“Where there are no oxen, the manger is clean, but abundant crops come by the strength of the ox.” (Proverbs 14:4)

The verse presents a simple cause and effect relationship. If there are no oxen, the manger stays clean. But if there are oxen, their strength produces an abundant harvest. Tools amplify effort and effect. Without the means of production, there will be no mess, but also no fruit. Productivity requires power, and power brings complications. The verse is a principle of wisdom. It instructs the reader to accept the tradeoff between simplicity and abundance, control and gain. 

The ox represents an instrument of power that multiplies human labor. In the modern world, the same tension appears in machines and computers. They enable productivity at scale, but they also bring mess, noise, and other collateral impact. Some imagine a simpler world that removes the tools. But if the tools go, so does the increase. There is no such thing as a sterile harvest. The wise man understands this. He readies the ox and prepares for gain.

Still, the wise man does not trust in the ox. God is not bound by tools. He can produce without means, and give without effort. He fed his people without farms and built his kingdom without armies. But in usual cases, he provides through the pattern described in this verse. Wisdom makes peace with the mess that effective means of production bring. It does not idolize the machine, but it does not romanticize the clean stall either. It appreciates the tools God provides and remembers the source.