we’ve felt were our friends.  “A soft answer turns away wrath.”  In most cases, it surely does, but Jesus was nailed to a cross in spite of His soft answers and we might expect the same from the world at times.  There are many promises regarding long life for obedience (3:2, 22; 4:10, 22; 8:35; 9:11; 10:27; 12:28; 13:14; 14:27; 19:23; 21:21; 22:4) and these will work out accordingly most of the time.  Yet, there are many times when the good die young or disease has struck a godly person while the ungodly and rebellious live long and apparently happy lives. Proverbs tells us that the righteous man is “rescued from troubles.” But a quick look through the bible tells us that this isn’t always the case.  There have been millions of martyrs for the faith, and every believer has his or her share of troubles in life. Asaph, in Psalm 73, points out that good doesn’t always come to the good, and bad doesn’t always come to the bad, but the godly will have an ultimate reward in eternity.

The Book of Proverbs is all about producing a satisfying life in the here and now. It says little, if anything at all, about eternity.  God calls out to us to live wise and skillful lives so that our lives will glorify him no matter what circumstances come our way. It’s all about trusting God to have our best interest foremost in mind, regardless of the circumstances. It’s not the length or the quality of life that we have that matters most; it’s the depth of life and the breadth of our faith that God will evaluate. Proverbs is a call for us all to launch out into the deep, to live life to its fullest, and to trust God for the results.