All preparations having now been made, it is only a matter of time before David dies and Solomon takes the throne as king. But when power hangs in the balance, it is not unusual for power-seekers to attempt to grab it for themselves. Such is the case with Adonijah, one of Solomon’s half brothers. This section of scripture reads like a soap opera!
ENTRY SIXTY-FIVE – MAY 12, 2008
65 – SOLOMON BECOMES KING
II Samuel 23; I Kings 1-3; I Chron 29:23-30; II Chron 1
This entry, which covers two days of reading, touches on topics such as GRATITUDE FOR THOSE WHO TELL THE TRUTH, SELF-PITY, PARENTING, CONSEQUENCES, and WISDOM.
All preparations having now been made (see entry 57), it is only a matter of time before David dies and Solomon takes the throne as king. But when power hangs in the balance, it is not unusual for power-seekers to attempt to grab it for themselves. Such is the case with Adonijah, one of Solomon’s half brothers. This section of scripture reads like a soap opera!
I Kings 1 – The girl, Abishag, was sent to care for David and keep him warm at night. They made sure she was a virgin so that there were no surprise princes – if someone who was having sexual relations was chosen, she may have become pregnant with any old guy’s baby but accused the king of fathering the child, thus laying stake to his money, etc. (Times haven’t changed much, have they? We hear of this kind of thing happening all the time these days in
Haggith was one of the wives of David that we never particularly hear of, and all of a sudden, one of her sons puts himself forward as the rightful heir to the throne. Adonijah had been born next to Absalom and was also known for bring handsome. He gathered followers and attempted a bloodless coup. Perhaps the reason Joab joined in was that he knew that Solomon didn’t like him. Who knows. But the coup was short-lived because of Nathan and Bathsheba’s timely intervention. Nathan spoke up and saved the day. Be grateful for the Nathan’s in your life and be a Nathan yourself!! And notice that Bathsheba herself was such a godly woman that she had not held any grudges against Nathan for what had happened so many years ago – in other words, she didn’t have a “Shoot the Messenger” mentality.
Obviously when David heard about the coup, he sorted things out and Solomon sat on the royal throne and was made king straightaway. Adonijah and his gang knew they were in trouble and fled to the horns of the altar, where they received forgiveness from Solomon, at least for the time being. David made his last prophecy, which can be read in II Samuel 23:1-7. David wanted to go out blazing, like we all do. He hoped that his house was right with God, because he knew that time was short. He couldn’t resist giving one final charge to Solomon, the new king, which is found in I Kings 2:1-9. If you have been following this QT series from the beginning, then you only get one guess as to the approximate content of David’s last words to his heir – RIGHT, you guessed it – Be strong, observe the Lord’s decrees, walk in His ways, and follow with your heart and soul. Now that we’ve all read this at least a dozen times, I hope we can remember to do it! (Me included, of course!)
After giving Solomon some advice about securing his kingship and getting rid of those who had repeatedly shed blood, David died and was succeeded officially by Solomon. The bible says that he prospered and all
Solomon removed Abiathar from the priesthood because of his treachery, which fulfilled a prophecy spoken way back when before Saul was king to Eli, mentor of Samuel. The bible says that our sins get passed down to our kids. They learn our hurtful patterns, like eating when we are emotional rather than hungry, bursting out with hurtful words, stuffing our emotions, blaming others for our problems, etc. We must repent for our own salvation but also for the “salvation” (not necessarily literally) of our children.
Joab, who had often helped David for the good (as well as the time he helped for evil with Uriah, Bathsheba’s original husband), had also been very independent and done things his own way on many occasions, including murdering his own enemies with no conscience. Now it was time for him to face the music. Shimei, the rude and insulting member of Saul’s household who had cursed David and thrown dirt and rocks on him as he fled Absalom was also given an ultimatum. He agreed to stick to the boundary, but then “forgot”, so Shimei was also struck down.
With the kingdom now firmly in Solomon’s hands, he made a politically expedient move by marrying the daughter of the Egyptian Pharaoh. Of course, this was not wise on his part from a spiritual perspective, and we will see that he did it over and over again later to his destruction, but it did set up his kingdom to experience peace in a way that had been unknown since Israel moved into the Promised Land. Solomon was a good politician and a wise administrator, and, amazingly, when he was offered anything in the world by God, he asked for more wisdom. God was pleased that Solomon hadn’t asked for worldly things, so he gave him wisdom plus everything else so that Solomon had far more riches, honour and wisdom than any king alive in his day.
This entry ends with a reference to the famous story of Solomon advising the women who both lay claim to a baby. “Divide the child in half” was his astounding answer. The real mother, of course, cried out to stop and give the baby to the other woman, which revealed to all who was lying. “When all
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ENTRY SIXTY-SIX – MAY 14, 2008
66 – BUILDING AND DEDICATING THE TEMPLE
I Kings 4-10; II Chron 2-9; Psalm 72
This entry covering three days discusses the LONGEST PRAYER IN THE BIBLE, as well as covering the magnificent GRAND OPENING OF SOLOMON’S
Perhaps Solomon’s best known achievement is the building of the magnificent temple in
The opening passage here describes the friendly relations between King Solomon and Hiram, King of Tyre. We get to read their correspondence over the issue of Hiram supplying wood and workmen to build the temple. Look at all the “foreign workers” they had – 153,000! Notice they weren’t slaves who were treated badly. The cool thing was that they kept the location David chose, which was the one where he saw the angel at the threshing floor of Araunah (II Samuel 24:15-25).
Then God made a promise to Solomon: If you follow my decrees and keep my commands, I will fulfil the promises I made to David your father. God looked forward to them building a temple, but it was still the heart he was interested in. And it is the same today – even though we in
The design of the temple was intricate, with multiple stories, a porch, lots of gold, and other rich materials. (I couldn’t help but smile when I read the verse that said there were no hammers, chisels or other iron tools heard at the site while it was being built – maybe they had trouble with the authorities over noise pollution, too!!! That’s an inside joke for our building committee!!)
When it was all completed, Solomon sacrificed burnt offerings to the Lord according to the daily requirements laid down by Moses. Thereafter, Solomon summoned the elders of
Now we had fun at the grand opening of our building in Dec 2004, but it was nothing compared to this celebration!! Imagine how it sounded with all the musicians dressed to the nines, and playing instruments and singing in unison “with one voice”. They raised their voice to God singing “He is good; his love endures forever.” And THEN, the temple of the Lord was filled with a cloud, and the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the temple. Now THAT is what I call a celebration!!
Solomon followed this by addressing the crowd; then he knelt before the altar and spread out his hands to heaven and prayed the longest prayer in the bible (as written in both I Kings 8 and II Chron 6). If you can, kneel down, spread out your hands, and read/pray this out loud – it is truly magnificent! Your mind will be filled with the phrase “hear from heaven” and you will not forget this prayer! (Try it at night on the roof of the church building with a torch light and you will really get a charge out of it!!)
The prayer touches many topics, but the basis of the prayer is Solomon’s trust in God’s promises to David. This is a good point for us as we go to meet God in prayer: do we trust in God’s promises? Do we go to God with that confidence? This is how we should pray everyday!! Wow, I am convicted!!
Notice that when he starts praying, King Solomon is kneeling. I find this posture to be especially helpful when I am struggling with submitting to God on something: the position itself is humbling.
Solomon starts off by proclaiming God’s uniqueness and reminding God that he keeps his covenant with those who WHOLEHEARTEDLY follow him. He uses the fact that God promised David that Solomon would be the king and of course, did become the king, as proof that God does keep his promises. He was also humble enough to plead for mercy and to know that he would be doing it more in the future.
Now Solomon was dedicating a temple for God and he was looking at it from the perspective that God would LIVE in the temple, hence the request for God to hear the prayers when they are directed toward the building. As Christians we know that the kingdom of heaven is within us (Luke 17:21) and that God doesn’t live in temples built by human hands (Acts 17:24-25), but at the same time we must appreciate the culture that the Hebrews lived in at that time. (For those of you in
Solomon is basically asking for God to grant forgiveness and answer from heaven whenever he or any of the Israelites pray or are facing defeat in battle or starving in a drought or taken captive. He also asked on behalf of strangers/foreigners, which was quite advanced thinking for his day. The heart of the prayer is awesome; hopefully you will get a chance to pray it out loud!
Solomon rose and ended with a benediction, which he also addressed to the whole assembly. The benediction alone is a whole sermon.
- He praises God and thanks him for his promises.
- “Not one word has failed of all the good promises he gave through his servant Moses.”
- He asked that the Lord never forsake them.
- He asked that God turn their hearts toward Him, so that they would always walk in his ways.
- He asked that the Lord keep the words of his long prayer near to him, “SO THAT all peoples of the earth may know that the Lord is God and that there is no other.”
- He reminded the people that their hearts must be fully committed to the Lord and that they must obey Him.
As if this whole event hadn’t already been amazing enough, when the prayer was over, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offerings! Whoa!!!! This time the glory of the Lord filled the temple to such an extent that the priests had to leave! The Israelites saw all of this and knelt on the pavement with their faces to the ground worshiping God, praising and thanking Him!! I’ll say!! Then they offered thousands upon thousands of sacrifices and sang and worshiped some more. This went on for days and days, until Solomon finally sent the people home, “joyful and glad in heart for the good things the Lord had done”.
While the temple has been under construction, so too has Solomon’s royal palace. The temple, massive at it was, took seven years to build; the palace took 13! That could have been a good thing – he ignored his palace to crank on the temple – or it could have been an omen of things to come; i.e., he paid more attention to his personal life than his spiritual. We can ask God that question in heaven
II Chron 7 has a great section – verse 11-22 shows God answering Solomon’s “Hear from Heaven” prayer. God told him, “Yes, when the people humble themselves and pray to me, I will hear from heaven, forgive their sins and answer their prayers!” In the past, God dealt with David, but now God was making a covenant directly with Solomon! However, God did include a caveat – he said that he would establish Solomon’s royal throne IF Solomon walked in his ways. But IF Solomon worshiped other gods, God would reject Solomon AND the temple! God even promised to make the temple an object of ridicule among all nations. How sad. Of course, it all came true, sadly. For us today, we can apply it to ourselves, in that we have built a church building. We don’t believe that God LIVES in the temple, but we use it as a place to worship and fellowship and learn and bring others and meet specific needs. We also believe that God has blessed us with the building. However, if we don’t use it to glorify God and fulfil his purposes, then he may also take it away and it will also become an object of ridicule.
I Kings 4:29-34 tells of Solomon’s wisdom and insight, and how his fame spread to surrounding nations. And check out I Kings 10:22 – Solomon had his own private zoo! Also from the same chapter is a description of all the gold. The writer may be even cracking a joke when he mentions that “nothing was made of silver because silver was of little value in Solomon’s day”…Wow! Just goes to show how rich they were!! When God keeps a promise to bless you, he really blesses you!! Solomon was greater in riches and wisdom than all other kings.
Of course, Solomon was conveniently ignoring the part of the Mosaic Law that said for any future kings of
I Kings 10 also contains the amazing story of The Queen of Sheba! About 15 years ago, Mike Fontenot preached a sermon on the Queen of
This entry on Solomon’s glory ends with Psalm 72. If this psalm is read as a Messianic prophecy of Jesus, the true and everlasting king, then it is quite majestic. If, however, it is read as Solomon’s tribute to himself, it does come across on the narcissistic side. On the other hand, he had been promised great blessings from God, as well as from his father, so perhaps he was just acknowledging that in prayer. Again, who knows? At least at the end he praises God and lets it be known that he believes God alone does marvellous deeds, and prays for God’s glory to be made known everywhere, not his glory!
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ENTRY SIXTY-SEVEN(a) – MAY 17, 2008
67a – Solomon and the Songs of Solomon
Song of Solomon, Psalm 127
You read correctly – it is supposed to say “Songs” in plural because we’ll be looking at a psalm written by Solomon as well as his more famous Song of Songs. The first is about PARENTING, the second about LOVE and DESIRE IN MARRIAGE, but both can also help us in our RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD. (two days of reading)
Psalm 127 This song of ascents acknowledges that God has to be in charge or all we do is in vain. It’s true when building your life, it’s true when building your family, and it’s true when building your church. No matter how hard we work, if we don’t do it with God as our foundation, we might as well bag it! On the positive side, Solomon reminds us that God “grants sleep to those he loves.” What a pleasant verse!! More about the family – children are a reward from God, and we are blessed by our children. Solomon says, “Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them.” He uses a word picture for this analogy – a father is a warrior who shoots with a bow and arrow. Children are the arrows. The warrior keeps his arrows in a long leather pouch slung over his back. (You’ve seen such things in movies like Lord of the Rings, etc.) This pouch is called a “quiver”. The more arrows a warrior has, the better he will do in battle. So, blessed is the man who has lots of children because this will make his life blessed, IF, of course, the Lord is his commanding officer!! Several years ago, Doug Jacoby and his wife published a parenting book, called Quiver, which explores many biblical passages to help us be able to bring up our children according to the scriptures.
Song of Songs or Song of Solomon We will focus on Song of Songs being a LOVE SONG TO GOD in this entry. However, let’s explore briefly the implication of this being a LOVER’S GUIDE TO EXPRESSING PASSION. Seeing as how this is included in the bible, isn’t it obvious that God doesn’t have hang-ups about sex??? It is humans who have the hang-ups, and who have messed it up for the rest of the world. God invented the sexual relationship to bring pleasure and to bond married couples together. We should never think that God wants us to look at sex as something evil or dirty; it only becomes “wrong” or “immoral” when it is outside of the relationship God created it for, which is marriage. (Remember Steve Sapp’s definition of safe sex? “Take your sex, lock it in a safe, and keep it there until you get married!”) In Song of Songs, the female character says three different times, “Do not arouse or awaken love until it so desires.” I take that as her way of teaching safe sex in 1000 B.C.! Good advice even for today – “and Jesus is the same yesterday, today forever.” (Hebrews 13:8).
For an in-depth look at Song of Songs in a sexual way, please see my next entry. Incidentally, if you are not engaged or married, I would prefer that you didn’t read it. Since I believe that God created sex for marriage, I am writing the sexual stuff for marrieds. Thank you for respecting my wishes and my values.
Now, on to reading Song of Songs as a LOVE SONG TO GOD.
A note I wrote to myself back in 2002 says, “I read Song of Songs and prayed and meditated on it after reading the book, Hinds’ Feet on High Places by Hannah Hurnard. It is the third time I have read the book, but the first time I’ve read it in 18 years. It is beautiful to think of Song of Songs as a love song to God!!” If you have never read that book, I highly recommend it. I know I always say that, but in this case, I would say it is one of my all time favourite books on having a relationship with God. It particularly emphasizes the idea of God as the Shepherd but also the Lover, hence the tie in with Song of Songs. Miss Hurnard wrote another book called Mountains of Spices, which takes the nine spices mentioned in the Song of Songs and likens them with the fruit of the spirit from Galatians 5. These books can give you a feel for using Song of Songs as a way of deepening your relationship with God. In the meantime, I will give you a few paltry insights
- The Beloved is the woman in the relationship, therefore she represents us, and the Lover represents God, our husband.
- The Beloved is very eager to spend time with the Beloved.
- The Beloved praises the Lover over and over, in very specific ways, and boasts about him to her friends.
- The Beloved is disappointed when something interrupts their time together or keeps them apart.
- The Beloved yearns for the Lover and her heart skips a beat when her time with him draws near.
- The Beloved feels completely secure in the love of her Lover and is not self-conscious.
- The Lover is also very adoring of the Beloved and speaks of her as if she were perfect and flawless, in great detail.
- The Lover admonishes the Beloved not to allow small things to distract their relationship or to ruin their time together (see 2:15).
- There is a feeling of unending love and “no sacrifice is too big” for each other.
- Both the Lover and the Beloved see each other as a prize, something incredibly special, and the Beloved prepares herself for her time with her Lover.
Now, taken in conjunction with the study that the
Hopefully these thoughts will be as helpful to you as they have been to me.
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ENTRY SIXTY-SEVEN(b) – MAY 17, 2008
67b – Song of Songs, the MARRIEDS’ ONLY VERSION
This is a more descriptive look at Song of Songs in a sexual way. If you are not engaged or married, I would prefer that you didn’t read it. Since I believe that God created sex for marriage, I am writing the sexual stuff for marrieds. Thank you for respecting my wishes and my values.
Perhaps Solomon wrote this as his vision of the ideal lover or fantasy. He certainly had experience! (No comment on that here; wait for the next entry.) But it does give us insight into God’s mind and into the mind of a great and wise ruler re marriage:
- The woman character (the Beloved) is even more expressive than the man character (the Lover). Husbands want their wives to be expressive in the bedroom.
- Though this is not true in all cases, in many situations, men need the women to loosen up and meet their needs. The Beloved has no problem doing that.
- The descriptions by the woman are spoken by a woman in love and not ashamed of her passion.
- The Lover knows how to make the wife feel special.
- They both give a lot of compliments about each others’ attractiveness – the wife was her husband’s biggest fan, and vice versa – and they praise each others’ whole bodies.
- The wife is confident about her looks and able to talk about her body and sexuality freely – no 21st Century body image problems here – but she probably keeps herself fit and looking good!
- Their bedroom is decorated nicely – a “love room”.
- The husband warns that they should not let small problems ruin their happiness and sexual relationship (see 2:15).
- The wife boasts about her husband to others, refers to him as her lover and friend, and looks forward to being with him sexually.
- They are free to experiment and try different ways to give each other pleasure.
So, wives, are you convicted? I know that I am!! Time to repent at home, amen??!! For more specific info from a Christian point of view, try the books The Act of Marriage and Intended for Pleasure. And DPI has just published a new book by Sam Laing about finding out more about sexual love in marriage called The Five Senses of Romantic Love. Read about it at www.dpibooks.org , or browse an excerpt on popular Christian website www.crosswalk.com/marriage/11566802/ Happy repenting!!
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ENTRY SIXTY-EIGHT – MAY 19, 2008
68 – SOLOMON’S PROVERBS Part I – INTRO
(one day of reading)
This entry introduces the topic of WISDOM and tells us WHY WISDOM IS SO CRUCIAL.
As the historical record has indicated, Solomon the wise king is the author of literally thousands of proverbs (I Kings 4:32). These are short poems, which set high ethical standards and give practical advice for daily living. Often comparing or contrasting similar ideas or opposites are used. The Hebrew proverbs are distinct from other ancient wisdom literature in that our proverbs clearly teach that all wisdom flows from God. (F. LaGard Smith, p613) Dr Smith puts the proverbs in topical order in his Narrated Bible, so I will be following his format. It will be slightly confusing to keep up with all the jumping around of verses, but studying the proverbs by topic is quite fun. Of course, many of the verses could be under more than one topic, so you can make up your own categories if you wish. When I first read this version back in the mid-80s, I made some notes that I will quote today, 20 years later. In the early 90s when I read this bible, I colour-coded the proverbs with highlighter pencils. Lime green = any verse on laziness, self-indulgence or hard work; brown = any verse on deceit, lying or truthfulness; green = money issues; purple = humility, arrogance, being a mocker, taking or not taking advice, correction or discipline. When I read the Narrated Bible again a few years ago, I added two more colours: yellow for sowing and reaping principles and orange for general relationship and communication principles, as well as mentoring and training principles. I will probably refer to these notes from time to time as I make comments.
For some reason, Dr LaGard Smith begins his study of Proverbs in chapter 8, then goes to 9:1-6, then back to 2:1-22, then 3:13-24, and then 1:20-33. After that, he jumps to 9:1318, then the whole of chapter 4, and inserts a snippet from 22:17-21. Bear with me as I refer to these various passages – perhaps you’ll want to do some exercises to get your fingers ready for all the page turning you’ll be doing (unless you own this version, in which case you will be reading it in topical order as well!!)
THE CALL OF WISDOM Prov 8:1-11 Wisdom is more precious than fine jewels. Prov 8:12-31 Wisdom is not rash or proud. See James 3:13-18 for spiritual wisdom from above! True wisdom is humble and if you seek this wisdom, you WILL get it! Wisdom is putting truth into action; it is taking “knowledge” and making it practical. Prov 8:32-36 Over and over, Solomon pleads, “Do not ignore wisdom!” Verse 36 says that whoever finds wisdom finds the Lord. Put in another way, true wisdom leads us to Christ. Mike Hammonds, my old campus minister, calls Jesus Christ “the philosopher’s dream” – all the answers to universal questions in one place!! 9:1-6 Wisdom beckons to all. It is like a banquet – very satisfying, but only if you partake, not if you just watch!!
THE BENEFITS OF FOLLOWING WISDOM Prov 2:1-22 I love the beginning of this passage, because the visual is so clear – you can just picture someone crying out in the streets, shouting aloud for wisdom, and then searching frantically, as if looking for a lost dog or a missing wallet. When we have this heart to search for wisdom, we are guaranteed to find it. What’s more, when you find wisdom, you will understand what it means to “fear the Lord” and you will find “knowledge of the Lord”. As we have seen all through the Old Testament, all spiritual growth is a matter of the heart – gaining wisdom is a heart issue; you must look for it, which involves prayer, bible study, reading books, listening to lessons by audio, diligent practice, plus meditation and much discussion with friends, WITH ALL YOUR HEART. How much time do you put into finding wisdom? How much time do you spend patiently studying God’s word and thoughtfully putting it into practice? Or do you just wait for someone to spoon feed you? This is the only way that we can understand what is right and fair, and understanding and discretion will guard and protect you! (Remember what Solomon’s dad had said in Psalm 119:99 – if you follow God’s word you will have more insight than all your teachers!!) Wisdom is also useful for saving us from deceivers and from self-indulgence, and specifically from immoral people. My bottom line interpretation of what “finding wisdom” means is UNDERSTANDING THE WORD ENOUGH AND FEARING GOD ENOUGH that you comprehend how to apply and obey the bible in daily life.
Prov 3:13-24 One of the notes I wrote to myself said, “If I live by wisdom, I will have an awesome marriage, raise great kids, have a healthy body, a fruitful ministry, and a life that impacts others. And my sleep will be sweet cause I won’t feel guilty.” Now I am not sure what year I wrote this, but I think it is a sign of the naïve kind of faith in the bible that it is good for us to have early on in our Christian life! Later on we will no doubt realize that things don’t always work out the way we wanted even when we are trying our best. At the same time, I can think of the problems I do have in the above areas (healthy body?????) and I know that my problems in this area are directly related to not living a life of wisdom when it comes to food and exercise! (As I type this, I am sitting at a food court only a few tables away from a Ben and Jerry’s ice cream shop. I didn’t choose this location – I am waiting for some overseas guests to arrive at this location. However, I made a firm promise to God to not go anywhere NEAR Ben and Jerry’s – one of my biggest temptations! And it feels Great to practice living a life of WISDOM!!)
DANGERS OF REJECTING WISDOM Prov 1:20-33 Anthropomorphism is the idea that an animal, a god or an object has feelings or characteristics like those of a human being. It is often used in literature to bring an idea to life. In the case of the opening chapters of Proverbs, “Wisdom” is often seen as a woman and in chapter 1, she is crying aloud in the streets, warning the simple minded and the mockers and the fools to stop ignoring discipline and to seek wisdom before disaster overtakes them – a forerunner to what Paul wrote in Galatians 6 about how we will definitely reap what we sow. It is interesting to see how God sees those who won’t repent – mockers and fools. And that when we know what we ought to do and don’t do it, we are on a dangerous path!
Prov 9:13-18 This is another anthropomorphic picture, but not about wisdom. This time the woman, Folly, is described and it is an ugly picture, like a common whore from the movie scene of Oliver Twist. This is a visualization of how Satan temps us and calls out, “food eaten in secret is delicious”! (OUCH! This is a bit too close to home!!) How often have I believed Folly’s lie, and regretted it the next minute or hour or day or week or year. God save me from Folly and help me to make Wisdom my constant companion!
SOLOMON’S PERSONAL PLEA Prov 4:1-27 This passage has a sweet and personal ring to it, because it is Solomon begging us to listen to our parents wisdom. David had messed up with his older sons but he seemed to have done a good job teaching Solomon. In this case, the baby of the family benefited from the dad’s personal growth. Solomon makes an important observation in verse 7: “Wisdom is supreme; therefore get wisdom. THOUGH IT COST ALL YOU HAVE, get understanding.” How often have we heard someone say, “I’d give my right arm to be able to dance like that ballerina” or “I’d give half my life to have that man’s knowledge of the bible or ability at work or whatever”. Guess what? The people who we are admiring DID give half their life to get it. That’s what it takes – if you want to shine at something, you have to sacrifice. Therefore, if we want to have wisdom, we must put in the effort. No wonder Jesus tells us to “Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to.” (Luke 13:24).
Solomon also gives us warning similar to Paul’s warning in 1 Corinthians 15:33, “Bad company corrupts good character.” And as Solomon notes that the path of the righteous shines brighter each day, so Paul wrote in Galatians 5 about the Fruit of the Spirit that “against such things there is no law”.
He closes out his plea with the assertion that his readers should guard their heart above all else “for it is the wellspring of life”. He tells us to fix our gaze straight ahead, which is similar to what God told Joshua, “Do not turn from the law to the right or to the left.” To keep it practical, this means, “DO WHAT YOU KNOW IS RIGHT!” If we all did that, wouldn’t we have an awesome and vibrant church?! God, help me to do what I know is right!! (See you tomorrow…)
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ENTRY SIXTY-NINE – MAY 20, 2008
69 –SOLOMON’S PROVERBS Part II, FEAR OF THE LORD
(one day of reading)
This entry covers the topics “FEAR OF THE LORD”, “TRUST IN GOD OR SELF”, “DIVINE PROVIDENCE”, “WISDOM AND FOLLY”, “DEALING WITH FOOLS”, “DISCERNMENT AND UNDERSTANDING”, and “KNOWLEDGE”. KEEP YOUR EYES OPEN FOR A BIBLE TALK ON “HOW TO BE A FOOL”.
Prov 22:17-21 starts us off with a kick in the backside – “Pay attention and listen to the sayings of the wise!” OK, we are ready!!
Now back to Prov 1:1-7, which begins, “The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel – for attaining wisdom and discipline; for understanding words of insight; for acquiring a disciplined and prudent life, doing what is right and just and fair…” I made a note by this passage 19 years ago, telling myself “Karen, this is just what you need!” Well, it is true that I am more disciplined than I was then, but I am convicted that I need to read Proverbs a lot more, and to meditate on and practice these “sayings of the wise” a lot more seriously!! And with all my shortcomings and defects of character, the thing I did “right” was to fear the Lord, because at least that has given me a good “beginning”. Amen!!
“Fear of the Lord”
According to 9:10-12, fear of the Lord brings wisdom, a longer life, righteousness, security, a stable family environment, humility and happiness! Wow! I don’t know many people who wouldn’t love that life!
14:2 tells us that the proof of whether or not we truly fear God is shown by whether we live an upright life or have devious ways.
14:26-27 show us that our fear of God builds a fortress for our kids!
28:14 says that a man who fears the Lord won’t get a hard heart! Amen.
Also see 10:27, 15:33, 19:23.
“Trust in God or self”
Trusting in God takes poverty of spirit, faith and humility; trusting in self just takes arrogance. Prov 3:5-8 is a famous passage about this topic. I noticed that it is painted on the walls of some missionary schools. 14:12 and 16:25 say it another way, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.” How many of us made a “child hood vow” and said, “I will never trust in anyone else again!” Well, childhood vows are made to be broken by adults who have matured in their understanding, amen!!
18:2 enlightens us about the need for self-awareness: “A fool find no pleasure in understanding but delights in airing his own opinions.” Boy, do I have to be careful about this one!! I will try to talk less, I promise!! (My poor husband!)
19:3 is one of my personal favourites: “A man’s own folly ruins his life, yet his heart rages against the Lord.” If this isn’t true about many of us... We had dreams for our lives when we were younger and then when we get older, we haven’t fulfilled some of those dreams. Perhaps others have more money or possessions or prestige, and we feel entitled to the same, or even feel that we are more deserving of those blessings. Perhaps we have been tempted to blame God for our sad state…”If only I hadn’t given so much for the mission contribution” or “if only I hadn’t wasted so much time studying the bible with people who fell away anyway”, etc…..Well, God says here that we are in charge of our lives, we need to read Boundaries and get over it, amen! Stop blaming others, especially God, for what you don’t have and start reading the bible and living the scriptures and focusing on what you DO have! Ok, that is my sermon for the day!
In closing, 26:12 says it well, “Do you see a man wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him!”
Also see 16:3, 16:20, 18:4, 18:10, 20:24, 21:22, 28:26, 29:25.
“Divine providence”
It’s great to trust in God cause He is going to do things His way anyway!!
19:21 conveys the idea perfectly, “Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.” Amen!! Then there is 27:1, which is almost identical to James 4:13-17 about how our life is a mist and we shouldn’t boast about tomorrow!
Also see 15:3, 16:1, 16:4, 16:9, 16:33, 21:30-31, 22:12.
“Wisdom and folly”
This section is about the difference between wisdom and folly and the whole book of Proverbs is trying to get us to see the difference between these two!
14:24 “The wealth of the wise is their crown, but the folly of fools yields folly.” Now it is true that as Christians, we may not necessarily see monetary returns on our wisdom, but we trust that we will see dividends of at least the spiritual kind, and we know for sure that we will see absolutely nothing at all come of foolishness and lack of godliness!
Also see 13:14, 15:24, 16:22, 17:12, 24:7, 24:13-14.
“Dealing with fools”
BIBLE TALK: “HOW TO BE A FOOL”
There are 60 verses in Proverbs that use the words “fool” or “fools”. Back when I was in university, I made up a bible talk called “How To Be A Fool, 101”, as in, a basic campus course on how to be a fool. I opened by asking my fellow students, “If the head of the university felt that you were really talented in a certain area and asked you to teach a class, what course would it be?” One girl was good at scuba diving, so she said, “I would teach Beginners’ Scuba Diving.” One girl loved baking, so she said, “I would teach a class on Baking Pastries”, and so forth. Then I asked, “If our university opened a new class for next semester, and it was called, ‘How to be a Fool, 101’, would you be able to teach it?” And then we read between 5-8 verses on what fools are like, and had lots of discussion, including lots of personal sharing and confession, with the end result hopefully being that we helped the listeners have self-awareness and see their need for God, for the bible and for spiritual help.
I don’t have time to type all 60 verses here, but many of them are quoted elsewhere in the Narrated Bible. However, the ones listed under this section are Prov 26:4-11, 27:22, 29:9. I especially like 10:14, 12:15, 12:16 and 14:8.
Bottom line definition of a fool – someone who doesn’t change even though he/she has been taught, corrected, rebuked, and even disciplined.
“Discernment and understanding”
What is discernment? How do we develop discernment? I see discernment as a quality that helps us to make decisions. We develop it by thinking, considering, praying, discussing and meditating. It doesn’t come without hard work and effort. 14:8 teaches us that “The wisdom of the prudent is to GIVE THOUGHT to their ways, but the folly of fools is deception.” How many times are we are own worst enemy? Who are really deceiving? Ourselves!! A bonus of being discerning is that we not only help ourselves, but we can also help others. 20:5 tells us that a man of understanding can draw out the thoughts of another. Wise people should help others to know themselves. Amen!
Also see 10:13, 10:23, 13:15, 14:6, 14:15, 14:33, 15:21, 16:16, 17:24, 19:8, 20:12.
“Knowledge”
From 13:16 we learn that “Every prudent man acts out of knowledge, but a fool exposes his folly.” Now this is not meant to be a political commentary, but I think it is fair to say that Singapore’s Minister Mentor has exhibited this in his life. I even wrote a note in my bible some time ago saying that whenever he learned that some was bad for his health, like smoking, fatty food, etc, he changed his behaviour. That kind of discipline is admirable!
Also see 10:14, 14:18, 15:14, 18:15, 19:2, 20:15, 21:11, 23:12.
I’ll close out this entry with 24:3-4, “By wisdom a house is built, and through understanding it is established; through knowledge its rooms are filled with rare and beautiful treasures.” What a great visual!! Until we meet again…
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ENTRY SEVENTY – MAY 21, 2008
70 –SOLOMON’S PROVERBS Part III, SHARING AND RESPONDING TO WISDOM
(one day of reading)
This entry covers the topics “ADVICE AND REBUKE”, “THE VALUE OF ADVISORS”, “DISCIPLINE”, “LAW-KEEPING”, & “REPENTANCE”. This entry contains verses which are especially helpful for when I am FINDING IT HARD TO ASK FOR OR OBEY INPUT IN MY LIFE. It also contains a long soap-box speech by me about how we have swung too far to the other extreme because of past hurts and stopped practicing one another Christianity. In addition, I have also included some comments about PARENTING.
Advice and Rebuke
You could say that the theme verse is 9:8-9, “Do not rebuke a mocker or he will hate you; rebuke a wise man and he will love you. Instruct a wise man and he will be wiser still; teach a righteous man and he will add to his learning.” What does this passage say to me?
- If I blow up either inwardly or outwardly when someone gives me input, I am in danger of being what the bible describes as a “mocker”.
- If I consider myself wise, I will love the people who love me enough to tell me the truth, even if there is an “ouch factor” to it.
- If someone gives me input, it should cause me to GROW in my wisdom and add to my learning.
- I am free to choose to be a mocker or a wise man. It is my choice. I cannot blame it on anyone else. If I don’t want to take input, I cannot say that it is because of how they said it or who they are but how I am choosing to take it. Alternatively, I can choose to ignore their sin and use the info for personal growth, eventually even helping them with their short comings.
Now some of you may be thinking, “Of course, I don’t mind input.” That means you are either a fairly young Christian who has never had a bad experience with another Christian being rude or negative, or you are an exceptionally humble individual. Most of us feel that we prefer to hear the feedback in a certain atmosphere or said in a certain way (at least I am like that…). However, the important thing is that we all have blind spots and in order to grow to become like Christ, we need our friends to love us enough to tell us the truth.
After the following verses I share my personal stories:
10:8, 12:15, 13:1, 13:13, 15:31, 17:10, 19:16, 19:20, 19:25, 19:27, 23:9, 25:12, 27:5-6, 27:17, 29:1.
Once while driving somewhere together back in my college days, my cousin suddenly erupted, “Karen, you talk too much!” Well, the truth hurt, but of course she was right. (And the car ride was much quieter for the next 30 minutes!) I didn’t like hearing it, and she didn’t say it at a very “appropriate time” or in a particularly kind manner, probably cause she wasn’t usually very outspoken, but she felt like I needed to hear it and, in hindsight, I was grateful that she said it.
When I went on a mission team at 19, I didn’t understand the customs of New England vs Texas, and after getting my hair done and wearing “Texas-style” make up along with my “big hair”, a native of western Massachusetts whom I had known for less than a year remarked to me that I looked like a hooker! She tried to say it in a kind way, and I know her motives were that she was being protective of my reputation. It still hurt, but it certainly helped me to tone down my fashion sense (or lack thereof).
My first week in London, I made a very insensitive remark (I thought I was cracking a joke) which caused a girl that was on her way to be baptised to be even more nervous (she couldn’t swim and was afraid of water). A more experienced leader pulled me aside and told me off about not thinking before I spoke, and it came just a few weeks after several of the women I had been leading in the states had told me the same thing. These comments really pushed me to learn to hear things as others might hear them.
A friend of mine in London noticed that I was becoming very close to the brothers and that several of them had crushes on me early on. John Louis himself even commented to my discipling partner at the time that he thought I was “a flirt”. Well, I came to hear about that one as well, and John hated it when I repented because I didn’t talk to him anymore, either!
Lastly, in my first year of marriage and leading in Singapore, I was told by three very close friends that I was amazingly arrogant, and they backed it up with several examples gleaned from that very weekend! Gulp, that was hard to hear, and it felt traumatic at the time, but it changed my life! It was truly a “life-giving rebuke”.
I don’t have time to list all of the rebukes and corrections I have received over the years. I would venture to say that perhaps four of them that I can remember were wrong or over the top. I can guarantee that the rest were all spot on and helped me to change to be more Christ-like! I hated some of the challenges, but am so glad that people spoke up to me. Some of the challenges came from people with whom I didn’t agree on certain issues, but they sure had me figured out, and praise God they didn’t hold back. (As a note for those in Singapore, I recently got some feedback from Gary Solomon about my “food issues” and am finding it very helpful.)
I am obviously very opinionated about this issue. And I have to say that in the history of my Christian life, I have received my fair share of challenges from others, but I was also blessed in that I didn’t have any one over-bearing who was making my life miserable. I know that some of you who are reading this may have had such encounters and for that I am truly sorry. Someone came to me several years ago and told me about an insensitive challenge I gave her in a young leaders’ discipleship group and how it caused her grief afterwards. I sincerely apologized (even though I didn’t remember saying it, I could absolutely imagine that I had said it) and the sister forgave me. Several months later she went through a difficult time because of a family tragedy and we were able to grieve together and now I would say that the sister and I are quite close. I am so grateful that she was able to share with me how I had hurt her (even though it had been ten years since the incident) because it removed the wall between us which I hadn’t understood, and it helped me to understand something about leadership and how little comments I make can be taken so seriously (another lesson in sensitivity!) and I am also relieved for her sake that she was able to forgive me, for that is when healing could happen on her side.
If you are having a difficult time letting go of something and are struggling with some long term hurts and legitimate grievances, consider this: I have found that when something has caused me pain over a period of time, it doesn’t seem “fair” to me that a person just gets let off with one apology. I have seen this in my relationship with my husband, who at times has hurt my feelings with his words. Later, when he sees his sin and apologizes, I am tempted to say, “Yeah, but do you get how badly you hurt me?” However, this doesn’t bring peace to my heart. It just makes me bitter. I have learned over the years (or at least, I think I have learned…) to take the apology at face value and trust that the offender means it. I can forgive that person and feel free. Whether or not the other person “gets it” isn’t my business. In fact, God is so powerful, I believe he will show them their fault and, if they are not a mocker, they will see it someday. This is where the serenity prayer is helpful, “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.” Forgiving someone doesn’t mean that you have to act like nothing ever happened. We learn from mistakes – for example, if we have found that someone wasn’t trustworthy in keeping confidences, we can forgive them but we don’t have to confide in them in the future. Please feel free to write to me if you have issues with what I am saying. This is a huge need in the body of Christ all over the world.
Even if we don’t have issues from the past, the challenge for all of us is that as we get older as Christians is to remain approachable. We should not make it harder for people to challenge us, but rather we should be become even more approachable, teachable and humble. That is the mark of true wisdom. (James 3:13-18). Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a Christian writer and pastor who was executed by the Nazis, was a firm believer in practicing one another Christianity. In his book on Christian community called Life Together, he made the following observation: "he who can no longer listen to his brother will soon be no longer listening to God either; he will be doing nothing more than prattle in the presence of God, too." And it won’t hurt for us to adopt as our personal motto that of the public speaking group, Toastmasters: “Feedback is the breakfast of champions.”
The Value of Advisors
For lack of guidance, a nation falls, but many advisers make victory sure.” (11:14) If I can attribute the success experienced in our different undertakings over the years, I would first give credit to God, and to trying to follow biblical truths, secondly give credit to my husband for having a “Pit Bull” tenacity combined with an amazing vision and an ability to communicate that vision to others, but certainly I would also have to give credit to the concept of asking advice and having many advisors. Where would we be if we had just done things on our own? The brainstorming and debating and questioning over the years have been literally invaluable to every step of our journey, and I wouldn’t trade any of it, even the difficult parts.
If you think that getting advice is for wimps, than think again. This doesn’t take the place of prayer and bible study, so I am obviously not advocating that. (If you haven’t been prayerfully reading your bible, you won’t know how to weigh the advice!!) However, I have saved precious time and energy talking things through with others. In the end, I may have done what I felt was right in the first place, but there is security in knowing that I am following ancient wisdom. An old note in my bible says, “Karen, this whole section called “Sharing and responding to Wisdom” is not just talking about how we react to the bible, but how we interact with people.”
Also see 15:22, 20:18, and 24:5-6.
Discipline
A similar topic to what we have already been discussing, being willing to accept discipline, is crucial for Christian growth. Another old note I wrote to myself in my bible says, “Karen, make up your mind to have a teachable spirit and to love challenges.” Well, if only I had stuck to this all my years as a disciple, I would have had fewer spiritually down times. Since the writer of Hebrews tells us that no discipline seems pleasant at the time (Heb 12:11), it is not surprising that we often seek ways to avoid it. The book, The God Players, talks about the “tyranny of feelings” and how we allow our feelings to rule us when actually, the fact that we are made in the image of God is proof that we are not our feelings and that we are free to act based on convictions and/or thoughts rather than feelings and urges. That is why discipline is so important. When we can train ourselves to delay gratification and discipline ourselves to do the hard things first, as my husband often says, we will get so much more accomplished in life and will enjoy the real and allowed pleasures that God blesses us with. I wish I had understood this more as a young person. I have been fighting against discipline my whole life, and it has brought me nothing but misery. (I don’t mean my life has been miserable at all; just that in the areas where I am still dogged by Satan, they are mostly related to lack of discipline/selfcontrol.)
Prov 3:11-12 is quoted by the Hebrew writer, and 10:17 is downright scary to me, since I supposedly am living to help others: “He who heeds discipline shows the way to life but whoever ignores correction leads others astray.” I know that I have helped many people, and that I have been disciplined in some areas. But I also know that as I get older as a Christian and a leader, I must constantly improve in areas of discipline or eventually people will not be able to look to me for leadership! 12:1 is as simple and blunt as you can get, “Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates correction is stupid.” Well, there you have it. You can’t argue with that one!
This (13:24) applies to disciplining children as well: “He who spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is careful to discipline him.” And then there is 19:18, “Discipline your son, for in that there is hope; do not be a willing party to his death.” There are many others but I can’t resist the end of 29:15 - “a child left to himself disgraces his mother”.
Also see 13:18, 15:5, 15:10, 15:12, 20:30, 22:6, 22:15, 23:13-14, 29:17, 29:19, 29:21.
These verses are meant to help us have the conviction to crave discipline ourselves, but if we are parents, we need to take them even more seriously because we do our children a big disservice if we do not give them boundaries and discipline them. For those of you in Singapore, remember Gary Solomon’s CPR = Consistency, Predictability, Reliability? After he came, John and I prepared a slide show about “Boundaries with Kids” and did it at a special Sunday morning parenting service. That was fun! To close this section, I’m quoting 15:32, “He who ignores discipline despises himself, but whoever heeds correction gains understanding.”
Lawkeeping
The note I have in my bible says, “Karen, don’t be a hypocrite and think that you are above the law.” Well, that is true. And the law that I see at work the most is the one Drs Cloud and Townsend call THE LAW OF SOWING AND REAPING. They reckon it is a natural law that is as sure as the laws of physics. 28: 9 is an appropriate verse to focus on: “If anyone turns a deaf ear to the law, even his prayers are detestable.” We need to do what we know is right. I am trying to focus on being righteous in my eating. In twelve step groups, it is known as being abstinent. I am abstaining from eating compulsively. This is a way that I can love discipline and keep God’s laws for me. Other people need to focus on other issues, since most people probably aren’t struggling with food problems. Maybe for you it is gossip and slander, or constant negative thoughts, or lust, or greed or rampant selfishness. Perhaps you struggle with keeping the laws of the land, like copyright laws. Whatever your struggle, go to the word of God for help and pray that you can keep the law. As Christians we are not saved because we keep the law; we are saved by the blood of Christ. However, if we are saved, we want to obey his commands. Let’s be known as a church that strives to know and hold to his word. The reward is freedom! “To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, ‘If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.’” (John 8:31-32).
Also see 28:4, 28:7, 29:18.
Repentance
The proof of repentance is seen in these two verses: Prov 14:9 “Fools mock at making amends for sin, but good will is found among the upright.” Prov 28:13 “He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.” I have mentioned twelve step groups often. These groups are bound together not by a religious doctrine but by a desire to overcome their addictions in a spiritual way. If anyone wants to practice the so-called “Twelve Steps”, they have to live by the two verses above, because Steps 4 and 5 are about making a sin list and confessing it to yourself, to God and to another person. Steps 8 and 9 are about figuring out who you have hurt and/or sinned against and going to them and making amends. Step 10 is about ongoing daily personal inventory and confession. Step 11 is about getting to know God better through prayer and meditation, and the last step is about sharing these things with other sufferers. Now if millions of people can decide to live repentant lives because of their desire to leave behind an addiction, doesn’t it make sense that those of us who have the bible and know about what Jesus did for us, not to mention that we have tasted true repentance in the beginning of our Christian life, should be able to practice these same steps and live humble lives of confession and constant repentance? God, help me to practice what I preach. (next entry tomorrow)
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ENTRY SEVENTY-ONE – MAY 22, 2008
71 –SOLOMON’S PROVERBS Part IV, GOOD AND EVIL
(one day of reading)
Well, Solomon did manage to learn some lessons from his father, David. These proverbs resonate with the same wisdom his father’s writings contained on the topics of “RIGHTEOUSNESS AND WICKEDNESS”, “INTEGRITY AND PERVERSION”, and “APPROPRIATE CONSEQUENCES”. This entry also contains another BIBLE TALK.
Righteousness and Wickedness
Proverbs 10 and 11 are full of verses on this topic. Over and over, Solomon uses imagery and poetry to make his point – what goes around comes around. If you live a righteous life, you will be blessed. If you don’t, then in the long run, you will be ruined. (See Cloud and Townsend’s Boundaries series for more on the Law of Sowing and Reaping.)
******************************BIBLE TALK**************************** I have used 10:6-7, 10:16, 10:28-30 and 11:5-6 as a BIBLE TALK. Aren’t the things described here the kind of things people dream of? Blessings, having a good name, a full life, a place of refuge and serenity, never being uprooted, having a clear direction for your life, getting delivered or saved from difficulties, eternal life…these are all promised to the righteous. You could start your bible talk off by asking everyone to name one thing that worries them about their future, or, on a more positive note, one thing they wish they could have for the future. Then you could ask someone to read these verses. Then go through each one so that people see the above insights (blessings, etc). Ask what their definitions of righteousness and wickedness are. Process as a group how one can go about leading a life of righteousness, with special focus on following the bible and studying with someone. Have someone share about the times of refreshing which come with true repentance. Just an idea….
11:5-10 is another nice grouping of verses on the subject. 11:18-20 contains a great verse on the reward of the righteous. 11:23 also hits on this theme.
From chapter 12, see verses 2-3, 5-8, 12, 21, and 28. From chapter 13, see verses 9, 21, and 25. From chapter 14, see verses 11, 19 and 34. Other verses are 15:6 and 9, 20:7, 21:18, 24:15-16, 28:12 and 28, and you can finish up with 29:2, 16, and 27. Whew! That should get us all fired up to strive to live to please the Lord!
Integrity and Perversion
Honesty and a pure heart – that is what God is looking for! This covers the concepts of deceit, evil thoughts, malice, etc. (Specific teaching on honesty and lying are contained in future entries.) Do we take short cuts? If someone followed us around for a day, videoing our whole life (ala Reality Show style), would they see people who walk in uprightness or who justify things to suit ourselves? The concept of integrity nullifies “the ends justify the means” rationale. Look closely at some of these verses:
10:9 The man of integrity walks securely, but he who takes crooked paths will be found out.
15:26 The Lord DETESTS the thoughts of the wicked, but those of the pure are pleasing to him.
28:18 He whose walk is blameless is kept safe, but he whose ways are perverse will suddenly fall. Also see 13:6, 21:8, and 24:8-9. This has to do with how truthful and transparent we are in our job, in our relationships, etc. When I was in my university days, I learned a hard lesson – I am a deceitful person. I saw at that time that I loved to deceive myself and I deceived others about myself in order to look good. I didn’t like this lesson and I didn’t completely crucify it til after I read a book about Gandhi in which he was said to have gone six years between telling a lie. I was so convicted. I still have never been able to go a whole year without telling some sort of “untruth” - at least something I might justify by calling it “white lie” or something so small. However, the older I get, the more I have seen that whenever I have done it, I always am “found out” and always experience a “sudden fall”, just as the verses above predict. Even reading it today makes me want to take my integrity to a new level!
By the way, while these verses are true for every Christian and for every leader, these verses are especially applicable to those of us who are paid in the full time ministry, because people are giving us their trust to be men and women of integrity. All the more reason we should be transparent, honest, humble and open about our selves! (Notice I didn’t say “perfect” or “sinless” because that is impossible!)
I will close this section with a verse by which I have a note from 1987 that reads, “Socrates, Thomas More, Gandhi, Jesus, the prophets, the apostles, etc…”
29:10 “Bloodthirsty men hate a man of integrity and seek to kill the upright.” Hopefully our integrity won’t lead to such an end, but if it does, we will God willing meet it with the dignity and forgiveness of our Lord and Saviour.
Appropriate Consequences
More writings on reaping what you sow!!!
As I mentioned earlier, the Boundaries series of books by Drs Cloud and Townsend deal at length with the idea of sowing and reaping. (As an aside, I had a part time job at a clothing store when I was in university. My boss wasn’t particularly religious, but she had a funny habit of misquoting verses that she half remembered from her old Sunday school days. When someone who had made her angry had something bad happen later, she would shake her head knowingly and sigh, “Well, you sow what you reap!”)
Two of my favourite verses from this section are 10:24-25:
“What the wicked dreads will overtake him; what the righteous desire will be granted. When the storm has swept by, the wicked are gone, but the righteous stand firm forever.”
The first part of v24 above reminds me of 28:1a: “the wicked man flees though no one pursues.” The idea is that when we are wicked, we have many insecurities and fears; for instance, we worry about getting caught, we worry about someone we have harmed seeking revenge, and we project our sin onto others and think that everyone thinks the way we do, so we are constantly suspecting others of treating us the way we would treat them (kind of an upside down Golden Rule). When we have evil thoughts toward others, we think that others are constantly having evil thoughts about us. When we gossip and slander others, and we see people talking privately, we assume that they are talking about us. When we are constantly plotting on how to get ahead of others, even at their expense, we assume that others are doing that as well, which helps us to justify ourselves. When we tell lies to cover our tracks, we stop trusting others because we assume they are also doing the same. And the list goes on…Since God says that it is his to avenge, we have to assume that He works things out in such a way that whatever the wicked dread does eventually overtake them. Perhaps a beautiful woman dreads loneliness. She has scraped and clawed her whole life for attention so that she isn’t lonely, but has not built her relationships on solid rock. She may even have doted on a son who can’t stand her constant nagging and interference and demands for attention. Sadly, at the end of her life, she dies alone, the very thing she most dreaded. Perhaps a boy is born into poverty, or sees his father become a bankrupt, and makes a childhood vow that he will never be poor. He successfully amasses a fortune without a care of who he hurts along the way, but becomes a slave to mammon instead and ends up spiritually bankrupt with a family that doesn’t feel emotionally close to him. These are but two examples which are played out in real life over and over again. As Jehovah proclaims in Isaiah 55:11, “my word that goes out from my mouth…will not return to me empty.” Or, as Mama Louis might say, “Don’t play the fool!”
The second part of v24 might cause problems for some since it reads, “what the righteous desire will be granted.” Some might argue and say, “That is not true. I have gone to church my whole life and have never hurt anyone else, but I have uttered many prayers that God didn’t answer.” Remember Psalm 37:4, which says, “Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.”??? The way I look at these verses is like this: If you are striving to be righteous and delighting yourself in the Lord, you will want the things that God wants. Your desire will be for things that are noble and with which God would not argue. You will be thinking of people’s salvation, people becoming like Christ, etc. You will realize that getting a raise or promotion at work, graduating with a certain degree or getting just the right boy/girl friend are not nearly as important in the long run as spiritual concepts. Not to say that these things are totally unimportant, nor that God doesn’t care about them at all, because he does. But God will sometimes withhold certain “blessings” if he thinks they are going to hurt us spiritually. (If you like the music of Keith Green, listen to the words of “To Obey is Better than Sacrifice”, one of his classic gospel songs from the late 70s.) Of course, he also allows them sometimes when we are insistent, and we suffer the consequences. How grateful we should be for a Father who cares enough to sometimes say, “NO”. And as parents, we should take note and make sure we say “NO” a lot as well! Our kids will thank us for it one day. Read John Rosemond’s outstanding book on raising teenagers called TEENPROOFING for more on this idea.
The idea of verse 25 is similar to the time worn truth which Jesus repeats in the Sermon on the Mount in 7:24-27 about building our house on sand or on the rock. There is no question of whether we will have storms in life. The only question is where will we be when the storm has swept by. What a reassuring passage for those of us who are trying to build our lives on the rock!
If you are struggling the way Asaph did in Ps 73 with how the wicked are prospering in an unfettered way, you will appreciate Prov 11:21 -> “Be sure of this: The wicked will not go unpunished, but those who are righteous will go free.” Think free ala John 8:32, as in, “the truth will set you free.”
For those of us who have a tendency to be optimistic, I love 11:27, “He who seeks good finds good will, but evil comes to him who searches for it.” I always smile when I read that verse.
A verse that hints of the wisdom and goodness of evangelism is 11:30, “The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins souls is wise.”
16:7 is a compelling scripture: “When a man’s ways are pleasing to the Lord, he makes even his enemies live at peace with him.” Wow – this calls us to a high standard. And yet we have seen this true in history. Although Jesus was hated by the Pharisees, there were many who wanted to follow him. The centurion seemed to regret crucifying Jesus, and Pilate obviously wasn’t happy about it. Herod had been strangely attracted to John the Baptist, even though the prophet openly spoke against the ruler’s sin. Even one of the Roman Emperors who disliked Christianity said of the early church, “See how they love one another.” And we are admonished as Christians to “live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.” (1 Peter 2:12). The only way we can hope to live such a life is to imitate Jesus’ love for us and truly love others as we love ourselves, seeking the “highest good” of even our enemies.
Also see 3:33-35, 10:3, 10:22, 11:31, 14:14, 14:22, 17:13, 18:3, 19:29, 21:12, 21:16, 22:8, 26:1, 26:3, and 26:27 for more verses on this topic.
I will close out this entry with the encouraging words of 21:21, “He who pursues righteousness and love finds life, prosperity and honour.” See ya tomorrow…
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ENTRY SEVENTY-TWO – MAY 23, 2008
72 –SOLOMON’S PROVERBS Part V, SINCERE MOTIVATION and CONCERN FOR OTHERS
(one day of reading)
The topics here include “MOTIVES AND THE HEART” AND “DUPLICITY”, as well as “FALSE WORSHIP”, “LOVE AND FAITHFULNESS”, “LOVE, HATRED & COMPASSION”, “KINDNESS AND MERCY”, and a humourous passage on “OVERSTAYING ONE’S WELCOME”.
“The hearts of men lie open before the Lord”, proclaims 15:11. We learned in Psalm 139 that there is no hiding from God. He knows our hearts, our thoughts, our desires and our deepest motives. 16:2 is very blunt, “All a man’s ways seem innocent to him, but motives are weighed by the Lord.” Wow! This is a scary verse. If this verse doesn’t scare you, you better read it again. Even the apostle Paul didn’t dare to trust his own clear conscience (see 1 Cor 4:3-4). I often overestimate my own goodness. But with prayer, lots of bible reading, asking for input from those who know us best, and an open heart, God will expose our motives to us. I began daily praying the Psalm 139:24 prayer, “Search me O God and know my heart…and point out anything in me that offends you…” in July 2000. One year later God exposed my self-righteousness toward my husband and we experienced a huge breakthrough in our marriage. We know from Psalm 119:105 that the word of God is a lamp that lights our path. Prov 20:27 tells us that “The lamp of the Lord searches the spirit of a man; it searches out his inmost being.” Bottom line, God already knows our hearts and will judge us eventually (Hebrews 4:12-13), so we might as well ask him to help us see our true selves now!!
For more reading on how self-disclosure (to trustworthy individuals) plus soliciting feedback can lead to better understanding our motives, go to Google and type in “Johari window”. The Wikipedia entry presents a basic look, while a New Age website called “noogenesis” explains more fully the communication and self-awareness tool developed by two psychologists named Joseph and Harry. I found the businessballs.com website link particularly helpful – try this one if you are looking for a thorough explanation:
http://www.businessballs.com/johariwindowmodel.htm
After you read about the “Johari window”, print it and take it to your small group. You never know what you might learn!!
Also see 17:3, 20:11, 21:2 and 27:19.
False worship
“The sacrifice of the wicked is detestable – how much more so when brought with evil intent!” 21:27. The Old Testament prophets preached so much about false religion that I won’t go into it much here. The false worship referred to here by Solomon has to do with false motives during worship, rather than worshiping false gods. I couldn’t help but think of Jesus’ diatribe against lip service recorded in Mark 7 and Matt 15, which is actually a quote from Isaiah. Also see Prov 15:8, 15:29 and 21:3.
Duplicity
The bible warns against being double-minded in several passages, the most familiar being in 1 Kings 18:21 and James 4:8. However, the duplicity mentioned here is more about being wary of people who say one thing and mean another. The theme passage could be 26:23, “Like a coating of glaze over earthenware (pottery) are fervent lips with an evil heart.” Other proverbs warning of the dangers of flattery will appear at a later time. We would all do well to heed the above verse, however. Some of us may need to check our motives when we speak to others to ensure that we are not purposely misleading them. Others of us need to keep our eyes and ears open and not be so naïve, remembering Jesus’ caution to be wise as serpents.
Other verses on this topic- 6:12-15, 10:10-11, 11:3, 16:30, 20:14, 23:6-8, and 26:24-26.
Love and faithfulness
Imagine making this passage your family mission statement:
“Let love and faithfulness never leave you;
bind them around your neck,
write them on the tablet of your heart.” (Prov 3:3)
We all appreciate people who love us and are faithful and loyal to us. We sometimes have a problem when we need to be that way for others, because it takes sacrifice and self-denial. How beautiful and yet rare are these traits. As 20:6 says, “Many a man CLAIMS to have unfailing love, but a faithful man who can find?” (emphasis mine). Cynthia Qwek, my old friend, told me that one of the most convicting lessons she ever heard contained the line, “If you are worried that people are loving to you, have you ever thought that instead of worrying about them loving you more, you should worry about you becoming more lovable?” That doesn’t exactly fit here, but it is a good line
Other passages: 3:4, 16:6, 25:19.
Love, hatred and compassion
“Hatred stirs up dissension, but love covers over all wrongs.” (10:12). How sad when we see perfectly good friends in the church or family members separated by hatred. God must weep. If, however, we fill our hearts with love, we will be able to forgive and reconcile. (Remember that forgiving doesn’t mean that you have to forget that the person was untrustworthy – you may not want to trust them with the same level of friendship again, but you can still forgive and move on in a reconciled relationship. Here is an extreme example: if a person who was a so-called friend molests your child while they are babysitting for you, you should forgive him – after you have called the police - but you don’t have to hang out with that person anymore and you certainly don’t need to ever ask him to baby sit again! A less extreme example: if a person you considered close blabs your secrets to others, you can forgive her, but you might not tell her the same kind of intimate details that you would have told her before until she has proven herself loyal, if she ever is able to do that.)
And in our materialistic society where people love flashing their credit cards and being seen at trendy places, it is good to remember 15:17, “Better a meal of vegetables where there is love than a fattened calf with hatred.” Stress during dinner even hinders digestion!
24:17-18 is a foretaste of Jesus’ command to love our enemies and do good to those who curse us. This is truly difficult and is a real matter of the heart – to NOT GLOAT when bad things happen to our enemies. Oh, this is difficult!! God, please help me in this area. I find this hard. Help me O Lord.
Other verses: 17:5, 25:21-22.
Kindness and mercy
We know from the New Testament that KINDNESS is part of the fruit of the spirit (Gal 5:22), that we are to clothe ourselves in KINDNESS (Col 3:12) and that Love is KIND (1 Cor 13:4). From Solomon, we learn specifically that a kind hearted woman gains respect (as opposed to being thought of as weak), a kind man benefits himself and a kind word cheers others up. See 11:16-17, 12:10, 12:25, 21:10.
Kindness is under rated as a virtue because it takes thoughtfulness and self-denial. It is even taken for granted by the powerful because they come to expect it. They only notice it when it is missing. However, it is always appreciated by the weak, because they know that any kindness shown to them is sincere. Make it your hallmark, and you will not go unnoticed in life. Sharon Peck, a new-age style marriage guru, reckons that if couples could just remember to practice the traits of Kindness and Honesty, most marriages would turn around dramatically!
Overstaying your welcome (or “How to Survive your Roommates”)
I have always cracked up laughing at these verses: 25:17 “Seldom set foot in your neighbour’s house – too much of you, and he will hate you.” and 27:14 “If a man loudly blesses his neighbour early in the morning, it will be taken as a curse.”
I had two roommates over the years who were definitely NOT morning people. Being the loud mouth that I am, I can talk as soon as I get out of bed. However, not everyone enjoys that.
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ENTRY SEVENTY-THREE – MAY 24, 2008
73 –SOLOMON’S PROVERBS Part V, “OVER-CONCERN” FOR SELF AND “UNDER-CONTROL” OF SELF
(one day of reading)
Watch out for lots of lessons on the evils of ARROGANCE and SELF-INDULGENCE –ouch! There are great verses on ANGER, and many thoughts for LEADERS AND PARENTS.
Pride and humility
In my bible, I have written several notes to myself over the years next to this heading: “Karen, be humble please; you are nothing.” “This is where all pride begins.” and “If you don’t get scared of pride after reading these verses, you have a hard heart!”cYou can probably guess that Proverbs is full of verses on pride and humility so there is no way I can refer to all of them. I will pick out my favourites to discuss!
16:5 and 18 are killers: “The Lord detests all the proud of heart. Be sure of this: They will not go unpunished.” and “Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall.” Ooh baby! Have you ever noticed that there are some people before whom it is much harder to be humble? Maybe it is just me, but there are some people that I don’t mind being humble with, while there are others…OOHHH it is painful! I once had to stop off at a friend’s home in Los Angeles on my way to another destination where I would be meeting one of those “difficult” folks, just to prepare myself to be humble. I stayed for a night in the home of Al and Gloria Baird, very loving and dear friends and two of many long distance mentors to John and myself. Gloria was a lifesaver, and quoted her usual mantra, “Well, Ephesians 4 says that we have to be COMPLETELY HUMBLE, not just partially humble.” I needed that time with her and our prayer together. And God answered my prayers and helped me to be humble all week during my difficult time. Amen. But it wasn’t easy. And I sure couldn’t have done it without God, the bible and a friend. Of course, the alternative was that my relationship with the other person would have been ruined instead of repaired and I would have been detested eventually by God, so praise God for his wisdom!
A sin that springs from pride is boasting. The more one boasts, the more pride is exposed. (Of course, one can have a prideful heart and just be too shrewd to boast! But there are other verses for that!!) Anyway, we know that love doesn’t boast (1 Cor 13:4) and Solomon tells us that our hearts are tested by the praise we receive 27:21. A more modern way to say that would be “don’t believe your own press releases!” I have heard it said of one rather boastful disciple, “He’s a legend in his own mind.” (Don’t worry; it is not someone you know!) 27:2 begs us to let others praise us but to not let it come from our own mouth, while 27:27 warns us that it is dishonourable to seek our own honour. The truth is, you will not really know whether or not you boast, (or whether or not you are proud, for that matter) because it is a sin that is hidden from our own understanding. When I say something boastful, my dear husband lets me know right away! (Well, actually in the privacy of our home, thank goodness.) I have had to apologize for boasting on more than one occasion, I am sad to say. But that’s where me and my big mouth get me. As I am always attempting to put my pride to death, I will share more examples later.
Other verses on pride and humility in Proverbs are: 11:2, 12:9, 13:7, 13:10, 15:25, 16:5, 16:19, 18:12, 19:10, 20:9, 21:4, 21:24, 22:4, and 29:23.
Selfishness
Prov 18:1 “An unfriendly man pursues selfish ends; he defies all sound judgment.” Ever notice that the people we like to be around are not the selfish ones??????
Jealousy
Prov 27:4 “Anger is cruel and fury overwhelming, but who can stand before jealousy?”
Perhaps this is where Shakespeare got his quote, “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned”???
Envy
Prov 14:30 “A heart at peace gives life to the body, but ENVY ROTS THE BONES.”
What/who do you envy? The Ten Commandments warned us not to envy. (Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s…..) In high school, I envied the Brittany Spears-like body of a fellow cheerleader, for a while at least. I couldn’t see my own attractiveness next to her steamy sexiness (and didn’t we all want to be sexy when we were 16?) I tried to walk and dress like her (sad but true). That wasn’t a very peace-filled year in my life. Fortunately I eventually learned to just be myself. Do you envy someone’s job? Looks? Grades? Degree? Status in life? Salary? Car? Apartment? Spiritual standing? The list is endless. Check your heart, confess your sin to another person (but probably not to the person you are envying…) and pray for repentance!
Greed
Pride, jealousy, envy and greed are all related. They are all sins that begin with looking at and caring for yourself more than others. Prov 28:25 tells us that a greedy man stirs up dissension. This is true even for non material things, such as greed for power. Beware of such, for it is poison in the body of Christ. Rejoice when others in the body have more than you and be glad for them, not filled with greed and envy. Let’s have a church where we truly love one another.
Self-control in general
There are many different ways that we can lack self-control. As with the topic of Kindness from the last entry, Self-control is also part of the fruit of the spirit (Gal 5:23). We are supposed to add self-control to our list of Christian attributes if we are growing and grateful disciples (2 Pet 1:5-9). And we are admonished to be alert and self-controlled, since Satan, our TRUE enemy, is roaming around like a roaring lion ready to devour us if we are not paying attention (1 Pet 5:8). The demon of self-indulgence works hard to get our eyes, hearts, minds and body engrossed in the indulgence – be it food, drink, sleep, over-spending, fits of rage, laziness, sexually motivated thoughts or actions or whatever – and the so-called pleasure we are deriving from it that we forget what are supposedly the more important issues in life. Solomon himself wrote the following:
Prov 25:28 “Like a city whose walls are broken down is a man who lacks self-control.”
29:11 “A fool gives full vent to his anger but a wise man keeps himself under control.”
We have surely seen pictures of or movies about ancient cities whose walls broke down when those cities were under siege. That is what happened in the old days – rulers would spend time, effort, money and man-power to build fortresses around their cities. But if just one part of the wall was knocked down during a siege, the enemy could come in and capture the city. When we give in to our self-indulgence, and do not rely on God to help us be self-controlled, we are just like the city under siege, and eventually the enemy breaks down our walls and takes over. I have shared before about a low point in my life in ’92. What got me there was a combination of factors, the biggest being lack of self-control. My walls were down and when the enemy attacked, I was spiritually and emotionally defenceless. Please take my word for it. If I have any regrets in my life, it is that I didn’t become a self-controlled person early on. And now it is a daily battle instead of being a part of my character.
A note I have in my bible next to the verse about the walled city is that it could apply to a country as well… “Look at America these days and how it is breaking down – so much of it is because of lack of self-control.”
Rashness
And next to these verses, I have written, ‘Let your “yes” be “yes” and your “no” be “no”. Keep your mouth shut!’ Rashness, along with the next few topics, is an example of a kind of lack of self-control. Prov 20:25 tells us that it is a trap for a man to dedicate something rashly and only later consider his vows. 29:20 warns against hasty behaviour and how hopeless and foolish it is. 21:5 and 25:8 also discuss this topic. Rashness shows up in speech, in actions, and in decision-making, and is never profitable.
Temper and patience
As is the case with self-control, patience is also part of the fruit of the spirit (Gal 5:22-23) and one of those qualities we are to clothe ourselves with (Col 3:12-13). We know that love is patient (1 Cor 13:4). I have heard that the reason God put it as the first quality of love on the list is that He has so much practice with us!! There are many verses on this topic, and I will look at a few of them. They apply to all Christians. However, for those of us who are leaders, they may apply to us even more, so all the more reason to pay attention to these passages. (Please read them all since there is more wisdom in God’s words than mine!!)
12:16 “A fool shows his annoyance at once, but a prudent man overlooks an insult.” This is to me a great verse about how we shouldn’t react to things that people say and that we shouldn’t take things personally. This doubly applies to PARENTS. One of my children loves to say things to get a reaction (teenagers!), and I have fallen into the “fool trap” more than once of showing my annoyance as soon as the outrageous remark was uttered. As I have hopefully become more prudent, I usually manage to control myself (not always, sadly) and ask, “Really?”, letting my offspring go on and on, giving the child enough rope to hang him/herself, as the saying goes. This enables me to later reply, “Well, dear, I guess you know that if you think that is true, that means ….” or something like that. Then the wayward youth sees the error of his/her ways, and we laugh and change the subject. Occasionally I will at a later time remind my wonderful teenager of James 3 and the need to learn to control one’s tongue!
By saying all this I don’t mean that we should allow people to insult us all over the place or be rude to us without consequence. But the consequence might just need to be that we don’t spend so much time with them, or that we take them off our “inner circle list” or that we stop hanging out with them altogether, rather than us racking our brains to try and fire off a suitable comeback, or blowing up in anger, thus giving them another reason to humiliate us – “Oh touchy, touchy; can’t take a joke, eh?”
For LEADERS, this verse is helpful because sometimes the people we are trying to help are the very ones who say hurtful things to us. We can feel unappreciated or “disrespected” and start reacting or giving them the “cold shoulder”. This is not helpful. If you feel this way about someone in a small group that you are leading, ask for help immediately in knowing how to deal with this so that you are able to love everyone in your group. (In Singapore, for the most part, everyone joins whichever small group they want, so it is unusual to find this happening these days, but of course, human nature being what it is, we all make mistakes!)
Prov 14:29 offers more advice to LEADERS. “A patient man has great understanding but a quick-tempered man displays his folly.” This reminds me of another verse, 18:13, which asserts, “He who answers before listening – that is his folly and his shame.” While these verses apply to all people, especially those who are trying to imitate God and trying to be wise, they are especially pertinent for those of us LEADING others. If we will just hold our tongues and listen, we will be able to grow in our wisdom and help others better. If, on the other hand, we do NOT show understanding but quickly make judgments and lose our temper, our leadership ends up being “counterproductive”, i.e., we end up doing more harm than good because the person we are supposedly trying to help feels unloved and unheard at the end of the day! As you might imagine, this applies to PARENTING as well. (Isn’t it interesting that the verses which are helpful for LEADERS are also helpful for PARENTS? It makes sense – whether we like the idea or not, we are LEADING OUR CHILDREN, so all PARENTS are LEADERS!
15:18 Jesus would later say, “Blessed are the peacemakers.” Are you the one who starts quarrels or do you help to resolve them?
19:11 This goes against the grain of the temperament which fights for one’s rights! Another line from the Sermon on the Mount – “Blessed are the meek”…we don’t always have to pursue justice!
22:24-25, 29:22 Bottom line, hot tempered folks commit many sins! And we are warned to not even hang out with people who struggle with their fits of rage. So let’s be serious about dealing with this. While taking our Masters in Counselling, we learned how to help others with “Anger Management”. Even though there was a comedy film with the same name, it is no laughing matter. Get conviction from these verses (also see 14:16-17, 16:32, 19:19, 29:8, 29:11) if this is your weakness and you (and your family members, colleagues, employees, etc) will be glad you did.
9) Drunkenness and gluttony Paul gives us some clear direction on these sins in the New Testament: In Galatians 5:1921, he puts drunkenness and debauchery in the list of obvious sins that will keep us out of the kingdom, and in Ephesians 5:18, he tells us to not get drunk on wine. The passage in 1 Corinthians 6:12-13, is probably his most direct, and it is quite a strong statement,
“‘Everything is permissible for me’ – but not everything is beneficial. ‘Everything is permissible for me’ – but I will not be mastered by anything. ‘Food for the stomach and the stomach for food’ – but God will destroy them both. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.” We are to be self-controlled in the areas of fleshly desire – whether it is the pleasure of the taste of delicious food, the high of a good bottle of wine, or the ecstasy of sexual encounters. God doesn’t say they are wrong; if fact, he invented them! Some religions and religious groups have struggled so much to get rid of these temptations that they reject the pleasures all together. However, in Colossians 2:16-23, Paul goes on at length to say that imposing rules like “do not handle, do not taste, do not touch” have an appearance of wisdom but “lack power in restraining sensual indulgence.”
Let’s see what Solomon, who became quite an expert on pleasure seeking, has to say on the subject!
20:1 tells us that wine & beer cause fights and whoever is led astray by them is not wise.
21:17 says that if we LOVE pleasure, specifically wine and rich food, (as opposed to occasionally enjoying things created to bring pleasure), we will become poor.
31:4 says that kings shouldn’t crave wine or beer. And practically the whole of chapter 23 warns us against getting drunk or eating too much! If you have read my other entries, you know that this is something very near to my heart. I have been a compulsive overeater since I was in primary school. Through the years, with the help of God and his word, my friends, and 12 step programs, I have had more victory than defeat at the hands of this enemy. However, in recent years, it has been harder and harder to overcome my temptation, and my biggest regret in life is not learning self-control in this area earlier on in my Christian walk. I am glad to have the opportunity to re-look at these verses because they are exactly what I need!
For LEADERS, let us also be convicted by Jesus’ scathing rebuke of the religious leaders of his day, found in Matthew 23, especially v25, “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.” May God rescue me from becoming like this. (More tomorrow…)
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ENTRY SEVENTY-FOUR – MAY 25, 2008
74 –SOLOMON’S PROVERBS Part VII, ADULTERY and IMMORALITY
(one day of reading)
Prov 5:1-23 along with 6:20-35 and 7:1-27 are great chapters about ADULTERY and can be applied to ALL KINDS OF IMMORALITY. It is hard to picture a man with 1000 wives and concubines worrying about adultery, especially considering that he was a child of a relationship which began in adultery, but nevertheless, his words are inspired of God and are true. (And sometimes we may have extra conviction about a sin we have committed ourselves because we have suffered from the consequences!) At one point in my Christian journey, I rewrote chapter 7 as a letter to myself about loving illicit eating. It worked really well, and probably would with ANY ADDICTION-TYPE SIN. For now, let’s go through chapters 5-7. Also look out for more PARENTING advice…
Chapter 5 begins with a father warning his son against certain types of women – the adulteress/prostitute who is trying to cause foolish men to slip. (Seen in the context of the impact of feminism and the 21st C, it could seem a little mean – blaming adultery on women! However, when you read the whole passage, you see that the men are the ones actually getting rebuked. And remember, once Jesus came, he didn’t allow his contemporaries to blame women. When the religious leaders brought only the woman caught in adultery rather than both the man and the woman, Jesus’ attitude put them all to shame. See John 8:1-11).
Anyway, there is something very healthy and correct in a FATHER speaking to his SON about such things. Nowadays, do fathers take the time to speak to their children, particularly their sons, about future relations with the opposite sex? This is crucial in order to instil Christian beliefs and values, especially as we fight against a tidal wave of influence from the world. Television, movies, music and pop culture in general introduce children to sexual themes way before they are ready, and it is proven in research that early encounters with sex/sexual themes lead to earlier sexual activity. As parents, we are tempted to put our heads in the sand because we feel bombarded on every side, but our children need us to fight for their purity and innocence. Please be involved with your children’s media choices and, in the context of this article, FATHERS, please talk to your sons about sex, what kind of women to date, what they should look for in a future spouse, how to treat women in general and how to fight off the sexual temptation that will come from all sides. (A few weeks ago, I found out that the kids in my son’s sixth grade class were asking each other out on dates! They fell for the media’s lies that in order to feel cool and accepted they need to go on dates – and they are only 11 years old!) By the way, here is a book tip: Every Young Man's Battle: Strategies for Victory in the Real World of Sexual Temptation by Stephen Arterburn and Fred Stoeker and Every Young Woman's Battle: Guarding Your Mind, Heart, and Body in a Sex-Saturated World by Shannon Ethridge, Stephen Arterburn, and Josh McDowell are two books that can help parents of pre-teens prepare for these talks.
Back to the Scriptures…
The description of the adulteress is a description of the enticement of all kinds of sin, especially anything having to do with our senses. It tempts us as if it were the most amazing thing on earth, but in the end it is like bitter gall, leading only to death. The father warns his son that if he gives his best years of his life to sin, he will end up ruined. My favourite part is v12-14, “You will say, ‘How I hated discipline! How my heart spurned correction! I would not obey my teachers or listen to my instructors. I have come to the brink of utter ruin in the midst of the whole assembly.’” How sad if these words are on our lips at the close of our lives.
The father continues and admonishes his sons using graphic imagery – don’t let your springs overflow in the public squares!!
The he talks about the correct way to live with your wife. This is a great description of what CHRISTIAN MARRIAGE should be: you get married when young, (they all did in those days), and you have a satisfying sexual relationship with your one spouse. After all, God sees everything, and you will be considered wicked if you have affairs. Bottom line message – we die from lack of self-control!!
Jump over to Proverbs 6:20-35 for additional warnings and more great imagery. Again, Solomon entreats his son to obey his commands (or perhaps it is written in general to all sons, that they obey their father’s commands). How carefully should we obey them? Wear them like a chain around your neck! Have them right in front of you; be aware of them at all times. Let them guide you when you walk. I often hear my mother’s warnings to me, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” “the road to hell is paved with good intentions”, “a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush”, and so forth. Her favourite was, “If you can’t say anything good than don’t say anything at all.” This passage, of course, is dealing specifically with the warnings that a father should give his sons about the dangers of illicit sexual activity. One thing that makes sense – don’t even let yourself lust after “that other woman”. Once we allow ourselves the luxury of lusting, we then can slip into all sorts of sins quite easily. Better to make a decision to not even go there from the beginning.
Now what Solomon meant by “a loaf of bread” I can only guess. Perhaps the wayward woman feeds on the man to get her kicks and give her pleasure or uses him to get revenge on her own husband. My husband suggested that it is because these women eat up men spiritually. Any ideas??
Certainly succumbing to sexual immorality or adultery takes away your life. The consequences are always there. Someone always gets hurt. You can’t go against God’s commandments without experiencing something. It isn’t even a punishment. It is like gravity – a natural law of the universe. And we shouldn’t think that we will just indulge a little and then draw back when it gets too serious - As Solomon went on to write, “Can a man scoop coals into his lap without getting burned?” We must take this seriously – none of us is immune completely from these temptations. If even middle aged women are susceptible, how much more our sons? As verse 32 says, “whoever (commits adultery) destroys himself”.
Chapter 7 is a story, a painting in the mind of what it looks like to fall into the trap of immorality. The fall guy in this story is a simple minded youth who lacked judgment.
Woe to us if we send our sons out into the 21st C without helping them to have wisdom first. And like the woman described here, temptation is brazen. There are photos of nude models and girls clad only in underwear everywhere we turn. We must teach our sons to turn away from the pictures so they won’t be taken in by the real thing.
Sin is seductive and persuasive – it doesn’t give up easily. We must make a strong stand if we hope to withstand the onslaught of the evil one. Solomon ends his speech by noting that falling into these sins is like getting on a highway to hell. It was not without reason that Jesus eventually told us that the road to heaven is narrow but that many enter the wide road which leads to destruction (Matt 7:13-14). God, please help us as we strive to keep ourselves and our children pure in a world which too often wants to destroy their innocence and force them to conform to their ways.
See related verse 22:14. On the specific subject of PROSTITUTION, Solomon once more makes the point that fathers should have the kind of relationship with their sons that makes it possible for them to plead, "My son, give me your heart", especially when it comes to advising them about women! (23:26-28).
29:3 Jesus’ New Testament tale of the prodigal son is a visual aid of one who, as a companion of prostitutes, squandered his wealth. Fortunately for the prodigal, his story had a happy ending. In most cases involving prostitution and adultery, there is no happy ending. Let us end this entry soberly as we consider these thoughts which might just save our lives or the lives of our children.
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ENTRY SEVENTY-FIVE – MAY 26, 2008
75 –SOLOMON’S PROVERBS Part VIII, CONTROL OF THE TONGUE
(one day of reading)
The overriding message here is "Don't be a fool - think before you speak!"
This entry covers topics such as WISE AND FOOLISH TALK, RIGHTEOUS AND WICKED TALK, APPROPRIATE SPEECH, MAINTAINING SILENCE, CONTROLLED SPEECH, FLATTERY, SLANDER AND GOSSIP, HURTFUL TALK, QUARRELLING, LYING, and THE POWER OF THE TONGUE. I am convicted just reading the topics, much less the verses!! It is amazing to me how so many of the Proverbs address the weaknesses in my life. I really need to embrace wisdom! Besides my personal sharing, there are also admonishments for LEADERS in this entry. Jesus himself spoke the following words recorded in Matt 12:34b "For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks." So, by studying these verses, not only will we have more incentive to control our tongues, we will also have more self-awareness!
Wise and Foolish Talk
16:23 When our hearts possess true wisdom, people benefit from our words.
18:6-7 While these verses in no way justify physical violence, we can surely think of many times our mouths have got us in trouble - I know I can!
Additional verses: 14:3, 15:2, 15:7, 19:1, 23:15-16.
Righteous and Wicked Talk
Prov 10:20-21, 31-32 All of these verses help us to see how our relationships live and die because of our tongues.
12:13 Our sinful talk will eventually trap us, but if we have avoided such talk, we'll be able to escape trouble. Additional verses: 11:11, 12:14, 13:2, 15:28, 17:4
Appropriate Speech
Now here is a topic tailor made for all of us who are trying our best to help others! Whether you are leading your children, a ministry at church, or people at work, these timeless bits of wisdom apply.
15:23 teaches that a word said at the right time is good, and that the one who speaks it will himself feel joy, while 16:21 says that pleasant words promote instruction! For PARENTS, read the book, How to Talk So Your Children Will Listen, and How to Listen So They Will Talk. This book changed my parenting, and has helped me to remember more often to use pleasant words with my children. And when I slip up, they have been known to remind me about the book!
16:24 encourages us to speak words to others which are as sweet as a honeycomb, and which bring healing as well! My favourite visual is 25:11 – “A word aptly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.” I like the picture I get in my mind of an ancient decorative ornament of silver and gold in the home of a wealthy Middle Eastern king. Cool. And just in case we think this Proverbs stuff is a bit old fashioned, let us remember Paul’s exhortation to only use our words to build up others.
Maintaining Silence
Now I enjoyed the above section because I smugly feel that pleasant words are one of my strengths
The most well known of these verses is surely 10:19 – “Where words are many, sin is not absent.” This applies to me when I am waffling, trying to figure out how to say something without actually saying the whole truth. Of course, this is sin, and if I catch myself doing it, I hopefully stop. (I can’t think of a recent example but there surely has been one.) My college roommate, Marilyn (Smith) White, was the first person who told me that I was less than a 100% honest person by nature. I have been a people pleaser since young and I like it when people like me. I don’t relish the idea of “getting in trouble” or “looking bad”. I’ve been this way as long as I can remember, and it isn’t going away soon. (I actually remember my dad figuring out this aspect of my personality when I was in junior high and telling me somewhat gruffly, “Well, you better not ever go into politics!” and I also remember thinking, “Why on earth would I want to do THAT?”) Reading these verses makes me realize that I STILL have room for improvement in this area and that I need to start praying about my speech and 100% transparency even at this stage in my life.
Another convicting verse for me is 12:23, about boasting and keeping one’s knowledge to oneself. Many a close friend has noticed that I enjoy spouting off little bits of trivia and the latest book I have read, etc. Ahem…perhaps I need to set aside more time to pray! Keeping oneself from rash speech and not interrupting are spoken of in the remaining verses – 13:3, 18:13, 21:23. And 17:28 has to make you laugh – “Even a fool is thought wise if he keeps silent.”
Controlled Speech
Now I can stop sweating cause I am not so bad at this one
Flattery
26:28, 28:23, 29:5 are all powerful passages which speak out against plattery. (No, that isn’t a typo – a just liked the alliteration!) But seriously, flattering others is self-serving, and the middle verse is a verse that we should all take at face value – “He who rebukes a man will in the end gain more favour than he who has a flattering tongue.” And yet Paul told Timothy that many will gather around them teachers who tell them what their itching ears long to hear. How sad. Let us make sure that we don’t end up as flattering flattery lovers with well scratched ears but that we speak the truth in love and help each other to get to heaven. I am trying to be more direct. It is hard but I know that if I love people I will do it.
Slander and Gossip
10:18b shows us that spreading slander makes us a fool while 11:13a says that a gossip betrays a confidence. Gossip also separates close friends and promotes quarrels, “so avoid a man who talks too much”. (See 16:28, 17:9, 18:8, 20:19, and 26:20.) With my daughter in high school, I have been reminded of the way this sin is so prevalent among girls (not that we middle aged women are immune) and I have been helping her in this department. After being slandered and gossiped about recently, she has taken this much more seriously and had a victory the other day…a school friend text messaged her and asked if she knew the reason why another student had been suspended, and my daughter replied, “No, and I don’t want to know.” I was very proud of her. It is not an easy thing for any of us to give up, regardless of age.
Hurtful Talk
12:18 says it all, “Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.” O God, prevent me from hurting others and help me to bring healing instead. See also 11:12, 15:4, 16:27, 25:23, 26:2.
Quarrelling
“He who loves a quarrel loves sin.” Or so says God in 17:19. We also learn that a fool is quick to quarrel, and that if you drive out the mocker, you will end quarrels. I could go on all day, but the scriptures really speak for themselves! See also 16:32, 17:14, 20:3, 22:10, and 26:21.
Lying
Did you know that concealing your hatred by keeping everything inside is a kind of lying? That’s what 10:18 says. God detests lying lips – that should be enough motivation for us to tell the truth!! And just in case you haven’t watched enough CSI, crime doesn’t pay! That’s in Proverbs? No, but 21:6 says that fortune made dishonestly is only fleeting. Same thing, right? Also see 12:19, 17:20, 19:5, 22.
The Power of the Tongue
Speaking of the tongue, 18:20-21 tells us that the tongue has the power of life and death, which I think it is a good ending place for this entry – cause I’m exhausted!!
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ENTRY SEVENTY-SIX – MAY 27, 2008
76 –SOLOMON’S PROVERBS Part IX, DISHARMONY & STRIFE, HONESTY, and JUSTICE
(one day of reading)
This entry takes on a rather sinister note, focusing on things like violence, murder, and revenge. However, it also contains a very appropriate lesson on DISSENSIONS AND STRIFE, and those two sins don’t just effect murderers but also each of us in the church. (My hand written note to myself says “Selfishness/ego is the cause of all!”) Included as well are reminders on the importance of truthfulness and fair play.
Solicitation to Evil
1:10-19 is a long section in which Solomon warns his son to stay away from trouble makers and bad company. (Like Paul tells us that “bad company corrupts good character” in 1 Cor 15:33). I particularly like 25:26 about how righteous men shouldn’t pollute themselves with the wicked. Also see 16:29, 27:3, 28:10.
Violence
There are several verses instructing us to avoid violent men, because they always meet their downfall. See 3:31-32, 21:7, 21:29.
Murderers
I couldn’t help but think of all the women I have spoken with who have had abortions. This verse talks about the torment people feel after murder, 28:17. Not to look down on anyone, since I would have had one myself if I had become pregnant before I became a Christian, the women who have shared with me about having had abortions have always shared it with sadness and regret. I am grateful that this is one sin I escaped doing.
Here are some quotes from Mother Teresa about Abortion: "America needs no words from me to see how your decision in Roe v. Wade has deformed a great nation. The so-called right to abortion has pitted mothers against their children and women against men. It has sown violence and discord at the heart of the most intimate human relationships. It has aggravated the derogation of the father's role in an increasingly fatherless society. It has portrayed the greatest of gifts -- a child -- as a competitor, an intrusion, and an inconvenience. It has nominally accorded mothers unfettered dominion over the independent lives of their physically dependent sons and daughters. And, in granting this unconscionable power, it has exposed many women to unjust and selfish demands from their husbands or other sexual partners. Human rights are not a privilege conferred by government. They are every human being's entitlement by virtue of his humanity. The right to life does not depend, and must not be declared to be contingent, on the pleasure of anyone else, not even a parent or a sovereign." (Mother Theresa -- "Notable and Quotable," Wall Street Journal, 2/25/94, p. A14)
"But I feel that the greatest destroyer of peace today is abortion, because it is a war against the child - a direct killing of the innocent child - murder by the mother herself. And if we accept that a mother can kill even her own child, how can we tell other people not to kill one another? How do we persuade a woman not to have an abortion? As always, we must persuade her with love, and we remind ourselves that love means to be willing to give until it hurts. Jesus gave even his life to love us. So the mother who is thinking of abortion, should be helped to love - that is, to give until it hurts her plans, or her free time, to respect the life of her child. The father of that child, whoever he is, must also give until it hurts. By abortion, the mother does not learn to love, but kills even her own child to solve her problems. And by abortion, the father is told that he does not have to take any responsibility at all for the child he has brought into the world. That father is likely to put other women into the same trouble. So abortion just leads to more abortion. Any country that accepts abortion is not teaching the people to love, but to use any violence to get what they want. That is why the greatest destroyer of love and peace is abortion. "
Causing Others Harm
3:29-30 Plain old command to not do harm to others. Reminds me of the good ole days when you could leave your door unlocked or could buy your newspaper at the corner market and just drop your money into the box if the owner wasn’t around because everyone trusted everyone else to respect each other’s property.
Revenge
Prov 20: 22 and 24:28 provide wisdom against taking revenge. Especially good is 24:29, “Do not say, ‘I’ll do to him as he has done to me; I’ll pay that man back for what he did.’” Now that’s a verse that went out of style for a few years during the kingdom crisis but hopefully we will all behave like Christians from now on, AMEN??!!
Dissension and Strife
Causing dissension and strife are seen as sins in the New Testament (Gal 5:19-21) for many reasons, not the least of which is because these sins affect the unity of the body of Christ. Until now, though, I had not remembered that they were mentioned in the Old Testament. These are powerful verses. I have always loved Prov 6 (“six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to him…”) because I found these verses useful for helping my children. Terrie Fontenot taught me to shorten it by saying, “God hates haughty eyes and God hates telling lies.” However, I just didn’t use the end of the passage (v19), and yet it is quite direct: (God hates)…“a man who stirs up dissension among brothers.” We can often be “right” in the way we view an issue but not “righteous” in the way we deal with our observation. God values unity and mercy so much that he makes sure we deal with things correctly, rather than having a herd of blustering egos battling it out over who is right and who is wrong. Someone has to be the leader – it is the nature of “organization”. If we prefer to call ourselves “family” over “organization”, than we have to concede that even families need leaders. They are not always the best or the smartest or even the ones who are right the most, but once they are the leader, we owe it to God and to our own righteousness to be good followers. Oh Yuk, you say, that smacks of “Old School”. I would say that we have to figure out what is old school vs what Mike Taliaferro calls “Ancient School” and follow the bible. By all means, get rid of leaders who are not following Jesus or trying to walk in his steps. But don’t cause dissension in your church just because you don’t like a certain leader or you don’t approve of his style. That is so subjective and that is wrong. If the leader really should not be leading, go through proper biblical procedure and God will assist you in removing him, without slander and strife. Having said that, I realize that many have brought things on themselves by being insensitive, rude and ungodly in the past. I would hope that we are done with that kind of leadership. We leaders should remember 18:19 “An offended brother is more unyielding than a fortified city, and disputes are like the barred gates of a citadel.” Also see 17:1, 18:18.
Meddling
This may be the very thing some think I am guilty of by writing my thoughts down in this Quiet Time Blog. Prov 26:17 speaks against meddling in others’ arguments. I hope that is not what I am doing.
Truthfulness
Jesus calls us to a life of grace and truth (John 1) and we believe that the truth sets us free (John 8), so why is it so hard for us to be truthful? Or maybe I should just speak for myself. Obviously not all the time – I am not a compulsive liar nor do I make up stories. But it is still tempting for me to tell people what I think they want to hear or what makes me look good rather than the plain old truth. As I wrote in the previous entry, I am now praying that the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart will be acceptable to God, (Ps 19) and that when I do speak, it is in truth and in love.
24:26 couldn’t be more clear or descriptive – “An honest answer is like a kiss on the lips.”
Proverbs has many other verses on honesty and lying which have already been covered in previous entries. A few more verses on the subject are 12:20, 13:5, and 26:18-19.
Accurate Weights & Boundary Stones
After the verses on truthfulness, it is no surprise to find a set of verses on integrity in business. In Old Testament times, when they presumably bartered for many of their goods, inaccurate scales would be a sly form of overcharging and out right cheating. And without modern surveyor equipment, people truly relied on the uprightness of their neighbour in that they had to trust that he wouldn’t move the fence, so to speak, and cut off some of their property. Today we may not use such crude methods in our work place, but the principle of integrity in business still applies. Read the following and see if it causes any uncomfortable feelings – Prov 11:1, 16:11, 20:10, 20:23, 22:28, 23:10-11. The ultimate message of these verses is that God detests dishonesty and misrepresentation in the workplace. These verses also teach that God will get revenge on those who take advantage of the poor, no matter what their “profession”.
Wrongfully Obtained Gains
It may be sweet at first, but you’ll eventually regret it. That is the message of these verses on ill gotten gains. See 10:2, 13:11, 20:17, 20:21.
Bribery
The interesting thing about the verses on bribing is that they don’t mention that the giving of the bribe on its own is actually wrong…they say that taking a bribe in order to pervert justice is wrong. I think we can interpolate that to mean that giving a bribe to pervert justice or to get something that you shouldn’t rightfully get is wrong. However, when dealing with unjust people in power, who are extorting money to provide services which they are supposed to provide anyway, the gift you give might actually get them to do what they should do. (For example, in many third world countries, if you don’t give a “gift” to the worker from the phone company, you may wait two years to get a land line!) 15:27, 17:8, 17:23, 21:14. I could be wrong…feel free to argue!
False Witnesses
And speaking of giving bribes to pervert justice, we now have the topic of lying to get others in trouble, or to get the guilty off the hook. This is also one of the seven sins that God detests in Prov 6, and there are other incriminating verses as well. 21:28 says that a false witness will be destroyed and those who listen to him will also be punished. Also see 12:17, 14:5, 14:25, 19:9, 19:28, and 25:18.
Judicial Justice
17:15 sets the tone for this topic – “Acquitting the guilty and condemning the innocent – the Lord detests them both.” 21:15 tells us that when justice is done, the innocent feel joy and the guilty feel terror. This refers to true justice, not the kind that is manipulated by lawyers and juries.
24:11-12 is a powerful passage on speaking up. Read this and apply it to your life in any way that you need to. (I think some of the fury seen in 2003 was a result of guilt that some people felt for not speaking up previously). I was reminded of a poem read by Whoopi Goldberg, of all people, on an awards show. The same poem is inscribed at the New England Holocaust Memorial in Boston and reads:
They came first for the Communists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist.
Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew.
Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Catholics,
and I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant.
Then they came for me,
and by that time no one was left to speak up.
Prov 28:5 tells us soberly that “Evil men do not understand justice, but those who seek the Lord understand it fully.”
Also see 17:26, 18:5, and 24:23-25.
29:26 is a good conclusion – the Lord brings justice!
Open-mindedness and Fair Hearing
What an appropriate verse to read as we conclude this lengthy but applicable entry – Prov 18:17 states the first rule of conflict resolution and fairness: “The first to present his case seems right till another comes forward and questions him.”
How often has my husband had to remind me, “Listen to both sides of the story before getting all upset or making up your mind.” Good advice from someone who is much better at resolving conflict than I am.
Based on much of the above, I would say that if you are trying to settle an argument or resolve conflict, sit down and have a quick read through of Prov 18 for a scriptural wisdom boost. You can remember it easily because Matt 18 is another great chapter on conflict resolution and forgiveness, and they obviously share the same number!
Well, our topical study of Proverbs is almost over…only a few more entries. Hope you are enjoying this as much as I am.
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ENTRY SEVENTY-SEVEN – MAY 28, 2008
77 –SOLOMON’S PROVERBS Part X, ECONOMIC WELL BEING
(one day of reading)
Covering such topics as WEALTH AND POVERTY, BENEVOLENCE AND GENEROSITY, OPPRESSION OF THE POOR, INDUSTRIOUSNESS, BECOMING A GUARANTOR and SAVING FOR A RAINY DAY, this very short entry is like a Business by the Bible Manual. Combine it with the previous entry on integrity in business and justice and you’ve got some good stuff! Also note that this is especially good if you struggle with being LAZY and avoiding hard work.
Wealth and Poverty
In reading this section, I am reminded of Paul’s warning that “the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.” Anyone who likes detective stories like I do knows that a large percentage of murders are done for money. Yikes! But none of us are immune. Let us see what wisdom Solomon, the world’s richest man in his day, has to offer us.
First off the bat is Prov 3:9-10, “Honour the Lord with your wealth, with the first fruits of all your crops…” Now I didn’t choose to put that first – it comes first in my chronological bible!! No matter what, we must give back to God. He gave everything to us. Just last night I was reading an email from a friend who attended a seminar by Rick Warren of Purpose Driven Life fame. Warren says that the greatest threat to first world churches is materialism. Yep. Couldn’t agree more. And, according to his speech, he tithes 90% of his income. Wow!!
Solomon makes several observations about wealth:
- Wealth does you no good on the last day, so don’t trust in riches. See 11:4, 11:28, 22:2, 23:4-5, 28:6.
- Wealth does help people in some ways, and poverty is no fun. (Duh, as if we didn’t know that already
!) See 10:15, 14:20, 18:11, 19:4, 19:6, 19:7, 22:7 . - Wealth can lead to personal danger and is often responsible for a person’s sin and downfall. It is definitely not the cure all for life’s problems. See 13:8, 15:16, 17:16, 18:23, 27:7, 28:8, 28:11, 28:20-22.
Benevolence and generosity
If you pay attention during talks at church for the “Poor Contribution”, you will have heard most of these verses. However, reading them at one sitting is quite powerful. The overall message of these verses is that we should be generous, we will be blessed for helping others, and if we ignore the poor, we will be cursed. Please read 3:27-28, 11:2426, 13:22, 14:21, 18:16, 19:17, 21:13, 22:9, 25:14, and 28:27.
Two books which influenced me early on in this area are RICH CHRISTIANS LIVING IN AN AGE OF HUNGER and Richard Foster’s Freedom of Simplicity.
Oppression of the Poor
It’s bad enough to ignore the poor, but to oppress them is despicable. 14:31 is well known, “He who oppresses the poor shows contempt for his maker.” See also 13:23, 15:15, 16:8, 22:16, 22:22-23, 29:7, 29:13. Woe to us if we oppress the poor. I suppose that one way we can easily apply this in Singapore relates to make sure that we treat our domestic helpers and manual labourers fairly and kindly.
Industriousness
Prov 6:6-11 is a great section on the ant and the sluggard. We read this with our kids at the beginning of their summer holidays! The only reason I know these verses so well is that I have had to read them to myself so many times over the years…hard work is definitely not in My DNA. (Sorry mom…) Some of the insights from these verses for me are:
- Imitate hard working people (the ant and sluggard passage)
- Good intentions are only good for one thing – paving the road to hell! 12:11, 14:23
- Have godly and diligent priorities 24:27
- Laziness doesn’t necessarily = inactivity. We can be lazy minded, lazy to love, etc.
One gets the feeling that Solomon didn’t suffer lazy fools gladly – look at all the verses on hard work!! Also see 10:4-5, 10:26,12:24, 12:27, 13:4, 14:4, 15:19, 16:26, 18:9, 19:15, 19:24, 20:4, 20:13, 21:17, 21:25-26, 22:29, 24:30-34, 26:14, 27:18, 27:23-27, 28:19.
And don’t forget 21:20, which admonishes us to save for a rainy day!
Being a Guarantor (Surety for Another)
Solomon urges all to be wise before getting bound to another financially. Prov 6:1-5 likens it to getting trapped by a bird catcher! 11:15, 17:18, 20:16 and 22:26-27 all echo the same sentiments. Don’t do it!! This doesn’t mean we can’t help people who are in need – it just means that we probably shouldn’t sign contracts for them (and we probably shouldn’t loan money if we can’t stand to see it gone forever!) See ya tomorrow…
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ENTRY SEVENTY-EIGHT – MAY 29, 2008
78 –SOLOMON’S PROVERBS Part XI, ATTRIBUTES OF SPECIFIC PERSONS, plus VARIOUS CONCERNS AND OBSERVATIONS
(one day of reading)
In this section, Solomon writes about individual instructions and characteristics of certain groups, and we will read about PARENTS AND CHILDREN, THE ELDERLY, WOMEN AND WIVES, KINGS AND RULERS, MESSENGERS, COMPANIONS/FRIENDS, CAUTION, REPUTATION, COURAGE, HOPE, JOY AND GRIEF, GOOD NEWS, and CURIOSITY.
Parents and Children
“Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.” Solomon begins his book with these verses (1:8-9) and the very premise of these verses is that the parents are in charge of raising the children! It is the parents’ responsibility to see to it that the children are brought up properly and part of bringing the kids up well is to make sure the children know that they should obey their parents. Things were so much simpler in the days when kids knew this, adults knew this, and the only people saying otherwise were the dope peddlers and general riff-raff. Nowadays, God’s word is competing with psycho-babble which says that the children should lead the way and we should follow. Oh well, as John says, “Common sense isn’t very common anymore.”
See entry 70 on discipline for more great verses about children and their parents. The verses in this entry focus on children who go wrong bringing a disgrace to their parents. 10:1, 11:29, 15:20, 17:2, 17:6, 17:21, 17:25, 19:26, 20:20, and 23:22-25.
The Elderly
16:31 and 20:29 lift up senior adults. We should all respect the elderly. We will be there someday, if we are lucky. If you are struggling in your communication with someone from the “Gray Generation”, read How to Say It to Seniors. Amazing book with loads of insight!
Women and Wives
Oh, baby, these are convicting!! These verses talk about wives who ruin their families by being disgraceful or nagging or quarrelling. Yikes!! Such descriptive language – “a gold ring in a pig’s snout” and “drip, drip, drip…” See 11:22, 12:4, 14:1, 18:22, 19:13-14, 21:9, 21:19, 25:24, and 27:15-16. A few years ago, I read Dr Laura’s book, The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands. It was a great challenge but very inspiring. I would hope that my husband noticed a difference.
Kings and Rulers
This section can be read for political leaders or in a loose sort of way, for religious leaders, although not all the points apply. Solomon was obviously an expert on the subject, so there are many verses here. The main points are:
- The king should be just.
- Kings are powerful and can determine your future.
- Kings are hopefully wise and shrewd.
- Kings should surround themselves with good people.
- Wicked kings will ruin others and eventually be ruined as well.
- Good kings will be established long term.
See 14:28, 14:35, 16:10, 16:12-15, 17:7, 17:11, 19:12, 20:2, 20:8, 20:26, 20:28, 21:1, 22:11, 23:1-3, 24:21-22, 25:2-7, 28:2-3, 28:15-16, 29:4, 29:12, and 29:14.
Messengers
These verses urge messengers to be reliable. Prov 13:17, and 25:13.
Companions/Friends
Wonderful wisdom for all of us, because we all need friends, and we surely hope to have good ones! Prov 12:26 implies that we should not befriend just anyone, but rather find out if they have good character first, because a “companion of fools suffers harm.” 13:20. A favourite is 17:17, “A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.” I have the name of my friend, Nadine, written there. We also learn that “the pleasantness of one’s friend springs from his earnest counsel.” 27:9. Also see 14:7, 18:24, 24:1-2, 27:8, 27:10, and 29:24.
Caution
These verses warn against folly. There is a big DANGER sign here, and Solomon begs us to avoid evil and to save our soul. All four verses can be summed up well by 22:3, “A prudent man sees danger and takes refuge, but the simple keep going and suffer for it.”
Also see 16:17, 22:5 and 27:12.
Reputation
Many people have regretted that one incident which ruined their reputation for years. God wants to spare us this pain. These two passages highlight the importance of a good reputation. 22:1, 25:9-10.
Courage
According to Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary, “courage” is mental or moral strength to venture, persevere, and withstand danger, fear, or difficulty. And one verse that has always scared me (courage is not something that comes easy to me at all) is Rev 21:8, which says that the cowardly will be thrown into the fiery lake of burning sulphur. Wow! So Solomon’s words are much needed for me, and perhaps for some of you.28:1b is a theme verse for having courage – “The righteous are as bold as a lion.” The beginning of this verse implies that sin causes fear and insecurity, so when we are trying to live a godly life, we’ll have no reason to fear. 24:10 is convicting for everyone – “If (we) falter in times of trouble, how small is (our) strength.” This puts me to shame because I know that at times during the past few years I didn’t put my trust in God during the difficult times. I have put that behind me, but I still sometimes feel guilty and I bear the scars for my self-reliance and self-indulgence! Another insight about fear is that, according to 22:13 and 26:13, lazy folk use fear as an excuse for not doing anything. Also see 3:25-26 and 14:32.
Hope
Prov 13:12, 13:19 and 23:17-18 tell us that it is good for the heart to have hopes and dreams come true, and that when we are zealous for godly things we can have a pure hope that will be fulfilled.
Joy and Grief
14:10, 14:13, 15:13, 17:22, and 18:14 discuss the idea that a cheerful heart makes you feel great and a crushed spirit is unbearable. 25:20 warns to not try to cheerfully and happily lift up someone who is down, cause you are just being obnoxious and insensitive.
27:11 notes that if your kids bring you joy, nothing else will feel that bad. And 29:6 tells us that if we are righteous, we are free to sing and be glad without fear of “getting caught”.
Good News
I’ve always loved this verse: “A cheerful look brings joy to the heart, and good news gives health to the bones.” (15:30). This verse inspires me to make sure that I am spiritually well so that I have joy on the inside, and then to let my joy show to everyone else so that they, too, may be blessed. I also believe in attributing positive meaning to situations as much as is possible (and truthful) so that the second part of the verse is fulfilled. I love making people happy and making them feel good, especially about their spiritual life. This part of my personality can be good, but it can also be negative when it causes me to not speak the truth in love, so I am trying to be good at both. It can also be negative if we conceal everything that is not positive to the point of not being transparent about things that are important. However, I digress. These two verses are powerful and meaningful. See 25:25 as well.
Curiosity.
In Singaporean English (Singlish), we would say that this verse describes someone who is “Kay-Poh”. (27:20). Perhaps in the old days, we would have said, “Curiosity killed the cat!” And with that we are done with Solomon’s quotes in the book of Proverbs!
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ENTRY SEVENTY-NINE – MAY 30, 2008
79 –SOLOMON’S PROVERBS Part XII, THE SAYINGS OF AGUR AND KING LEMUEL
(one day of reading)
Chapter 30 is an oracle attributed to a man named Agur and chapter 31 to King Lemuel. Though not written by Solomon, they are included in the Proverbs so I am putting them here. The writings of the former contain pithy sayings which are quite fun to read and those of the latter contain the famous “WIFE OF NOBLE CHARACTER”.
Chapter 30 – The Sayings of Agur
30:1-4 seems to be saying that we should not claim to know more than we know. (If you are thinking this applies to me, feel free to email me your rebuke!)
v5-6 reminds us that God’s words are inerrant and we ignore/embellish them to our peril.
v7-9 is the famous passage about not wanting to little or too much so that we neither forget God or steal.
v10 relates to not gossiping.
v11-14 is a sermon unto itself! Cursing ones parents, being self-righteous and arrogant, gossiping and slandering are just some of the sins discussed here. I wrote a note in my bible by this paragraph back in 1991 – “A quote from the movie called ‘The Prince of Tides’ starring Nick Nolte and Barbra Streisand: ‘There is no sin in the family beyond forgiveness.’”
v15a is a great verse about selfish, whining, demanding people. “The leech has two daughters. ‘Give! Give!’ they cry.” I am reminded of the words to a Keith Green song, “He brought me low so I might know the way to reach the heights; forsake my dreams, my self-esteem, and give up all my rights.” I am also reminded of the writings of Cloud and Townsend. Selfishness is a killer!
v15b-16 names four things that never say “Enough!” (He left out dirty dishes!)
v17 has one message – DO NOT disrespect your parents!! (shudder!)
v18-19 is a humourous look at what we don’t understand – and the fourth one is still being discussed in the 21st century!
v20 describes the arrogant sinner who doesn’t accept responsibility for his/her ways. Oh the deceitful pride of sin. Don’t forget Psalm 36:1-2
v21-23 sadly tells of four things under which the earth cannot bear up, one of them being a married and unloved woman. This is very true. I am fortunate to not have this problem, but I feel for my friends who are in this situation.
v24-28 uses four small animals to teach lessons to us. This always makes me smile because one of the animals mentioned is the lizard, famous for being found in kings’ palaces, and I laugh because they are everywhere in Southeast Asia, including in my apartment!
v29-31 talks about stately beings.
v32-33 ends it off with a warning against “playing the fool” and stirring up anger!
Chapter 31 – The Sayings of King Lemuel
This oracle (an authoritative or wise expression or answer) was told to the king by his mother, so I feel that it is especially fun to read!
v1-3 introduces us to Lemuel’s good mother’s first bit of wisdom – don’t spend your strength on women!! Perhaps she had been watching Solomon?? This is good advice for all boys, not just kings. It is obviously especially good advice for men in positions of power, since women traditionally tend to throw themselves at powerful men.
v4-7 is a natural follow up to the warning against women – this is a warning against wasting yourself on substance abuse. The wise old mom told him that drinking is only good for poor people who have so many problems that their only way out is to drink; the king has too many responsibilities and people depending on him to risk being drunk.
v8-9 has the mom speaking up for the weak, and teaching her son to defend the rights of the poor and needy.
v10-31 is the part about the wife of noble character. Isn’t it sweet to picture the mum of a king telling her son what kind of wife he should be looking for? Wow! What a great picture. Maybe she was a single mom and had to be the one to teach him. I love it!! And of course, she was secretly hoping that he thought she herself had all these qualities!! Whenever you are having a marriage spat, read this part of Proverbs out loud. (But not in the same room as your husband
- Live in such a way that her husband never doubts her
- Live in such a way that her husband feels completely cared for
- Always make her husband’s life better
- Work hard and eagerly for the good of others
- Be very disciplined and not lazy
- Treat her hired help well if she has them
- Be wise with money
- Be zealous, fit and well trained
- Be effective, hard-working and use whatever tools she can in her work
- Be generous, compassionate and caring for others
- Decorate her home beautifully, but not necessarily expensively
- Keep herself looking beautiful as well
- Bring pride and respect to her husband
- Be creative and resourceful
- Trust in God and be filled with godly dignity
- Live and speak from God’s word
- Make her home a great place to come home to
- Be alert and attentive to the atmosphere in her home
- Live the kind of life that her husband and children always respect and appreciate
- Fear the Lord her whole life
I am especially weak in the areas of discipline, being fit, and keeping myself attractive, which affects other areas like being someone my husband and children can always respect. I am very convicted by this study. And my prayer is that I may someday attain this standard while still on earth, if that is possible! I do know that with God all things are possible, and I resolve to make visible progress this year. Well, that’s all for Solomon’s Proverbs. Hope you have enjoyed everything.
By the way, for a different twist on topical Proverbs, be sure to read Steve Kinnard’s The Call of the Wise. Steve and his wife Leigh are with the church in New York City and he has written some great stuff! The next entry will be about the life and times of King Solomon himself. See ya tomorrow…
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ENTRY EIGHTY – MAY 31, 2008
80 - Solomon’s Glory Fades and Solomon’s Conclusion to the Meaning of Life
– Ecclesiastes; I Kings 11; II Chron 9:29-31
Unfortunately, the wisest man to have lived up to that time (and maybe ever, besides Jesus) couldn’t keep things together in his own life. He didn’t apply his own Proverbial wisdom to himself nor the commandments from the Law of Moses about kings’ behaviour. This is a study of letting your heart get worn down so that you are NO LONGER WHOLEHEARTED for God. This entry, two days of reading, also looks at the MEANINGLESSNESS OF WORLDLY PURSUITS and focuses on what really matter.
I Kings 11 Apparently God was ready to overlook Solomon’s marriage to the daughter of the king of Egypt, although I am not sure on what grounds. However, Solomon wasn’t satisfied with that, and the bible says here that he had 700 royal wives and also had 300 concubines (for the nights he was lonely??? Perhaps he received some of the concubines as gifts, as disgusting as that sounds to us…who knows?!!) Not surprisingly, these foreign women led him astray. He was worn down by his wives and his heart eventually followed other gods. His father, David, had followed WHOLE HEARTEDLY whereas Solomon didn’t.
The prophecy in verses 9-13 is a sad revelation of Solomon’s legacy, which was so different from what God had originally planned for him and his family. However, it is also a testimony to David’s life that God would keep a tribe safe just for his sake.
The story of Hadad is interesting – it tells us that God will put people in our lives to get us to repent, to help us rely on Him more, or to just plain oppose us when we are proud!
The third adversary to Solomon ended up being Jeroboam, the man who was a servant who became a king, and the man who tore the kingdom away from Solomon’s son in future times. But more on that in a future entry. Look for now at how God called Jeroboam – he told him through a prophet that he would rule Israel, and he told Jeroboam that he would keep the kingdom IF “you walk in my ways”…etc. That’s all God ever wanted, was for the rulers and the people to love him and follow him with all their heart, which is, of course, the same thing he wants from us today!!
THE BOOK OF ECCLESIASTES
The following is a quote from F. LaGard Smith’s narration in the chapter before Ecclesiastes.
Despite his great sin – or because of it – Solomon may ultimately have gained the most valuable wisdom of all: a full appreciation of the emptiness of all that he had – even his own wisdom – when compared to things eternal. The book traditionally known as Ecclesiastes, meaning the Preacher or the Teacher, may have been written either personally by King Solomon or sometime later by a scribe in Solomon’s honour as the patron of the wisdom movement. In either case, Solomon appears to be the Teacher, and the observations about life which are the basis for the writing seem to be drawn from Solomon’s own experiences. Ecclesiastes is a critical essay about the meaning of life. For purposes of this presentation, the book has been organized according to topics in order to highlight the obvious themes of the Teacher.
1) THE SEARCH FOR MEANING
Eccles1:1-11; 6:10-12
A – The Ultimate Question – We have probably all asked ourselves something like, “What is the meaning of life?”, “Why am I alive?”, “Does my life matter?”, “Why am I here?”, “Is there such a thing as ‘true happiness’ in life?”. It is testimony to the universality of man that Solomon, the wisest man and most powerful king of his time, asked the same questions! If you think about these questions long enough, from a worldly, humanistic point of view, the answer can only be the same that Solomon came up with – “Everything is meaningless!”
B – The Cyclical Nature of Life – Moaning about how there is nothing new and how everything repeats itself. Perhaps today we say, “What goes round comes round.”
C – Man’s Search for Meaning – Who can tell what will happen? Obviously no one except for God. But I am jumping ahead
2) THE IMPORTANCE OF FINDING MEANING
Ec 3:18-22; 2:12-16; 9:1-12; 8:16-17
A – Mortality of Animals and Man – No one knows where you go when you die except by faith according to God’s word.
B – Mortality of Foolish and Wise – “wisdom is better than folly…but the same fate overtakes them both.” So how? (That’s a Singlish expression meaning, “So now what should I do??!!)
C – Mortality of Righteous and Wicked – Everyone experiences good and bad times, pain and suffering, and death.
D – Importance of the Present – Suicide isn’t the answer cause you can’t do anything if you are dead!
E – The “Unexpectancy” of Death – Input doesn’t always equal output. We don’t always get what we so-called “deserve”. It works both ways. “Time and chance happen to them all.” This reminds me of a study on suffering that I did years ago. I found five kinds of suffering in the bible (there may be more): i-suffering for being a Christian; ii-suffering the consequences of your actions, iii-suffering the consequences of others’ actions, ivsuffering the generic sufferings of life that happen to everyone based on time and chance, and v-suffering the inevitable, like death of a loved one or your own death. John always says that the difference between i- and ii- is that the first one is being a fool for Christ and the second one is being a plain old fool! See 1 Peter 4 for more on this.
F – Life’s Meaning Inscrutable – That’s why the bible is “the Philosopher’s Dream”.
3) THE MEANINGLESSNESS AND EMPTINESS OF HUMAN PURSUITS
Ecc 1:1218; 2:1-3; 2:4-11; 2:17-26; 4:1-16; 5:1-20; 6:1-9; 7:13-14; 8:2-15; 9:13-18
A – Emptiness of Human Wisdom 1:12-18
Solomon knew that he was the wisest man, but he discovered that wisdom on its own, without God, is completely useless. (If you doubt this, ask yourself how many truly happy university professors and philosophers you have met!) This reminds me of a message a friend of mine left on his answering machine once, “The more you study, the more you learn; the more you learn, the more you know; the more you know, the more you forget; so why study?” Not quite what God had in mind here, but makes me smile to think about it!
B – Emptiness of Pleasure 2:1-3
Fun, laughter, pleasure in any package, which Solomon admitted included wine tasting and drunkenness. Nowadays we could add movie going, discos, drug taking, video games, cruises with midnight buffets, etc. All emptiness! Attend an open Alcoholics Anonymous meeting to see more proof, if you need it.
C – Emptiness of Achievement 2:4-11
“If I have the best of everything, I’ll be happy!” we tell ourselves. At least that’s what I thought when I was 15 years old. I had already drawn plans for my mansion, and I had cut out a picture from a magazine of a Russian sable fur coat (cost in 1978 was over US$100,000)! Luckily, I soon realized that “things” wouldn’t make anyone happy. But Solomon truly tried everything: beautiful parks around his luxurious palace with all kinds of water falls, flowers and fruit trees, hundreds if not thousands of slaves and servants to fulfil his every whim, Bill Gates-style business success and bank accounts, treasures from all over the world, a personal choir, a harem for sexual pleasure and companionship (was he referring to his wives or concubines or another group???). He literally denied himself no pleasure (reminds me of the movie stars that experiment with all kinds of sexual dalliances, drugs and religions). I was a pleasure seeker and had tried many things by the age of 17, but obviously no where near Solomon. I am grateful I learned my lesson at an earlier age! Saved me a lot of pain.
D – Emptiness of Labour 2:17-26
The king realized that work without God is also meaningless, and he started getting cynical during his search.
E – Emptiness of Human Condition 4:1-3
If all that counts is worldly gain, then better to have never been born.
F – Emptiness of Accumulation 4:4-6
Now if this isn’t true of Singaporeans, what is??? People see what others have and want more so they work harder – “Better one handful with tranquillity than two handfuls with toil and chasing after the wind.”
G – Emptiness of Unshared Lives 4:7-12
This is the famous passage written on marriage invitations about two being better than one. What Solomon recognized here is that loving and being loved is one of God’s most precious gifts! (Not necessarily only in marriage but with family and friends as well).
H – Emptiness of Politics 4:13-16
During Rick Warren’s stopover in Asia several years ago, he said that governments are not the answer to the world’s problems – the only answer is Christians imitating Jesus through the power of Jesus.
I – Emptiness of False Worship 5:1-7
Don’t be rash in your worship, don’t be a “good intention Christian”, remember who God is and Stand in awe of God!!
J – Emptiness of Wealth 5:8-20
Read this section carefully – there are some precious words of wisdom for us in Singapore. The main messages are that greed causes people to never be satisfied and that we shouldn’t be surprised when we see injustice, greed and corruption because they are as old as man. The positive conclusion is that when you work hard with God and for God, you will have serenity and happiness.
K – Emptiness of Materialism 6:1-9
Similarly to what is above, Solomon noticed that if you are working hard enough to accumulate, you hardly have time to enjoy things (unless you are a tai-tai) and yet your appetites will never be satisfied. More emptiness! Recent surveys in Asia have shown that the richest countries come up last when questioned about personal happiness and satisfaction in life, while the poorer nations come up on top! Go figure!
L – Emptiness of Prosperity 7:13-14
More of the same.
M – Emptiness of Defiance 8:2-6
This is an interesting comment.
N – Emptiness of Wickedness 8:7-13
A man may get away with being a wicked hypocrite on earth, but even Solomon knows that the God-fearing man is better off.
O – Emptiness of Injustice 8:14-15
And since there is so much injustice, better make sure you enjoy your life when you are able!
P – Emptiness of Strength 9:13-18
Again, without God, our lives don’t mean much.
4) THE VALUE OF WISDOM
Ecc 12:9-10; 7:7-12; 7:19-26; 10:1-20; 11:1-6; 12:11-12; 7:1-6; 7:15-18, 7:27-29; 8:1
A – Various Proverbs
These are more proverbs, similar to the ones written in the book of Proverbs I personally like this verse about finishing strong, “The end of a matter is better than its beginning, and patience is better than pride.” There are great verses on not constantly thinking about the good ole days, controlling your temper, gossip, favouritism, consequences, diplomatic speech, self-control, generosity, and laziness.
B – Wisdom Comes from Sorrow
More proverbs, but these were written on one of Solomon’s down days!
C – Danger of Extremism
“The man who fears God will avoid all extremes.” Wise words from a wise man. A note I wrote to myself years back says, “My interpretation of this passage is, ‘Don’t be a self-righteous busy-body who takes yourself too seriously, is uptight, never has any fun, and doesn’t easily give grace to others!’”
D – Few Choose Wisdom
Enough said.
E – Enriching Nature of Wisdom
Wisdom is a natural anti-aging application: “Wisdom brightens a man’s face and changes its hard appearance.”
5) LIFE’S TRUE MEANING
Ec 3:1-17; 11:7-10; 12:1-8; 12:13-14
A – Purpose and Balance in Life
This is the poetic passage which begins with, “There is a time for everything…”
For those of us who are considered “ancient”, we may remember the song based on Ecclesiastes 3 made famous by the Byrds (if you don’t know who they are, then you don’t qualify as “ancient”)!
Lyrics from the Byrds song, “To Everything There Is a Season”:
To everything - turn, turn, turn
There is a season - turn, turn, turn
And a time for every purpose under heaven
A time to be born, a time to die
A time to plant, a time to reap
A time to kill, a time to heal
A time to laugh, a time to weep
To everything - turn, turn, turn There is a season - turn, turn, turn And a time for every purpose under heaven
A time to build up, a time to break down A time to dance, a time to mourn A time to cast away stones A time to gather stones together
To everything - turn, turn, turn There is a season - turn, turn, turn And a time for every purpose under heaven
A time of war, a time of peace A time of love, a time of hate A time you may embrace A time to refrain from embracing
To everything - turn, turn, turn There is a season - turn, turn, turn And a time for every purpose under heaven
A time to gain, a time to lose A time to rend, a time to sew A time to love, a time to hate A time of peace, I swear it's not too late!
Sorry, but I just had an attack of nostalgia. Be sure to focus on verse 11 about God setting eternity in the hearts of men. A note I wrote in my bible says, “That explains why we all have a God-shaped vacuum in our hearts!” And speaking of that, listen to the pod-cast sermons on the Singapore church website for Wee Keong’s incredible sermon on March 30, 2008 about heaven and hell. Amazing!!! www.seachurches.org
B – Advice to Young People
Solomon ends his heavy recollections with a plea for young people to enjoy life but to fear God, and to not put off finding God until it is too late. This passage includes a beautiful and poetic set of verses on growing old.
C – Where Life Finds Its Meaning
The famous last words of someone who learned everything the hard way:
“Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, Whether it is good or evil.”
Wow!!!
This is amazing! What a wonderful book! Aren’t we glad that we don’t have to learn everything the hard way but that we can profit from Solomon’s writings and can use them to help our friends who have not yet become Christians??!! Amen!! Thanks, God, for including this book in your Holy Bible!!
THE END OF SOLOMON’S REIGN – I Kings 11:41-43; II Chronicles 9:29-31
Solomon, after reigning in Jerusalem for 40 years, finally succumbed to the “same destiny which overtakes all men,” and the end of his life is recorded briefly in the verses above. His son Rehoboam succeeded him, and he will be the subject of our next entry.
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For an index to all of these studies, see the Introduction.
