Picky Eaters II

"He who is full loathes honey, but to the hungry even what is bitter tastes sweet." Proverbs 27:7 (NIV)

The gist I get when I read the modern (NIV) translation is this: when your tummy if full, even the yummiest thing that you could think of (honeycomb) is undesirable. UGH... no thank you. But when you are hungry, you will eat ANYthing - even food that you would normally consider to be yucky is a welcome treat.

This is an interesting observation by the Proverb writer. Maybe a child-rearing application. Ok...next Proverb.

That is about all I got from the NIV.

Then I switched to the 1611 "authorized" version* and I read:

"The full soul loatheth an honeycomb; but to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet." Proverbs 27:7 (KJV)

The gist that I get here is that a soul that is hungry is able to experience the sweetness of God's goodness even in life's bitterness (this is certainly our family's testimony this year). Romans
8:28 comes to mind.

I have found that when I read the Psalms and Proverbs in the KJV, the spiritual application is more readily apparent. It seems that "modern" versions naturalize the sayings. The verse is about physical hunger... or is it? I find myself doing more contemplating and thinking about the deeper meanings when I read the KJV (I am not ready to abandon my "modern" translations yet, but this is very interesting to me).

When I read the KJV here, I wonder what would make a soul full. I wonder if it is little and therefore not able to hold very much. I think about church people that can get full by just spending 20 minutes in God's Word once a week on Sunday morning.

I think about people that get antsy when the Bible study goes 5 minutes into overtime. Is the soul full? I think about people who argue over hymns versus drums. Is the soul so full that it cannot eat at the table of "strange food?" Is the music bitter because the soul is full?

I want to be hungry. I AM hungry. I never get enough to eat on Sunday mornings. I have had to learn to feed myself (is that a sign of growth?). There was one church that I attended during my single years where Sunday mornings was a feast. By the time you got through with an hour and a half Sunday School Bible study and a 40 to 60 minute sermon, you felt so bloated that you had to spend the rest of the afternoon walking it off. Then when 6:00 rolled around, you were delighted to be back at the trough - only to wallow off bloated again by 7:30 or 8:00. It was decadent. Except that there was one really mean Sunday School teacher...but even in her meanness, she spoke the truth. It was sometimes bitter - but it was always good. It was healthy.

I want to have a hungry soul for God. I do not want to be that picky eater that turns his nose up when God offers something bitter. Sometimes it is the bitter thing that makes us stronger or healthier. Sometimes the bitterness turns into a blessing. Our bitterness this year was the death of our baby girl. There is still grief that is triggered by random things. But, God has taken that bitterness and turned it into countless blessings. I will write that book someday.

We know now, more that ever, that words are the Psalmist are true. He makes all things beautiful in His time and His goodness endures forever.

God give me a hunger for everything on your table - both the bitter and the sweet.




* authorized by the king of England, not the King of kings. A little aside for my "KJV only" buddies.