At the recent Northern Illinois District (LCMS) meeting of 2010 LCMS convention delegates, NID President, Rev. Dan Gilbert, encouraged the delegates to prepare for the convention prayerfully. In particular, he encouraged the reading of and meditation upon Proverbs.
It just so happens that much of June in Concordia Publishing House’s Treasury of Daily Prayer is in Proverbs. (For more information about the Treasury, or to purchase, click here.)The Old Testament reading for June 15th is Proverbs 15.1-29, and there is a lot of meat to chew on in this proverb.
"A gentle tongue is a tree of life, but perverseness in it breaks the spirit." (Proverbs 15:4, ESV)
I struggle with this. I tend to have a quick, hot temper, reacting sometimes impulsively. I have been—prayerfully—trying to work on this in recent years. Prayerfully beginning the day has been a good help to me. There are days—even as a pastor—where I just rush into my day without having made plans to pray beforehand. This is foolish, and leads to expressions in word and deed that lack wisdom.
"The heart of him who has understanding seeks knowledge, but the mouths of fools feed on folly." (Proverbs 15:14, ESV)
I have done much better on this is recent years, gathering information and seeking to understand before I speak. As I look back on my life I had a wonderful teacher in my early professional years, when I worked as a Legislative Aide for Michigan State Representative Glenn Oxender of Sturgis, Michigan. Glenn was as fine a Christian man as I have ever met, gentle in soul and always seeking knowledge and understanding.
"A hot-tempered man stirs up strife, but he who is slow to anger quiets contention." (Proverbs 15:18, ESV)
Isn’t that the truth! How often, for example as a parent, have I created strife by letting my temper get the best of me, but when I am “quick to listen and slow to speak” (James 1) much contention is avoided.
"The way of a sluggard is like a hedge of thorns, but the path of the upright is a level highway." (Proverbs 15:19, ESV)
Laziness, as a parent, husband, wife, or worker, leads to nothing but more trouble and difficulty. It’s sure easy, though!
"Without counsel plans fail, but with many advisers they succeed." (Proverbs 15:22, ESV)
This is an interesting verse for me, especially in my Chicago context, where I face a decent amount of pressure—sometimes subtle and sometimes not—to do much business autocratically and “behind closed doors.” This verse does NOT say, “Committees of the whole are best.” It DOES say that plans are best made with a good deal of advice and—by context—from a good variety of people.
"The heart of the righteous ponders how to answer, but the mouth of the wicked pours out evil things." (Proverbs 15:28, ESV)
Following this counsel, though wise, of course, often leads to difficulty. There have been times where something was said or done that I knew demanded a response, but in seeking to be temperate and not say or do something I would regret and that would be spoken without knowledge, I chose to let the immediate situation take its course. In a couple of these situations that has put me in the position—as I see now—of not defending someone’s reputation (an 8th commandment violation).
This last point gets us back to the very beginning: prayer. Not giving adequate time to prayer at the beginning of the day, or during times of intense discussion, can lead to all sorts of unnecessary trouble, so I conclude with the “Prayer of the Day” for June 15 in The Treasury of Daily Prayer:
O God, the giver of all that is good, by Your holy inspiration grant that we may think those things that are right and by Your merciful guiding accomplish them; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Amen.
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