Page 118 - The Poetic Books - Student Text

When we wander from God’s truth as the Arians and Jehovah’s Witnesses have done, we are
in grave danger. Good markers of theology like the Nicene Creed have been erected to warn us
of the very real possibility of destruction. If we do not pay attention to markers, we may be
destroyed in the flood waters of error like literal flood waters that drown.

The stone tablet has stood on this forested hillside since before they were born, but
the villagers have faithfully obeyed the stark warning carved on its weathered face: “do
not build your homes below this point.” Residents say this injunction from their
ancestors kept their tiny village of 11 households safely out of reach of the deadly
tsunami last month that wiped out hundreds of miles of Japanese coast and rose to
record heights near here. The waves stopped just 300 feet below the stone. Hundreds of
so-called tsunami stones, some more than six centuries old, dot the coast of Japan,
silent testimony to the past destruction that these lethal waves have frequented upon
this earthquake-prone nation. But modern Japan, confident that advanced technology
and higher seawalls would protect vulnerable areas, came to forget or ignore these
ancient warnings, dooming it to repeat bitter experiences when the recent tsunami
struck.
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The book of Proverbs portrays an infinite God with infinite resources to give to those who fear him. This
one who laid the earth’s foundations (3:19), this one who is always by one’s side (3:26), promises to
“bless the house of the righteous” (3:33). He is not too small to accomplish blessing. He is not too weak
to carry out blessing despite the sin in the world. The character of Yahweh in Proverbs offers a tantalizing
hope for the future.

God leads a very interesting life, and he is full of joy. Undoubtedly, he is the most
joyous being in the universe. The abundance of his love and generosity is inseparable
from his infinite joy. All of the good and beautiful things from which we occasionally
drink tiny droplets of soul-exhilarating joy, God continuously experiences in all their
breadth and depth and richness. Great tidal waves of joy must constantly wash through
his being. We are enraptured by a well-done movie sequence or by a few bars from an
opera or lines from a poem. We treasure our great experiences for a lifetime, and we
may have very few of them. But he is simply one great inexhaustible and eternal
experience of all that is good and true and beautiful and right. 197

Many more topics are present in Proverbs, enough for a lifetime. We might wonder, for example about
references to the blameless and the pure. Yahweh “is a shield to those whose walk is blameless” (2:7b).
“The way of the LORD is a refuge for the blameless (10:29).” The blameless will receive a good
inheritance (28:10c).” We wonder how we might qualify for a good inheritance if blamelessness is the
prerequisite. We wonder if Proverbs is not somehow like Psalms, pushing us constantly toward Someone

196 Martin Fackler, “Tsunami Warnings Written in Stone” in The Prodigal Church by Jared Wilson (Wheaton:
Crossway, 2015), 181.
197 Dallas Willard, The Divine Conspiracy (New York: Harper Collins, 1997), 62-63.
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