Proverbs 10:23-30

“Doing wrong is like sport to a fool,
but wise conduct is pleasure to a person of understanding.
What the wicked dread will come upon them,
but the desire of the righteous will be granted.
When the tempest passes, the wicked are no more,
but the righteous are established forever.
Like vinegar to the teeth, and smoke to the eyes,
so are the lazy to their employers.
The fear of the Lord prolongs life,
but the years of the wicked will be short.
The hope of the righteous ends in gladness,
but the expectation of the wicked comes to nothing.
The way of the Lord is a stronghold for the upright,
but destruction for evildoers.
The righteous will never be removed,
but the wicked will not remain in the land.” NRSV

What do I want? What do I consider to be a blessing? For what do I pray?

I find it interesting that “shalom,” which is translated “peace” in the Bible doesn’t mean the absence of conflict or peace of one’s heart, but rather peace with God. I think that many people long for peace and think that it will come when they finally are rid of their troubles and problems. That’s why we all pray for “stuff” when we pray: enough money to pay our bills, a way out of a foreclosure, a better job, a repaired car, a healthy body, a more compatible spouse, kinder children. But the fact is, the one thing we should be praying for, the only thing we should consider to be a blessing, is often the one thing we shy away from: a closer relationship with the Lord.

“Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart” Psalm 37:4

“Take delight in the Lord.” In other words, learn that this is what makes you happy, this is what you desire. The Lord never agreed to become our “Santa Claus,” to mold Himself into some kind of cosmic purchasing agent where we could simply speak and He would act. Such behavior would not be in our best interest because it would allow us to indulge the lusts of our flesh (even those that are not sexually driven). The Lord gives us the desire of our heart when He becomes that desire.

Solomon writes a number of parallel thoughts:

Wise conduct is pleasure to a person of understanding.
The desire of the righteous will be granted.
The righteous are established forever.
The fear of the Lord prolongs life.
The hope of the righteous ends in gladness.
The way of the Lord is a stronghold for the upright.
The righteous will never be removed.

There is a chord running through these couplets. And that is that righteousness (living according to the ways of God and pleasing Him) have the end of pleasure and gladness, the granting of desires, and being established forever (long life, protection). But this only comes when first we seek after righteousness. “But strive first for the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matthew 6:33 NRSV).

As we add up our blessings, we need to ask ourselves if salvation, shalom, and intimacy with God is our first and really only important blessing? If everything else were stripped away, would we be content with Him and Him alone? Or is our relationship with Him conditionally upon His providing a bunch of (temporal) stuff along the way? If we want to find peace, if we want to find contentment, I think that the first step is leaving everything else behind to simply seek after Him.

© 2008 Robin L. O’Hare. All Rights Reserved. International copyright reserved. This study may be copied for nonprofit and/or church purposes only without permission when copied in its entirety (including this notice).