God’s Word for You

Proverbs 10:4-5 Idleness and diligence

by Pastor Timothy Smith on Saturday, September 12, 2026

4 Poverty is what an idle palm makes,
but a diligent hand makes one rich.

5 He who gathers crops in summer is a prudent son,
but he who sleeps during harvest is a son who brings shame.

Here the poet brings the object of the first line of verse 4 to the front of the verse: “Poverty is what an idle palm makes.” The word-order in Hebrew is just as I have it in the translation. The word for “palm” (kaph in Hebrew) is often translated “hand” (NIV, ESV), as we see in “the hand of Pharaoh” in Genesis 40:11. But the more specific image is of the hollow of the hand, what holds “a handful” of something (1 Kings 17:12). It is used here to parallel what a diligent hand does. But if the palm is inactive or unreceptive, what good does the rest of the hand do, the thumb, the fingers, the wrist? They are like employees in a business. If one fails or falters, the work of the rest suffers, or is even rendered useless.

Verse 5 presents the same idea with the illustration of harvest time. When you do what you should, this is wise. But if you sleep when you should be working, then all of the work since last spring has been for nothing. There can be no greater waste or foolishness than letting the harvest go past on account of laziness.

Consider the life of Joseph toward the end of the book of Genesis. “The Lord gave him success in everything he did” (Genesis 39:3), which more literally is, “The Lord made all that he did prosper in his hand.” He did not wait for something to go wrong. Today we call that kind of behavior (that is, waiting for things to go wrong and only then addressing them) “fighting fires.” Instead, Joseph was the kind of official who was the first to get out of bed in the morning, and he was the kind of man who would go all through his master’s house, checking in on all of the servants, making sure everyone knew their duties, especially if there was something unusual about a given day (a visitor, or a holiday, or Potiphar’s birthday, or whatever it might be). Joseph knew that left to themselves employees and servants will invariably do the minimum amount of work, watching the clock more than their master’s needs. But that is not what the Lord would have us do. Paul says to servants, “Obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to win their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence to the Lord” (Colossians 3:22). And returning to the example of Joseph in Egypt, he was in the curious position of middle management, with a master over him, but with many workers under his supervision. This is never an enviable position, which I learned in my younger days in the workplace. The boss holds you responsible but the crew might rebel against you or hate you out of pettiness. In such a position, prayer, hard work, and great tact are your finest tools. Bishop Hall (1574-1656) once said, “Our idle days are Satan’s busy days.” That is to say, those who work for you will notice when you are not pulling your weight, but they will also notice when you are doing everything well. And Hesiod (who was a contemporary of Isaiah the Prophet) said, “Work is no disgrace, but idleness is!” And in the apocryphal book of Sirach, the sage says, “Idleness teaches much evil” (Sirach 33:27).

An idle hand or palm is a hand of someone who does nothing at all. “He tempts God who snores and does not want to work, taking for granted that he must be sustained by God without work, although God has promised to provide for him through his work” (Martin Luther). As Paul said to the Thessalonians, “When we were with you, we gave you this rule: ‘If a man will not work, he shall not eat’” (2 Thessalonians 3:10).

God gave work to the man and woman in the Garden of Eden. Even before there were weeds, there was plenty of work to do in the Garden. Now that there are weeds and thorns and workers with bad moods and petty feuds, there is plenty of work to do all the time. “While we have the opportunity, let us do good” (Galatians 6:10). Of course, everyone gets tired. Even Jesus got tired from his long journeys (John 4:6). But then when an opportunity came to share the gospel, and faith, and forgiveness, he didn’t say, “I’ll come back another time.” He knew full well as we should that another time might not come.

It’s easy for anyone, everyone, to feel the pang of guilt here, knowing that there have been hours of idleness, especially in younger days. If the heroic woman “does not eat the bread of idleness” (Proverbs 31:27) then we should not, either. “The righteous man accuses himself.”

There is a shrub that grows in southern Israel called “Dead Sea fruit,” or the Sodom apple. It looks edible, like a green or yellowish apple, but when it’s grasped, it disintegrates into smoky ash and gross, milky fibers that are toxic if swallowed and an irritant even to the skin. The idleness of these verses is something like that, a goal that seems good to one who is lazy, but ends up being worthless and a waste of time.

But God does not forsake those who love him. Just think: If Christ were to imitate us according to our actions (or inactions), we would surely cease to exist! But he is constantly at work, interceding before the Father on our behalf (Romans 8:34), preparing to come again to judge the living and the dead (Jude 1:14-15). He forgives our sins, even our idleness. He brings us to see it for what it is, and leads us to repent and to trust in him for full forgiveness. Pray that he will also give you the strength and the resolve to work with whatever task he lays before you, whether it seems large or small. “As long as it is day, we must work. Night is coming, when no one can work” (John 9:4). So keep faith, the fear of God, and self-control. And God will be with you to make your work useful to him.

In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith

 

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