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Proverbs 30
Author: Rob Anderson

“Surely I am too stupid to be a man.
I have no understanding of a man.” (Proverbs 30.2, ESV)

Seems a little harsh, don’t you think.

Stupid.

The s-word we were never allowed to say growing up.

If you cannot say that about someone else, you sure shouldn’t say it about yourself. Yet, the writer of Proverbs does.

One might be tempted to say it is hyperbole, just a way to deflect the praises of others. You know how this works. You wear a fancy dress, one saved just for this particular event, but play it off with a coy: “Oh, this old thing?” The writer, however, seems very serious about his thoughts. In fact, he begins this chapter with the words: “I am weary, O God, and worn out.” (30.1)

It is hard work to try and always be on top of your game, especially when that game is creating and running the universe. Verses 3-4 sounds like the language of the Sovereign Lord when he addresses Job’s complaint that God was a “no show.” (Read Job 38, for instance.)

A no show? Job, you have no idea what you are talking about. Truth be known, Job, you are too stupid to be a man.

Well, that’s not what God says, but it is what the Proverb author says, because he knows that it is not his role to run life and the world as he knows it, it is his merely to trust in the goodness and power and mercy of a Sovereign Lord.

What about you? Are you smart enough to know how stupid you are?