Covenantal Bookkeeping: The Shepherding of Reality Text: Proverbs 27:23-27
Introduction: The World as a Going Concern
We live in an age of abstractions, an era of digital smoke and virtual mirrors. Men trade in currencies that do not exist, build fortunes on algorithms they do not understand, and live in a state of perpetual distraction from the created order. Our entire civilization is increasingly untethered from reality, and as a result, it is coming apart at the seams. We have men who believe they can become women, economists who believe you can print wealth out of thin air, and politicians who believe you can defy the laws of God without consequence. They are all attempting to live in a fantasy, and reality is a very patient, but very thorough, auditor.
Into this chaos, the book of Proverbs speaks with the earthy, concrete wisdom of a man who has dirt under his fingernails. This is not ethereal piety for the sweet by and by. This is grounded, practical instruction for living in God's world, on God's terms, right now. And this particular passage is a potent antidote to the gnostic follies of our day. It speaks of flocks, herds, grass, lambs, and goats' milk. It smells of the barn, not the faculty lounge. It is a call to diligent, faithful, hands on stewardship of the real, tangible world God has made.
But we must not mistake this for mere agrarian advice or folksy wisdom. This is not simply Solomon's version of a farmer's almanac. This passage is a profound theological statement about the nature of wealth, the duty of man, and the providence of God. It teaches us that true, lasting prosperity is not a matter of luck, or speculation, or government largesse. It is the fruit of covenantal faithfulness, expressed in diligent, attentive labor within the cycles and seasons of God's creation. It teaches us that God's world is a going concern, and He has called us to be His faithful managers, His covenantal bookkeepers.
The modern world, both secular and pietistic, wants to treat the material world as either ultimate or irrelevant. The materialist says this is all there is, so grab what you can. The pietist says this world is passing away, so ignore it and think only of heaven. Both are profoundly wrong. The Bible teaches that this world is God's creation, and our faithful work in it is a central part of our worship. This passage shows us the beautiful interplay between our responsibility and God's provision. It is a call to get our heads out of the clouds of abstraction and to put our hands to the plow of reality.
The Text
Know well the condition of your flocks,
And pay attention to your herds;
For wealth is not forever,
Neither is a crown from generation to generation.
When the grass disappears and the vegetation appears,
And the herbs of the mountains are gathered in,
The lambs will be for your clothing,
And the goats will bring the price of a field,
And there will be enough goats’ milk for your food,
For the food of your household,
And sustenance for your maidens.
(Proverbs 27:23-27 LSB)
The Steward's Mandate (v. 23)
The instruction begins with a direct and emphatic command.
"Know well the condition of your flocks, And pay attention to your herds;" (Proverbs 27:23 LSB)
The language here is intense. "Know well" is more than a casual glance. It means to know intimately, to be an expert. The Hebrew implies setting your heart to it. This is a command to exercise focused, diligent, diagnostic attention. A good shepherd knows his sheep. He knows which ones are healthy, which are lame, which are pregnant, and which are prone to wander. He is not an absentee landlord; he is an active, engaged steward.
This is the creation mandate in miniature. God placed Adam in the garden to work it and keep it. This requires attention. It requires knowing the condition of things. This principle applies to far more than livestock. It applies to your bank account, to the state of your marriage, to the souls of your children, to the condition of your own heart. What is the state of your flocks? Do you know? Or are you running your life on autopilot, assuming everything is fine, while wolves are circling and disease is spreading?
This command is a direct assault on laziness and presumption. Laziness says, "It's too much trouble to check." Presumption says, "It will all work out somehow." The Bible says that faith is not a synonym for carelessness. Faith works. Faith pays attention. A man who says he is trusting God with his finances but never balances his checkbook is not exercising faith; he is testing the Lord. A father who says he is trusting God for his children's salvation but never opens the Bible with them is not a man of faith; he is a negligent fool.
To "pay attention to your herds" is to take responsibility. In God's economy, you are responsible for that which He has put under your authority. This is the essence of stewardship. It is not yours in an ultimate sense, you do not own it, but you are responsible to manage it faithfully for the true Owner. And the first task of any manager is to know the state of the business.
The Reality of Transience (v. 24)
The proverb then gives the reason, the motivation, for this diligent attention. It is a dose of hard-headed realism.
"For wealth is not forever, Neither is a crown from generation to generation." (Proverbs 27:24 LSB)
Here is the great corrective to all human pride and presumption. The wealth you have, whether it is a little or a lot, is not a permanent feature of the landscape. It is fluid. It can be lost. The word for wealth here refers to riches, abundance. It is not a stable commodity. Markets crash, thieves steal, moths and rust destroy. To treat your current prosperity as a given is the height of folly. The crown, a symbol of power, authority, and generational stability, is also not guaranteed. Dynasties rise and fall. Businesses that dominate one generation are footnotes in the next.
This is not a counsel of despair, but of wisdom. It is because wealth is not forever that you must pay attention to the means by which it is generated and sustained. The point is not that material things are bad, but that they are not ultimate. They are tools, not gods. If you make wealth your god, you will find it to be a very fickle and disappointing deity. But if you see it as a tool entrusted to you by the true God, then you will manage it with care, knowing that it is not permanently attached to you.
This verse demolishes the get rich quick mentality. The man who chases speculative bubbles or lottery tickets is a man who thinks wealth is a magical substance that can be captured once and for all. The wise man knows that wealth is the fruit of a process, a process that requires ongoing diligence. The reason you must pay attention to your flocks is precisely because the wool and milk from last year are already gone. You cannot coast on past success.
The Rhythm of Providence (v. 25)
After stating the problem of transience, the proverb points to the solution, which is found in the reliable, cyclical provision of God in His creation.
"When the grass disappears and the vegetation appears, And the herbs of the mountains are gathered in," (Proverbs 27:25 LSB)
This verse describes the seasonal rhythm of agriculture. The hay is cut and stored, the new growth comes up in the pastures, and the wild herbs are harvested from the hills. This is the dependable, God-ordained pattern of death and renewal, of harvest and new life. This is the foundation of all true wealth. It is not a static pile of gold in a vault; it is a living, recurring cycle of fruitfulness.
Notice the interplay. Man's diligence is assumed. The herbs don't gather themselves. The hay doesn't leap into the barn. Man must work, but his work is in sync with the patterns God has embedded in the creation. God sends the rain, makes the sun to shine, and causes the grass to grow. Man cuts, gathers, and stores. This is the partnership of providence. God gives the raw material, and man, as a faithful sub-creator, works it and stewards it.
This is where our security lies. Not in a static crown or a hoard of cash, but in the ongoing, productive cycles of a well-stewarded enterprise that is aligned with the grain of God's world. Your security is not in your bank balance; it is in your productive capacity. A man with a million dollars and no skills is far more vulnerable than a man with a thousand dollars and a trade he can ply within the dependable rhythms of the economy.
The Fruit of Faithfulness (v. 26-27)
The passage concludes by spelling out the concrete results of this diligent stewardship within God's providential order.
"The lambs will be for your clothing, And the goats will bring the price of a field, And there will be enough goats’ milk for your food, For the food of your household, And sustenance for your maidens." (Proverbs 27:26-27 LSB)
The results are not abstract. They are tangible, practical, and abundant. The diligent shepherd who knows his flocks and works within God's seasons will have what he needs. He will have clothing from the wool of the lambs. This is a direct provision for his family's needs.
He will also have capital for expansion. The goats will bring the price of a field. This is not just about subsistence; it is about growth. Faithful stewardship of existing resources generates the capital to acquire more productive assets. This is the engine of godly dominion. The faithful are to increase what has been entrusted to them. This is the principle of the parable of the talents. To the one who has, more will be given. To the one who is a faithful steward of his goats, God will give a field.
And finally, there will be daily provision in abundance. There will be enough goats' milk for your food, for your household, and for your maidens. Notice the scope of the blessing. It covers the man himself, his immediate family, and his entire household, including his servants. Godly stewardship is not a zero sum game. The prosperity of a faithful man overflows to bless all who are under his care. His success is their success. This is the model of a godly household economy, a covenantal enterprise where the head of the house labors to provide for all his dependents.
This is a picture of true wealth. It is not ostentatious luxury. It is sufficiency, security, and the capacity to provide for others. It is the quiet, stable, multi-generational fruitfulness that comes from knowing your business, respecting the transient nature of worldly success, aligning your work with God's created order, and faithfully stewarding the increase He provides.
Shepherding the Flock of God
Now, we must see that this passage is not ultimately about sheep and goats. It is about the nature of reality, and it points us directly to the Good Shepherd. The principles of stewardship laid out here find their ultimate expression in the pastoral work of the church and in the personal work of sanctification.
Pastors and elders are commanded to do this very thing. They are to "shepherd the flock of God" (1 Peter 5:2), which involves knowing well the condition of the souls under their care. A faithful pastor is not an entertainer or a CEO. He is a shepherd. He knows the sheep by name. He pays attention to their spiritual health. He does this because he knows that false teachings can creep in, that sin can take root, and that the crown of faithfulness is not guaranteed to any church from generation to generation. He must work diligently within the ordinary means of grace, the preaching of the Word and the administration of the sacraments, which are the green pastures God provides.
And for every one of us, this is the pattern of our discipleship. You are the steward of your own soul. You are to "know well" the condition of your heart. You are to pay attention to your spiritual disciplines, your prayer life, your intake of the Word. Why? Because your spiritual vitality is not a permanent fixture. Sanctification is not on cruise control. You can backslide. You can grow cold. A crown of righteousness is promised, but it must be run for, fought for, and finished.
But the ultimate comfort is this: we have a Shepherd who knows us perfectly. Jesus is the Good Shepherd who knows His sheep, and His sheep know Him (John 10:14). He paid the ultimate price, not for a field, but for His bride, the church. His provision is not goats' milk, but His own body and blood, which is food indeed and drink indeed. He is the one whose diligent, faithful, attentive work on our behalf secured a wealth that is truly forever, an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading. Our diligent work is simply our grateful response to His perfect work. Because He has been a faithful steward of us, we can now learn to be faithful stewards of all that He has given us, for His glory and for the good of our households, from this time forth and forevermore.