Proverbs 6:9-11 (KJV)
How long wilt thou
sleep, O sluggard? when wilt thou arise out of thy sleep?
Yet a little sleep, a
little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep:
So shall thy poverty
come as one that travelleth, and thy want as an armed man.
I find myself, as we
begin this lesson, needful of reminding you of the context. poverty
This is the third lesson
in a significant segment of Proverbs on the subject of stewardship and success.
In what is one of the
longer passages of Proverbs, covering a single topic, Proverbs 6:1-11 (KJV)
should be seen as continuing a single theme of success.
My son, if thou be
surety for thy friend, if thou hast stricken thy hand with a stranger,
Thou art snared with the
words of thy mouth, thou art taken with the words of thy mouth.
Do this now, my son, and
deliver thyself, when thou art come into the hand of thy friend; go, humble
thyself, and make sure thy friend.
Give not sleep to thine
eyes, nor slumber to thine eyelids.
Deliver thyself as a roe
from the hand of the hunter, and as a bird from the hand of the fowler.
Go to the ant, thou
sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise:
Which having no guide,
overseer, or ruler,
Provideth her meat in
the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest.
How long wilt thou
sleep, O sluggard? when wilt thou arise out of thy sleep?
Yet a little sleep, a
little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep:
So shall thy poverty
come as one that travelleth, and thy want as an armed man.
The entire section
presents from the negative perspective.
These are warnings meant
to avoid poverty:
· Don’t co-sign a loan (vs 1-5)
· Don’t neglect the future – have some savings (vs 6-8)
The third segment is
addressed to the same “sluggard” who was advised to “go the ant…and be wise.”
In verses 9-11 the
sluggard is shown three persons who guarantee poverty for themselves:
First
I. THE SLEEPER
Proverbs 6:9-10 (KJV)
How long wilt thou
sleep, O sluggard? when wilt thou arise out of thy sleep?
Yet a little sleep, a
little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep:
Jonathan Edwards is
considered the greatest theologian America has ever produced.
Edwards is famous for
preaching a sermon entitled “Sinners in the Hands of An Angry God” it is often
credited with being the catalyst for the first great awakening on this
continent.
He was a Congregational
Church minister and I don’t agree with much of his doctrines, but it would be
an error to dismiss him completely.
Edwards[1]
was an incredibly devout man who wrote out a precise schedule for his daily
routines.
· Eight hours of sleep and eating
· Eight hours for ministry
· Eight hours for study
The point I want to make
is that. we all need sufficient sleep. Our culture puts so many stresses on
people today that a good number of people don’t get adequate sleep, or healthy
sleep.
On the other hand, there
is the other extreme where a person wastes away their lives in slumber and
sloth.
In this case,
Sleep could be metaphorical of idleness.
The lesson is that we
have to get up and do something if we want to be successful.
To do nothing:
· To do no work – even if it is menial
· To take no steps to improve, through education or experience
· To stay at home and hope for success
This is a sure way to
secure our poverty.
Second
II. THE TRAVELLER
Proverbs 6:11 (KJV)
So shall thy poverty
come as one that travelleth, and thy want as an armed man.
Most of the study
materials I could find suggest that sleeping will guarantee poverty just like
getting robbed by and armed man or run over by and faster runner would.
I think there is another
interpretation.
The sleeper is
guaranteed poverty, just as the traveller is.
When I was an ironworker
we had a phrase; “You can go broke
chasing big money.”
As an ironworker I had
the ability to travel around the country from job to job – we called it
“booming out.”
We got paid really well,
but some guys were not satisfied with getting a good paycheck – they wanted to
get really big paychecks.
Sometimes we got them.
One time I worked on a
shut down job at a paper mill. The job was over Christmas even. We worked 24
hours straight through until we got the job done before the mill had to reopen
after Christmas.
· We got paid our wages
· Plus a bonus for working over 8 hours in a day
· Plus a bonus for working over a holiday
· Plus all meals catered while we were working
I don’t remember anymore
what my paycheck was, but it was something like triple or quadruple time and a
half.
Some guys look for those
sorts of jobs and boom around the country from one big money job to the next.
· They’d be in Georgia on month and Alaska the next.
· Then they would head to Texas and follow that in Colorado.
When they worked, they
made lots of money, but the traveling expenses and wear and tear on their
health, family and gear, took its toll.
I believe that is what
Proverbs is referring to.
Real success is found in settling into something and
becoming very good at it rather than jumping from one thing to the next.[2]
Get a job and stick with
it.
Do well and you will
advance where you are.
If God opens a door for
something that is obvious a great promotion, and you can make the transition
without disrupting your spiritual life, praise the Lord.
Otherwise – stick where
you are!
Third
III. THE ARMED MAN
Proverbs 6:11 (KJV)
So shall thy poverty
come as one that travelleth, and thy want as an armed man.
The phrase armed man
means “man of the shield” or, in
other words, “the armed robber.”
The implication is the
person who lives by violence but the same lesson could be true of anyone who
makes their living through deceit, and crookery.
For a brief period
Bonnie and Clyde might have thought they “had it all.”
· They cheated marriage by living together in a time when it
was not so common
· They never had to get up early to go to some factory job
· They had money to burn and buy the nicest cars of their day
· They lived a life of excitement and travel
· They were arrogant and playful, one time writing a letter of
commendation to the Ford Motor Company explaining that their car had never
failed them in any of their getaways.
But you know:
· They never had a family
· They never possessed a home they could call their own
· They never had a friend they could trust and
· They lived fully aware that they would die as violently as
they lived
Conclusion:
The way to ensure
success is exactly the opposite of the way to secure poverty:
· Get up and go to work
· Stick with it and become good at what you do and
· Do your work honestly, without deceit, theft or fraud
[1] I must confess that I
was not able to corroborate this and I may have the wrong preacher of old. I
was certain Edwards had a written out schedule but I can’t seem to find sources
to support it as of this study,
[2] A good resource on this
subject is Mike Rowe’s, Don’t Pursue Your Passion, Chase Opportunity.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NT1i26RbrhM
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