The Amazing Old Testament: Lab rats, winking and Lincoln

Three weeks ago, we thought together in this space about Proverbs 16:7. Let’s skip around and look at a few other proverbs. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Proverbs 1:7), and “The Lord gives wisdom” (Proverbs 2:6). Wisdom is steeped in a profound relationship with God.

Wisdom “begins” with “the fear of the Lord.” The beginning is never behind you. It’s the basis, the ongoing foundation and direction, this fear isn’t a technique but a right relationship. God prefers we not cower in fright. And yet there is a proper trembling awe before the power that encompasses the universe, perhaps the way lovers quake at the sight of the beloved, or the reverential quiver parents feel when they cradle their newborn. God’s wisdom has moral authority, and is so immense, like an ocean into whose waves the wisest among us wade gingerly. Fear of God isn’t the possession of wisdom, but merely a beginning for us eager novices at age eight or eighty-eight.

Another proverb: “If sinners entice you, do not consent” (Proverbs 1:10). Solomon did! But then Joseph, the Old Testament’s most exemplary wise person, fled when seduced by Potiphar’s wife (Genesis 39:12). The image here is of a group of cool guys imploring you to join them in their hip and profitable but loony escapades. Temptation doesn’t work unless it masquerades as the good life. “We’ll find precious wealth!” (verse 13); but wisdom knows it’s nothing but a “deadly ambush” (verse 12).

Proverbs assumes we are social animals, and that the company we keep shapes our souls. “Don’t be enticed” implies we are entice-able. Laboratory rats consume more alcohol when with other rats than when alone. Peer pressure works because we are inherently lonely and in need of company. Israel’s wise sages worried that the young would abandon holy, humble values. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego (Daniel 3) were blessed with good company, empowering them to resist the wiles of the Babylonian empire.

For us, a “friend” might be someone you have fun with or who likes what you like. Socrates saw friendship as a “school of virtue.” John Wesley wisely insisted that Methodists get organized into small groups to share in the quest for holiness. We need friends who care about and dare to cultivate wisdom, and help us avoid self-deception.

Another wise saying: “He who winks the eye causes trouble” (Proverbs 10:10). In Proverbs we find a robust appreciation of human nature. You might be noble much of the time, but you have a dark side – and Wisdom addresses what might tip the balance one way or the other. That something might be as subtle as a facial expression.

Think about your face: it reveals your inner self, yet hides you, like a mask. What’s hidden under there? What is exposed by the furrowed brow, tension in the cheek, rolling the eyes, a sly grin, a hazy gaze? Someone winks – a tiny gesture. Not a mere blink, but a message flicked toward you. Is it flirting? or is it a signal that we “get” the joke at the expense of the next guy who didn’t see the wink? Is it all warmth and conviviality? or is the wink manipulative? Eye-rolling: it’s like mocking someone verbally, isn’t it? And you don’t get the option to accept or refuse the wink or the eye-roll – the way you might refuse even a handshake! In a game teenagers play, you get winked, and you’re dead.

One more proverb for today: “When words are many, transgression is not lacking; but he who restrains his lips is prudent” (Proverbs 10:19). Proverbs is a course in language. Not grammar, spelling, or sentence construction, but the wise use of words. “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words may never hurt me,” a modern proverb, is patently false. Words tear down, words build up. “A time for keeping silent, and a time for talking” (Eccl 3:7); the wise know what time it is.

For the wise talker, less is more. Was it Abraham Lincoln or George Washington or maybe Mark Twain who said, “It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt”? In our age of endless chatter, on cell phones, instant messaging, emails, media, words, more words, a tsunami of words: how refreshing to pair wisdom with silence! Silence’s virtues? You can hear, listen, think, observe; you show respect, you give space. The brother of Jesus warned that “the tongue is a fire” (James 3:6). Dietrich Bonhoeffer suggested that “Often we combat our evil thoughts most effectively if we absolutely refuse to allow them to be expressed in words.”

What about prayer? Are my words many? Or do I restrain my lips? Proverbs 10:19 might reshape my prayer into less “Lord, hear my prayer” and more “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening” (1 Samuel 3:10).