A proverb about goals

Today's proverb is about goals - not soccer goals, but what you wish to accomplish.

He who seeks good finds goodwill, but evil comes to him who searches for it.

Proverbs 11:27

Discussion

• There are two things in this proverb we could be looking for "good" and "evil."
• Two different Hebrew words are represented here.
  • shachar which is translated seek in the first part of the proverb implies seeking diligently or to seek early. From reading more about the word, I would almost describe this kind of seeking as getting up early and opening things up and looking in them rather than just a casual glace around to try and find something.
  • darash the word that is translated searches means "to resort to, seek, seek with care, enquire, require"
  • My sense of the difference between the two is darash "Have you seen where I put my iPod?" and shachar is looking under the couch, under the table, in the bedroom, in the playroom, all over the house until you find the iPod.
• The good that is diligently sought is towb which is one of the words we considered when we studied proverbs about happiness. It implies things that are good, pleasant, and agreeable.
• Diligently seeking good leads to ratsown which was the same word used to describe God's delight in those that are truthful.
• The word for evil here is ra` is sometimes translated mischief but it is best defined as bad or evil.
• We see that evil will come to you if you ask, but you have to diligently seek good.
• Which do you think it's easier to find, good or evil?
• Which do you think it's better to find?
• Do you think you should set a goal of seeking out good?
• Do you think it is a one-time search or a continuous search?