Proverbs Experiment: Day Twenty-Seven

Proverbs Chapter 27:

Don't praise yourself; let others do it! (vs. 2)

This verse is interesting to me, because I live in a constant paradox when it comes to praise. I think that out of the "love languages" that Gary Chapman talks about in his book, the "regular praise" is the one that I most identify with. For some reason, I crave the encouragement of my wife, and even of my daughter. But at the same time, I have a hard time accepting praise - at church, when someone tells me I did a good job leading worship, or for example on my last day in Colorado, when I had to stand up in front and have the lead pastor say all kinds of good things about me and then after service with the many people who came up and told me how much they appreciated my ministry. It's strange, isn't it? I don't think I'm bad in the "praise yourself" category though. The only one I really brag about when I think I do something well is my wife.

If you shout a pleasant greeting to your neighbor too early in the morning, it will be counted as a curse! (vs. 14)

Since I don't get up early in the morning, this one isn't too hard for me. But on those occasions that I do have to get up early, I totally agree with this proverb. I will probably seem to be grumpy for the first couple of hours, so if you greet me cheerfully, I may not return the favor. But don't worry, I'll warm up after some time!

As iron sharpens iron, a friend sharpens a friend. (vs. 17)

Had to include this one, since it's one of the most well-known proverbs. This verse reminds me of a song on one of my favorite CDs, which is The Fires Of Life by Cool Hand Luke. This is what the song (called Friendly Jas) says:

It was a blessed day--
The day that I met you
Though at the time
I didn’t have a clue
As iron sharpens iron so does one man another
And that’s what God intended us to do (Psalm 27:17)

Flowers fall and seasons change (Isaiah 40:8)
And you know how we treat the rain
In times of drought we pray it comes
And when it falls we turn and run
The moon is new, you’ve left your seat (I Samuel 20:18)
The time has come to go in peace (I Samuel 20:42)
With my own hand the bow was strung
The arrow shot now falls beyond (I Samuel 20:36)

I thank my God for every (Philippians 1:3)
Memory of you
The lessons learned and
The way the Spirit moved
I remember hearing “church is more than just a building”
I remember when we proved it true

Flowers fall and seasons change
And you know how we treat the rain
In times of drought we pray it comes
And when it falls we turn and run
The moon is new; you’ve left your seat
The time has come to go in peace
With my own hand the bow was strung
The arrow shot now falls beyond

That day, I could have stared at the ocean forever
With a song for every grain beneath my feet
We were so young and brilliantly naïve
To the joy and the pain and the days that we would see

Everything has changed
But our hope remains the same
I want you to know that I’ll be here
Through a hundred years of rain

Together we run into what we do not know
Trusting our God who made tomorrow

--

It's hard to find that quality of a friendship - I've had only one in my life and miss it - but it's definitely worth the hard work and time to develop a friendship like it.