Proverbs 6:1 My son, if thou be surety for thy friend, if thou hast stricken thy hand with a stranger,
2 Thou art snared with the words of thy mouth, thou art taken with the words of thy mouth.
3 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.
4 Give not sleep to thine eyes, nor slumber to thine eyelids.
5 Deliver thyself as a roe from the hand of the hunter, and as a bird from the hand of the fowler.
Financial wisdom is important. God blessed Solomon with wisdom and wealth. When we read the history of king Solomon’s reign, Israel was likely the wealthiest it ever would be, during his reign. Silver was so plentiful it was not even considered. Gold flowed into Israel in record numbers.
God also warned Israel not to charge usury among the Jews. There would always be some poor people in the nation of Israel, in spite of the fact that silver and gold was so plentiful. There are various reasons for poverty. Not everyone that is poor is lazy, or a bad manager. However, God warned of the danger of signing up to be a guarantor for a friend or a stranger.
There have been so many people who read these words, and seem to understand what is being said, and yet, they sign on to guarantee someone else’s loan.
Once you sign on to someone else’s debt, you are responsible for covering that debt. If you have the money to cover that debt and the actual debtor does not have the money, and the creditor calls the loan, you will need to pay it out. You can try to squeeze the person who originally made the debt, but if they refuse to pay, whether they have the money or not, you will be held accountable.
In verse 2 we see that a man’s words should be trustworthy. If someone promises to cover a debt, that word should be good. If someone tries to wiggle out of that responsibility, they can be held accountable by their words. In our secular, corrupt world, there are many lawyers/liars, who will try to get the guilty party off the hook.
In verse 3 we see God’s response to making a foolish financial choice. If you promised to back someone in a business deal and that other person does not have the money to cover the loan, you need to act quickly to fix the mess you caused.
Step number one is humble yourself. You ignored God’s Word. You chose to sign up to protect some other person against God’s wise counsel. It does not matter what other people say. The important matter is: what does God say. Step number one is to admit you made a fool of yourself.
Step number two is to cover your “friend’s” debt. He did not borrow money from you. He owes that money to someone else. However, you promised to back up his debts. Now you need to pay those debts and then if you can, try to collect from your friend. One thing that history tells us, is that oftentimes friendships are lost over money issues. You might have a good relationship with someone, but if they owe you money and do not pay it back according to the promised agreement, things will get strained. They might have a legitimate reason for the delay, but it will still affect the relationship. You may need that money for some other thing yourself. However, now you are strapped because that other person has bound you because you made a foolish choice.
In verse 4 we see the urgency of this matter. Don’t even go to sleep before you have dealt with the matter. Don’t drag it out. There are hundreds of excuses to drag out a financial matter. None of them are valid. Clean up the debt. If may cost you quite a bit. God tells us not to enter into bad deals. If you want to ignore that sound wisdom and you think you are wiser than God, then you need to learn your lesson through the ‘school of hard knocks.’ You cannot blame that other person for your foolish decision. You need to look in the mirror and admit you failed to obey wise counsel.
Sometimes people will not seek wise counsel until it is too late. They already know that if they go and seek wise counsel, they will be strongly discouraged from going ahead with their foolish plan. They are too proud and do not want to be told not to do something they are already convinced is a good thing.
In verse 5 we see a further illustration of how to deal with this self-inflicted wound. God used the example of wild animals. The roe does not want to be caught. It wants to be free. It will run if it senses danger. It can run fast. It will try to get to a place of safety. The bird as well will try its best to get away from the hunter. It does not want to be captured. It wants to fly freely wherever it wants.
The animals know the importance of freedom. God gave man the wisdom to know how to hunt down certain animals. The animal will not give up without a fight.
Man needs to use the wisdom God gives him to avoid financial traps. Yes, there will be those who will think you are not being fair. They might think you can afford to help them out and they might even want to accuse you of being greedy for not helping them.
It is better to be slandered for being wise, than being scoffed at for being a fool. A person who will slander you just because you do not do what they want, is not worth having as a friend anyway. They prove who they truly are when they talk evil of you for protecting yourself and them.
If a person cannot get the money for that supposedly important deal, they have opportunity to rethink whether they really need that thing. If a person cannot get the money to go into business, then it is wise for them to go and work for someone until they are better able to handle the financial pressures of owning a business.
God’s wisdom covers every area of life. God knows all things. It is very important to know Him and to listen to Him. Too many people claim to know Him, but they refuse to listen to Him unless it suits their foolish minds. Be careful how you approach God. Be sure you are saved and then get into a good church that can help you to see the importance of submitting to Him in all things.
Pastor Bartel