Saying Thirty

Proverbs 24:21-22

My son, fear the Lord and the king; do not associate with those given to change; for their calamity will rise suddenly, and who knows the ruin those two can bring?

Be loyal; do what’s in front of you.

A sigh emerged from the recesses of the Judgment Hall. Eliakim, standing, butler-like, outside the room, his face painted with one of those ear-to-ears that had so impressed the Queen of Sheba (1 Kgs 10:8), knew what it meant. Solomon was pleased. From that great mind had proceeded yet another aphoristic jewel.

“Eliakim.”

He knew what that meant, too. Entering the presence of the wise man with a practiced balance of eagerness and respect, he listened for a quarter of an hour as Twenty-Nine vignettes of superb linguistic architecture passed through his ears, cascaded into his mind, and, without waiting for permission, rammed through his heart.

After the Twenty-Ninth, Solomon paused, took a deep breath through his nose, and looked up at his servant.

“It’s very good, don’t you think? The Spirit’s upon me, for sure.”

Eliakim, having long since concluded as much, allowed a touch of impatience to creep into his tone.

“Yes, yes. I agree, sir. Why did you stop at Twenty-Nine? Is there a Thirtieth?”

No shadow of irritability crept into Solomon’s manner. He simply caught the man’s eye and held it.

“There is. And if you learned nothing from the Twenty-Nine, learn this from the Thirtieth.

“My son…” he began. And finished.

What Eliakim noticed about the thirtieth was that it encapsulated the spirit of not just the other twenty-nine, but of his master’s entire proverbial corpus. Thousands of lines of pure gold — the labour of many years — distilled into one exhortation so simple it could have come from an illiterate grandmother.

In a word, the saying is a promotion of loyalty, allegiance, or (to use New Testament terminology) faithfulness. God’s world does not need more suave, slick men; it is creaking with smarminess; of obsequiousness it has sufficient. What it lacks is men of stability, men of loyalty — men who fear their God and do not change; who serve their church and do not flake; who love their wife and don’t grow cold; who provide for their family day in, day out, with joy, regardless of how they feel on Tuesday.

And when taken as a whole, is this not the burden of the Thirty Sayings? Throughout the text, Solomon has painted a picture of a man who listens to reason (22:17-21, 23:22-23), who works hard (22:29), who is unswayed by insincerity (23:1-3, 6-8), whose eyes never wander (23:26-28), whose strength is apparent (24:5), who delights in simple joys (24:13-14), who falls seven times (24:16), who always rises again (24:16).

This man is well-read and well-built. He has a favourite Puritan and a favourite hammer. His word stands when the winds shift; and when the tides of culture crash against his house, the foundation holds, and the said tides turn to their mates with that confused “but-it-worked-every-other-time” expression that so often clothes villains in the final scene.

There is another sort of man, of course — the changer. He is everywhere. His convictions are weather-dependent; his loyalties shift to wherever he sees the gruffest alpha or the prettiest face. He’ll apologise for doing nothing wrong just to keep the peace; but when his dignity is at stake, he’ll closet his sin like an undersized sports coat. (As a rule of thumb: if you cannot see a man’s sin, it’s either because he’s hiding it, or you are.) Such men build nothing, inherit no wisdom, provide no shade. They are faithless, and therefore unfaithful.

With this in mind, note how frequently the scriptures command stability and loyalty:

He who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind… he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

James 1:6-8

Most men will proclaim each his own goodness, but who can find a faithful man? The righteous man walks in his integrity; his children are blessed after him.

Proverbs 20:6-7

Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

1 Corinthians 15:58

These are wells without water, clouds carried by a tempest, for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.

2 Peter 2:17

For your faithfulness is like a morning cloud, and like the early dew it goes away.

Hosea 6:4

Like Solomon, then, I will urge you with this final exhortation. In a culture blown about by emotion, be stable. In a society allergic to commitment, be loyal. In a world of big ideas and bigger debts, be grounded. In a people starstruck by screens and cities, be earthy.

Enjoy the simple. Lay the next brick. And, as my pastor so often reminds me: confess your sin and do what’s in front of you.

Scriptures for Comparison

Psalm 15

Revelation 2:10

Proverbs 20:6-7

Psalm 112:6-7

Isaiah 33:6

1 Corinthians 15:58

James 1:6-8

2 Peter 2:17-19

Hosea 6:4

Psalm 78:8

Daniel 6:10

2 Timothy 4:7

John 6:68

Malachi 2:14-16