Proverbs 19:11-15

Proverbs 19:11-15
English Standard Version
11 Good sense makes one slow to anger,
    and it is his glory to overlook an offense.
12 A king's wrath is like the growling of a lion,
    but his favor is like dew on the grass.
13 A foolish son is ruin to his father,
    and a wife's quarreling is a continual dripping of rain.
14 House and wealth are inherited from fathers,
    but a prudent wife is from the LORD.
15 Slothfulness casts into a deep sleep,
    and an idle person will suffer hunger.

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The wise man who has good sense will be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger (see the book of James).  He also will overlook and forgive offenses in the same kind of way that he wants his offenses to be overlooked, forgiven, and forgotten.

The wrath of a king is a warning to all who can see and heart in the same way that the roar of a lion tells people to stay away because you don't want to get on the lion's bad side.  However, the grace and favor of the king is like the morning dew that is refreshing and brings life to everything.  Good kings will have some of both characteristics.  They will be known for pouring their wrath out on the wicked, and for pouring their grace out on the obedient.

A foolish son ruins his father's good name, health, and finances.  Part of that is because people believe it is the duty of the father to raise up a child in the way he should go and to discipline his children, so when they see an undisciplined, foolish adult child, they imagine that the father did not do his job to train up his child in the way he should go.  This is not always the case, but the issue of absent fathers is a huge one.  Solomon seems to know from experience that it's about as pleasant as listening to a constant drip-drip-drip of water as to be in a house with a quarrelsome wife.  Having problems with the kids and having arguments in the marriage go hand in hand, but they can each happen separately as well.

Many things can be passed along from one generation to the next, but every generation needs to pray to the LORD to find a wise woman to marry.  We'll see this kind of woman described at the end of the book of Proverbs.

Last, but not least, Solomon warns us against being slothful (laying around and not working while there is good work to do) --that is, being a sluggard.  The idle person will go hungry because he did not work to have food ready when he needed it, nor did he get up and make his food at the proper time with the ingredients he may have had available.  Hunger is a great motivator, but many times the work should have been done far before you are hungry and start thinking about food.