We will consider two proverbs for today’s devotion, Proverbs 19:13-14.

Solomon identifies two sources of grief that are a heaviness to man in Proverbs 19:13.

Proverbs 19:13 – “A foolish [stupid; silly; thickheaded] son is the calamity [fall; pit; ruin; “disaster upon disaster”] of his father: and the contentions [brawling; strife] of a wife are a continual [follow close; drive on; pursue; chase] dropping [drips; leaks].”

Drawing a parallel with the deep sorrow a man bears when he has suffered a calamitous loss, Solomon describes the grief of a father whose son is foolish, hardheaded and bent upon a path of self-destruction.  Solomon, the son of King David and the half-brother of Absalom, knew all to well the heartache his father had carried in his bosom because of Absalom’s wicked, foolish ways.  Like the dark foreboding clouds that unleash a path of destruction, the father of a foolish son lives with an emotional cloud that threatens to drive him to despair.

Proverbs 19:13 identifies a second, odious sorrow of man—living in a house with a wife who continually harangues her husband.  Like the “drip, drip” of water from a tin roof or the trickling of a leaking faucet—a contentious wife’s malevolent, self-centered ways are a sorrow well-nigh unbearable for the man cursed to live with her.

One can understand the flight of a husband to the corner of his housetop when living with such a woman (Proverbs 21:9).

To encourage the fairer ones in our lives, I ask you to consider Proverbs 19:14.

Proverbs 19:14 – “House [household] and riches [wealth; possessions] are the inheritance of fathers [chief; head]: and a prudent [wise; understanding] wife is from the LORD.”

Drawing a contrast with the contentious wife in verse 13, Solomon reminds us that a “prudent wife”, one with godly wisdom and discernment, is a gift from the Lord!  Earthly fathers bless some men with a rich inheritance, but the richest men of all are those whose wives are a source of joy (Proverbs 31:11-12), godly counsel (Proverbs 31:25-26) and loving companionship (Proverbs 18:22).

I thank the Lord for my wonderful wife!   After 37 years of marriage, my heart still leaps for joy when I consider the wife God gave me [and my dear in-laws entrusted to my care].  A prudent wife is from the Lord!

Copyright 2014 – Travis D. Smith