©Shannon Gist
Chapter 7:7-14 (ESV) - Surely oppression drives the wise into madness,
and a bribe corrupts the heart.
Better is the end of a thing than its beginning,
and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.
Be not quick in your spirit to become angry,
for anger lodges in the heart of fools.
Say not, “Why were the former days better than these?”
For it is not from wisdom that you ask this.
Wisdom is good with an inheritance,
an advantage to those who see the sun.
For the protection of wisdom is like the protection of money,
and the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the life of him who has it.
Consider the work of God:
who can make straight what he has made crooked?
In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider: God has made the one as well as the other, so that man may not find out anything that will be after him.
Question to consider: What are some things that keep us from learning from our mistakes?
In yesterday’s study, I pointed out that Job found peace in knowing that God allowed the good times and bad times and so he trusted in the goodness of God in the midst of his ordeal. Solomon ends this passage with a similar idea. God has made the days of prosperity and adversity, and we must trust in His goodness since we don’t know what comes next.
The beginning half of this passage which we covered yesterday dealt with the instructive nature of adversity. Today deals with obstacles in receiving this instruction. One such obstacle is the idea that adversity has its limits. Everyone has a point in which they learn from their circumstances and a point in which they are broken by them.
Another is a heart of corruption. Someone who is willing to oppress others or allow oppression because they have received a bribe has a seared conscience and has allowed their heart to become corrupted. Such a person is incapable of learning wisdom unless the Lord brings them to repentance.
Another obstacle to wisdom in adversity is an impatient and angry spirit. When people have had to wait for justice or have experienced oppression for a length of time, they can be quick to anger. Someone who is quick to anger can act impulsively (and thus foolishly) to satisfy it.
As I’ve gotten older, it is easy to start talking about “the good old days” and looking at the past with rose-colored glasses. Solomon says this is not done out of wisdom. Misrepresenting the past and being quick to anger at the present are really two sides of the same coin, for they are both rooted in pride. Solomon advised that we treat wisdom like an inheritance and be good stewards of it.
Wisdom would have us learn from every season under the sun— repenting of what is evil and holding on to what is good. We start doing what is right and let God make the crooked paths straight, for the Lord is bringing all of history forward according to His redemptive plan.
Dear heavenly Father, thank You for making our paths crooked to slow down our foolishness. We ask that You replace our heart of stone with a heart of flesh that longs to do the things that please You. All praise and honor be to Christ who has set us free from sin and death. Amen.