Prudence in Christian preaching emphasizes wise, discerning judgment to align actions with God's will, guarding against folly and sin. It often employs imagery of careful navigation or watchful guardianship, reflecting the call to be sober and vigilant (Proverbs 14:15; Ephesians 5:15). This virtue is foundational, guiding other virtues to act rightly and avoid spiritual peril.
Be cautious with your heart's desires to avoid falling into God's displeasure.
It behooveth him that walketh upon cords strained and fastened on high, diligently to look to his footing, that he may not fall this way or that: so it standeth us to be wary, and careful to look about us, to take good heed where we set our feet (that is our affections and the delights of our hearts), lest we fall down headlong into the bottomless gulf of God's displeasure.
— Cawdray
Prudence is essential and must precede fortitude for wise virtue practice.
Aristotle is praised for naming fortitude the first of the cardinal virtues, — as that without which no other virtue can steadily be practised: but he might, with equal propriety, have placed prudence before it; since without prudence fortitude is madness. Goodrich.
Human prudence is insufficient; Christians guided by Christ know better than the world.
Worldly men insist on being guided by human prudence, but the Christian in communion with Jesus the great Pilot, may know more about the situation than a skilled heathen.
Success comes from careful, experienced planning, not reckless daring.
The day when an engineer could drive his train ahead at full speed, at his own discretion, and make up as much lost time as the recklessness of his daring permitted, has passed with the romantic age of railroading. No longer does he gamble thus with death to win back minutes. A cool-nerved human machine sits in an office miles away and tells him exactly how fast he may go. Mute signals stretch out their arms to him by day or glow red-eyed at night along the track and halt him if he rides too fast or if there is danger ahead. At intervals of from a thousand feet to five miles there are towers with men in them who note the minute and second of his passing, and telegraph it forward and back over the line. Nowadays the engineer is rarely out of touch with possible orders for more than a few minutes at a time. In place of the daring and the old speed madness that used to characterize the making up of time, the man who lasts the longest now in the cab is the one who possesses the calculating skill developed by long experience. He accomplishes much more simply by taking advantage of every trifle in winning back his time second by second.--THADDEUS S. DAYTON, _Harper’s Weekly_.
We often neglect God’s safeguards for our spiritual safety through presumption.
* * * * *
It is said to be scarcely possible to induce working men engaged in dangerous employments to take the most rudimentary precautions against disease and accident. The knife-grinder neglects his mask, the collier his lamp; they are ingenious in evading the regulations framed for their safety.
Similarly in our recklessness and presumption we ignore the things which are designed to secure the safety of our character, the peace of our soul. Let us be sure that we prize those manifold and gracious arrangements by which God seeks to save us from the power of evil, that we profit by them to the utmost.--W. L. WATKINSON, “The Transfigured Sackcloth.”
Using signals and safeguards prevents collisions, illustrating God’s protective care.
Probably the greatest menace to the safety of navigation at sea is the fog. Modern steamships are seldom endangered by the severest storms, but when the impenetrable envelop of mist encloses a vessel, she is exposed to the most terrible of perils--a collision at sea. A single ship may be comparatively safe even in a fog, but when there are a fleet of vessels the danger is greatly multiplied. In addition to the customary fog-horns and sirens a fleet of war-ships often will keep informed of their relative positions by the firing of signal-guns from the flagship. Another excellent method generally employed is the use of the fog-buoy.
Each vessel in a warship fleet carries a fog-buoy, a large cask painted a bright red. This is cast overboard at the first sign of any fog and floats from the stern of the vessel attached by a rope of grass fiber which does not sink beneath the surface of the water. Sufficient rope is paid out by each vessel, so that its fog-buoy floats at the bow of the ship next astern--two cable’s-length (four hundred yards) when in close order and double that distance in open order. By this means the exact stations of the individual ships of a fleet are maintained even tho proceeding at a moderate rate of speed.--_Harper’s Weekly._
Investing only in things that earn or save money exemplifies wise stewardship and prudence.
Many men decide values as Russell Sage did in this incident from _The Saturday Evening Post_, which illustrates the thrift which has always been present in all transactions made by Russell Sage:
A prominent New York financier says that recently, while on a tour of inspection over the Missouri Pacific system, President Gould took great pride in pointing out to Russell Sage the late improvements in equipment, and various new and ingenious devices and attachments. Among the latter Mr. Gould was especially pleased to show to Mr. Sage a certain device by which there is registered the speed of a train. The device in question resembled a steam-gage, and was connected with an axle, so that the pointer registered the number of revolutions every minute.
Mr. Sage examined the device with great interest. Then, after a moment’s pause, he looked up at Mr. Gould, and asked with great solemnity, “Does it earn anything?” “No, I think not,” answered the president. “Does it save anything?” “No.” “Then,” concluded Mr. Sage decidedly, “I would not have it on my car!”
Robert Fulghum's neighbor is an insurance agent who has a poster on his office wall which says:
Always trust God. And always build your house on high ground.
Always love thy neighbor. And always pick a good neighborhood to
live in.
Place your bet somewhere between turning-the-other-cheek and
enough-is-enough-already.
Place your bet somewhere between haste-makes-waste and
he-who-hesitates-is-lost.
“Does he really believe that? Is that how he lives? I don't know...” says Fulghum. “I bought my insurance from him...”
___________
Robert Fulghum, ALL I REALLY NEED TO KNOW, I LEARNED IN KINDERGARTEN, pp. 76-77.
*
Themes in Proverbs: Prudence
Verses shown are New American Standard version; look at them in your Bible
« Leader's notes shown in these braces »
A. 12:23 A prudent man conceals knowledge, But the heart of fools proclaims folly. The first part of this puzzles me« (perhaps I am not prudent!)» … any suggestions as to what is meant?
1.
B. 13:16 Every prudent man acts with knowledge, But a fool displays folly. 14:8 The wisdom of the prudent is to understand his way, But the folly of fools is deceit. 14:15 The naive believes everything, But the prudent man considers his steps.
1. what factors does a prudent person take into account?
a. «knowledge — what are the facts?»
b. «his own self — what is his direction, inclination, weakness, etc.»
c. «his actions or steps — where am I headed? Can I trust this path?»
2. does this have anything to do with the Gospel?
a. «given what is at stake — a person’s eternal destiny — it is only prudent to examine carefully the message of salvation that is found in God’s word.»
C. 14:18 The naive inherit folly, But the prudent are crowned with knowledge. 15:5 A fool rejects his father’s discipline, But he who regards reproof is prudent.
1. in practical terms (realizing that it is God who endows us with every ability and grace) how does a person come to be prudent?
a. «it is learned from parents and those with experience»
b. «it is imparted by discipline received»
2. what prevents us from gaining prudence?
a. «foolishness — leaving God out of our lives»
b. «pride – look back at 21:24, 13:10»
D. 27:12 A prudent man sees evil and hides himself, The naive proceed and pay the penalty. What is another way in which a prudent person in unlike one who is proud?
1. «he does not continue blissfully onward to destruction but takes heed of and avoids the danger»
E. 16:21 The wise in heart will be called discerning, And sweetness of speech increases persuasiveness. 18:15 The mind of the prudent acquires knowledge, And the ear of the wise seeks knowledge.
1. “discerning” has the same meaning as “prudent” — what other graces are to be found with the prudent?
a. «gracious and edifying speech»
b. «(spiritual) knowledge and truth»
F. Which of these two, pride or prudence, should I as a Christian be seeking?
The prudent man looketh well to his going. A wise man feareth, and departeth from evil: but the fool … is confident. — Proverbs 14:15, 16.
A well known evangelist, now with the Lord, used to tell of a drunkard who, having trusted Christ, afterwards fell back in the old ways. Called before the church, he showed shame and penitence. The pastor, however, declared that the fall did not come to him as a surprise; for while he had joy in the man’s conversion, he was filled with fear when he noticed that, on his occasional visits to the town, the man still hitched his horse at the same post, just by the tavern which had previously been his ruin.
With forbidden pleasures would this vain world charm;
Or its sordid treasures spread to work me harm;
Bring to my remembrance sad Gethsemane,
Or in darker semblance, cross-crowned Calvary.
A man's life is like a watch needing God's repair and care for eternity.
There are many ways in which a man is like a watch, as this curious epitaph shows, which can be seen in the churchyard at Lydford, Devonshire, England:
Here lies in a horizontal position The outside case of George Routledge, watchmaker. Integrity was the main-spring and prudence the regulator of all the actions of his life; Humane, generous and liberal, His hand never stopt till he had relieved distress;
So nicely regulated were his movements that he never went wrong,
Except when set a-going by people who did not know his key;
Even then he was easily set right again. He had the art of disposing of his time so well That his hours glided away in one continued round of pleasure. Till, in an unlucky moment, his pulse stopt beating. He ran down Nov. 14, 1801, aged 57, In hopes of being taken in hand by his Maker, Thoroughly cleaned, repaired, wound up and set a-going, In the world to come, when time shall be no more.
Like ducks paddling in circles, wisdom helps us avoid drifting into danger.
Birds who sleep on the water--and they are numerous--are always in danger of drifting to the shore, where lies their greatest danger. In the Zoological Gardens of London it has been discovered that ducks and other water-lovers have evolved a way of avoiding this danger. Tucking one foot up among their feathers, they keep the other in the water and gently paddle, with the result that they revolve in circles and keep at a safe distance from land, a kind of sleepwalking turned to good account.--OLIVE THORNE MILLER, “The Bird Our Brother.”
Wise believers avoid unnecessary conflict to protect their spiritual well-being.
It would often be well for men to avoid enemies as did these sagacious rooks:
A curious incident in the recent history of the Gray’s Inn settlement of rooks is mentioned by a London correspondent in the Manchester _Guardian_. It appears that a couple of carrion crows settled in the gardens, and one day it was discovered that the rookery was deserted. The benchers, who are particularly proud of their rooks, gave orders for the carrion crows to be destroyed, and the gardener prepared pigeon’s eggs with good doses of arsenic. The crows swallowed them and seemed to grow fatter and healthier. At last strychnine was used, and the pair were poisoned. Then a curious thing happened. Not a rook had been seen for weeks at Gray’s Inn, but the next day they were all back as tho advised by telegram.
Overestimating strength and ignoring practical limits leads to failure despite clever plans.
What is said to be the largest plow in the world was made some years ago at Bakersfield, Cal. This plow was the result of the ingenuity of a ranch superintendent, who had authority to make improvements, but not to introduce steam-plows. The superintendent had grown very tired of preparing three thousand acres of land for wheat with ordinary nine- or twelve-inch plows drawn by two horses.
He argued that if two horses could pull a twelve-inch plow, six horses could pull a plow thirty-six inches wide, and that eight horses could pull a plow forty-eight inches wide. He made the calculations carefully, and, being clever with his pencil, made drawings also, and sent for blacksmiths and machinists to construct a plow on his principle.
Some simple folk told him that his great plow would not work, but they contented themselves with saying this dogmatically, without giving any mathematical reason therefore. So the superintendent went on with his plans.
The blacksmiths and machinists finished the plow in due time. The share was made to cut a fifty-inch furrow; the top of it reached five feet above the ground, to give room to throw the earth. The beam was more than a foot thick; but the machine was constructed to run between two great wheels, so that it could be turned around easily; and on the axle between these wheels was the seat for the man who was to drive the ten horses which were hitched to it.
The plow was brought to the great field, the ten horses were attached to it, the handles were raised, the driver mounted his seat, and the team was started. But as soon as the share struck well into the ground the horses stopt short. They were stuck fast. And yet the plow had not gone too deeply into the earth. But it was evident that they could not pull the plow. More horses were brought out, but not until fifty were attached did the plow move along.
Even then it required four men to hold the handles, in order to keep the plow in the furrow. It was an economic failure.
Then the superintendent, through the intervention of some one who was a better mathematician than he, learned that he should have cubed the capacity of his twelve-inch plow every time he doubled the width of it.--_Harper’s Weekly._
Stopping foolishness early is more valuable than achievements after the fact.
John S. Wise records this conversation with Grover Cleveland:
“I ought to have a monument over me when I die.” “I am sure of that, Mr. Cleveland,” I answered; “but for what particular service?” “Oh, not for anything I have ever done,” said he, “but for the foolishness I have put a stop to! If you knew the absurd things proposed to me at various times while I have been in public life--things which I sat down on, and sat down hard on--you would say so, too!”--“Personal Reminiscences of Cleveland,” _The Saturday Evening Post_.
Living within one’s means brings comfort and guards against temptation and struggle.
The man of five hundred dollars income is trying to live as tho he were sure of a thousand. Of course he is in straits and shallows. Instead of sailing on a fair sea, as he might within his own range, he is doomed to struggle perpetually with his head under water. To live generously is desirable when one has the means; but to attempt a scale of expenditure beyond our means is neither wise nor comfortable. How much more sensible to live in a modest way, agreeable to our fortune and suited to our condition! To follow this rule requires more courage than to besiege a city or fight a battle; but it is attainment for which we should aspire as a means of personal comfort and a guard against temptation.--_Zion’s Herald._
Everything we make is available for free because of a generous community of supporters.
Donate