Hear this, all peoples! Give ear, all inhabitants of the world, both low and high, rich and poor together! My mouth shall speak wisdom; the meditation of my heart shall be understanding. – No matter from what strata of society you come, please listen to me. I’ve meditated on these matters and what I am about to tell you is the truth!
I will incline my ear to a proverb; I will solve my riddle to the music of the lyre. – as I sit here quietly strumming my guitar and thinking deeply I am sure that I’ll find my answer to my problems. An appropriate proverb would be a nice answer! I’ll start by enumerating my problems, my riddle!
Why should I fear in times of trouble, when the iniquity of those who cheat me surrounds me, those who trust in their wealth and boast of the abundance of their riches? – why does being cheated by the boasting wealthy ones who cannot stop boasting about their wealth upset me so much?
Truly no man can ransom another, or give to God the price of his life, for the ransom of their life is costly and can never suffice, that he should live on forever and never see the pit. – Another thought! On deep reflection how can some one ever pay for the sinning of another. To pay a high enough price is surely not possible for (presumably) one has to pay for their own failures before God and for their evil arrogant cheating ways!
For he sees that even the wise die; the fool and the stupid alike must perish and leave their wealth to others. – Those who go against God (fools) and the stupid (those who refuse to accept what God has said is obvious for all to see) must know that all must die, be buried and their wealth and the evil they have done stays behind them, unpaid for!
Their graves are their homes forever, their dwelling places to all generations, though they called lands by their own names. Man in his pomp will not remain; he is like the beasts that perish. – the foolish and stupid, even though wealthy, die like animals but with none of their claims to fame is worth a jot! Does the phrase ‘their dwelling places to all generations‘ mean in Eternity?
This is the path of those who have foolish confidence; yet after them people approve of their boasts. – It all ends with a failure but still ignorant people follow their way that they have cheated, become wealthy and arrogantly boastful! Selah – (think about that!) Is this the answer to the author’s riddle as stated above – has he found out why he fears? Is it that he fears because he doesn’t know how he will pay the price of his own failures?
Proverbs: 1-7 – The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.
Prayer: Teach me to never cease to be knowing more about You both factually and relationally, please.
As I read it! 