Scripture Daily

Context No. 2065 of 4322 · Proverbs

Context · Reflection

Proverbs 30:17-33: in context

17“The eye that mocks at his father, and scorns obedience to his mother, the ravens of the valley shall pick it out, the young eagles shall eat it. 18“There are three things which are too amazing for me, four which I don’t understand: 19The way of an eagle in the air, the way of a serpent on a rock, the way of a ship in the middle of the sea, and the way of a man with a maiden. 20“So is the way of an adulterous woman: She eats and wipes her mouth, and says, ‘I have done nothing wrong.’ 21“For three things the earth trembles, and under four, it can’t bear up: 22For a servant when he is king, a fool when he is filled with food, 23for an unloved woman when she is married, and a servant who is heir to her mistress. 24“There are four things which are little on the earth, but they are exceedingly wise: 25The ants are not a strong people, yet they provide their food in the summer. 26The hyraxes are but a feeble folk, yet make they their houses in the rocks. 27The locusts have no king, yet they advance in ranks. 28You can catch a lizard with your hands, yet it is in kings’ palaces. 29“There are three things which are stately in their march, four which are stately in going: 30The lion, which is mightiest among animals, and doesn’t turn away for any; 31the greyhound; the male goat; and the king against whom there is no rising up. 32“If you have done foolishly in lifting up yourself, or if you have thought evil, put your hand over your mouth. 33For as the churning of milk produces butter, and the wringing of the nose produces blood, so the forcing of wrath produces strife.”

Among Agur's sayings is a meditation on small creatures that possess surprising wisdom. There are four things, he says, which are little on the earth, but they are exceedingly wise. The ants, though not a strong people, provide their food in the summer. The hyraxes, a feeble folk, make their homes in the rocks. The locusts have no king, yet they advance together in ranks. The lizard can be caught by hand, yet it is found in kings' palaces. Small, weak, and unimpressive, these creatures are nonetheless wise, achieving through wisdom what strength alone could not.

Agur's observation is that wisdom and effectiveness do not depend on size or strength. The creatures he names are all small and weak: ants, easily crushed; hyraxes, feeble; locusts, without a king to lead them; a lizard, easily caught. Yet each is wise in its way. The ant is provident, storing food in summer against the winter. The hyrax is prudent, sheltering in the rocks. The locusts are orderly, advancing in ranks though they have no king. The lizard, small and vulnerable, still finds its way into palaces. Their wisdom, not their strength, is what marks them; and through wisdom the small and weak accomplish what mere strength could not. This is worth pondering, for we tend to equate effectiveness with strength, size, and force. We admire the strong and the impressive, and assume that to accomplish anything requires power. But Agur points to the small and weak that are wise, and shows that wisdom achieves what strength cannot: the provident ant is ready for winter; the orderly locusts move as one though leaderless; the little creatures thrive not by force but by wisdom. Wisdom is better than strength, the Preacher says; and the small and weak, if they are wise, can accomplish and endure what the merely strong cannot. There is encouragement here for those who feel small and weak. We may lack strength, size, resources, or power, and feel that we can accomplish little for that reason. But Agur's creatures show that effectiveness comes through wisdom, not strength, and that the small and weak, if they are wise, prudent, provident, and orderly, can accomplish much. God, indeed, often chooses the weak things to shame the strong, working through the small and lowly rather than the strong and impressive. This frees us from the assumption that we must be strong or impressive to accomplish anything. Like the ant, the hyrax, the locust, and the lizard, we may be small and weak, and yet, through the wisdom God gives, be provident, prudent, orderly, and effective, accomplishing through wisdom what strength alone could never achieve. Wisdom, not size or strength, is what makes the small creatures wise; and it is what makes the small and weak among us effective in the work God gives.

Do I equate effectiveness with strength and size, feeling that because I am small or weak or lacking in resources I can accomplish little, or can Agur's small but wise creatures, the provident ant, the prudent hyrax, the orderly locusts, teach me that wisdom, not strength, is what accomplishes much, so that I seek from God the wisdom by which the small and weak accomplish what mere strength never could?

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