Bird's-eye view
Proverbs 24:10 is a diagnostic proverb. It is not a word of encouragement in the midst of a trial so much as it is a sharp word of exhortation before the trial comes. The day of trouble, the day of adversity, is a proving ground. It does not create character; it reveals it. This proverb teaches that if a man faints or collapses when the pressure is on, it is not the pressure that made him weak. Rather, the pressure simply revealed the weakness, the smallness of strength, that was already there. It is a call to cultivate true, resilient strength in times of ease, because the day of testing is an inevitability in the life of every man, and that day will tell the truth about him.
The verse functions as a tautology with a punch. "If you faint when things get hard, it's because you are not strong." The point is to force self-examination. The trial is a final exam, and this proverb warns the student not to wait until the exam begins to find out he never studied. True wisdom builds a house on the rock before the storm, not while the floodwaters are rising. This is a call to forsake the effeminate spirit of our age and to cultivate biblical fortitude, a strength that is rooted not in self-confidence but in the fear of the Lord, which is the beginning of all wisdom and all true strength.
Outline
- 1. The Test and the Collapse (Prov 24:10)
- a. The Condition: Fainting in the Day of Adversity (v. 10a)
- b. The Diagnosis: The Smallness of Your Strength (v. 10b)
Context In Proverbs
This verse is found within a collection of "sayings of the wise" (Proverbs 22:17-24:22). This section is filled with practical, pointed instructions for navigating the world in the fear of God. The surrounding verses deal with diligence, justice for one's neighbor (v. 11-12), and the sweetness of wisdom (v. 13-14). This proverb, then, is not an isolated thought. It fits squarely within a broader exhortation to live a life of skillful integrity. A wise man is not just knowledgeable; he is resilient. He does not just know the right thing to do; he has the fortitude to do it when it is hard, when it is costly, when the "day of trouble" arrives. The strength revealed by adversity is a key component of the wise and righteous life that the entire book of Proverbs commends.
Key Issues
- The Nature of Adversity as a Test
- The Sin of Faintheartedness
- The Difference Between True and Apparent Strength
- The Cultivation of Biblical Fortitude
- The Source of True Strength
The Great Reveal
We live in an age that loves excuses. When a man fails, we are taught to look for a complicated set of external circumstances to blame. His upbringing, his environment, the pressures of the moment, the unfairness of the test, and so on. The Bible, and this proverb in particular, cuts right through that entire project. The day of trouble is a great revealer. It is like a stress test on a bridge. If the bridge buckles under the load, you do not blame the truck that was driving over it. You conclude that the bridge was not built to standard. The load simply revealed the structural inadequacy that was present all along.
This proverb forces us to see our trials in the same way. When you are slandered, when you lose your job, when your health fails, when you are persecuted for your faith, that is the day of trouble. If you collapse into bitterness, despair, cowardice, or compromise, the trial is not the ultimate cause of your collapse. The trial is the occasion that revealed the smallness of your strength. This is a hard word, but a necessary one, because it shuts the door to blame-shifting and opens the door to genuine repentance and the pursuit of real strength.
Verse by Verse Commentary
10 If you are slack in the day of trouble, Your strength is in trouble.
Let us take this apart clause by clause. "If you are slack..." The Hebrew word here is raphah, and it means to sink, to relax, to let go, to be feeble. It is the picture of a man's hands going limp, of his grip failing. It is not simply feeling the strain; it is collapsing under it. It is what happens when your resolve dissolves. This is faintheartedness. It is the opposite of the biblical virtue of fortitude or endurance. This is the man who, when the battle gets hot, throws down his sword and runs.
The setting for this failure is "the day of trouble." In Hebrew, it is the "day of adversity" or the "day of distress." This is a general term for any period of intense pressure, testing, or opposition. It is a day that is narrow, tight, and constricting. It is when your options seem to be running out, the walls are closing in, and a choice must be made. Every man has such days, and every generation of the church has them.
The conclusion is where the diagnostic power lies: "Your strength is in trouble." The translation here is a bit dynamic. The Hebrew is more direct: "your strength is small," or "your strength is narrow" (tsar, the same root as the word for "trouble"). The verse makes a play on words. If you fail in the narrow day, it is because your strength was narrow. The test simply revealed the truth. Your resources, your resolve, your courage, your faith, were all much smaller than you perhaps pretended they were during the days of ease. The day of trouble does not make you weak; it shows you that you were weak. It exposes the man who talks a good game in peacetime but who has no stomach for a fight.
Application
First, this proverb is a direct assault on our pride and our penchant for making excuses. When you fail, the first place to look is not at the size of the trial, but at the size of your strength. Stop blaming the circumstances. The circumstances are God's appointed instrument for revealing what is in your heart. If what is revealed is cowardice, unbelief, and weakness, then that is what you need to repent of.
Second, this is a call to prepare for the evil day. A wise man does not wait for the hurricane to start boarding up his windows. He builds his strength before the trial. And how is biblical strength built? It is not built through self-help mantras or positive thinking. It is built by the steady, regular, and often unspectacular means of grace. It is built in the prayer closet, early in the morning. It is built by the systematic reading and study of God's Word, hiding it in your heart. It is built in faithful fellowship with the saints, bearing one another's burdens. It is built by taking up your cross daily in the small things, so that you have the muscle memory of obedience when the big test comes. You develop strength by exercising it.
Finally, this proverb, like all of the law, should drive us to the gospel. Left to ourselves, our strength is indeed small. It is laughably small. The standard of faithfulness is perfection, and in the day of ultimate trouble, facing the wrath of a holy God, every one of us would be found slack. But this is why we have a Savior. Jesus Christ was not slack in His day of trouble. In the Garden, facing the cup of God's wrath, He did not faint. On the cross, bearing the sins of His people, He did not fail. His strength was not small. And the good news of the gospel is that through faith, His perfect strength is credited to us, and His divine power is available to us. We are weak, but He is strong. This truth, however, is not a pillow for us to lie down on. It is the foundation upon which we are to stand and fight. Because Christ is our strength, we have every reason to be strong and courageous, and no excuse to be slack in the day of trouble.