Proverbs 21:21-25

Proverbs 21:21-25
English Standard Version
​21 Whoever pursues righteousness and kindness
    will find life, righteousness, and honor.
22 A wise man scales the city of the mighty
    and brings down the stronghold in which they trust.
23 Whoever keeps his mouth and his tongue
    keeps himself out of trouble.
24 “Scoffer” is the name of the arrogant, haughty man
    who acts with arrogant pride.
25 The desire of the sluggard kills him,
    for his hands refuse to labor.

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Solomon encourages his son and everyone else reading this to pursue righteousness--there are rewards beyond silver, gold and jewels for doing so.  Specifically, the LORD promises righteousness (being in right standing with God) and honor (which probably comes from being in right standing among men) for those that purse righteousness and kindness.

A wise man who puts his trust and hope in God is willing to do the things that men would say are impossible--think of Joshua and Caleb who said the task was hard to defeat the Canaanites and others that lived in the Promised Land, but if God had promised it to them, then there was nothing that God would not do to deliver on His promise.  All they needed to do was obey and receive the blessing.  Caleb continued to live and walk by faith even after what we normally think of as the conquest was over.  Before Joshua died, Caleb made Joshua promise to give him the land of Hebron because in that hill country, there were still giants and fortified cities that needed to be defeated.  Just like the person described in this passage, Caleb continued to fight strong men and walled cities in his old age--something no one else was willing to do in their youth and with large numbers of people.  Caleb seemed to pass these traits on to his children as they too fought to rid the land of the giants and the enemy strongholds.  Solomon is pointing to the spiritual application of this though that there are spiritual "strong men" and "strongholds" that we may be called to take on, and we must go wherever God calls us, knowing that He will be before us, around us and our rear guard in battle.  Nothing will touch us unless it first gets through Him.

James would agree with Solomon that wise men learn to control their words (their mouth and tongue).  Failure to control your speech can get you in a lot of trouble because you say things that you are really thinking and feeling in the moment and realize later that you shouldn't have said that or that no matter how you felt in the moment, those feelings didn't represent reality as you know it to be, but you can't take those words back.  Words can do much damage that is hard to repair, but they can also be used to help build up, strengthen and encourage.  It's important to speak truth in love and to be using our words in the same way that Jesus would be speaking if people could physically see and hear Him.  As the Holy Spirit lives in and through us, people should "see" and "hear" just through our words and actions.

Solomon has used the word "scoffer" before, but he now identifies the core issue with the scoffer as his pride--he is haughty and arrogant.  This gives him a lot of the same character traits as the devil, and I think that's what Solomon wants us to see--the scoffer is not of God, but of the devil and of this world.

The sluggard (the slothful man) acts in a way that leads to his or her own destruction.  If he refuses to work, then he will not make money for food and other necessities and if you don't work then your mind and body will start to deteriorate.  Solomon encourages all men who can work to work and provide for themselves and their families.  We'll see later in the book of Proverbs that women are encouraged to be wise and productive in a way that glorifies God and their husbands as well (see Proverbs 31 if you want to take a look at this now).