Proverbious – Day 8 – Proverbs 2:5-11 – Yelling at the TV

Proverbious | David Lindner

Ever yell at the TV? Are you willing to admit it? If so, join with me right now and say, out-loud, “I yell at the TV like they can hear me.”

I remember when I was a kid and my dad would…raise his voice…at the tv. I thought it was so ridiculous. He obviously knew they couldn’t hear him, but he did it anyway. And now, here I am, all grown up (sort of) and for some reason I have adopted the same ridiculous habit of yelling at the TV.

I don’t understand it. I don’t know why I do it. Actually I do.

You see there are two scenarios where I yell at the TV: When I’m watching College Football and when I’m watching political news. I played a little bit of football in high school, and have watched college football A LOT! I understand the sport, I can tell when a team isn’t playing up to their ability or when a team is out-matched. I can usually see the penalty before the ref announces it, and I can see when he made a call he shouldn’t have. So, when I see something that I know isn’t right, I yell at the TV.

The same thing is true when I’m watching political news. I see the ridiculous decisions they are making, the ridiculous logic they use (or lack thereof) to come to those decisions…I see all their childish, selfish, absurd behaviors and I just have to do something about it. But there isn’t really anything I can do.

And that’s why we men yell at the TV. We feel helpless. We know we could do something if we were given the chance, but we never get the chance. So we yell at the TV.

Yesterday we focused on seeking wisdom like a precious jewell and being so full of if that is pours out of us on the people we are surrounded by. Today we receive the why, the motivation for doing that.

Proverbs 2:5-11

⁵ then you will understand how to fear the Lord,
and you will discover knowledge about God.
⁶ For the Lord gives wisdom,
and from his mouth comes knowledge and understanding.
⁷ He stores up effective counsel for the upright,
and is like a shield for those who live with integrity,
⁸ to guard the paths of the righteous
and to protect the way of his pious ones.
⁹ Then you will understand righteousness and justice
and equity—every good way.
¹⁰ For wisdom will enter your heart,
and moral knowledge will be attractive to you.
¹¹ Discretion will protect you,
understanding will guard you,

There are some great phrases in there. “He…is like a shield for those who live with integrity.” “Wisdom will enter your heart and moral knowledge will be attractive to you.”

There are a couple of things I want to point out there, first the word used for attractive is the same word Solomon used for being attracted to your beloved or a close friend. It is not just attractive in the sense that we warm up to the idea of wisdom. Rather, it’s a deeper, more passionate attraction – the kind we have in our closest relationships.

Then there is this word, pious. It’s another interesting word. As our culture defines it, it’s kind of offensive. Like you’re some sort of religious nut job. But here, it represents those who show “covenantal faithful love” or loyal love” to God and his people. Being described by this term means you are actively participating in the covenant, and it is this active participation that brings God’s protection.

This whole section is about reaping the benefits of saturating our lives with God’s wisdom. Those benefits are knowing God, being protected by God, discernment for living our lives and more we will cover in the days to come.

The question is, would we yell at ourselves if we saw our lives being played out on the big screen for us? Are there dangers that we’re aware of, but are ignoring for short-term gain? Are we not living up to our full potential? Are there outside forces on our lives that are wreaking havoc that we could actually take control of?

We’re not helpless in our own lives. We have the opportunity to make the changes we want to see, the only question is will we seek God’s wisdom in that pursuit? Will we be the pious ones? If so, I know some things we can look forward to: Discernment for living our lives, God’s protection and the crown jewell – Knowing God.