Proverbs is not just a book that teaches us how to get things right, how to build a successful approach to life. Instead, it is a book breathed out by the God who formed all things, revealing His will, His thoughts, His wisdom. What a needful reminder this is. We are living in a world designed, constructed, and sustained by God, inhabiting bodies and history formed and sustained by the same God. The constant temptation is to forget the presence of God, to forget that we are always before His face, and that we are not living unto ourselves but unto Him who made us. Our actions are weighed by Him, and He deals with equity. The fool who sins in ignorance is rewarded justly, while the transgressor who stubbornly pursues rebellion is also rewarded according to his transgression. The knowledge of God’s presence always produces a predictable result: The wise take it to heart and live in the fear of God, while the fool quickly forgets and assumes that God forgets as well.