August 13th 2018 – Proverbs 20:13-16

Love not sleep, lest you come to poverty;
    open your eyes, and you will have plenty of bread.
“Bad, bad,” says the buyer,
    but when he goes away, then he boasts.
There is gold and abundance of costly stones,
    but the lips of knowledge are a precious jewel.
Take a man's garment when he has put up security for a stranger,
    and hold it in pledge when he puts up security for foreigners.

Proverbs 20:13-16

For the thought in 13, see 4, and 6:9-11. It is a word with many applications. The warning is against letting opportunity slip. In the Note on 19:15-17 (Fri. 28th November), we spoke of 'redeeming the time'. Here is a corollary: to open one's eyes is to see much opportunity around us. There is so much that is obvious which is just not seen - things that need to be done, people that need to be helped - because eyes are closed and people are insensitive, and suffer from a basic unwillingness to put themselves about. The writer is not afraid to impute a slovenly spirit to those who go about with their eyes shut. The picture in 14 is of the man who drives a dishonest bargain. Kidner's comment is illuminating: 'We may find here a sketch; also a business man's warning to the inexperienced; perhaps, too, a parable, for there are also immaterial assets which we can be talked into selling lightly (Hebrews 12:16)'. The gold and rubies in 15 are kinds of adornment, and the point that is being made is similar to that made by Peter in 1 Peter 3:3ff. Lips of knowledge are something that adorns a life far more than any outward jewels can do. In 16, see 6:1-5 and 11:15. The meaning is: beware of lending without security to someone who is known to be a bad risk, for it can lead only to trouble. Keeping clear of involvement is the only safe path. Again, there is no thought of withholding kindness or help from a brother in need. Shrewdness and down-to-earth wisdom, not hard heartedness, is the keynote.