April Devotions

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WIDTH="699" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="VOID" RULES="NONE" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 20 ><NOBR><div> <B>Back to calendar</B><B> </B><IMG SRC="0400e0e0.jpg" border=0 width="14" height="14" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">   </div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <B>For PREVIOUS PROVERBS : Scroll up, </B><I><B>OR</B></I><B>  Return to Devotional Calendar</B></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></B></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" height=365 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <bR> <div>  <A NAME="apr_1"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="419" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" BGCOLOR=#CCFFCC > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 78 ><NOBR><div> Proverbs 15:22<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Kabel Bk BT" >  </FONT></div> <div> <B>Without consultation plans are frustrated,</B></div> <div> <B>but by many counselors they rise. </B></div> <bR> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div>  </div> <div> <B><U>Words of the Verse</U></B><B>:</B></div> <bR> <div>     "Consultation" in Hebrew gives the idea of getting together to deliberate.</div> <div>     "Many counselors" could also be "much advice".   </div> <div>     </div> <div> <B><U>Analysis of the Verse</U></B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <B>Being Compared</B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Absence of counsel</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Abundance of counselors</div> <bR> <div> <B>Their Outcomes Respectively</B>:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Purposes are broken</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Purposes are brought to pass</div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Teaching of the Verse</U></B>:</div> <bR> <div>     Here is a furthering of the idea in 11:14-</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Eurostile" >Prov 11:14</FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Eurostile" >  In the absence of counsels the people fall, but safety </FONT><I>is</I> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Eurostile" >in abundance of counselors. </FONT></div> <bR> <div>     This had a primarily national application.  Our verse today has a personal application as well.</div> <div>     If God had created only one human, that man would have had no need of others.  Once God made man to be a multiplied creature,* He made us dependent on one another.  Pride is a very unbecoming trait in a creature so manifestly unable to sustain independence.  There's so much we cannot know or do on our own.</div> <div>     This is an evidence of our finiteness.  What we can figure out on our own is very limited.  Someone with access to the same information we have can come up with an entirely different take on a situation.  Solomon's point today is that we frequently <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>need </I></FONT>that extra insight in our decision-making.</div> <div>     There are some plans a person purposes which really <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>ought </I></FONT>to come to pass; they are a remedy for some evil that <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>ought </I></FONT>to be fixed.  Yet the remedy breaks down because the planner failed to take into account a certain factor that would frustrate it.  The way the human mind works, there was almost no chance that the planner could have envisioned the stymieing factor in his calculations.  </div> <div>     But, just as certainly following the mind's workings, a <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>second </I></FONT>person, on hearing this plan, would have immediately pictured the frustrating factor and probably a way around it as well!  Why is this so?  Is there some <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>inbuilt law</I></FONT> in our thinking patterns that makes this such a consistent outcome?  Or is it God's <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>direct intervention</I></FONT>, withholding certain information from our thought processes until we go to someone else for help?</div> <div>     And just as certainly as a second point of view can bring up elements critical to a plan's success, so a <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>third </I></FONT>perspective can provide a check on the second that neither of the first two could.  A variety of counselors is indeed advantageous.</div> <bR> <div>     One thing should be kept in mind here.  The insight of additional people does not necessarily promote the idea of <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>joint responsibility</I></FONT> for plans considered.  There are plans which <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>fail </I></FONT>because too many people, or the wrong people, jump on board a plan without having properly perceived the plan's real purpose.  If you have a plan, consider how you want it accomplished and whether you want counselors to actually become <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>teammates</I></FONT>.  </div> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Perpetua" >    If </FONT><I>you </I><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Perpetua" >are adding to another's plan, consider whether your excitement in providing valuable insight ought to mean </FONT><I>your inclusion</I><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Perpetua" > in the plan's implementation.  Sometimes you will have to decline an </FONT><I>offer </I><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Perpetua" >to come on board.  Occasionally you will have to decline the offer to</FONT> <I>take over</I><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Perpetua" > the project.  Of course, if you really are the right man for the job, your wisdom may have just been the means for revealing this.  Just remember that a new captain steering means a different perspective at the helm, and the original planner may not like the eventual complexion of the undertaking, or may object to features he himself would not have added.</FONT></div> <div>     Humans are wonderfully social creatures.  Much of our interaction is wasted or inconsequential.  When we <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>should </I></FONT>be sharing ideas, we often keep them secret for fear of being scoffed.  Some of our ideas <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>will </I></FONT>be scoffed, as will be for our <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>good</I></FONT>, as we could not see the folly of them on our own.  Ah, the benefit of wise and understanding confidants!</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Perpetua" >* </FONT>This is a good argument against His creating for the purpose of curing His own loneliness, for if He were doing that, a lone human would have been more attached to Him than if He were to make <I>more </I>humans, who would therefore divide their attentions further amongst themselves<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Perpetua" >.</FONT></div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> *************************************************************************</div> <bR> <div>  <A NAME="apr_2"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="419" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" BGCOLOR=#CCFFFF > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 81 ><NOBR><div> Proverbs 15:23<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Kabel Bk BT" >  </FONT></div> <div> <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Verdana" ><B>A man </B></FONT><I><B>has</B></I><I><B> </B></I><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Verdana" ><B>joy by the answer of his mouth, </B></FONT></div> <div> <B>and a word in its time, how good</B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Verdana" ><B> </B></FONT><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Verdana" ><I><B>it is</B></I></FONT><B>! </B></div> <bR> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div>  </div> <div> <B><U>Words of the Verse</U></B><B>:</B></div> <bR> <div>     "A word in its time" could probably be well rendered "a timely word."</div> <div>     </div> <div> <B><U>Analysis of the Verse</U></B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <B>Being Compared</B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">The reply of a man's mouth</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">A timely word</div> <bR> <div> <B>The Descriptions of These Two Things in Order</B>:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Gives him joy</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">How good!</div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Teaching of the Verse</U></B>:</div> <bR> <div>     If we try to discern the "joy" trilogy of verses 20, 21, and now 23, we have the joy of a father, the joy of a fool (who will obviously give a father <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>no </I></FONT>joy), and the joy of a speaker (who <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>would </I></FONT>give a father joy).  Verse 22 intervenes with admonition to get advice; this apparently <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>identifies </I></FONT>the character of the man who speaks well (v. 23), and the character that is <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>lacking </I></FONT>from the folly-indulgent (v. 21).  The former seeks out advice, the latter doesn't.</div> <div>      Solomon reflects man's creation in the image of God in our proverb today.  A man takes joy in the aptness of his reply, even as God rejoiced over the results of His own speech bringing the world into being and form.*  Solomon doesn't seem to hesitate over the possible presence of pride in a man rejoicing over his own words.  Solomon sees something that is too deep, too engrained in man's being to need a word of caution or apology.  A man <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>should </I></FONT>rejoice in a fitting reply.  A man <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>should </I></FONT>take pleasure in words that truly answer the need in a situation.</div> <div>     This realization is especially evident when men are tossing an idea to and fro in deliberations, such as Solomon has pictured for us in the previous proverb.  He is telling us that there is nearly no better parallel for grasping the <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>purpose of your existence</I></FONT> than when you are discussing matters of grave importance with <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>other </I></FONT>creatures who can comprehend life, death, eternity, and all matters in between.  Words make us more nearly like God than just about anything else about us.</div> <div>     Words nearly come up alongside <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>us </I></FONT>and tell us, "Yes, you are a creature of eternal consequence.  I am an eternal tool; use me well," even as Wisdom is pictured in Proverbs 8 at <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>God's</I></FONT> right hand assisting Him.</div> <div>     Words are our subject, then.  Let us proceed to the whole matter of <I><B>how </B></I>words are used.  We've pictured words' testimony to us.  They would commend us for a fitting "reply" according to our proverb.  Words that really do <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>not </I></FONT>"answer" a situation, then, bear witness <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>against </I></FONT>us.  Note that our words may speak <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>about </I></FONT>a situation, but they may not really <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>answer </I></FONT>it.  To answer is to show <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Perpetua Titling MT" >understanding </FONT>of the situation, what it <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>really </I></FONT>is, not just thoughts related to it.  When we lack a fitting answer, our words question us:  "Are you sure you are an intelligent creature?", not addressing the <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>amount </I></FONT>of our intelligence, but whether we actually <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>think </I></FONT>about what we say at all.  If we don't, we're more like an animal than a creature made in God's image. </div> <div>     Next our proverb moves us on to the man who is the <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>most </I></FONT>God-like, who gives the <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>most </I></FONT>glory to his Creator for the gift of speech.  He is the man who not only speaks aptly, but who also speaks <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>timely</I></FONT>.  Some people gain an estimation of the importance of words, and so they begin to apply thought to their speech; when this is <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>all </I></FONT>that is involved, though, the results can be unhappier than if they had never taken thought in the first place.  A meditated word <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I><B>out of place</B></I></FONT> can cause great harm.  So a word "in its season" is altogether crucial.  By this Solomon says, if you're going to attach the proper importance to words, you will naturally realize the <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>impact </I></FONT>they will  have.  Drop in a word at the wrong time and you have used the power of words <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>destructively</I></FONT>.  This is most unbecoming.</div> <div>     The general difference between a wise and an unwise user of words is in the ability to go <U>outside oneself</U> in considering words' impact.  A wise person actually considers, "These words will have this affect on this person."  He performs a simple two-part check in his mind.  He considers what the same words would mean if they were spoken to <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>him</I></FONT>, and he adjusts this to any considerations peculiar to his addressee.  He simply obeys the Golden Rule in His speech.  He thereby uses his words responsibly before God.  This is what gives him joy.</div> <div>      An unwise person only considers his words from his own perspective.  This is why Proverbs calls him a dullard.  His selfishness makes him a person of very limited capacity.  We could say about his use of speech, in contrast to the words of our verse- "how bad it is!"  He may gain temporary self-satisfaction for having unloaded some assertions, but will never gain true joy.</div> <bR> <div>     So:  Do your words give you joy?  Are you aware of the presence of God when you speak?</div> <div>     Do you speak for your own edification, or do you truly speak in love, with real concern for the other person?  </div> <div>     Have you developed the gift of timing?  Is this evidenced by your ability to say <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>nothing </I></FONT>when the timing is bad?</div> <bR> <div> *  <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Tahoma" >Man's speech brings nothing into being.  Our prayers call upon God, who brings things to pass per His will.</FONT></div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> **************************************************************************</div> <div>  <A NAME="apr_3"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="611" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 78 ><NOBR><div> Proverbs 15:24<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Kabel Bk BT" >  </FONT></div> <div> <B>The road of life </B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Verdana" ><I><B>is</B></I></FONT><B> upward for the intelligent, </B></div> <div> <B>to the end that he may turn away from Sheol </B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#555555" FACE="Verdana" ><I><B>which is</B></I></FONT><B> downward. </B></div> <bR> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div>  </div> <div> <B><U>Words of the Verse</U></B><B>:</B></div> <bR> <div>     "Upward" is literally "to the upper" or "to the higher".</div> <div>     </div> <div> <B><U>Analysis of the Verse</U></B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <B>Being Compared</B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">The upward road of life</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">The downwards direction to Sheol </div> <bR> <div> <B>Their Descriptions</B>:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Choice of the incisive</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Specifically avoided by the thinking person</div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Teaching of the Verse</U></B>:</div> <bR> <div>     The basic picture presented to us here is of an inclined road and a traveler.  The traveler we're focused on is headed in the upward direction on that road.  But we can see that the other direction of the incline leads somewhere too.  If the traveler we're watching went <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>with </I></FONT>the incline instead of <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>against </I></FONT>it, he would end up down in Sheol, the abode of the dead.  But he would have to turn around for that to happen.  He's headed <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>upwards </I></FONT>in the view Solomon gives us of him.  </div> <div>     He is working against gravity.  He has to apply greater force to move towards his goal.  He knows that if he follows his instincts to relax, he will eventually stop, then turn around, then be headed the other direction.  But he won't allow that.  He has a penetrating perception, meaning simply that he sees things for what they are.  </div> <div>     He knows how limited his own experience is, so he has learned to listen to Someone who has experience of all things, including all times and all places.  This Someone has told him where the path below ends, as with the one above.  Both destinations are outside his own field of vision.  His Source of information has never spoken falsely, has never refused to be tested, <I>inviting </I>proof-seekers instead, be they willing to receive trustworthy information.</div> <div>     So we're seeing an inclined road heading in <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>two </I></FONT>directions.</div> <div>     The <B>upward </B>direction receives its whole definition in this proverb by what it <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>avoids</I></FONT>.  The sagacious traveler has set out in the upward direction to <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>keep from heading</I></FONT> in the <B>downward </B>direction.  Jesus' "broad road that leads to destruction" seems to be a deliberate correlation to our proverb.    </div> <div>     This is not a particularly palatable approach to the Platonic theologians of our day.  They would lead us to believe that if we don't love God simply for who He is, we are insincere.  We are not to love His gifts, not even salvation, just God Himself.  We've joined Plato in peeling away all that is not the Ideal.  Problem is, God has not revealed Himself as an ideal; He has revealed Himself as a person- a person who interacts, who is known by His interactions, including His gifts:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Eurostile" >Psa 9:14</FONT>  so that I may declare all Your praise in the gates of the daughter of Zion; I will <U>rejoice in</U> Your <U>salvation</U>. </div> <bR> <div>     Oh my goodness, David!  Don't you want to revise that?  Don't you know we're supposed to rejoice in God alone!  By rejoicing in His salvation, you're making yourself little better than a spiritual mercenary!  Well, perhaps you can be excused for your Old Testament ignorance.</div> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Perpetua" >    So in our passage, the wise traveler is heading upwards </FONT><I>to avoid</I> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Perpetua" >Hell.  Not a very altruistic motive, eh?  It is if it is a response to God's communications.  God made Hell and He specifically told us to avoid ending up there:</FONT></div> <bR> <div>  <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Eurostile" >Luke 12:5</FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Eurostile" >  But I will warn you of whom you shall fear:  Fear Him who, after He has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yea, I say to you, fear Him. </FONT></div> <bR> <div>     So we are to have a motive other than simply loving God?  Apparently so.  Out of laziness, we have failed to ask and seek out: What motives does <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>God </I></FONT>reveal as good?  We have simply selected the motive we consider the most defensible and counted all others unsuitable by comparison.  Hopefully our verse today unveils the foolishness of such a simplistic and ultimately self-righteous approach to Christianity.</div> <div>     We are supposed to 'see' Hell beneath and head away from it with alacrity.</div> <bR> <div>     Is your path of life on an incline?</div> <div>     Which 'end' of the incline are you headed for?  You may determine this either by the relative difficulty of progress, OR by the destination you've put at your back.  (Strangely, a whole branch of Christianity sprang up in the 20th century that has evolved into a form that reverses <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>both </I></FONT>of these determining factors.  On the one hand they say that God makes everything <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>easier </I></FONT>for us instead of harder; then they add their consent to the Positive Thinking club of Norman Vincent Peale and his followers, denying any real place for Hell in the Christian's daily thought.)</div> <div>     Hell is drawing countless hordes into it like a magnet.  It really is a destination with a lifestyle and a thought process we must consciously avoid.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> *************************************************************************</div> <bR> <div>  <A NAME="apr_4"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="419" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" BGCOLOR=#FFFFCC > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 78 ><NOBR><div> Proverbs 15:25<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Kabel Bk BT" >  </FONT></div> <div> <B>Jehovah will root up the house of the proud; </B></div> <div> <B>But He will establish the border of the widow. </B></div> <bR> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div>  </div> <div> <B><U>Words of the Verse</U></B><B>:</B></div> <bR> <div>     The "proud" are literally the "lofty", from a root meaning to mount up, to rise, to be majestic.</div> <div>     </div> <div> <B><U>Analysis of the Verse</U></B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <B>Being Compared</B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" ><B>:</B></FONT></div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">The house of the proud</div> <div> <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Lucida Sans Unicode" ><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">The boundary of </FONT><I>the property of</I>  <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Lucida Sans Unicode" >the widow</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <B>Their Outcomes</B>:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Jehovah will uproot</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Jehovah will set</div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Teaching of the Verse</U></B>:</div> <bR> <div>     Here is a very interesting pairing.  The <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>proud </I></FONT>compared to the <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>widow</I></FONT>; more specifically, the proud man's house compared to the border of the widow's land.</div> <div>     This is the only time Proverbs speaks of the widow, and only one of two times of "the proud".  God promises to take care of the widow.</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Eurostile" >Psa 68:5</FONT>  In His holy dwelling God <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#444444" FACE="Eurostile" ><I>is</I> </FONT>the father of the fatherless, and the <U>judge of the widows</U>. </div> <bR> <div>     Since our verse today says that God establishes the widow's property line, He Himself will take issue with anyone who removes it.  Of course, anyone who does such a thing will no doubt use 'legal' means to do so, coming up with a unique twist on some existing property or tax statute, or else inventing legislation to isolate the widow's rights under their discretion.  God doesn't care about 'legal' when it is immoral- that is, concerning the perpetrators of such crimes.  He does generally expect us to obey even unjust laws, such as unfair tax requirements, but oppressors who impose such laws- He takes great offense at them.</div> <div>     Therefore, God will 'take it out of the hide' of the thief who commandeers the property of the widow.  God recognizes people's rights in general, but He takes special care to protect the rights of the widow, orphan, poor, and stranger.  He has put earth under man's dominion for the time being, so He allows scenarios to play themselves out rather than stepping in and correcting all injustices immediately.  We have already seen in Proverbs that God does requite injustices in this life, but He will be double quick to bring the widow's cry to His court, with a swift sentence on perpetrators.</div> <div>     Our proverb today is especially interesting, though, in its application of God's judgment to property in general.  The overall teaching of the proverb is about how God deals with peoples' properties.</div> <div>     God looks at the proud man's house and says, "Why should I allow him to linger comfortably upon My earth?  He has done unjustly with all he has 'subcontracted' from Me.  I will pull down all he has; perhaps he will be humbled."  God thus actually <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>gives the proud man a chance</I></FONT> by pulling down his house around his ears.  It is a chance that already carries a taste of judgment, enough to get the proud man's attention <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>if  </I></FONT>he can wise up at all.</div> <div>     There is a purposeful contrast between the proud and the widow and their properties.  It is the <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>proud </I></FONT>man in one form or another <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>who infringes</I></FONT> on the widow and her property rights.  Anyone who would take advantage of a widow for his own gain certainly has set himself in a 'lofty' place.  But God will pull him down.</div> <div>     Furthermore, notice the <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>extent </I></FONT>to which God deals with both.  He protects the widow all the way out to her property line- in other words, all she has; but His judgment is pictured as laying hold of the proud in his innermost sanctum, his very 'house'.  By threatening the proud man's 'house', God is also threatening his family.  The proud man's sins endanger his family, as God warned us they would.  Hopefully the proud man will see the justice in his partial demise, that he might make things right with those he has wronged, or at least set a course for no future oppression.</div> <bR> <div>     Think about this.  Whom in this life do <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>you </I></FONT>have power over?  Parents have power over children.  Older siblings have a degree of power over younger ones.  When we abuse these protectorates, God is very displeased.  He will be just with us to the limit of His law.  He remembers boundaries that were set for the protection of the weak long after we have crumpled them up and thrown them away.  </div> <div>     Some whole nations that are war-torn today were previously havens for human slave traffic, especially prostitution slavery- the kidnapping of young women and girls for renting and selling as sexual commodities.  America is far gone into this same practice today, importing women and girls from south of our borders who are brought there from as far away as eastern Europe.  (See "The Girls Next Door," January 25, 2004, New York Times)  Our 'house' can fall too.  We are moving well beyond contempt for the widow, and God is keeping track.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> **************************************************************************</div> <div>  <A NAME="apr_5"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="525" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" BGCOLOR=#FFCCFF > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 78 ><NOBR><div> Proverbs 15:26<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Kabel Bk BT" >  </FONT></div> <div> <B>The schemes of the evil </B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#444444" FACE="Verdana" ><I><B>are </B></I></FONT><B>an abomination to Jehovah; </B></div> <div> <B>But the words of the pure </B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#444444" FACE="Verdana" ><I><B>are </B></I></FONT><B>pleasant. </B><B> </B></div> <bR> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div>  </div> <div> <B><U>Words of the Verse</U></B><B>:</B></div> <bR> <div>     The "schemes of the evil" can be "evil schemes" just as well grammatically.</div> <div>     The "words of the pure are pleasant" can be  "pleasant words are pure."</div> <div>     </div> <div> <B><U>Analysis of the Verse</U></B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <B>Being Compared</B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">The plans of the immoral</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">The words of the pure</div> <bR> <div> <B>Their Descriptions</B>:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Detested by Jehovah</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Agreeable <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#555555" FACE="Lucida Sans Unicode" ><I>to Jehovah</I></FONT></div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Teaching of the Verse</U></B>:</div> <div>         </div> <div>     The words "abomination" and "pure" are both associated with that which is ceremonially unclean or clean respectively.  The entire clean/ unclean system of the Old Testament was a <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>physical </I></FONT>teaching tool to instruct the Israelite in what is <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>spiritually </I></FONT>clean and unclean.  So Solomon picks up on the lessons and brings them into Proverbs, especially the concept of abomination.  So far, he has told us that these things are an abomination to God:  a falsely adjusted scale (in business),  people of a deviant heart, lying lips, the sacrifice of the wicked, and the way of the wicked (11:1, 20, 12:22, 15:8. 9); and now the plans of the wicked, or wicked plans.</div> <div>     The last three verses on abomination, including today's, tell us that pretty much everything about the wicked is unacceptable to God.  If his sacrifice, his way, and now his plans are rejected by God, can there be anything redeeming in the wicked?  You or I might find interesting or even likeable many things about such a person, but God sees through to the heart, and <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>everything </I></FONT>about him is utterly detestable to Him.  He is seeing things as they really are.  You and I would simply have to admit that we are easily fooled.</div> <div>     The plans (or schemes or machinations) of the immoral are the thoughts he thinks concerning his future.  Being essentially lawless, he only has one rule in all these thoughts- what does <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>he </I></FONT>want to get out of life?  Remember, the wicked is not a devil with the horns shaved off (even the devil is not so obvious).  In terms of our verses, he is someone who thinks himself pure.  Recall that he is a man who brings sacrifice to God, so he has a conscience and a religious practice, possibly as blameless-looking outwardly as his godly neighbor.  So he twists everything about God and His rules in his thinking to make <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>himself </I></FONT>look good and to think <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>himself </I></FONT>worthy of whatever honors he has planned for himself.</div> <div>     But God looks at these plans and sees only abomination, that which repulses Him at a soul level (Ps. 11:5).  Of course, if there were anything redeemable about the wicked, God would be <B>un</B>just to throw even that part of him in the Lake of Fire.  But as we see, God finds the immoral man evil through and through.</div> <div>     It is very important for us to learn to think according to this rule, this standard of God.  He doesn't see as we see.  And we need to be able to tell the unbeliever and false believer what God sees.  Furthermore, we must come to agreement with it in our own souls.  David says this about the godly man's vision:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#009999" FACE="Eurostile" >Ps. 15:4</FONT>  <U>In whose eyes</U> a vile person is despised</div> <bR> <div>     We must hasten to add that we <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>do </I></FONT>relate to the wicked differently than God on some levels.  We are not their judges.  We are fellow-creatures who are also supposed to have sympathy and respect for unbelievers.  We cannot dehumanize them in seeing them as abominable to God.  We owe them more as fellow-creatures than God does as Judge, but even as Judge He extends them kindnesses:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#009999" FACE="Eurostile" > Matt 5:44-45</FONT>  But I say to you, <U>love</U> your enemies, bless those who curse you, <U>do good</U> to those who hate you, and <U>pray for</U> those who spitefully use you and persecute you,   45  that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; <B><U>for</U></B> <U>He makes His sun rise on the evil</U> and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.</div> <bR> <div>     And who are <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>we </I></FONT>supposed to be if we are not the abominable wicked?</div> <div>     We are to be the <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>pure</I></FONT>.  The pure are the unmixed.  They do not bring sacrifices to God then turn around and blaspheme His name by their actions.  What they are in religious service they are in daily life- sincere and humble.  They do not make plans with <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>themselves </I></FONT>at the center of them.  They seek how they may serve God, especially by serving their fellow-creatures, especially those of the household of faith.</div> <div>     And how does God see the pure?  He sees their <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>words </I></FONT>as agreeable, pleasant.</div> <div>     So God is comparing the <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>thoughts </I></FONT>and plans of the immoral with the <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>words </I></FONT>of the pure.  When God looks at the humble man's words, He is only seeing the manifestations of a pure heart.  The words show that the man is not the center of his own universe.  He acknowledges God and His way in everything.</div> <bR> <div>     Will your words today manifest this about you?  Or will your words be conflicted because you are seeking your own ends while trying to imprint God's stamp of approval on them?</div> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> ***************************************************************************</div> <bR> <div>  <A NAME="apr_6"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="487" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" BGCOLOR=#CCFFCC > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 78 ><NOBR><div> Proverbs 15:27<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Kabel Bk BT" >  </FONT></div> <div> <B>He who is a looter of loot disturbs his own house, </B></div> <div> <B>but he who hates bribes shall live. </B></div> <bR> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div>  </div> <div> <B><U>Words of the Verse</U></B><B>:</B></div> <bR> <div>     It is difficult to capture the Hebrew doubling in "looter of loot".  "Covets a ... covetousness" is used in Hosea 2:9 for the same expression.  In Hebrew it is simply a verb root form "to plunder" and its derivative noun "plunder".  "Greedy for gain" is how most translations render the expression.</div> <div>     </div> <div> <B><U>Analysis of the Verse</U></B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <B>Being Compared</B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">The one who is avid for avidity</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">The one who hates gifts</div> <bR> <div> <B>Their Outcomes in that Order</B>:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Brings turbulence to his own house</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Shall live</div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Teaching of the Verse</U></B>:</div> <bR> <div>     Solomon is revisiting a phrase he used in his opening warning of the book:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Eurostile" >Prov 1:19</FONT>  So <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#444444" FACE="Eurostile" ><I>are</I> </FONT>the ways of everyone who <U>gains</U> <U>unjust gain</U>; it takes away its owners' life. </div> <bR> <div>     There he told his son to avoid the company of thugs.</div> <div>     The same Hebrew doubled phrase is used a total of six times in Scripture.  In Jeremiah it is used twice, both times of <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>every </I></FONT>Israelite of the day, including prophet and priest.  Therefore, the phrase carries a wider meaning than simple thuggery.</div> <div>     By doubling one basic word, we get the picture of both the <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>loot </I></FONT>and the process of <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>looting </I></FONT>by which it got there.  Plunder can only come by plundering.  Thus we are suspicious whenever we see an accumulation of wealth in a godless man's possession.  Perhaps he came by it honestly, but shady dealings are often the normal means by which wealth is gained in a greedy nation. </div> <div>     He who is 'avid for avarice' is also described in the New Testament:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Eurostile" >1 Tim 6:9</FONT>  But those <U>purposing to be rich</U> fall into temptation, and a snare, and many foolish and hurtful lusts, which plunge men into ruin and destruction. </div> <bR> <div>     My oh my!  The most innocent and acceptable of American pastimes, the acquiring of wealth, put under such censure!</div> <div>     You see, once someone has made <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>wealth </I></FONT>his <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>goal</I></FONT>, it is certain that he will be tempted to take 'shortcuts' to get there.  If he does not temper his goal when the temptation comes, it is also certain that he will fall prey to temptation; that is, he will voluntarily engage in some form of dishonesty to acquire wealth.  The more scrupulous of thieves will at first try to avoid scenarios where 'someone gets hurt', choosing only to break a law or two but plundering no man's private wealth.  Consciences dulled to the degree of appetites whetted for greed, however, will eventually submit to knowingly thieving others ("Oh, but they had enough and to spare!")</div> <div>     So the trouble of theft is attached to the thief.  So he brings the trouble into his household.  We already had a proverb on the man who troubles his own house:</div> <bR> <div>  <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Eurostile" >Prov 11:29</FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Eurostile" >   He who troubles his own house shall inherit the wind;  </FONT></div> <bR> <div>     Now we know one definite character type to pin this doom on.  The man who covets gain will also, then, inherit the wind.  This is bad, for he probably had his family's comfort in mind when he 'appropriated' wealth inappropriately.  Now all he'll be leaving them is two handfuls of nothing.  Let them take a couple of grabs at the passing wind; that's all the more they'll receive.</div> <div>     Furthermore, our verse adds that they will march towards this grand inheritance with irritation.  The violence by which the wealth was acquired will not depart from it.  The household of the thief will be disrupted by various factions and contentions.  So the gods of greed rule where they are invited.</div> <div>     Pay careful attention to the <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>opposite </I></FONT>of the unjust gainer.  It is not Mr. Total Honesty.  It is the man who faces real temptation and says, "No."  As often as not, this will be to his own hurt.  He is the one who "hates" bribes.  </div> <div>     So when his boss says, "We took some kickbacks, and we're spreading them around so it won't look suspicious.  Congratulations on your 'bonus'!"- the hater of bribes has to decline.  Yes, this will probably mean the loss of his job.  And <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>he </I></FONT>is the one who'll be seen as a troublemaker.  What's worse, his wife might agree with this epithet if he loses his job.  Why couldn't he just go along with it?  <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>He </I></FONT>wasn't responsible.  But she, too, needs to see that he has actually chosen "life" by refusing a "gift" (the Hebrew for "bribe"- it can be used in a good or bad sense).</div> <div>     So the merely passive man will likely get caught up in bribery schemes.  It is only the man who takes a firm stand and says, "No, I'd rather invite cancer into my life than ill-gotten gains" who will survive, who will have life.  And the term 'bribe' can apply to <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>any </I></FONT>kind of ill-gotten gain.</div> <div>     So the one man <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>pulls wealth in</I></FONT>, but it 'backs up' and ruptures his house.  The other man <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>pushes wealth out</I></FONT> (or so it seems), but in so doing, he cleanses his house and remains open to God's blessing.</div> <bR> <div>     Which man are you?</div> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> **************************************************************************</div> <bR> <div>  <A NAME="apr_7"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="527" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" BGCOLOR=#CCFFFF > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 78 ><NOBR><div> Proverbs 15:28<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Kabel Bk BT" >  </FONT></div> <div> <B>The heart of the righteous meditates </B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#444444" FACE="Verdana" ><I><B>how </B></I></FONT><B>to answer, </B></div> <div> <B>But the mouth of the wicked pours forth evil things.</B></div> <bR> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div>  </div> <div> <B><U>Words of the Verse</U></B><B>:</B></div> <bR> <div>     The Hebrew for "meditates" is the same in Joshua 1:8 when God tells His people to "meditate" on His Word to prosper.  The word literally means "to mutter".</div> <div>     </div> <div> <B><U>Analysis of the Verse</U></B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <B>Being Compared</B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">The heart of the righteous</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">The mouth of the immoral</div> <bR> <div> <B>Their Opposing Outcomes</B>:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Ponders how to answer</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Gushes out lawlessness</div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Teaching of the Verse</U></B>:</div> <bR> <div>      What is the essential difference between the righteous and the unrighteous in this verse?  The righteous <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>knows </I></FONT>the power of words, but the unrighteous is only <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>under </I></FONT>the power of words.</div> <div>     The righteous man knows that words are powerful, so he pauses to think before he uses them.  The unrighteous man does not understand the 'independent' power of words.  For him, words are merely a way to express who he is.  His words 'gush forth' freely because he has no question about the appropriateness of his words as an expression of himself.  He and his words are one, and there's no reason to question him<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>self</I></FONT>.</div> <div>     This is a very potent illustration of the natural depravity of man.  Man in his fallen nature will never truly check himself.  His tongue, which is an engine of Hell, is a perfectly acceptable mode of communication to the natural man:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Eurostile" >James 3:6</FONT>  And the <U>tongue</U> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#444444" FACE="Eurostile" ><I>is</I> </FONT>a fire, a world of iniquity. So the tongue is set among our members, staining all the body and inflaming the circuit of nature, and being <U>inflamed by</U> <U>H</U><U>el</U><U>l</U>. </div> <bR> <div>     The natural human, born in sin, never really questions the source of his words.  He has a natural trust in himself, and he would never acknowledge the truth that his words are all lit by the very fires of Hell.</div> <div>     Ironically, it is the man we can describe as righteous who alone knows his natural <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>un</I></FONT>righteousness.  Why does he think seriously about what he says before he says it?  It is because he knows that the sin that still dwells in his members finds all-too-easy expression through his tongue.</div> <div>     And the unbeliever can no more clean up his speech than a mud hole can produce clear water.  The evil of the unbeliever's speech is only ultimately detectable by the standard of God's glory.  Many unbelievers have high personal standards of speech yet make no acknowledgement of their Creator with their lips.  They do not proclaim the glory of the cross with their communicative ability.  Their speech is all a denial of God's righteousness and is therefore all a proclamation of <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>self</I></FONT>-righteousness.</div> <div>     Again, the righteous man is the first to concede his natural inclination to exalt self with his words.  That is why he chooses carefully among the responses he might give, to be sure that he does not forget the God who made him and redeemed him.</div> <bR> <div>     The good man actually <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>responds </I></FONT>when he is spoken to.  The selfish man, on the other hand, can only be said to <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>react</I></FONT>.  He cannot go outside himself to check on his answer, so ultimately, however much he may think on it, he is only issuing forth material from a poisonous seedbed; and that poison- coming forth undiluted- is always a deadly portion.</div> <bR> <div>     So how about your words?</div> <div>     Do you really respond, thinking about what you say?</div> <div>     Or do you merely react, being set 'on automatic', as is the unbeliever's only mode?</div> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> ***************************************************************************</div> <bR> <div>  <A NAME="apr_8"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="432" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" BGCOLOR=#CCFF99 > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 78 ><NOBR><div> Proverbs 15:29<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Kabel Bk BT" > </FONT></div> <div> <B>Jehovah </B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Verdana" ><I><B>is</B></I></FONT><B> far from the wicked, </B></div> <div> <B>but He hears the prayer of the righteous. </B></div> <bR> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div>  </div> <div> <B><U>Words of the Verse</U></B><B>:</B></div> <bR> <div>     "Far" is from a Hebrew word meaning "remote", "distant".</div> <div>     </div> <div> <B><U>Analysis of the Verse</U></B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <B>Being Compared</B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Jehovah's relation to the lawless</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Jehovah's relation to those who are right</div> <bR> <div> <B>The Two Descriptions</B>:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Distant</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">He hears their prayer</div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Teaching of the Verse</U></B>:</div> <bR> <div>     Grammatically, this is the simplest proverb we have seen in some time.  In making this rather controversial point, Solomon seems concerned to preclude misunderstanding.</div> <div>     This is very similar to the statement of 15:8,</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Eurostile" >Prov 15:8</FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Eurostile" >  The sacrifice of the wicked </FONT><I>is</I> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Eurostile" >a hateful thing to Jehovah, but the prayer of the upright </FONT><I>is</I> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Eurostile" >His delight.</FONT><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT></div> <bR> <div>     So we have moved from God relating <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>adversarially </I></FONT>with the wicked to His <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>lack </I></FONT>of dealing with them, indicating this:  that when the wicked draw near to God in, say, an otherwise acceptable form (in church, for example), God responds according to His righteousness and <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>hates </I></FONT>their offering.  But in normal, everyday dealings, God simply has <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>no </I></FONT>fellowship, <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>no </I></FONT>concourse at all with the wicked.</div> <div>     Does this mean He is unaware of them?  No, as far as His omniscience and His weighing of their spirits to judge them, He is infinitely aware of them.  But as far as drawing near to have fellowship, God 'wouldn't touch them with a ten foot pole'.</div> <div>     What a dreadfully offensive thing for God to say about a person!  And your average person, in catching God's drift here, is mightily offended in return!  In fact, most will show their deep-rooted theological nature by arguing that that was <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>Solomon's</I></FONT> narrow, bigoted, Israeli view, but that the God we modern people know and love is much bigger and broader than that!  We all make mistakes, after all, so whom <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>could </I></FONT>God fellowship with if He were looking for perfection?</div> <div>     And yet it is clear that the 'closest' God will get to most people will be in the eternal state:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Eurostile" >Rev 14:10</FONT>   He will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels, and <U>in the presence of the Lamb</U>. </div> <bR> <div>     When God expelled man from the Garden of Eden, it was not a means of promoting intimacy.  But man doesn't get the point.  We take God's mercies and bounties in creation as a sign of our worthiness rather than of His clemency.  We take the Gospel as a token of our attractiveness to God rather than the opposite.  We are so filled with pride, we just can't accept that God would 'dis' us, <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>even though we have no real desire to be intimate with Him</I></FONT><I>!</I></div> <bR> <div>     Can man, then, have fellowship with God?  Our verse clearly indicates Yes.  It is the righteous to whom God inclines a listening ear, as in conversation, as in friendship.  So some men arise from their repulsive condition to its opposite!  How can this be?</div> <div>     This brings up the first of two ways in which men are righteous.  It is, note, "the righteous" whom the Lord hears.  How are they righteous?  Firstly, by <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Palatino Linotype" ><B>justification</B></FONT>.  That is, God declares them righteous, legally, in His 'courtroom' in Heaven, on the basis of Christ's death, burial, and resurrection.  These deeds of Christ secure forgiveness for His people; they also count His perfect righteousness <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Palatino Linotype" ><I>on their behalf</I></FONT>.  There is no question about our reception by God when we come to Him <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Palatino Linotype" ><I>in the Beloved</I></FONT>.</div> <div>     But there is a second sense of our righteousness that verifies the first.  It is the righteousness of our <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Palatino Linotype" ><B>sanctification</B></FONT>.  Everyone who is justified is also sanctified.  Sanctification is not legal, not in a courtroom in Heaven, not apart from us.  Sanctification takes place <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>within </I></FONT>us.  It is the shift in our basic disposition, whereby we prefer and adopt God's holy ways over our former lawlessness.  This mode of righteousness is clearly connected with acceptable prayer in Scripture:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Eurostile" >Psa 66:18</FONT>  If I had regarded iniquity in my heart, Jehovah would <U>not </U>have <U>heard</U>. </div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Eurostile" > 1 John 3:22</FONT>  And whatever we ask, we <U>receive </U>from Him, <U>because </U>we <U>keep His commandments</U>, and we do the things pleasing before Him. </div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Eurostile" > Jam 4:3</FONT>  You <U>ask</U>, and do <U>not receive</U>, <U>because</U> you ask wrongly, in order that you may spend on your lusts. </div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Eurostile" > 1 Pet 3:7</FONT>  You husbands, in like manner, live with your wives according to knowledge, giving honor to the woman, as to the weaker vessel, as being also joint heirs of the grace of life; that your <U>prayers </U>may not be <U>hindered</U>. </div> <bR> <div>     Unfortunately, our prayers are not heard when we are unrighteous.  Actually, <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>fortunately </I></FONT>we are rebuffed.  That way, we know there is something to fix in our lives.</div> <bR> <div>     Are <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>your </I></FONT>prayers heard by God?</div> <div>     Are you that one exception who can have reigning sin in your life, and yet God understands, knows you're basically a good person, and listens to you?</div> <div>     What do you think all the rest of the lawless hypocrites are assuming?</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> ************************************************************************</div> <bR> <div>  <A NAME="apr_9"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="445" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" BGCOLOR=#CCCCFF > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 78 ><NOBR><div> Proverbs 15:30<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Kabel Bk BT" > </FONT></div> <div> <B>The brightness of the eyes rejoices the heart;</B></div> <div> <B>a good report makes the bones fat. </B><B> </B></div> <bR> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div>  </div> <div> <B><U>Words of the Verse</U></B><B>:</B></div> <bR> <div>     "Brightness" can be simply "light".</div> <div>     "Report" means "that which is heard."</div> <div>     </div> <div> <B><U>Analysis of the Verse</U></B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <B>Being Compared</B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">The light of the eyes</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">A good message</div> <bR> <div> <B>Their Descriptions</B>:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Gladdens the heart</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Fattens the bones</div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Teaching of the Verse</U></B>:</div> <div>     </div> <div>     We have a fairly extensive treatment of bones in the Bible (126 occurrences, with well over 100 of them referring to bones, only a handful translated "selfsame" by an interesting extension).  Solomon started early telling us that godliness is marrow to our bones (3:8).  In 12:4 we learned that a bad wife is like bone cancer, which envy is also like in 14:30.  Now we are back to good affects on the bones in our verse today.</div> <div>     Isaiah uses fatness of bones as a good effect also:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Eurostile" >Isa 58:11</FONT>  And Jehovah shall always guide you and satisfy your soul in dry places, and <U>make your bones fat;</U> and you shall be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water whose waters fail not. </div> <div>   </div> <div>     We now know on a molecular level something of the importance of various kinds of fat to our bodies' functioning.  Many of our bodies' systems depend on certain fats for normal functioning.  So saying that a good report fattens the bones is saying that it makes healthy or maintains health.  This is an observation that we are not merely physical creatures.  We are more than a combination of chemicals.  If we are depressed, certain bodily functions are decreased.  If we are angry, other bodily functions increase, affecting us negatively, especially if maintained over a long period of time.  So these <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>invisible </I></FONT>emotions affect our <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>visible </I></FONT>bodies.</div> <div>     A good message, then, strengthens the pathways in the body that promote vibrant health.  </div> <div>     Let us ask, then:  Do some people just hear all the good news and some all the bad news?  Pretty much, yes.  But what people hear depends on <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>Where </I></FONT>they place themselves in relation to good news and <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>How </I></FONT>they hear whatever communications come their way.  </div> <div>     Sick people have often blocked off the sources of good news because they don't want to hear it for various reasons.  They have, perhaps, been unduly influenced by bad news, and take good news as unfounded optimism.</div> <div>     Religiously speaking, all the world's ill health spiritually is from lack of hearing THE good news.  Christians' maladies, physical and spiritual, can often be traced to lack of faith in various elements of the Gospel.  When God's testimony is not good news to our <I>own </I>ears, it does us little if any good.  This is why Jesus said:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Eurostile" >Luke 8:18</FONT>  Therefore be careful <U>how you hear</U>.  For whoever has, to him shall be given; and whoever has not, from him shall be taken even that which he seems to have. </div> <bR> <div>     Meaning that when we really believe- believe to the affecting of our souls- we open the pathway for <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>more </I></FONT>of God's testimony to enter.  Whenever we hear God, but it doesn't really enter our souls- changing us, renewing us, controlling us- we <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>close off</I></FONT> pathways of His working, and eventually lose whatever we may have gained.</div> <div>     We have dealt with the easier half of the proverb first; now back to the first half.</div> <div>     The closest expression to the "light of the eyes" is in Ezra:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Eurostile" >Ezra 9:8</FONT>  And now for a little time grace has been <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#444444" FACE="Eurostile" ><I>shown </I> </FONT>from Jehovah our God, to leave us a remnant to escape and to give us a nail in His holy place, so that our God may <U>enlighten our eyes</U> and give us a little life in our bondage. </div> <bR> <div>     The reception of light in the first half of the proverb is the parallel of the reception of sound in the second half.  The opening wider of the eyes to take in light is associated with the desire to associate with our surroundings rather than close ourselves off from them.  A depressed person has his eyes more 'shut'.  He has retreated into himself, and he rejects most testimony from outside himself.  His interactions with others are not very full-bodied.  He goes through the motions, but he's really not in it.  He's only hearing and responding to bad news in his head.</div> <div>     Note that there is no "and/ but" between the two halves of our verse.  This is very unusual and therefore noteworthy.  The lack of a conjunction or disjunction tells us that one half of the verse flows right into the other.  Whatever the first half is saying, the second half is restating or completing.  </div> <div>     So the receiving of light to the eyes is merely a picture of a person whose face brightens for <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>some </I></FONT>reason; the second half gives a specific reason.  The first half tells us that <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>whatever </I></FONT>it is that brightens one up in his countenance also opens his inner, heart pathways.  The second half tells us that a good message is the most common example of this.  So where we were closed down, now we're 'open for business' again when we hear a heartening report.  We have a new perspective on things.</div> <bR> <div>     Again, a very simple question:  How does the Gospel affect us day by day?  Does it renew us?</div> <div>     How do we come to God in prayer?  When we think that our Heavenly Father knows what we need before we ask, that He has already provided all we need in Christ, and that He holds forth His own presence for our provision today, does it brighten our eyes?  Does our countenance actually lift at the thought of it?</div> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> *************************************************************************</div> <bR> <div>  <A NAME="apr_10"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="413" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" BGCOLOR=#CCCC99 > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 78 ><NOBR><div> Proverbs 15:31<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Kabel Bk BT" > </FONT></div> <div> <B>The ear that hears the chastisement of life </B></div> <div> <B>shall dwell in the </B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#444444" FACE="Verdana" ><I><B>very </B></I></FONT><B>midst of the wise. </B></div> <bR> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div>  </div> <div> <B><U>Words of the Verse</U></B><B>:</B></div> <bR> <div>     "Dwell" has a basic meaning of "stop", so to stay over.</div> <div>     "In the midst of" is from a word having to do with "the nearest part, center".</div> <div>     </div> <div> <B><U>Analysis of the Verse</U></B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <B>Being Described</B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">The ear that hears corrections which are in accordance with life</div> <bR> <div> <B>Its Description</B>:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Shall abide as one among the wise</div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Teaching of the Verse</U></B>:</div> <bR> <div>     The previous proverb had to do with hearing a good report.</div> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Perpetua" >    Solomon seems to swoop in quickly to balance us with the </FONT><I>most essential</I> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Perpetua" >message the ear has to hear.  An ear that doesn't hear </FONT><I>correction </I><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Perpetua" >is not properly attuned to receive true good news.  </FONT></div> <div>     In other words, if we try to guard our positive attitude at all costs, refusing the negativity of correction, we are actually acting <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>against </I></FONT>the long-term well-being of our true optimism.  True optimism never opposes realism.  Realism, of course, does not necessitate or equate to pessimism either.  </div> <div>     Put in soteriological (per salvation) terms, the person who has never received the <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>bad news</I></FONT> about himself as a sinner is not in a position to receive the <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>good news</I></FONT> of Christ's salvation.  The good news is only good news to someone who sees the truly, deeply, bad shape he is in.  The worse he sees the <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>bad </I></FONT>shape, the better Christ's <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>mercies </I></FONT>look.  And it is nigh unto impossible to exaggerate the depths of our depravity and the punishment it deserves.  </div> <div>     Someone who receives the gospel without the background of the bad news is only gaining Christ as an <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>add-on</I></FONT><I> </I>to, not a <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>replacement </I></FONT>of, his previous life:  a bonus, perhaps, in terms of earthly life, but of no value in attaining eternal life.</div> <div>     What are the "chastisements of life"?  They are the rebukes that must come from the realm of Life to qualify us to dwell there.  They are the chastisements or corrections associated with Life; in other words, the critiques one receives when spiritually alive to <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>promote </I></FONT>that life.  </div> <div>     The words "chastisement" and "life" are somewhat paradoxical.  The first is negative, the second positive.  The only way to understand why the two must dwell together is to understand regenerated (born again) human nature Biblically.  Each man since Adam has been conceived with a sin nature; this is the basis for the bad news we spoke of.  God the Holy Spirit brings the truth of this bad news home to the sinner's heart along with the remedy in Christ's cross and resurrection; our ability and willingness to receive the Spirit's report is due to His regenerating us.  At that point, the new believer has two natures, his old sinful nature and his new righteous nature.  These two natures are in combat until our death:</div> <bR> <div>  <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Eurostile" >Gal 5:17</FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Eurostile" >  For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one other, that you may not do the things that you desire. </FONT></div> <bR> <div>     This is why we continue to need 'bad news'- the continuing truth of our old nature dwelling in us.  That's what correction is.  We not only need life-giving words to nourish our new spirit; we need death-dealing words to mortify (put to death) our old spirit.  Generally speaking, any realizations that deal death-wounds to our old man are simultaneously dealing life to our new man.</div> <div>     So we have continuous need of rebuke, be it mild or harsh- either in depth of accusation (something that's really, deeply wrong with us) or painfulness of delivery (a good chiding).  A good friend is necessarily a good rebuker: someone who won't let us get away with junk.</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Eurostile" > Heb 3:13</FONT>  But exhort one another daily, while it is called today, lest any of you be hardened through <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Eurostile" ><I>the</I></FONT> deceitfulness of sin. </div> <bR> <div>     The assumption of the above verse is that sin <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>will </I></FONT>harden us if we aren't exhorted.  Sin has a natural hardening affect that can only be broken up or softened by reminders of our own weakness and the accompanying necessity of trusting fully and only in Christ.</div> <div>     Those who rebuke one another are the wise.  If you are one of them, you dwell in the very company of the wise, as our proverb says.  You have a badge for that elite club.</div> <div>     A good rebuker will only speak harshly when that is the only mode of communication that will reach sin with a mortal blow.  Ordinarily, our rebukes must be mild, in keeping with the realization of our <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>own </I></FONT>indwelling sin, and the desire we have for how <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>others </I></FONT>would graciously rebuke <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>us</I></FONT>.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> **********************************************************************</div> <bR> <div>  <A NAME="apr_11"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="587" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" BGCOLOR=#CC99FF > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 78 ><NOBR><div> Proverbs 15:32<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Kabel Bk BT" > </FONT></div> <div> <B>The one who dismisses chastisement spurns his own soul, </B></div> <div> <B>but he who hears correction purchases heart. </B></div> <bR> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div>  </div> <div> <B><U>Words of the Verse</U></B><B>:</B></div> <bR> <div>     "Chastisement" is from a root word having to do with blows, whereas "correction" is the same as in our previous verse, having to do with "making right".</div> <div>     "Dismisses" is from a word meaning "to loose".</div> <div>     "Purchases" is translated "buys, bought" most of the 85 times the Hebrew word is used.  It can be "attains possession of" as well, the Hebrew basically meaning "to erect".</div> <div>     "Heart" is usually translated "understanding" in passages like this.</div> <div>     </div> <div> <B><U>Analysis of the Verse</U></B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <B>Being Compared</B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">The one who lets admonition go</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">The one who listens to rectification</div> <bR> <div> <B>Their Two Descriptions</B>:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Spurns his own soul</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Procures heart <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#555555" FACE="Lucida Sans Unicode" ><I>for himself</I></FONT></div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Teaching of the Verse</U></B>:</div> <bR> <div>     Proverbs 15 ends with a flurry of blows to our pride, hopefully softening us to blows in general, as we are apparently in great need of them.</div> <div>     Criticisms have a way of sticking to us, even hounding us and bothering us.  This is because they wound us, and the pain is slow to subside (it's nice when someone can apply anesthetic along with his critique: see previous proverb).  However, the fact that they stay doesn't mean that they do us good.  They stick us in the pride, but all we're worried about is pulling the admonition out and licking our wound.  We fume about the nerve of someone to say that about us, and all our energy is spent on self-defense rather than self-improvement.  Eventually we either move on or plot our revenge, but seldom do we take to heart a criticism.  This is what our proverb calls dismissing a chastisement.</div> <div>     Remember that chastisements can come in a variety of packagings.  The two basic packages are mean and well-intended.  The spiteful person probably doesn't intend to do us any good.  That doesn't matter; his critique is still a chastisement and, as such, information we may choose to use to our advantage.  Sometimes a spiteful word is the only form of communication by which we could've been corrected in that area.  Our pride is so very stubbornly entrenched.  Pass the dynamite.</div> <div>     Our proverb has some very disturbing information about someone who dismisses rebuke.  He is rejecting his own soul.  That's right; under the pretense of <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>preserving </I></FONT>his soul, removing the barbs of criticism, he is actually removing the medicine that draws the poison <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>out</I></FONT>.  But it feels just the opposite!  Of course, criticism <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>is </I></FONT>a kind of poison going in.  But it is only poison to our pride.  Still, it stings and feels like death.  If we cooperate, it <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>is </I></FONT>what the New Testament calls 'mortification', a putting to death.</div> <div>     Note that this is the only Biblical kind of good self-love.  There is no command to love ourselves in all of Scriptures (though many mistakenly take "love your neighbor as yourself" as such a command).  Biblically, self-love is always <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>secondary</I></FONT>, loving self <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>through </I></FONT>love of wisdom, love of correction, love of spouse.  <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>Direct </I></FONT>love of self is specifically <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>bad</I></FONT>, 2 Tim. 3:1,2.</div> <div>     The second half of our proverb says that whoever gives ear to a word that would right his floundering ship is laying claim to a true human heart.  The human who refuses correction is like a hermit crab who retreats beneath a calcified shell, preserving, yet ultimately destroying himself.  The human who opens himself up to wounds is purchasing a real human heart, one that goes from feeling the pain of correction to feeling the joy of congruity.  It is almost as if he 'invents' a real human heart by the very act of receiving its pain; as though the price for a heart he hands to the man behind the counter is a first ache for that heart to feel.</div> <div>     This is a kind of Pinocchio story; the foolish Pinocchio spurning his wished-for human soul, the wise Pinocchio purchasing a human heart through reception of critique.</div> <div>     Of course, the main and best wounder we need is God.  We cast our heart before Him daily saying, "O wound me, faithful Friend!"  Then we ready ourselves for any word of correction He might relay during prayer.  Then we steady ourselves for any words of correction He might have for us throughout the day, through private pains, through loving and wise rebukers, or through thoughtless or spiteful clods who unwittingly sow the seeds of our re-creation by their mean critiques.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> **************************************************************************</div> <bR> <div>  <A NAME="apr_12"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="513" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" BGCOLOR=#C0DCC0 > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 78 ><NOBR><div> Proverbs 15:33<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Kabel Bk BT" > </FONT></div> <div> <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Verdana" ><B>The fear of Jehovah </B></FONT><I><B>is</B></I><B> </B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Verdana" ><B>the discipline </B></FONT><I><B>leading to</B></I><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Verdana" ><B> wisdom, </B></FONT></div> <div> <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Verdana" ><B>and before honor </B></FONT><I><B>is</B></I><B> </B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Verdana" ><B>humility. </B></FONT></div> <bR> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div>  </div> <div> <B><U>Words of the Verse</U></B><B>:</B></div> <bR> <div>     "Discipline" is from the same Hebrew word as "chastisement" in the previous proverb.  It is often translated "instruction".</div> <div>     </div> <div> <B><U>Analysis of the Verse</U></B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> Being Compared<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">The fear of Jehovah</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Humility</div> <bR> <div> Their Descriptions:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">The discipline <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#555555" FACE="Lucida Sans Unicode" ><I>leading to</I></FONT>  wisdom</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">The predecessor to honor</div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Teaching of the Verse</U></B>:</div> <bR> <div>     In his opening, in the seven-fold purpose statement, Solomon's first stated purpose for the book was this:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Eurostile" >Prov 1:2</FONT>  to know <U>wisdom</U> and i<U>nstruction</U><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >  </FONT>[discipline]</div> <div>  </div> <div>     <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Perpetua" >So wisdom and instruction/ discipline can be considered separate attainments.  Then in his third purpose statement,  Solomon said this:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Eurostile" >Prov 1:3</FONT>  to receive the <U>instruction</U> [or discipline] of intelligence</div> <bR> <div>     So instruction/ discipline can be the means to other attainments as well as its own attainment.</div> <div>     Now in 15:33 he tells us that the fear of Jehovah IS the "instruction [or discipline] of wisdom", even as he had finished the purpose statements with the theme:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Eurostile" >Prov 1:7</FONT>  The <U>fear of Jehovah</U> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#555555" FACE="Eurostile" ><I>is</I>  </FONT>the beginning of knowledge; but fools despise <U>wisdom</U> and <U>instruction</U> [discipline]</div> <bR> <div>     The fear of Jehovah is foundational to all things for us.  Specifically, Solomon wanted to tie it in to our need to <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>receive correction</I></FONT> in closing this paragraph on rebuke.  Jehovah's fear in a man <I><B>is </B></I>the discipline, the correction, the instruction that leads to wisdom.  You can boil down and summarize the whole instruction a man needs in his life to this:  fearing God.  If he has the fear of God, he will be instructed.  We conclude, then, at the first, that not many people on earth are truly activated by the fear of God.</div> <div>     The fear of God is an avoidance in the soul.  It is a sense of what I must not do, where I must not proceed, even what I must not think.  Whatever activity displeases God I will avoid.  God's <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>being </I></FONT>displeased I will avoid.  Whatever He has revealed as displeasing Him I will accept as unacceptable.</div> <div>     The true fear of God is an <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Palatino Linotype" ><I>abiding </I></FONT>characteristic in a man.  It is not a question he would answer on a test; it is an understanding he carries in his soul.  So the fear of God <I><B>is </B></I>a discipline; it <I><B>is </B></I>instruction.  It lays hold of a man and does not let him go.  This is partly why the fear of God is key to a godly life:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Eurostile" >Psa 25:14</FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Eurostile" >  The secret of Jehovah </FONT><I>is</I> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Eurostile" >with those who fear Him; and He will make them know His covenant. </FONT></div> <bR> <div>     There are some things that are simply unknowable except by the fear of God.  And the fear of God is not an 'undergraduate diploma' before we move on to more advanced aspects of godliness.  Scenes of heaven recorded in Scripture are replete with the fear of God.  The fear of God only seems to become more enveloping at glorification.  The closer we are to Him, the more the inherent weightiness of His glory will 'oppress' us (that's why the angels in Isa. 6 cover themselves).</div> <div>     So the fear of God is a discipline, a way of life.  It is an instruction, a course we enroll in and never move beyond.  The course of study could be called Wisdom.  We might see God's Fear as the school and Wisdom as a class.  No one who gets into the university of God's Fear will skip Wisdom.  Wisdom, you might say, is the only degree offered at the school.  Or perhaps it is the only major, and all subjoined disciplines will be its minors.  The wisdom of God through the fear of God feeds them all, is the basis for them all.  A Christian is better off <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I><B>consciously </B></I></FONT>approaching  life as a <U>pursuit of wisdom through the fear of God</U>.  It is not a metaphor by which we learn some other more basic lesson; it <I><B>is </B></I>the basic lesson.</div> <div>     Now why does the second half of verse commend humility to us?  How does this connect to the fear of God?  Very simply, we are being commended to a school, an attainment; at its end we would naturally expect honors.  God promises honors.  So how are these honors attained?  Most men naturally seek honors with an ascendant air.  They see the goal elevated above their present status, but they feel their potential rising to its mastery.  </div> <div>     Solomon is saying that the school of God's fear is different.  He is saying that it is not an <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>upward </I></FONT>attainment.  God has not held it at the end of a marathon run to which we must match our human strengths.  Quite the opposite.  The whole point of the university of God's fear with respect to self-knowledge is to come to a realization of our <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Palatino Linotype" ><I>weaknesses</I></FONT>.  A disappointing task, to be sure, to find out that I am not all I thought I was.  Yet this is the continual, the perpetual, and the insurmountable struggle of the school of God's fear.  </div> <div>     Does our arrogance know no end?  Can our self-sufficiency never be put to rest?  Not in this life:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Eurostile" >Rom 7:22 - 25 </FONT>  For I delight in the Law of God according to the inward man;  but I see another law in my members having warred against the law of my mind, and taking me <U>captive</U> by the law of sin being in my members.   O wretched man <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#444444" FACE="Eurostile" ><I>that </I> </FONT>I <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#444444" FACE="Eurostile" ><I>am </I></FONT>!  Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?   I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then<U> I myself</U> with the mind truly serve <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#444444" FACE="Eurostile" ><I>the</I> </FONT>Law of God, and <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#444444" FACE="Eurostile" ><I><U>with</U></I><U> </U></FONT><U>the flesh</U> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#444444" FACE="Eurostile" ><I>the</I>  </FONT>law of sin. </div> <bR> <div>     Paul was thoroughly and resignedly acquainted with his fallenness.  The new man would triumph in the end, but the old man was truly Paul, truly present, and truly low.  His struggle with sin was not a mere phantom exercise to give him something to do.  It was a real experience of himself- of man as sinner, rebel against God.  </div> <div>     Humility, then, is simply an attitude of reality.  This is what sin has really done.  This is what sin has really done to <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>me</I></FONT>.  Therefore, if I attain to freedom from sin, am honored with freedom from it at last, am honored with victory over it today, I will have realized the incredible chasm between my foolishness and God's wisdom.  Humility is necessary to the fear of God, because it is I, the sinner, who am learning who I am <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I><B>in contrast to</B></I></FONT> what God is making me.</div> <div>     Therefore, once again connecting this to the preceding part of the paragraph, the <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>fear of God</I></FONT> is like the ground of the garden which is you or me; <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>rebukes </I></FONT>are like the plow which disturbs the ground but is necessary for the implanting of good things in us; <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>humility </I></FONT>is like the stalk of the plant that grows from it, bearing <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>honor </I></FONT>at the top of the stem.  </div> <bR> <div>     Don't worry about honors; worry about humility in God's fear, and honor will be added by the One who, for your sake, was Himself meek and lowly of heart.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> *************************************************************************</div> <bR> <div>  <A NAME="apr_13"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="485" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" BGCOLOR=#C0DCC0 > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 78 ><NOBR><div> Proverbs 16:1<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Kabel Bk BT" > </FONT></div> <div> <B>The ordering of the heart belongs to man, </B></div> <div> <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Verdana" ><B>but the answer of the tongue, </B></FONT><I><B>is</B></I><B> </B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Verdana" ><B>from Jehovah. </B></FONT></div> <bR> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div>  </div> <div> <B><U>Words of the Verse</U></B><B>:</B></div> <bR> <div>     "Ordering" is from a Hebrew word meaning arrangement.  Solomon uses the root word in 9:2 of Wisdom "arranging / preparing" her table for a meal.</div> <div>     </div> <div> <B><U>Analysis of the Verse</U></B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <B>Being Compared</B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">The preparations of the heart</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">The reply of the tongue</div> <bR> <div> <B>Their Descriptions in Order</B>:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Man's</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">From Jehovah</div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Teaching of the Verse</U></B>:</div> <bR> <div>     We have now entered the deepest chambers of theology.  This is where the line is met between the <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>freedom </I></FONT>God gives his thinking creatures ('morally responsible creatures' may be a  better phrase), men and angels, and the <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>limitations </I></FONT>placed on that freedom by <B>His </B>overriding decisions.</div> <div>     Chapter 16 has several such verses.  If it did not, we might try to take this one verse and find an alternate meaning.  It is quite plain and simple in the Hebrew, though.  </div> <div>    This is a topic that really bothers men in their natural reflections.  It therefore represents a <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>boundary line</I></FONT> in our <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" >thinking</FONT>; on one side of the line most Christians refuse to acknowledge God's complete control of all things, on the other they confess <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Perpetua" ><B>submission </B></FONT>to His sovereignty.  Strangely, it is usually in the interest of protecting God's reputation that men deny His complete sovereignty.  If He is in complete control, He could have kept sin from happening, could've prevented death, could've stopped Satan at the beginning, could stop him now!  Men can't conceive of themselves allowing such things, so it embarrasses them that God did and does allow them.  They 'protect' Him by denying His complete sovereignty.</div> <div>     But God raises no such protections for Himself.  He is completely unembarrassed throughout Scriptures about His role in the disposing of His creation, His plans for the wicked or the good.  So in this verse.  It doesn't take too much reflection to see that either God is in complete control of all things or we are in a big mess.  Trying to discern how far God's control 'crosses the line' into our human freedom is a much smaller 'mess', indeed.</div> <div>     Our verse indicates that there are two 'sovereignties' in the universe- God's and man's (we would, of course, include angels with men if we were stating the matter in its fullest theological formulation).  Man's sovereignty is, naturally, under God's, but it does exist.  God expresses it one place like this:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Eurostile" >Psa 115:16</FONT>  The <U>heavens</U>, <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#444444" FACE="Eurostile" ><I>even</I> </FONT>the heavens, <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#444444" FACE="Eurostile" ><I>are</I> </FONT>Jehovah's; but the <U>earth</U> He has given to the sons of men. </div> <bR> <div>     When God made a domain for us, earth, He truly put it under our authority.  When we messed up, everything under us was messed up.  </div> <div>     There is a <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>personal </I></FONT>authority we have as well.  It includes our thoughts, words, and acts.  According to our proverb today, there is a dividing line even in <I>that </I>domain between our <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>thoughts </I></FONT>and our <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>acts</I></FONT>.  We can think one thing, order our thoughts concerning it, but when we seek to speak accordingly, there is a 'gate' of God's sovereignty at that checkpoint; He only lets certain things pass.  It would seem He lets most things pass according to what was arranged in the heart.  <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Perpetua" >But there are some matters that He causes to conform to </FONT><FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>justice </I></FONT><FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Perpetua" >and </FONT><FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>truth </I></FONT><FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Perpetua" ><I>rather than</I> the preparations of man's heart.</FONT></div> <div>     And that is what our verse today is saying.  It is a reality we have all experienced if we were but aware of it.  We thought of saying one thing, but what came out was a bit different.  And here we are not talking about mere vocal slips, though those are covered, too.  Here we are talking about saying something unexpected- not necessarily shockingly unexpected, mind you, for our speech function is largely independent, or largely integrated into our thinking.  It operates pretty much on its own.  Forethought is not really required for us to speak.  Speech forms itself, as it were, for the occasion.  Therefore, unless we <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>thought back</I></FONT> on what we had intended to say, we probably wouldn't realize that we were just the 'victim' of God overriding our plans.</div> <div>     It is a comfort to any true believer in God that He can only do justice and goodness.  Therefore, if he makes me speak 'according to my tongue' rather than according to my mind, He is doing what is right, bringing my true motives to bear upon me.</div> <div>     One area where God would tend to embarrass us this way for our own good is when we intended to somehow hide our dislike of a person in our words to them, either from embarrassment of the base emotion or from a desire to lure them into a trap later.  We set out to say unassuming words, and- oops!- out comes a declaration of our ill-way, probably an accusation.  This has happened to you, n'est pas?  Hereby, God helps us to deal with our murky motives before we can enact them as plans.  We realize we're not going to get away with anything in the long-run, so we learn to go ahead and submit the plan to God first.</div> <div>     Of course, God's control over our speech goes much further than this, even into the speech of kings in matters of war and peace, overriding man's intended words to bring out his true intentions and give us our true deserts.</div> <div>     "The reply of the tongue is from Jehovah."  A blameless man presumably wouldn't need to have his words overridden.  His intentions would already be in line with God's, his words already disposed towards justice and truth.  Perhaps God would help him to express his good thought even better than he intended.</div> <div>     The common maxim attached to this and similar verses is:  "Man proposes, but God disposes," which is quite true and captures part of the essence of the verse.  The element we may tend to forget is that God's disposing of matters is going on all the time.  He is either letting words pass as intended or overriding them in <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>everything we ever say</I></FONT>.</div> <bR> <div>     Are your intentions such that God would have little need of embarrassing you?  Or are your intentions selfish or cruel even by your own admission?  In this case, He might just let your words pass unchanged simply to let their poison fruits come back to you in full.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> **************************************************************************</div> <bR> <div>  <A NAME="apr_14"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="467" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" BGCOLOR=#A6CAF0 > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 78 ><NOBR><div> Proverbs 16:2<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Kabel Bk BT" > </FONT></div> <div> <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Verdana" ><B>All the ways of a man </B></FONT><I><B>are</B></I><B> </B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Verdana" ><B>pure in his own eyes,</B></FONT></div> <div> <B>but Jehovah weighs the spirits. </B><B> </B></div> <bR> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div>  </div> <div> <B><U>Words of the Verse</U></B><B>:</B></div> <bR> <div>     "Pure" is from a Hebrew word that is usually used of 'pure' oil or incense.</div> <div>     </div> <div> <B><U>Analysis of the Verse</U></B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <B>Being Compared</B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">A man's self-evaluation </div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Jehovah's accurate weighing </div> <bR> <div> <B>Outcome of evaluations:</B></div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">All his paths are pure</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">The man's real spirit</div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Teaching of the Verse</U></B>:</div> <div>     </div> <div>     What grander psychological insight could Solomon give us?  How much of the nonsense in our thinking would we cut through if we just consistently applied this truth!  If we always began with the assumption that our self-view is biased to the good, we would be able to counter-balance this bias with self-criticism and be nearer the truth.</div> <div>     Man is easily deceived on this point, and nothing short of Divine revelation is likely to shake us from the deception.  We can all think of some self-criticism we've admitted to ourselves, and we therefore assume that our self-evaluations are not unbalanced.  </div> <div>     This is like reasoning that mankind is not necessarily guilty of self-love since otherwise no man would be able to commit suicide.  But does a woman murdering her lover mean she had ceased loving him?  Often love is at the very root of such a murder; an awful, possessive love, to be sure, but love nonetheless.  Likewise, self-love cannot be ruled out in a suicide.  In fact, it is infatuation with self that motivates someone to free himself from the problems that seem so intolerable to him at the moment.  And it is self-love that motivates someone to 'make everybody really sorry they treated me this way'- so suicide becomes the <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>greatest </I></FONT>act of self-love; confused self-love certainly, but self-love nonetheless.  </div> <div>     So also the fact that we can think a self-critical thought does not negate the universal truth that men basically view themselves through rose-colored glasses.  The self-critical thought we have is always concerning the <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>aberration </I></FONT>in our character.  We tell ourselves that "the real me isn't like that.  That bad act just slipped out."</div> <div>     Even the fellow who says 'Woe is me; there's nothing good about me; I'm all bad through and through!" is not necessarily reflecting his real self-image.  In fact, he may be reflecting a <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>grand </I></FONT>self-image.  He is so high on himself that this one thing he did wrong or can't control has depressed him thoroughly.  Or he's simply fishing for affirmation or pity, still consistent with a basically pure view of self.</div> <div>     We are dwelling on supposed exceptions to the rule of man's pure self-view because it is critical to understand them if we would understand our verse.  If any of these supposed exceptions hold, then Solomon is giving us a hyperbole at best, and one that is not even very useful; for who would allow the maxim of self-justification to be applied to himself if there were exceptions?  Everyone would say, "No, I'm not being pure in my own eyes right now.  This is just the positive half of my properly balanced self-appraisal."</div> <div>     The believer, though, is always suspicious of self.  He can always see where selfishness is working itself in as a motive in what he's doing.  What could be more consistent with our "old man," our sin nature?  Especially since it was self-determination of good and evil that originally got man in this state.  Naturally I'm going to be prone to trust myself and justify my actions.  If I don't take this into account, I'm certain to make judgments that are not accurate and not according to righteousness.</div> <div>     Solomon reminds us that whether or not we view <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>ourselves </I></FONT>rightly, God has our total being in a scales which can weigh to an infinitesimal soul's gram.  Nor does He consult us as to that measurement.  God does not use our warehouse full of evidence that we are basically good-  our justification that these minor deviations shouldn't weigh too heavily against us.  He sees us exactly as we are, first time, every time.  In fact, all of our self-justifications go on the scale with all the evidence saying we are definitely unbalanced, selfish, self-deceived liars.</div> <div>     "All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes."  Until we learn to toss this onto our own scales, we are unlikely to even <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>approximate </I></FONT>God's view of us.  And that is Solomon's goal- to help us evaluate ourselves more like God does.  </div> <div>     A day is coming when there will be a final summation of our spirits, then a disposition of them.  This will be irreversible.  It will be too late to say, "Ah, I see where I was not hard enough on myself.  I see where I held that standard up to everyone else but then not to myself.  I see where my assumed goodness excused me from strict adherence to God's standards.  Now I see."  </div> <div>     Too late.  One time around; one time to abandon our pure view of self and adopt the realistic view- God's.  One time, then God's evaluation is final and permanent.</div> <div>     How can we adopt a view of ourselves as God sees us?  </div> <div> 1)  Read and learn His standards in His book;  </div> <div> 2)  Seek to apply them to ourselves objectively;  </div> <div> 3)  Pray for His help in examining ourselves, critiquing ourselves;  </div> <div> 4)  Ask others to point out shortcomings.</div> <div>     The select group who will stand before God "blameless" (using His word) on the last day will have walked by this rule.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> ************************************************************************</div> <bR> <div>  <A NAME="apr_15"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="423" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" BGCOLOR=#33FFCC > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 78 ><NOBR><div> Proverbs 16:3<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Kabel Bk BT" > </FONT></div> <div> <B>Roll your acts upon Jehovah, </B></div> <div> <B>and your plans shall be established. </B></div> <bR> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div>  </div> <div> <B><U>Words of the Verse</U></B><B>:</B></div> <bR> <div>     "Roll" is so translated 11 of the 18 times it is used in the KJV, and makes sense all 18 places.</div> <div>     </div> <div> <B><U>Analysis of the Verse</U></B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <B>Being Compared</B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">What we do with our actions</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">What happens to our plans</div> <bR> <div> <B>Their Outcomes</B>:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Rolled upon Jehovah</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Made firm</div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Teaching of the Verse</U></B>:</div> <bR> <div>     We are still in a paragraph heavy with God's providence.  </div> <div>     The disparity between our natural self-evaluation and God's true evaluation of us was just dealt with; before that- God's prerogative to override our planned words with those answering to justice and truth.  In both of these encounters there was a definite tension between man's ways and purposes on the one hand and God's on the other.  </div> <div>     Now we come to a verse, still saturated in the 'mystery' of God's plans interweaving with man's, but this time with less of <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>conflict </I></FONT>and more of a <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>cooperation</I></FONT>.  Now Solomon lets us see that God's providences do not have to work <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>against </I></FONT>man (actually, we already saw this principle implied in the previous two verses; now it is simply made explicit).  God's providences, it seems, work hand-in-glove with man when man relates himself rightly to God.  And what is that right relation?  One of <B>reliance</B>.  When man "rolls" his works unto Jehovah, committing them to Him, he is in the proper creature-Creator relationship: one of dependence.</div> <div>     Notice the apparent reverse relation between our actions and our plans.  You would think that it would be the rolling of our <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>plans </I></FONT>unto Jehovah that would establish our subsequent <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>works</I></FONT>; but it is just the opposite!  We roll our <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>works </I></FONT>onto Jehovah, and this lends stability to the <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>plans </I></FONT>we henceforth make.  </div> <div>     The logic of this seems to be that our trust in God must be 'field-tested'.  In other words, it does no good to merely conceive of trusting God in the planning stages of our works.  We ultimately find out if we really <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>do </I></FONT>trust Him once the plan is underway.  That's when it is our tendency either to run our <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>own </I></FONT>ship out of pride or insecurity, and/or simply to forget the commitment we made to God.  Therefore the order is quite right: commit your <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>works </I></FONT>to God and afterwards any <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>plans </I></FONT>you make will have the taste of God's control as a real, experienced presence; they will thus be established from the beginning.</div> <div>     So what is this 'rolling' of our acts upon God?  This is the crux of the whole thing, so we had better get it right.  First, consider this:  when we are rolling something, it is going <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>away </I></FONT>from us.  This is important.  Perhaps it is the most important thing.  Secondly, then, we are rolling it <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>from </I></FONT>ourselves <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>to </I></FONT>God.  In other words, it <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>departs </I></FONT>our domain and <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>enters </I></FONT>His.</div> <div>     Interesting that <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>rolling </I></FONT>is the verb used.  We can so easily picture it- this weighty mass of our concerns and activities; and in the very inception of them, with the inertia all leaning in the other direction, we turn the mass and roll it to God.  "This is Yours, I believe, Sir, since I am Yours."  </div> <div>     In terms of commonly used analogies, it's hard not to think of Sisyphus rolling his boulder uphill, futily, repeatedly.  </div> <div>     The exercise of the trusting soul, though, is quite different.  However difficult it may be to get our cares, concerns, and doings started rolling towards God, the moment we begin doing so, we have unseen help.  The moment we are rolling decidedly in His direction, we are destined to be unburdened.  It will not come rolling back on us unless we lose our purpose to hand it over.</div> <div>     Note that the unburdening of which we speak is one of soul, not of activity.  God doesn't step in and do our tasks <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>for </I></FONT>us or take them from us.  He merely lends the aid of soul necessary for us to <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>think </I></FONT>of our duties and tasks properly.  In so doing, we have the greatest help we need.  </div> <div>     But there is also a need as a creature made in God's image <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>to </I></FONT>work.  We in no way want our rolling of tasks upon God to take those tasks away from us.  Our work on earth is a definite part of what defines us.</div> <div>     One last word on duties.  It is <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>most </I></FONT>important to commit to God the tasks we do <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>most</I></FONT>.  If we reserve trust in God for special tasks- spiritual ones, say, or ones of emergency- we will lack the experience or sincerity to really trust Him even in these.  It is our common tasks, our daily duties, our mundane chores that need the consecration of commitment to God.  On this basis, our whole <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>life </I></FONT>becomes part of the network of plans that God confirms.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> **************************************************************************</div> <bR> <div>  <A NAME="apr_16"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="443" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" BGCOLOR=#33FFFF > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 78 ><NOBR><div> Proverbs 16:4<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Kabel Bk BT" > </FONT></div> <div> <B>Yahweh has made everything for its answer, </B></div> <div> <B>Yes, even the wicked for the day of evil. </B><B> </B></div> <bR> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div>  </div> <div> <B><U>Words of the Verse</U></B><B>:</B></div> <bR> <div>     "For its answer" is literal, meaning to answer its appointed end.  "For His answer" would also be literal, meaning to answer His appointed end.</div> <div>     </div> <div> <B><U>Analysis of the Verse</U></B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> Being Compared<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Jehovah's making of everything</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">His making of the immoral</div> <bR> <div> Their Outcomes:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">To answer its proper end, the one He made for it</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">For the day of evil/ adversity/ doom</div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Teaching of the Verse</U></B>:</div> <bR> <div>     This verse is the <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>negative </I></FONT>counterpart of the <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>positive </I></FONT>interplay between God's sovereignty and man's activity in 16:3.  Now we find out what happens when people do <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>not </I></FONT>roll their works unto Jehovah.  They still fit into God's sovereign decrees, but in a much unhappier way for them.  The "day of evil" awaits them.  Ultimately, that is all that awaits them.</div> <div>     The exact Hebrew phrase "day of evil" is used eight times in Scripture.  The closest parallel to our present context is in Jeremiah 17:18,</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Eurostile" >Jer 17:18</FONT>  Let them be disappointed who persecute me, but let not me be disappointed; let them be dismayed, but don't let me be dismayed; bring on them the <U>day of evil</U>, and destroy them with double destruction. </div> <bR> <div>     Solomon's "day of evil" could be an earthly one, as indicated in the Jeremiah verse (and all the other occurrences of the phrase as well), or it could extend to the afterlife and equate to the "day of doom" as the KJV translates it.  Both are evil days, and both will come upon the immoral.</div> <div>     Whether we should translate "to answer its own <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#555555" FACE="Perpetua" ><I>end</I></FONT>" or "to answer His <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#555555" FACE="Perpetua" ><I>end</I></FONT>" makes little difference theologically.  The first phrase focuses on the <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>appropriateness </I></FONT>of the end God prepares for each thing, the second confirms the fact that it is indeed <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>God </I></FONT>who fitted the purpose to its object.  Both statements are true, and they are complementary.</div> <div>     A parallel verse for the first thought might be:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Eurostile" >Eccl 3:1</FONT>  To every thing <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#444444" FACE="Eurostile" ><I>there is</I></FONT> a season, and a time for every purpose under the heavens</div> <bR> <div>     And a parallel to the second:</div> <bR> <div>  <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Eurostile" >Eph 1:11</FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Eurostile" > ... Him who works all things according to the counsel of His own will</FONT></div> <bR> <div>     God is indeed the one who disposes the ends of all His creatures.  Imagine God considering what He would create.  In deciding to make beings who could cross Him, God's omniscience made it impossible <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>but </I></FONT>to deal with all the consequences.  It was impossible that the ungodly man would be left out of God's decrees, <B>or </B>(per God's righteousness) that God's decrees would favor him.  So, with the end of all His works in view, and with a view to the interplay of all His creatures with each other, God masterfully crafts men's paths and the circumstances around them so that bad men are answered with bad things.</div> <div>     Our verse indicates a <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>special </I></FONT>appointment, a "day" filled with peculiar evil, and only evil.  God moves all components in the lives of the ungodly in this direction.  This appointed day has forerunners, warnings, but the wicked usually view their escape from these as confirmation of their invincibility rather than as signals of their predicament and destined collapse.  Many wicked, or course, have forestalled the day of doom by turning from their evil ways; many have put the evil day off altogether by complete repentance.</div> <div>     "All" things are made for their proper ends:  the godly for deliverance, the ungodly for destruction:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Eurostile" >2 Pet 2:9</FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Eurostile" >  </FONT><I>The</I> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Eurostile" >Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptation, and to reserve the unjust for a day of judgment, to be punished</FONT></div> <bR> <div>     The usual use of the phrase "day of evil" is of the godly man's deliverance from it:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Eurostile" >Jer 17:17</FONT>  Do not be a terror to me; You <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#444444" FACE="Eurostile" ><I>are</I> </FONT>my hope in the <U>day of evil</U>. </div> <bR> <div>     Notice that this is the verse just preceding the one quoted earlier of the wicked's day of doom.  Jeremiah saw a coming evil day as a visitation by God, but that did not mean God would forget him in that day.  God could still deliver him in a generally evil circumstance.  So Jeremiah would have been experiencing the 'confirmation of his plans' referred to in Prov 16:3, while the  ungodly Israelites would be receiving their due punishment, the day of evil prepared by God, a day fitted to them in a most appropriate, though unpleasant, way.</div> <div>     Ultimately, God is glorified <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>equally </I></FONT>by the godly's deliverance <I><B>and </B></I>the ungodly's punishment.  Both works 'answer their proper ends'.</div> <div>     This, however, does not promote in the Christian a spirit of stoic resignation toward the ungodly's fate.  The ungodly's date with doom is a matter for <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>God</I></FONT>.  Warning them in sincerity is a matter for <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>us</I></FONT>, as Peter did on the day of Pentecost:</div> <bR> <div>  <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Eurostile" >Acts 2:40</FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Eurostile" >  And with many other words he earnestly testified and exhorted, saying, Be saved from this perverse generation. </FONT></div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> **************************************************************************</div> <bR> <div>  <A NAME="apr_17"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="498" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" BGCOLOR=#66FFCC > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 78 ><NOBR><div> Proverbs 16:5<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Kabel Bk BT" > </FONT></div> <div> <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Verdana" ><B>Everyone proud in heart </B></FONT><I><B>is</B></I><B> </B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Verdana" ><B>an abomination to Jehovah; </B></FONT></div> <div> <I><B>though</B></I><B> </B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Verdana" ><B>hand </B></FONT><I><B>join</B></I><B> </B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Verdana" ><B>in hand, he shall not be innocent. </B></FONT></div> <bR> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div>  </div> <div> <B><U>Words of the Verse</U></B><B>:</B></div> <bR> <div>     "Abomination" is usually a technical term for specific banned items or activities.  Its root word means to loathe or detest.</div> <div>     </div> <div> <B><U>Analysis of the Verse</U></B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> Being Compared<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">All who are lofty of heart</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">The linking together of proud men in their purposes </div> <bR> <div> Their Descriptions:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Hated by Jehovah</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">They shall not be innocent / clean</div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Teaching of the Verse</U></B>:</div> <div>  </div> <div>     Now that God has told us that His sovereign purposes cover even the wicked and their <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>destinies</I></FONT>, He makes a specific statement about His <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>present </I></FONT>response to them.</div> <div>     Just as "all" things answer Jehovah's designed purposes, so "all" those whose hearts are lifted up, thus opposing His purposes, are hated by Him.</div> <div>     How can a God who is love hate?  Very simply, He is not all love.  He is the source of all true love, and His love is perfect, but He is also the source of all true hatred:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Eurostile" >Prov 8:13</FONT>  The fear of Jehovah <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#555555" FACE="Eurostile" ><I>is</I> </FONT>to <U>hate evil</U></div> <bR> <div>     Those who would image God must hate evil as He does:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Eurostile" >Prov 6:16 - 19</FONT>  These six <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#444444" FACE="Eurostile" ><I>things</I> </FONT><U>Jehovah hates</U>; yea, seven <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#444444" FACE="Eurostile" ><I>are</I> </FONT>hateful to his soul; a proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,  a heart that plots evil plans, feet hurrying to run to mischief,  <U>a false witness</U> who breathes lies, and <U>he who causes strife</U> among brothers. </div> <bR> <div>     Notice that God hates not just the sins that men do, as at the beginning of the verse just above, but he hates men that do the sins too, as the last two items on the list confirm.  Nor is this an isolated passage.  A fairly good number of Scriptures speak of God hating certain people (Ps. 5:5, 6 for instance).</div> <div>     The burning question in our day is how God can 'so love the world' (Jn 3:16) and still hate certain people.  The answer is that His love for the "world" is after the pattern Paul uses in differentiating God's dealing with the Jews from those with the Gentiles:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Eurostile" >Rom 11:15</FONT>  For if <U>their</U> casting away <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Eurostile" ><I>i</I></FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#444444" FACE="Eurostile" ><I>s the</I> </FONT>reconciliation of <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#444444" FACE="Eurostile" ><I>the</I>  </FONT><U>world</U>, what <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Eurostile" ><I>is</I></FONT> the reception, except life from <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#444444" FACE="Eurostile" ><I>the</I> </FONT>dead? </div> <bR> <div>     Most clearly, "world" does not always mean everyone in the world, for here "world" is distinguished from Israel.  "Their" in Rom. 11:15 refers to the Jews; "world" means everybody else <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>but </I></FONT>the Jews.  So Jesus was telling Nicodemus in John 3:16 that God's salvation was not just for the Jews anymore.  God's love would now officially extend to "the world," i.e., the Gentiles.  To every individual in the Gentile world?  Jesus' words do not necessitate that conclusion.  In fact, in the very same book, we learn that it is impossible to press Jesus' words into that meaning, especially since "world" even more obviously doesn't fit our common English usages:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Eurostile" >John 17:9</FONT>  I pray for them. I do not pray for the <U>world</U>, but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours. </div> <bR> <div>     If Jesus specifically excludes "the world" from His prayers, and He <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>is </I></FONT>praying for another group of people, one thing is again certain- "world" cannot always be taken as 'everyone on the globe'.  Some are in it, and some are not.  This "world", of course, is different than the Gentile "world" in Romans.  But for our immediate purposes, we can certainly see that Jesus' use of "world" in John 3:16 could not mean 'everyone on the globe', for His John 17:9 prayer excludes a great number of that group.</div> <div>     Is it possible that this whole group that is not in Jesus' prayer fits the description in our proverb today?  Are they all hated by God?  From the earlier Proverbs list of seven things God hates, it doesn't seem too hard to imagine everyone being on that list.  Or to quote from John again:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Eurostile" >John 3:36</FONT>   He who believes on the Son has everlasting life, and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the <U>wrath of God</U> <U>abides </U>upon him. </div> <bR> <div>     And what did all the unbelievers do when they had Jesus at their disposal?  Oh sure, they sang His praises coming into Jerusalem when they thought things might go their way; but as soon as things turned sour, what did they all do?  They consented heartily to His death.  But what does our proverb say about that?  "Though hand join to hand, they shall not be absolved."  Their abominable behavior did not wrench the kingdom from God nor hinder His salvation from being accomplished by His mighty right Arm.</div> <div>     Mankind has always linked forces to achieve lofty, anti-God ends.</div> <div>     Remember the Tower of Babel?  So throughout history.  Babylon- the spirit of unfaithfulness to God- has been the description of mankind through all history according to Revelation 17 and 18.</div> <div>     Men do not realize that their simple declaration that they will run their own lives free of God's restraints is haughtiness of the highest order.  "But I'm only doing what every human does, or wishes to do!"  Truly.  But that "linking of arms" by unified purpose does not excuse mankind as a whole or man as a single individual.  God finds all loftiness of heart, be it directly Babylonian or 'garden variety', hateful, and so He condemns it.  No amount of reasoning or mob consensus will change that.*  It is unclean, and no amount of declarations to the contrary will cleanse it.  Best, then, for us to change <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>from </I></FONT>our pride.</div> <bR> <div> *  <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Times New Roman" >Neither will large church mobs change the theology</FONT>.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> ***************************************************************************</div> <bR> <div>  <A NAME="apr_18"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="498" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" BGCOLOR=#99CC99 > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 78 ><NOBR><div> Proverbs 16:6<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Kabel Bk BT" > </FONT></div> <div> <B>By mercy and truth, iniquity is purged, </B></div> <div> <B>and by the fear of Jehovah </B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#444444" FACE="Verdana" ><I><B>one </B></I></FONT><B>turns away from evil. </B></div> <bR> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div>  </div> <div> <B><U>Words of the Verse</U></B><B>:</B></div> <bR> <div>     "Mercy"can also be "grace", but it can also simply be "kindness".</div> <div>     "Truth" can also be "faithfulness".</div> <div>     "Purged" means covered; it is the official word for "atonement" in Leviticus (along with similar sacrificial occurrences in Exodus and Numbers, most of the 102 Old Testament appearances of the word).</div> <div>     </div> <div> <B><U>Analysis of the Verse</U></B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> Being Compared<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Mercy and truth</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">The fear of Jehovah </div> <bR> <div> Their Descriptions:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">The means of iniquity being atoned for</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">The means of wrong being turned from</div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Teaching of the Verse</U></B>:</div> <bR> <div>     We are in the deepest part of Proverbs- its theological center; also one of the deepest points in all of Scriptures.  When Hebrews 5:12 distinguishes the menus of an undeveloped Christian's spiritual <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>milk </I></FONT>from a mature Christian's <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>solid </I></FONT>spiritual food, it certainly references passages like this one as food for the spiritually mature.  Not only is a definite amount of background <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>knowledge </I></FONT>necessary to put these difficult concepts together correctly, but a certain degree of <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>emotional </I></FONT>depth is necessary to be able to absorb the realizations that God knew all things from the beginning and could have done them differently if He wished; that even man's wickedness is working according to God's plan.</div> <div>     This is the first time Solomon has spoken of "atoning" for sins.  In reaching into the realm of God's sovereignty, the Atonement certainly has a rightful place to be considered:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Eurostile" >Rev 13:8</FONT>   And all those dwelling in the earth will worship it, those whose names had not been written in the Book of Life of the <U>Lamb</U> <U>having been slain</U> <U>from the foundation of the world</U>. </div> <bR> <div>     A sacrificial Victim whose death is viewed as occurring before He even came into the world!  A marvelous thing indeed!  This is clearly a matter of God's sovereign disposing of all things according to the counsel of His own will.  It also shows that a sacrificial death was known to be required and was planned for from the beginning.  The certainty of it even counted it in one sense as having already been accomplished.</div> <div>     But our proverb goes further into the realm of God's sovereignty than a mere referencing of the Atonement.  </div> <div>     Our proverb today speaks of the means by which we are <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>counted </I></FONT>clean before God.  Then it turns around and talks about the mechanism by which we <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>live </I></FONT>right before God.  The first part is a deed of God, the second an activity of man.  And yet one is the cause of the other.  In the Atonement, mercy and truth make our <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>standing </I></FONT>with God <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>right</I></FONT>; then in the light of the Atonement, the fear of the Lord makes us actually <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>stand upright</I></FONT>  before God.  The first part is <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>legal</I></FONT>, in Heaven's courtroom, a settled matter by the time we hear about it; the second part is <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>experiential</I></FONT>, a matter begun in our soul at conversion and carried on to our glorification.</div> <div>     So this is as great a mystery as man cogitating but God deciding what he speaks (16:1).  Paul later rehearses the matter exactly:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Eurostile" >Phil 2:12</FONT>   Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, <U>cultivate</U> <U>your own</U> salvation with fear and trembling. </div> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Eurostile" > Phi 2:13</FONT>  <U>For</U> it is <U>God</U> who <U>works in you</U> both to will and to do of <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Eurostile" ><I>His</I></FONT> good pleasure. </div> <bR> <div>     And Paul doesn't even make an explanatory transition from <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>our </I></FONT>doing something to <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>God </I></FONT>doing it in us.  Paul is only restating what he knew to be true from our section of Proverbs.  No man can escape God's ultimate control, but a godly man can put himself in line with God's providences by rolling his works upon God.  The ungodly may resist, but they will only thereby further the same overall plan of God.  Nor will mankind, by asserting its unified will, be able to make itself clean before God, Prov. 16:5.  Now Prov. 16:6 tells us how we <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>are </I></FONT>made clean!  This cleansing is the hinge work of God, pulling all of His works of providence together.</div> <div>     Consider the elements of atonement: Mercy and Truth.</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Eurostile" >Psa 85:10 </FONT>  <U>Mercy</U> and <U>truth</U> have met together; righteousness and peace kissed <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Eurostile" ><I>each other</I></FONT>. </div> <bR> <div>     Why would we take notice of such a meeting?  It is because by all rights these two elements should not be partnered.  Concerning man, they are as distant as the east is from the west.  Mercy would have God help us despite our uncleanness, but Truth is telling Him that there would be no escape from our uncleanness in that.  No amount of God's mercy and love would change us all by itself.  Oh sure, it would make an emotional impact, even a big one; but it would eventually wear off, and back to our uncleanness we would go.</div> <div>     When Mercy and Truth meet, Truth is able to tell Mercy, "Go ahead with him.  A change has been made in the man.  Now your compassions will actually be understood and make a lasting change."  And this reconciliation between Mercy and Truth can only take place on the basis of the Atonement.  In fact, the Atonement is their very meeting place.  At the cross, Mercy and Truth, previously irreconcilable strangers when it came to man, met harmoniously together.  Likewise, Righteousness, which demanded our death, and Peace, by which life is held forth, have "kissed"- a marriage literally made in Heaven, in God's Temple!</div> <div>     And what is the proper response by an atoned-for man?  He will have the "fear of Jehovah."</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Eurostile" >Psa 130:4</FONT>  But <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#444444" FACE="Eurostile" ><I>there is</I></FONT> <U>forgiveness</U> with You, <U>that</U> You may be <U>feared</U>. </div> <div>  </div> <div>     God's forgiveness does not make its true recipient slack.  It saturates him in the wonder of God's righteousness, wrath, and mercy.  He could only have mercy on me by slaying an innocent Victim with an uttermost death.  This knowledge claims me.  This is why Communion and its remembrance are so important.  When we consider the awful price paid to redeem us, we hate iniquity in such a way as to depart from it.  Most men can recognize iniquity, but few hate it enough to depart from it.  It is only by an understanding of the Atonement through Christ that we will fear God and hate sin.  </div> <div>     Once again, Solomon is an Old Testament Paul:</div> <div>  By Mercy and Truth iniquity is purged- JUSTIFICATION;</div> <div>  By fearing God we turn from evil- SANCTIFICATION.</div> <div>     The two work together harmoniously, and the one cannot go without the other.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> **************************************************************************</div> <bR> <div>  <A NAME="apr_19"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="498" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" BGCOLOR=#CCCC33 > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 78 ><NOBR><div> Proverbs 16:7<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Kabel Bk BT" > </FONT></div> <div> <B>When a man's ways please Jehovah, </B></div> <div> <B>He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him. </B></div> <bR> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div>  </div> <div> <B><U>Words of the Verse</U></B><B>:</B></div> <bR> <div>     "Please" can also be "are acceptable to".</div> <div>     "Enemies" is literally "haters".</div> <div>     "Be at peace" is translated "pay/ repay/ recompense/ reward/ make restitution" the vast majority of the 116 it is used.</div> <div>     </div> <div> <B><U>Analysis of the Verse</U></B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <B>Cause</B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">When the paths <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#555555" FACE="Lucida Sans Unicode" ><I>in a</I></FONT> man's <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#555555" FACE="Lucida Sans Unicode" ><I>life</I></FONT> are <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#555555" FACE="Lucida Sans Unicode" ><I>judged  </I></FONT>acceptable by Jehovah</div> <bR> <div> <B>Effect</B>::</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Jehovah causes even the man's enemies to be reconciled with him</div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Teaching of the Verse</U></B>:</div> <bR> <div>     Solomon always feels free to 'break' his normal form to communicate truth.  Here is our first cause and effect verse.  It is also very much a part of this section on God's sovereignty.</div> <div>     This is also a great 'test proverb' to see how men approach Proverbs in particular and Divine revelation in general.  </div> <div>     Most commentators take the verse as saying "God <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>can </I></FONT>make a man's enemies his friends."  They do this because it is obvious that the <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>most </I></FONT>God-pleasing men in the Bible are generally the <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>most </I></FONT>hated by their enemies (take Jesus for example; and He is not exceptional in this case except in degree).  So the commentators skirt around these examples and make the verse speak of God's <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>ability  </I></FONT>rather than his <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>activity</I></FONT>.  But the plain meaning of the verse concerns God's activity- He <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>does </I></FONT>make enemies to be at peace.  </div> <div>     Some commentators are honest enough to note the supposed exception- "Persecutors excepted."  Some take it in a post-millennial sense, so the whole world is gradually being made into the friends of the Christian.  But what bearing does that have on the God-pleasing man in the first century who is surrounded by enemies?  Will he just say, "Ah, but someday men like this will be the friends of later Christians"?  (Not to speak of our own century, an apex for the persecution of Christians)  Actually, some truths only concerning the future <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>are </I></FONT>meant for our present comfort, but the language of this proverb does not make it one of those.</div> <div>     If you recall, Solomon forced us to deal with the 'proverbs form' early in the book.  There we saw that many proverbs cannot be understood except as <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>directions </I></FONT>men are going rather than as <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>destinations </I></FONT>at which they have arrived.  So the mistake in our present verse is to take God's activity as a destination, to say that it can only be fulfilled if <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>all </I></FONT>of a Christian's enemies become his friends <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>completely</I></FONT>.  Here we must not ascribe to language some magical power, but let it say what it says, for God created language and its laws.</div> <div>     It <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>says </I></FONT>that God engages in the activity of causing our haters to be reconciled to us.  Is this condition fulfilled if they are reconciled to us in only one area?  Yes.  And is this ascribing less to the power of God?  No.  It is only our job to find out God's intention, then to follow it through to see if its ends are met.</div> <div>     Notice, perhaps more importantly than anything else in avoiding misinterpreting the verse, that it <B>doesn't say</B> that God will make the <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>haters </I></FONT>of a good man <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>lovers </I></FONT>of the good man.  That would be something like the wording if it were to mean they would be <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>completely </I></FONT>at peace.  It only says that haters would be reconciled in one way or another, an end much less than a complete transformation.  This is not to say God cannot completely transform them.  He can and often does.  But our present verse only says that He makes them come to terms with Christians in ways that they otherwise would not have.  </div> <div>     And this we find to be true in every case.  Somewhere in every story of persecution we find haters of God and His people choosing against their whole inclinations to cut the Christian a break in one way or another, even though their general hatred and persecution does not diminish.  This is the <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>wonder meant to be inspired</I></FONT> by the verse- that God can make men act contrary to their hateful inclinations for the good of His people!</div> <div>     As of yet, we haven't touched on the <B>condition </B>in the verse.  It is only when our ways please Jehovah that He performs this transforming activity in the behavior of our enemies.  Of course, it is only when our ways please Him that <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>G</I><I>ospel </I></FONT>enemies become <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>our </I></FONT>enemies.  This verse has nothing to do with God being a sort of charm against our enemies.  It only concerns enemies who are so because they hate God.  </div> <div>     Thus we also see a great mercy of God in the verse.  He prevents His haters from as self-destructive deeds as they <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>would </I></FONT>perform against His children.  He gives them added space for repentance.  Ultimately, though, unless He transforms them completely, which only He can do, His evil-hindering miracle in their souls will only be one more testimony <U>against</U> them when <B>all </B>of their deeds pronounce a just condemnation against them on the last Day.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> ************************************************************************</div> <bR> <div>  <A NAME="apr_20"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="422" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" BGCOLOR=#CCCCE4 > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 78 ><NOBR><div> Proverbs 16:8<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Kabel Bk BT" > </FONT></div> <div> <B>Better is a little with righteousness, </B></div> <div> <B>than great revenues without judgment.</B></div> <bR> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div>  </div> <div> <B><U>Words of the Verse</U></B><B>:</B></div> <bR> <div>     "Judgment" is the word used for God's pronouncements, often listed with His "statutes," etc.  It is also the word for the discernment and decision-making that kings must exercise.</div> <div>     </div> <div> <B><U>Analysis of the Verse</U></B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> Being Compared<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">A small amount (of possessions) with righteousness</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Abundant income without <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#555555" FACE="Lucida Sans Unicode" ><I>right  </I></FONT>verdict-<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#555555" FACE="Lucida Sans Unicode" ><I>making </I></FONT></div> <bR> <div> Depictions:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Better</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Worse</div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Teaching of the Verse</U></B>:</div> <bR> <div>     In this section on God's sovereignty, we now enter the topic of <B>judgment</B>/ justice (Verses 10 and 11 also use the word).  This has a great bearing on our understanding of God's interaction with His creation as controller of all He has made.</div> <div>     As far as immediate context, we just dealt with a man's ways <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>pleasing </I></FONT>the Lord and how this affected God's sovereign overriding of other men's natural dispositions.  Now we consider a specific activity by which we <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>dis</I></FONT><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I> </I></FONT>please God, in effect siding with the ungodly interests of earth and becoming an <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>object </I></FONT>of God's overruling providences just described rather than the <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>beneficiary </I></FONT>of them.</div> <div>     By bringing human "judgment" into a section on God's interacting/ overruling providences, we are again seeing how consequential everything man does is.  God makes an overall judgment concerning the disposition of His creatures, but <I>His </I>judgments take into account <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>our </I></FONT>judgment, good or bad.</div> <div>     When we speak of having considerable possessions without judgment, we are viewing any dishonest gain as a sort of taking of bribes:  I am willing to compromise my integrity to make (more) money.  And by the wording of the phrase, there does not even have to be any decisive act of theft or lying.  Your very approach to work can condemn you as lacking judgment.  Your choosing of a profession based on greater income can blind you to injustices within that profession's system- can remove your judgment.</div> <bR> <div>  <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Eurostile" >Prov 17:23</FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Eurostile" >  A wicked man receives a bribe in secret, to pervert the ways of judgment. </FONT></div> <bR> <div>     We have already learned that earthly blessings are a gift from the Lord and that poverty is no advantage in this life <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>of itself</I></FONT>.  But sometimes poverty, or at least considerably less income, must be chosen to avoid departing from righteousness.  That is what our proverb is telling us- that the disadvantages of poverty are to be chosen rather than the advantages of "increased income" (and that is an accurate translation of the phrase) when we have to 'fudge' integrity even a little to gain it.</div> <div>     In terms of God's sovereignty, we see how God has disposed circumstances in our lives, placing choices before us.  Have we responded to His providences as servants?  Or have we turned the tables and <B>taken </B>a 'big raise' (almost an accurate translation of the phrase) <B>as a sign</B> from God that we are blessed, even though all principles of truth and equity were not honored for us to get the raise?  Yes, this is still about God's sovereignty.  </div> <div>      Even unbelievers use 'providence' as a cover for their contentedness with ill-gotten gains, also turning the tables of providence.  "God put it in my lap."  "I've worked hard; I deserve it."  "That company is unjust; God is probably pleased that I wired the system to skim some of their cream for myself."  "If God didn't want me to have it, He wouldn't have made it so easy to get."</div> <div>     To take this even further into our lives and deeper into God's providences over us, this verse even applies when we are <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>lazy </I></FONT>at work.  If we are receiving pay for a certain amount of work being done, are we doing that amount?  Are we giving a good day's work for our day's pay?  Or have we adjusted our labors to 'the American working man's pace', deliberately slowing our pace as a sort of statement that we're not getting paid enough?  We are perverting judgment when we do this.  We are changing the dollars per hour arrangement we accepted into something else.  Again, we are, in effect, making ourselves the disposers of our own providence.  God sees this.  And He responds:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Eurostile" >Col 3:22 - 25</FONT>  Servants, obey in all things those who are your masters according to the flesh, <U>not just when they are looking</U>, as men-pleasers, but in singleness of heart, fearing God.  And whatever you do, <U>work heartily</U>, as for the Lord, and not for men,  knowing that from the Lord you will receive the <U>reward</U> of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ.  But <U>he who does wrong</U> will receive again for the wrong that he has done, and there is <U>no partiality</U>. </div> <bR> <div>     The Christian's "rewards" from work are ultimately rewards for his righteousness.  God is paying us for our response to His command to do all work for Him.  As long as this is our rule, our income will take care of itself.  As long as we focus on principles of righteousness in our labors and our approach to work, we will be able to take lower income with contentedness.  We will also be able to work toward greater income with a good conscience- again, provided that righteousness, not dollars, is our bottom line and guiding principle.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> *************************************************************************</div> <bR> <div>  <A NAME="apr_21"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="353" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" BGCOLOR=#FFCCB2 > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 78 ><NOBR><div> Proverbs 16:9<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Kabel Bk BT" > </FONT></div> <div> <B>A man's heart plans his way, </B></div> <div> <B>but Jehovah appoints his step. </B></div> <bR> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div>  </div> <div> <B><U>Words of the Verse</U></B><B>:</B></div> <bR> <div>     "Plans" is "weaves together" at its root meaning.</div> <div>     "Appoints" is literally "erects".  It is translated "prepare" and "establish" the vast majority of the 217 times it occurs.</div> <div>     </div> <div> <B><U>Analysis of the Verse</U></B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> Being Compared<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">A man's heart</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Jehovah's appointment</div> <bR> <div> Their Actions:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Plots his path</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Determines where his feet actually land</div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Teaching of the Verse</U></B>:</div> <bR> <div>     Jeremiah, who had Proverbs as part of his Bible, said, no doubt with our present verse in mind:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Eurostile" >Jer 10:23</FONT><B>  </B>O Jehovah, I know that the way of man does not <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#444444" FACE="Eurostile" ><I>belong</I> </FONT>to man; <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#444444" FACE="Eurostile" ><I>it is</I></FONT>  not in man who walks to direct his step<B>. </B></div> <bR> <div>     Jeremiah uses the exact Hebrew words for "direct his step" as Solomon.</div> <div>     Any thoughtful person must certainly conclude that, even equipped with some form of freedom of will, his steps are all within the higher plan of a higher being.  I, as a human, only plan <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>my </I></FONT><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I> </I></FONT>path in the first place because I was made by a <FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Perpetua" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>Being </I></FONT>who plans paths; but His plans must therefore certainly take precedence over mine.  If He has power to make me and all that is around me, certainly He would not leave to chance what befalls His workmanship.  <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>I</I></FONT> <FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Perpetua" > </FONT>am planning and choosing my way, but <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>He </I></FONT>may override my plans and choices.  Again, this conclusion cannot escape any person possessing good reasoning ability.  That is not to say that otherwise intelligent people won't deny God's providence; many<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>will </I></FONT>deny it, but not because it defies reason.</div> <div>     <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Perpetua Titling MT" ><B>S</B></FONT>ome deny Providence because of the sheer scariness of it- someone overseeing every detail of my life!  <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Perpetua Titling MT" ><B>S</B></FONT>ome deny it because of the gigantic proportions of the 'playing field'; they reason that no deity, however powerful, could control all the factors at work; or else the deity would have no interest in such minutiae.  <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Perpetua Titling MT" ><B>S</B></FONT>till others deny God's providence because Cause and Effect seems to work without any outside intervention in our apparently 'closed system'; that is, if God is 'behind the scenes,' He has so well camouflaged Himself that He might as well not be there.</div> <div>     In some ways, the believer acknowledges all three of the above-mentioned factors.  It <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>is </I></FONT>intimidating to think of someone 'pulling strings' no matter what I do.  The huge scale of creation <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>does </I></FONT>boggle the mind in terms of who could or would control it all.  'Second Causes,' as theologians call them, <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>do </I></FONT>seem pretty much sufficient to explain all phenomena we observe without appeal to any First Cause.  But none of these legitimate questions lead to a legitimate conclusion overturning God and His providence.</div> <div>     Scary stuff?  Sure.  "Fear God."</div> <div>     A universe incomprehensibly large to us?  Yes, but not an infinite, intelligent, or self-perpetuating universe.</div> <div>     Seemingly independent cause and effect?  Yes, but ultimately only begging the question of a <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>first </I></FONT>cause.  A well-oiled cosmos certainly implies a craftsman more than it suggests such order being eternal and/or arising on its own.</div> <div>     Having said this, unless someone takes the further step of expecting a <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>word </I></FONT>from the Planner, all he would have would be his own senses and sense concerning the workings of providence.  It is good to perceive that a God must be over all, but if this is all we know, we still must fill in the mystery of His ultimate purposes with our own guesses.  Or our existence simply becomes its own justification; therefore, I live my life as I please, and God can override me if He pleases.  </div> <div>     But any such impersonal conception of God would not fit Solomon's description.  He describes a God who <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>interacts </I></FONT>with man in overriding him.  He describes a God who makes the contingencies of man's paths a means of reinforcing His <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>revealed will</I></FONT> <FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Perpetua" > </FONT>for him.</div> <div>     So we see that a God who <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>speaks</I></FONT>, and not just a God who <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>controls</I></FONT>, is necessary to have Solomon's universe.</div> <div>     Strangely, many who claim to hear God speaking somehow conclude that He does <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>not </I></FONT>control all that He has made.  They believe that <B>man's</B> free will, man's control of his own destiny, must be safeguarded at all costs, so they limit <B>God's</B> freedom in ruling what He has made.  They further conclude that God's freedom must be limited <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>for His own good</I></FONT>, for otherwise, He would be guilty of garnering some men for Heaven, thus effectively banishing others to Hell.  So they put significant restrictions on God's providence.  God might bring certain factors into men's lives to influence their free will into accepting Him, but He would never actually take control of a man's existence, especially no control that would <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>discourage </I></FONT>a response to His invitation.</div> <div>     So they don't hear the speaking God when He says:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Eurostile" >Exodus 10:1</FONT>  And Jehovah said to Moses, Go in to Pharaoh, for I have <U>hardened his heart</U> and the heart of his servants, so that I might show these My signs before him </div> <bR> <div>     This is certainly the ultimate in God's appointing of a man's steps.  By doing this, does God erase man's accountability?  No, for God was not blocking Pharaoh's desire to do right.  Pharaoh was already doing wrong and only wanted to continue doing wrong; God simply 'locked' him into his chosen mode.  God did this to forestall Pharaoh releasing the Israelites <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>for his kingdom's own good</I></FONT>.  Pharaoh might well have released them after the <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>first </I></FONT>plague for his peoples' sakes.  But God had decided to show His superiority to all the gods of Egypt, 'one by one', in each of the Ten Plagues.</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Eurostile" >Exodus 12:12</FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Eurostile" >  ... And I will execute judgments against all the gods of Egypt. I </FONT><I>am</I> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Eurostile" >Jehovah. </FONT></div> <bR> <div>     So Pharaoh had 'locked himself in' to a room of Jehovah-hatred.  Jehovah was merely 'bolting the door closed' in hardening his heart.  All this to say that God did no injustice in hardening Pharaoh's heart.  But He did harden (Heb. "make strong"; hence, "reinforce") his heart.  So Pharaoh's heart might have "planned his way" differently (though certainly not opposite), but God "directed his step" to fulfill <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>His </I></FONT>will.</div> <div>     This is a very difficult concept in our day.  Like the Egyptians, we have begun again to imagine that our human power rivals God's.  So we have made God the beggar, seeking man's favor, man's permission to do things.  It is not so.</div> <div>     God directs our steps.  He does so to teach us, to gain our attention.  When we are beyond teaching, He does it to break us, to bring us to ourselves, and to make us a lesson for others.  As we saw in 16:3, when we make God's providence the basis for our daily walk, rolling our works unto Him, we <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>cooperate </I></FONT>with His appointing of our steps; and He doesn't need to override someone cooperating with Him.  He causes them to step in good places.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> ***************************************************************************</div> <bR> <div>  <A NAME="apr_22"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="401" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 78 ><NOBR><div> Proverbs 16:10<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Kabel Bk BT" > </FONT></div> <div> <B>An oracle </B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Verdana" ><I><B>is</B></I></FONT><B> upon the lips of the king; </B></div> <div> <B>his mouth does not transgress in judgment. </B></div> <bR> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div>  </div> <div> <B><U>Words of the Verse</U></B><B>:</B></div> <bR> <div>     "Oracle" is only used here in a positive sense of the 11 times it appears.  Every other place it is used of ungodly "divination," determining fate by cards, tea leaves, or such.</div> <div>     </div> <div> <B><U>Analysis of the Verse</U></B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> Being Compared<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">The king's lips</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">The king's mouth</div> <bR> <div> Descriptions:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Have an 'oracle' upon them</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Does not trespass in judgment</div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Teaching of the Verse</U></B>:</div> <div>     </div> <div>      Again, this verse is part of the Sovereignty of God section of Proverbs.  It is part of Solomon's description of how God's control of the universe interacts with creatures in that universe.</div> <div>     The root word of "oracle" means "to distribute"; so either of distributing items before the diviner to determine the future, or of the distributing of fate thereby, or both.  Solomon knew that his Israelite audience would be surprised at his using the word in a good sense.  The word to them meant the determining of fate by unlawful means.  </div> <div>     Solomon was picking up on the meaning of 'fixing' fate.  By using this word, Solomon is reminding us that it is not the mere determination of the future that is wrong, for God often tells us the future.  It is the determining it by means <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>outside </I></FONT>God that is wrong; so with the burning desire (beyond mere curiosity) to know the future when God hasn't revealed it, for this leads us to seek the knowledge outside His boundaries.  </div> <div>     Solomon is saying, then, that a king's decree has the effect of fixing fate:  he speaks, and people's destinies are determined.  <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>Solomon is also saying something else by putting an 'oracle' upon the king's lips.</I></FONT>  He is saying that the <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>king himself</I></FONT> is like a mere <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I><B>item </B></I></FONT>the diviner uses in determining fates.  Solomon is actually saying something humbling about himself as king.  He is saying the <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>he </I></FONT>was used by the real Fixer of fate to determine men's destinies.  </div> <div>     "His mouth does not transgress when it judges."  Now we know what this means.  It means that <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>God </I></FONT><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I> </I></FONT>uses kings to determine men's destinies the way diviners use their tools; only God never errs.  Therefore, when a king decrees, God has, in effect, spoken.</div> <div>     This is where most people go astray in this verse.  They assume that such a position promotes the 'divine right' of kings.  It does not.  It only means that no kings can sit on the throne except by God's leave, and that they can make no decisions except such as work His <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>ultimate </I></FONT>will:</div> <bR> <div>  <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Eurostile" >Rom 13:1</FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Eurostile" >  Let every soul be subject to higher authorities, for there is no authority except from God, but the existing authorities have been ordained by God. </FONT></div> <bR> <div>     Are we to assume that Paul, in writing the above, conceived of Roman emperors as godly vehicles?  Certainly not; he was merely saying that if they were in power, it was ultimately by God's decree.  God may be judging a land or testing a land by installing bad leaders, but it is <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>His </I></FONT>determination.  Furthermore, all decrees by those in power are ultimately from God:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Eurostile" >Prov 21:1</FONT>  <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Eurostile" ><I>As</I></FONT> streams of waters, the king's heart <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Eurostile" ><I>is</I></FONT> in the hand of Jehovah; He turns it wherever He desires. </div> <bR> <div>     This includes kings' decrees whereby God chooses to punish them:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Eurostile" >1 Kings 12:15</FONT>  And the king did not listen to the people, for the cause was <U>from Jehovah</U>, that He might perform His saying which Jehovah spoke by Ahijah of Shiloh to Jeroboam the son of Nebat. </div> <bR> <div>     So the king's mouth does not, in fact, transgress when he judges; but this is only in the sense of God <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>overriding </I></FONT>his decisions to work out His <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>own </I></FONT>plans.  </div> <div>     Remember, God never acts capriciously.  As small as we may seem on the scale of God's decrees, all the intricacies of our lives are taken into account in His every decision:  so with His attention to the details of our neighbor, etc.  When 'fate' seems to take a catastrophic turn, we are tempted to think that God was performing some larger providence that, by comparison, passed over our individual concerns.  Not so.  Whatever larger plans God is working, and He does work plans on a grand scale, He is also working every 'teeny tiny' aspect of my personal plan.  So the government's decisions always concern me as an individual, as well as concerning the governing officials and the nation as a whole.</div> <div>     We are instructed to <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>pray </I></FONT>for our leaders so God will guide their decisions towards the Church's peace.  For the persecuted Church, we are to pray for the returning of her peace.</div> <div>     We are instructed to honor and obey our leaders, recognizing their Divine appointment.  Think about it-  in Bible history, no matter how bad a king got, God's representatives never abandoned basic respect for the king's position in favor of a 'bad-mouth the king and start a revolt' policy.  Even when we must rebuke a ruler, we do so with his <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>position </I></FONT>of dignity in view.  God put him there, and, in matters of politics, he is God's tool.  <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Perpetua" >"</FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >You could have no authority against me unless it were given to you from above."</FONT></div> <bR> <div>  <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Perpetua" >   The same principles, of course, apply to any authority relationships.  God is ultimately guiding their words and decisions where we are concerned.  If I am a good person and employee and my boss' attitude or decisions towards me are negative, God will use it for my good.  It will first cause me to examine myself for negatives that are surely in me.  In addition to this, it is also an opportunity to show God's power by winning my boss' favor through simple godliness, including my acceptance of unjust criticism with an even spirit.</FONT></div> <div>     It is the fool who scowls at all adversity from authority figures.  "What an idiot my boss is!"  But it is the Boss <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>over </I></FONT>my boss at whom I am really fuming.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> **************************************************************************</div> <bR> <div>  <A NAME="apr_23"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="546" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" BGCOLOR=#FFCCFF > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 78 ><NOBR><div> Prov 16:11<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Kabel Bk BT" > </FONT></div> <div> <B>The balance and the scales </B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#777777" FACE="Verdana" ><I><B>for </B></I></FONT><B>judgment </B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Verdana" ><I><B>belong</B></I><B> </B></FONT><B>to </B><B>Jehovah; </B></div> <div> <B>all the weights of the bag </B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Verdana" ><I><B>are</B></I></FONT><I><B> </B></I><B>His work. </B></div> <bR> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div>  </div> <div> <B><U>Words of the Verse</U></B><B>:</B></div> <bR> <div>     "Judgment" is, again, as in verses 8 and 10, the word for God's judgments as well as kings'.  If it is an adjective here, as in "a <B>just </B>balance and scales," as all the translations seem to take it, it is the only time of its 424 uses that it would have been used that way.</div> <div>     The weights of the bag refer to the "stones," literally, that merchants carried, which were to be of a standardized weight to give accurate, consistent readings when placed in the scales opposite whatever was being weighed and sold.</div> <div>     </div> <div> <B><U>Analysis of the Verse</U></B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> Being Compared<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">The balance and the scales used for judgment</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">All the weights of the 'merchant's' bag</div> <bR> <div> Their Descriptions:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Belong to Jehovah</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Are Jehovah's work / workmanship</div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Teaching of the Verse</U></B>:</div> <bR> <div>     Once again, this verse forms part of the teaching of this whole section on the Sovereignty of God (all of chapter 16 so far).  Furthermore, this verse is in a sub-section commenting on God's sovereignty from the specific angle of <B>judgment</B>.  Verse eight speaks of the <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>common man's</I></FONT> judgment (preferred to dishonest gain); verse ten speaks of judgments a <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>king </I></FONT>pronounces; now verse eleven sums up with <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>God's</I></FONT> <FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Perpetua" > </FONT>judgments.</div> <div>     If we take this verse according to the usual translation, it teaches that God's sovereignty extends into the merchant's dealings.  It would mean that God, not the king's department of weights and measures, is the ultimate standard-bearer for fairness in business dealings.  It would mean that He lays ultimate claim to whatever weights and measures merchants use, so they had better not 'cheat God' by cheating their customers.  This meaning is right and true, and the words of the verse do bear this interpretation.</div> <div>     But since Solomon has already established a flow of thought for "judgment," particularly judgment in terms of God's overriding sovereignty, it would seem more probable that he would still be talking about judgment in <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>this </I></FONT>general vein, rather than suddenly turning the word into an adjective when several other words would have given the idea of "honest" or "just" weights more clearly.</div> <div>     Taking judgment as a noun (this would be the only verse where it is an adjective by my scan), the first phrase would be a <B>metaphor</B>.  "Balances and scales of judgment" would mean that a king's judgments (and common men's on a lesser scale), though invisible, are actually <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>measurable</I></FONT>.  Just as there are <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>visible </I></FONT>standards of weight and measure used for physical items, so judgment of right or wrong- all our dealings with men, including ones where kings pass specific judgment- can be laid on an <I>'</I><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>invisible</I></FONT>' scale before God; He can tell to the spiritual 'milligram' how right or wrong we are.  "Balances and scales of [man's] judgment are ultimately in God's domain," our verse says.  He <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>re-</I></FONT>measures by His scale what we first measure when we judge. </div> <div>     'Invisible' may not be the best term for God's scale, since His standards are quite 'visible' to Himself; He sees and measures spiritual 'items' as easily and clearly as we measure physical ones.  We have trouble conceiving of it without actually picturing a weighing device in Heaven, which, though God could use one if He desired, is not necessary for His judgment to be infinitesimally particular, exacting, and consistent from case to case.</div> <div>     So God 'owns' the final "verdict" (the precise meaning of the Hebrew term for "judgment") of all <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>our </I></FONT>verdicts.  We had better be careful and not hide our judgments under the cloak of, "<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>I'm in authority, so my judgment is, in effect, God's.</I></FONT>"   <B>That is precisely what this verse is doing here</B>:  answering a king's probable presumption that he actually <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>creates </I></FONT>the scales of justice, since his judgments are ultimately under the overriding providence of God.  No, God's overriding sovereignty does not extend that 'far' (actually, not in that 'direction').  The king who errs in judgment (see previous verse) will be accountable to a God who will hold him strictly to the bar.</div> <div>     "All the weights of the bag are His work."  Here the word "all" is significant.  "All" the weights of 'every' bag for 'every' kind of decision are ultimately standardized by God's scale.  This means that God- as creator and designer of all things, of the whole human soul with all its facets, of all the elements of life we assess and react to- has made all these things with His scales of judgment for the whole world and its every part in mind.  It is all "His work".  </div> <div>     Therefore, as 'visitors' to God's realm, so to speak, we had best be careful that we are always mindful that <U>our scales</U> <U>themselves</U> will be measured by God's grand scale.  All our decisions, especially all our treatments of people and situations as right or wrong, will not stand on their own.  They will stand <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>or fall </I></FONT><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Perpetua" > </FONT>based on whether they matched God's scales of justice.</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Papyrus" ><B>Application</B></FONT>:  The principle behind this verse is a very useful one, even an essential one, in prayer.  By it we 'weigh' our prayers in the light of God holding the world and everything in it in <I>His </I>scales.  We supplicate more judiciously, accurately, and compassionately when we pray thus, seeing ourselves in the same scale as those for and about whom we pray.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> **************************************************************************</div> <bR> <div>  <A NAME="apr_24"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="517" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" BGCOLOR=#FFFFCC > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 78 ><NOBR><div> Prov 16:12<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Kabel Bk BT" > </FONT></div> <div> <B>Committing wickedness</B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Verdana" ><I><B> is</B></I></FONT><B> an abomination to kings, </B></div> <div> <B>for the throne </B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Verdana" ><I><B>is</B></I></FONT><B> established by righteousness. </B><B> </B></div> <bR> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div>  </div> <div> <B><U>Words of the Verse</U></B><B>:</B></div> <bR> <div>     "Abomination" as in verse 5, of those proud in heart.</div> <div>     "Established" as in verses 3 and 9 of our thoughts and steps being established.</div> <div>     </div> <div> <B><U>Analysis of the Verse</U></B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> Truth<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Committing wickedness is an abomination to kings</div> <bR> <div> Reason for it:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">The king's throne is established by righteousness</div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Teaching of the Verse</U></B>:</div> <bR> <div>     Some versions translate the first half of the verse, "<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#444444" FACE="Perpetua" ><I>It is</I></FONT> an abomination for kings to commit wickedness."  This makes "abomination" a description of the kings' wickedness.  We have taken the translation making "abomination" the king's <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>reaction to</I></FONT> wickedness- almost the opposite meaning.  Ours is the more natural Hebrew rendering, but it carries the more difficult explanation.  The other reason to favor our rendering (following about half the translations) is that the next verse refers to the king's "delight."  "Abomination/ delight" is a pairing Solomon has already used four times.  If the king <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>delights </I></FONT>in something in the next verse, it is reasonable that he finds something <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>abominable </I>just beforehand</FONT>.</div> <div>     The difficulty of the verse it this:  how can we state as a matter of fact that kings find evil-doing abominable?  It is obvious that many kings in the past have not and many kings in the present do not.</div> <div>     Remember that we are still in the Sovereignty of God section.  The sovereignty of God intersects with the lives of men <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>most directly</I></FONT> in His dealings with <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>kings</I></FONT>.  There, God guides the courses of whole nations and His people within those nations.  The previous two verses <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" >balanced </FONT>God's <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>overriding </I></FONT>use of kings for His purposes <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" >with </FONT>a <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>warning </I></FONT>that they not adopt different standards of right and wrong than His.  Our verse today furthers the second thought in declaring what is true of <B>true kings</B>- those who acknowledge and adopt God's standards of judgment.  What is true of true kings is that the committing of wickedness is an abomination to them- it is something their souls hate.</div> <div>     And that is the solution to the difficulty of the verse.  What Solomon says about "kings" he means of kings in the ultimate sense of the term.  In other words, 'Any king worthy of the title' will find evil abominable.  This is like asking, "What mother would abandon her nursing infant?"  Well, obviously, we can find cases where mothers have selfishly done so.  So the question is asking, in effect, "What <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><B>true mother</B></FONT> would do such a thing?  A mother worthy of the name would <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>not</I></FONT>."  So our verse, in light of God's providence, sees kings that God <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I><B>sets </B></I></FONT>upon their thrones (true kings) versus those He merely <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I><B>uses </B></I></FONT>while enthroned.  This may not be the most precise phraseology for it, but you get the point.*</div> <div>     This verse, then, puts a double condemnation on kings who commit wickedness.  Not only are they doing something abominable in its own right, they are doing something that kings are supposed to <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Serifa Th BT" ><I>find </I></FONT>abominable so they can keep its influence out of their land.  A king's wickedness declares, in effect, "This, my people, is the standard for your behavior."</div> <div>     The true king finds evil-doing abominable "because the throne is established by righteousness."  Here, then, is another identifier of the true king.  He is a man of <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Serifa Th BT" ><I><B>righteousness</B></I></FONT>.  He doesn't care to do things his way; his interest is to be God's man.  He accepts God's standards as written and seeks God's help as offered.  He knows that any unrighteous activity in which he engages will <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>dis</I></FONT>establish his throne.  God has granted him the sanity to see the folly of destabilizing his own reign, injuring himself and all under his care.  That's all righteousness really is- sanity.</div> <div>     How, then, is this proverb useful to the common man?  It is a directive for us in how to pray for our leaders.  We must pray for anything less than 'the true king' in our leaders' characters to be purged from them.</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Perpetua" >*  </FONT>This idea is very similar to <B>Proverbs 18:22</B><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Georgia" ><B>,</B></FONT><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >  "</FONT><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>Whoever</I></FONT><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" > finds a wife finds good, and gets favor from Jehovah."   </FONT>That is, whover finds a wife <B>worthy of the title</B> finds good.  It is obvious that many many find wives who don't find good.</div> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> ************************************************************************</div> <bR> <div>  <A NAME="apr_25"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="453" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" BGCOLOR=#CC9999 > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 78 ><NOBR><div> Prov 16:13<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Kabel Bk BT" > </FONT></div> <div> <B>Righteous lips </B><I><B>are</B></I><B> the delight of kings,</B></div> <div> <B>and they love him who speaks uprightly. </B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Verdana" ><B> </B></FONT></div> <bR> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div>  </div> <div> <B><U>Words of the Verse</U></B><B>:</B></div> <bR> <div>     The verb "loves" should perhaps be singular, in which case it would not match "kings".  In that case, it would be "and upright speech is loved."  This would cause no essential difference in the meaning of the verse.</div> <div>     </div> <div> <B><U>Analysis of the Verse</U></B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> Being Compared<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Righteous lips</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Those who speak uprightly</div> <bR> <div> Their Two Descriptions:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">The delight of kings</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Kings love them</div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Teaching of the Verse</U></B>:</div> <div>     </div> <div>     This is a follow-on verse from the previous one.  There, evil-doing was an abomination to a true king.  Now the true king is also seen as a lover of those who bring him upright words; he takes pleasure in the vessel of righteous reasonings.  This is probably the king's key weapon in combating immorality.</div> <div>     No king can hope to rule his land rightly without the help of honest courtiers.  The advisers of a president or prime minister are crucial to his just administration of the country.  Therefore, a leader's choice of daily advisers is critical.  He can be made or broken by whom he makes his confidants.  A wise governing official will choose his advisers wisely.  This may be <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Times New Roman" ><I>the</I></FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Times New Roman" ><I> </I></FONT>wisest choice he can make.</div> <div>     Righteous lips are righteous because they have a secure basis for discerning right and wrong.  Someone who would judge righteously must be able to compare one position's correctness <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Times New Roman" ><I>relative </I></FONT>to another position.  But he must also be able to go deeper than relative correctness and see the <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Times New Roman" ><I>basis </I></FONT>for determining right.  Righteous minds must be able to do both.</div> <div>     Many Christians have an understanding of the <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Times New Roman" ><I>basis </I></FONT>for righteous judgment, but they have no skill in <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Times New Roman" ><I>comparing </I></FONT>ideas, situations, or people before them.  There are, therefore, many unbelievers who will make wiser discernments on the average.  Of course, when the unbeliever departs the realm of 'understood' morals (stealing and killing are wrong, for instance), he may stray in his otherwise keen ability to weigh matters relative to one another.</div> <div>     Not every Christian is personally gifted with the mental acuity to make solid discernments about competing ideas.  His only problem would be not knowing when to go to a wiser brother to help him sort out the finer details.  </div> <div>     Most Christians, unfortunately, assume that since they believe the Bible, they therefore have the ability to draw proper conclusions with no further qualifications.  Especially disconcerting are Christians who say "Jesus is the answer to everything" as a cover for the fact that they haven't considered His Word deeply enough to know what He thinks about the issue at hand.  Most of the tough issues in life require a rather comprehensive grasp of God's truth.  Most Christians would rather just 'pray about it' a few minutes and skip searching the mind of Christ in Scriptures.  There's a good Proverbs word for this:  laziness.</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Eurostile" >Heb 5:14</FONT>  But solid food is for those full grown, having exercised the senses <U>through habit</U>, for distinction of both good and bad. </div> <bR> <div>     All the deepest issues of life are laid down in Scriptures:  good and bad, love and hate, compassion and severity, submission and independence ...  The Christian is supposed to <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Times New Roman" ><I>imprint </I></FONT>God's view of these on his senses by constant meditation on them.  Immature Christians never understand the process.  They never see that they themselves are supposed to be vessels through whom God's truth can be mediated.  Christians should almost automatically be good advisers to those in power- like Daniel was.  </div> <div>     A good understanding of Scriptures does not mean that everything we say gets turned into a salvation tract.  Daniel was an adviser to kings.  As such, he submitted his abilities to their interests.  He didn't try to make Babylon Christian, because that was not the king's desire.  Until God changed the king's heart, Daniel did not let a spiritual conflict of interests diminish his effectiveness in the king's court as God's servant.  He would serve the king as would please the king- <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Times New Roman" ><I>this </I></FONT>being what would please God.  He would serve God directly in his personal life and as the king's <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Times New Roman" ><I>helper </I></FONT>in his political career.  Most Christians don't know how to submit their personal interests to those in authority.  They think that since God is their co-pilot, everyone should submit to <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Times New Roman" ><I>them</I></FONT>.</div> <div>     Those in authority love those who speak uprightly:  <B>not </B>those who tell them what they want to hear.  Truly serving a king or boss as adviser (and many Christians assume they are advisers when they are not) means telling him the truth.  It also means telling him the truth with <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Times New Roman" ><I>his </I></FONT>best interests at heart.  That means that if he rejects our counsel, we don't secretly start hoping that he'll flop just so he can see that we were right.  A <B>true servant</B> says, "God put me here.  This is the man I serve.  His interests are now my interests.  His success is my success."</div> <div>     True servants are as rare as true kings.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> **************************************************************************</div> <bR> <div>  <A NAME="apr_26"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="453" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" BGCOLOR=#CCCCCC > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 78 ><NOBR><div> Prov 16:14<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Kabel Bk BT" > </FONT></div> <div> <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Verdana" ><B>A king's fury </B></FONT><I><B>is</B></I><B> </B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Verdana" ><B>as messengers of death, </B></FONT></div> <div> <B>but a wise man will cover it. </B><B> </B></div> <bR> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div>  </div> <div> <B><U>Words of the Verse</U></B><B>:</B></div> <bR> <div>     "Cover" is the official word for "atone," the bulk of its 102 occurrences being in Exodus and Leviticus passages describing sacrifices for sin.  Solomon only uses the word twice; once was in 16:6, where we learned that "by mercy and truth, iniquity is atoned for."  In at least one other passage, Isa. 28:18, the Hebrew word is definitely used for something other than atonement.</div> <div>     </div> <div> <B><U>Analysis of the Verse</U></B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> Being Considered<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">A king's wrath</div> <bR> <div> Descriptions:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Is as messengers of death</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">A wise man appeases the king's wrath</div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Teaching of the Verse</U></B>:</div> <bR> <div>     Solomon seems to remind us of the tie-ins between the doctrine of kings in the present paragraph and the overall teaching of God's Sovereignty that has extended from the beginning of the chapter by his use of the word for "atone" in each section, even though the word seems to have a different meaning here.  </div> <div>     A verse about a king's death sentences is certainly appropriate in the context of God's sovereignty.  God is the ultimate dispenser of life and death; a king is one of the most consistent sources of death on earth.  One of his main jobs is to do away with certain malefactors.  So Solomon reminds us how deep God's providence cuts into our everyday lives.  If we were the object of someone's false accusation, we could be standing for our lives before the powers that be.</div> <div>     But Solomon's treatment of the interweaving of man's activity with God's sovereignty goes deeper.  Here he tells us that a wise man can actually displace a king's pondered sentence of death.  Probably the wise man's greatest tool to this end is his demonstration of the fact that he truly has the king's best interests in mind.  If the king has thought me worthy of death, I will show him that it was a misunderstanding on his part.  Even the communication (and manner of it) that the king in his justice would not <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Times New Roman" ><I>want </I></FONT>to take an innocent man's life is in the wise man's toolbox.</div> <div>     The context is most important here.  By context, we might conclude that the greatest danger before a king is simply- telling him what he doesn't want to hear!  The previous verse says that a true kings loves truthful counselors.  Yes, but the 'false king' often rises in a ruler's spirit when he is told something that crosses his will.  So the "upright speech" may be the doom of the righteous counselor.  If so, at least he died with his integrity- we really can ask for nothing greater in this life.  </div> <div>     But Solomon is telling us that the truth on his lips is not necessarily the upright counselor's last testimony on earth.  By this he is telling us one thing about God's sovereignty:  the doctrine is <B>not to produce fatalism</B> in men.  We are not, in receiving a sentence of death, to immediately say, "Alas, it is God's will I suppose."  Whereas, we should be prepared to accept God's will if we cannot appease the king, we should be thinking of ways to dissuade him if we can.  After all, if we were true servants of the king in the first place, we would not want him to have our innocent blood on his hands.</div> <div>     Notice that our verse is not worded to indicate that a wise man is a sneaky individual.  He may have the appearance of sneakiness, and it may feel like he is just wriggling out of a tight spot, but his interest is really in doing what is right.  It cannot be helped if what he does in this case <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Times New Roman" ><I>seems </I></FONT>self-serving.  Honestly, the wise man wants what is right.  If he had slipped up and done something worthy of death, he would be willing to accept the sentence.  But if his death would be unjust, he would think in terms of the one in whose hands his life was.  He would think how his supposed offense had given rise to his unjust sentence.  Then he would consider an appropriate means to communicate his innocence and the injustice about to be committed.</div> <div>     Chiefly, our proverb is about our relations with those in authority.  If they turn against us, it is our duty to still fulfill the part of a servant, serving their interests.  Elsewhere Solomon gives at  least one specific on dealing with an authority's anger:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Eurostile" >Eccl 10:4</FONT>  If the spirit of the ruler rises up against you, <U>do not leave your place</U>; for composure quiets great offenses. </div> <bR> <div>     Just the opposite of our instincts!  Our impulse is to make ourselves scarce.  God tells us that a 'covering' needs to be placed over the authority's anger in person, from our normal position.</div> <div>     Once again, a <B>true servant </B>is a rare thing.  When we are put on the spot, all we can normally think of is defending ourselves.  Or we simply give up: "Oh boy, he's mad now.  I'll never get out of this!"  But God wants us to always remember our relation to those in authority and so take a positive and productive place in His sovereign plan.  </div> <div>     He also here raises our estimation of wisdom in telling us that those WITH it can change the contents of a letter from the very 'messengers of death'.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> **********************************************************************</div> <bR> <div>  <A NAME="apr_27"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="453" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" BGCOLOR=#CCCCFF > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 78 ><NOBR><div> Prov 16:15<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Kabel Bk BT" > </FONT></div> <div> <B>In the light of the king's countenance is life; </B></div> <div> <B>And his favor is as a cloud of the latter rain. </B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Verdana" ><B> </B></FONT><B> </B></div> <bR> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div>  </div> <div> <B><U>Words of the Verse</U></B><B>:</B></div> <bR> <div>     The latter rain is the rain the crops receive just before harvest, giving them their final growth, sturdiness, and fruitfulness.</div> <div>     </div> <div> <B><U>Analysis of the Verse</U></B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> Being Compared<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">The brightness of the king's face</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">The king's delight</div> <bR> <div> Their Descriptions:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Contains life</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Like a cloud of the latter rain</div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Teaching of the Verse</U></B>:</div> <bR> <div>     Rather than comparing the king's anger to his favor in one verse, as normal, Solomon began with the king's anger in the previous verse and finishes it with the king's favor in this verse.  In giving each facet a little more of its own space, he can better highlight God's sovereignty in the king's activity.</div> <div>     God's sovereignty is particularly underscored here in the king dispensing life.  We know that God is the ultimate and properly the sole owner and dispenser of life:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Eurostile" >Psa 66:8, 9</FONT>  O bless our God, O peoples, and make the voice of His praise to be heard;  who <U>holds our sou</U><U>l</U> <U>in life</U>, and does not allow our feet to slide. </div> <bR> <div>     Therefore, it is quite something to say that someone else can also 'hold our soul in life.'  Just as the king does in the matter of death, he becomes a primary channel for God dispensing life to men on earth.</div> <div>     And the king's very countenance is likened to God's!</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Eurostile" >Psa 4:6</FONT>  ... Jehovah, lift up the light of <U>Your countenance</U> on us. </div> <bR> <div>     Truly, when we look to a king or someone in governing authority, we are looking, after a fashion, to God on earth:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Eurostile" >Exodus 7:1</FONT>  And Jehovah said to Moses, See, I have <U>made you a god</U> to Pharaoh.  And Aaron your brother shall be your prophet. </div> <bR> <div>     Even as Pharaoh was a 'god' to his people, dispensing life and death, so Moses would become 'god' to Pharaoh, dispensing life and death to him.</div> <div>     It is very unbecoming of Christians to minimize people in authority.  Our prayers are hindered when we do not see what sort of 'messengers' God has made of even ungodly rulers.  Our witness is hindered when we do not speak of and treat them with respect.  We should value and seek the 'light of the countenance' of earthly officials.  We should appreciate it when we receive it.</div> <div>     An authority's favor is like a "cloud of the latter rain."  When the farmers began looking to the skies in March and April, those darker clouds that held water were a heart-warming sight.  They knew that their hoped-for and needed irrigation would soon be on its way.  So when a governing authority smiles on us.  He is like an umbrella spread out over us (to reverse the simile) to protect our interests.  He becomes the hand of God for our good as long as his favor is extended.</div> <div>     Note how the king's <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Times New Roman" ><I>anger </I></FONT>was like messengers of death- like deputies sent to arrest a doomed man.  Now his <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Times New Roman" ><I>favor </I></FONT>is like a rain cloud- a messenger of coming provision of sustenance.  Human beings are no less instruments of God than inanimate objects like weather, plants, or rivers.  Even when kings blunder they execute God's will.  </div> <div>     As we interact intelligently with those in authority (previous verse), we must always bear ourselves as those <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Times New Roman" ><I>in the hands of God</I></FONT>.  "You can do nothing to me- for or against me- except it be from God."  Yet at the same time, we are those who bear ourselves <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Times New Roman" ><I>graciously </I></FONT>before authorities.  "You are my master from God.  I will obey you as I would Him."</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Eurostile" >Rom 13:7</FONT>  Therefore give to all <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#444444" FACE="Eurostile" ><I>their</I> </FONT>dues; to the <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#444444" FACE="Eurostile" ><I>one due </I></FONT> tax, the tax; tribute to whom tribute <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Eurostile" ><I>is </I></FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#444444" FACE="Eurostile" ><I>due</I></FONT>, <U>fear</U> to whom fear <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#444444" FACE="Eurostile" ><I>is due</I></FONT>, and <U>honor</U> to whom honor <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Eurostile" ><I>i</I></FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#444444" FACE="Eurostile" ><I>s due</I></FONT>. </div> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> *************************************************************************</div> <bR> <div>  <A NAME="apr_28_1"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="563" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" BGCOLOR=#99FF66 > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 78 ><NOBR><div> Prov 16:16<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Kabel Bk BT" > </FONT></div> <div> <B>How much better </B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#3366FF" FACE="Verdana" ><I><B>it is</B></I></FONT><B> to procure wisdom than gold! </B></div> <div> <B>And to attain discernment </B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#3366FF" FACE="Verdana" ><I><B>is more </B></I></FONT><B>to be selected than silver!</B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Verdana" ><B> </B></FONT></div> <bR> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div>  </div> <div> <B><U>Words of the Verse</U></B><B>:</B></div> <bR> <div>     We have used "procure" in the first half and "attain" in the second half to render the same Hebrew word.  The KJV often does this, apparently as a teaching tool (with the understanding that we will be under men with knowledge of the original languages), though in this case the KJV merely uses "get" both times.</div> <div>     </div> <div> <B><U>Analysis of the Verse</U></B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> Being Compared<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Laying claim to wisdom</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Owning discernment ("Laying claim" and "owning" are yet two more synonyms for the Hebrew word)</div> <bR> <div> The  Descriptions of Them:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Much better than gold!</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Much to be chosen over silver!</div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Teaching of the Verse</U></B>:</div> <bR> <div>     Now Solomon does a grand trick! (Though there is nothing 'tricky' about it)  He has taken us as deep into the sovereignty of God as we will go in all of Scriptures; now he will connect the depth of that topic to his original key exhortation:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Eurostile" >Prov 4:7</FONT>  Wisdom <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#444444" FACE="Eurostile" ><I>is</I> </FONT>the main thing; <U>get</U> <U>wisdom</U>, and with all your getting, <U>get</U> <U>discernment</U>.<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT></div> <bR> <div>     He already hinted that he was headed back in this direction when he said a "wise" man will cover a king's fury two verses ago.</div> <div>     He has already told us the basic truth of this verse:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Eurostile" >Prov 3:13, 14</FONT>  Happy <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#444444" FACE="Eurostile" ><I>is</I> </FONT>the man who <U>finds</U> <U>wisdom</U>, and the man who <U>gets</U> <U>discernment</U>.  For its profit <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Eurostile" ><I>is</I></FONT><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Eurostile" >  </FONT>better than the gain from <U>silver</U>, and its increase more than <U>gold</U> </div> <bR> <div>     So today's verse is definitely a repeat.  Again, the reason to re-emphasize the value of wisdom at this point is to tell us that the best way to interact with the 'mystery' of God's sovereignty in the affairs of men is to access what <B>God Himself used</B> when He was putting all this together!  <U>Wisdom</U> personified speaks thus:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Eurostile" >Prov 8:10</FONT>  Receive my instruction, and not <U>silver</U>; and knowledge, rather than choice <U>gold</U>... </div> <div>  Prov 8:22<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Eurostile" >  Jehovah possessed me from the beginning of His way, before His works of old... </FONT></div> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Eurostile" > Prov 8:30, 31</FONT>  even <U>I was a workman</U> at His side; and I was daily <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#444444" FACE="Eurostile" ><I>His</I> </FONT>delight, rejoicing always before Him; rejoicing in the world, His earth; and my delight <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#444444" FACE="Eurostile" ><I>was</I> </FONT>with the sons of men. </div> <bR> <div>     Do we really understand that that is what God is offering here?  </div> <div>     Solomon understood.  That is why it was no bother for him to repeat it.  The very 'toolbox' at God's side in making the world, the universe, and us is at the disposal of the creature, man.  How can this be?  Doesn't this transcend the limits of the clay being <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Times New Roman" ><I>under </I></FONT>the power of the Potter?  Doesn't this raise us higher than we should rightfully be?  Isn't there a less valuable form of wisdom fit for the creature's use?  (Actually, the <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Times New Roman" ><I>portion </I></FONT>of wisdom we receive <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Times New Roman" ><I>is </I></FONT>different, but it is suited to our finite vision.  We cannot have <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Times New Roman" ><I>all </I></FONT>wisdom, because we do not have <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Times New Roman" ><I>all </I></FONT>sight or power, Eccl. 8:17)</div> <div>     Furthermore, it is not even wisdom and discernment themselves which are valued, but the <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>attainment </I></FONT>of them.  With gold, the quest is nothing without the acquisition.  With wisdom, the acquisition is <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>in </I></FONT>the pursuit.  As long as I am pursuing wisdom, I am in possession of the portion I need, the portion the Lord supplies, just now.  I have wisdom because I want wisdom and God graciously grants it from His Word; the more I seek, the more I have.  The moment I stop seeking or desiring, I am losing whatever wisdom I had. </div> <div>     But now we have to ask ourselves: Is it really so with us?  Do <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Times New Roman" ><I>we </I></FONT>value wisdom this much?  This verse really doesn't mean much if we only have to <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Times New Roman" ><I>agree </I></FONT>that wisdom is more valuable than gold.  Mere agreement means nothing here.  We are talking about value, about what is VALUED.  The only way we are really <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Times New Roman" ><I>aligned with</I></FONT> the verse (as opposed to merely agreeing with it) is to <B>compare </B>our soul's excitement over gold and silver with our excitement over wisdom.  "But I don't have much/any gold or silver!"  All the better.  Solomon's comparison is really in the <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Times New Roman" ><I>attaining </I></FONT>of gold, so we have to <B>imagine </B>what it would be like to be offered a chest of gold.  All our money worries disappear for a decade or two!  All the broken things in and around the house can be fixed!  That missionary I told myself  I'd support if I had the means- now I can do it!  </div> <div>     A definite change of lifestyle.  We are earthly creatures; God made us that way.  We need stuff to live.  Money buys stuff.  It's a lot easier to buy enough stuff with <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Times New Roman" ><I>more </I></FONT>money.  We could even remind ourselves that Solomon told us that abundance of earthly goods is a blessing from God.</div> <div>     But then- we are left with the question we should be asking:  how much do we value <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Times New Roman" ><I>wisdom </I></FONT>by comparison?  Sure, wisdom IS more valuable than gold, but does our soul actually value it thus day by day?  </div> <div>     When we first open the Bible every day, is there an excitement like the one we described in receiving a chest of gold?  When we learn a Bible truth, are we thinking of all the ways we'll be able to 'spend' it over the next year?  And all the while, are we standing in awe of the mere possession of what God used to make all things?</div> <div>     Most Christians have no such excitement because they place no real value on wisdom.  </div> <div>     So what is Scriptural wisdom to us if not a valued commodity?</div> <div> 1)  A "do and don't" list to help us earn our way into heaven;</div> <div> 2)  A "do and don't" list to make us holier than all the other Christians;</div> <div> 3)  A "do-nothing" list that I can just agree with and be comfortable.                                                                                4)  A passport to join the church 'country club.'</div> <div>     The Bible is definitely like one of these or something similar if it is not our source of excitement- hence, our soul's desire.  We had better examine our approach to God's Word.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> **********************************************************************</div> <bR> <div>  <A NAME="apr_29"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="549" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" BGCOLOR=#99FFCC > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 78 ><NOBR><div> Prov 16:17<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Kabel Bk BT" > </FONT></div> <div> <B>The highway of the upright: turning off from evil,</B></div> <div> <B>And he </B><B>who guards his path is </B><B>protecting his soul .</B><B> </B></div> <bR> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div>  </div> <div> <B><U>Words of the Verse</U></B><B>:</B></div> <bR> <div>     "Protecting" is literally "hedging about".</div> <div>     Solomon has paired "guards" and "protects" a number of times; of God guarding us, of wisdom guarding us, of us guarding the way of wisdom (2:8, 11; 4:6; 5:2).  In 13:3 it was of guarding what we say.</div> <div>     </div> <div> <B><U>Analysis of the Verse</U></B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> Being Compared<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">The thoroughfare of the upright</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">One who guards his path</div> <bR> <div> Their Descriptions:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Exiting immorality</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Protects his soul</div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Teaching of the Verse</U></B>:</div> <bR> <div>     Now, to complement our verse on the value of wisdom, we turn to the <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Times New Roman" ><I>negative </I></FONT>aspect of this pursuit.  There is a <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Times New Roman" ><I>turning off</I></FONT> from a pathway; there is the <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Times New Roman" ><I>watchful eye</I></FONT> kept on one's road.</div> <div>     This negative aspect of holiness plays very largely in a Christian's life.  For one thing, the far greater portion of earth's population is on the wrong road:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Eurostile" >Mat 7:13</FONT>  Go in through the narrow gate; for <U>wide</U> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#444444" FACE="Eurostile" ><I>is</I>  </FONT>the gate and <U>broad</U> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#444444" FACE="Eurostile" ><I>is</I>  </FONT>the way that leads to destruction, and <U>many</U> are the ones entering in through it. </div> <bR> <div>     So our entry at the narrow gate is, in a sense, an escape from the broad road to destruction.  The masses that throng that wrong road carry us like a current in a body of water which tends to pull everything along with it.  Our proverb talks about a "turning off" from evil.  It literally indicates a diverting of our journey from one path to another.  Therefore, it is evil itself that comprises the broad road the world takes.  Solomon calls the upright man's road a highway; the road it turns off from must be a super-highway, then.</div> <div>     More importantly, we must divert our path inwardly, individually, irrespective of anyone else's influence, every day.  The inward super-highway to evil is by far the more dangerous, for:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Eurostile" >Psa 19:12</FONT>  <U>Who can understand </U><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#444444" FACE="Eurostile" ><I><U>his</U></I><U> </U></FONT><U>errors?</U>  Oh make me pure from secret <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#444444" FACE="Eurostile" ><I>faults</I> </FONT></div> <bR> <div>     And furthermore:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Eurostile" >Jer 17:9</FONT>  The heart <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#444444" FACE="Eurostile" ><I>is</I> </FONT>deceitful above all things, and it is incurable; <U>who can know it?</U> </div> <bR> <div>     Seeing evil 'out there', in the world, is much easier than detecting our own sins within ourselves.  But this is what is required of the upright man.  This is why he prays, "Do not lead me into temptation."  He knows that his inward roads easily lead to sin even when he's doing his best to avoid it.</div> <div>     "Guarding our path" is required.  That means, "I will <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Times New Roman" ><I>only </I></FONT>take this road."  It means, "I will <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Times New Roman" ><I>not </I></FONT>take that road."  It means, "I will insure that I stay on this path, already aware that, even at my best, I tend to stray."</div> <bR> <div>  <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Eurostile" >Psa 119:176</FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Eurostile" >  I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek Your servant; for I do not forget Your Commandments. </FONT></div> <bR> <div>     Whoever assumes he will stay on the right path- he it is who will certainly stray.  The wise man concedes his wandering tendency:</div> <bR> <div>  <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Eurostile" >Rom 7:15</FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Eurostile" >  For what I end up doing, I do not understand.  For what I do not choose, this I perform.  But what I hate, this I do. </FONT></div> <bR> <div>     Only when we know the cleverness of our enemy can we 'head him off at the pass'.  Only when we know Someone greater than our enemy (sin), can we defeat him:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Eurostile" >Rom 8:3, 4</FONT>  For the Law <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#444444" FACE="Eurostile" ><I>being</I> </FONT>powerless, in that it was <U>weak</U> through the <U>flesh</U>, God sending His own Son in <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#444444" FACE="Eurostile" ><I>the</I> </FONT>likeness of sinful flesh, and concerning sin, condemned sin in the flesh,  so that the <U>righteous demand of the Law</U> <U>might be fulfilled in us</U>, those not <U>walking</U> according to flesh, but <U>according to </U><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#555555" FACE="Eurostile" ><I><U>the </U></I></FONT><U>Spirit</U>. </div> <bR> <div>     What greater task can we have than "protecting our own soul"?  Yet that is the very point.  What man perceives of his job in life as protecting his soul?  Who walks around in a defensive posture?  Many walk around in a negative posture, but not on the lookout against "the sin that so easily entangles us." (Heb. 12:1)  Of course, the negative task is also a positive one, as we have seen.  As I seek to avoid the weakness of my human flesh, I must lean on the strength of God's Holy Spirit.  But most Christians only seek to do the latter and assume that the former is taken care of in the process.  It is not.  It is a major part of the Sprit's guidance to show us our sins:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Eurostile" >Psa 139:23, 24</FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Eurostile" >   Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my thoughts;  and see if </FONT><I>any</I> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Eurostile" >wicked way </FONT><I>is </I><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#444444" FACE="Eurostile" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Eurostile" >in me; and lead me in the way everlasting. </FONT></div> <bR> <div>     The highway of the upright is a constant departure from evil.  He is always mindful of his path, guarding his path, because he knows how easily he can stray.  He counts his soul as worth everything, for if he gives it away or handles it cheaply, what does he have to replace it with?  So he entrusts himself to the One who will help him see his transgressions and who alone can teach him the upright way.  </div> <div>     All this proper attention to the negative, to the 'bent' within us, is what makes the upright man 'straight' (the literal meaning of 'upright')!  His departure from the evil path is his very access to the road of righteousness.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> **********************************************************************</div> <bR> <bR> <div>  <A NAME="apr_30"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="386" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" BGCOLOR=#99FFFF > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 78 ><NOBR><div> Proverbs 16:18<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Kabel Bk BT" > </FONT></div> <div> <B>Pride goes before ruin, </B></div> <div> <B>and a lofty spirit before tripping up. </B></div> <bR> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div>  </div> <div> <B><U>Words of the Verse</U></B><B>:</B></div> <bR> <div>     "Tripping up" is from a Hebrew word  meaning "tottering."</div> <div>     </div> <div> <B><U>Analysis of the Verse</U></B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> Being Compared<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Pride</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">A haughty spirit</div> <bR> <div> Their Descriptions:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Precedes a crash (literally "fracture")</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Precedes stumbling</div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Teaching of the Verse</U></B>:</div> <bR> <div>     We continue the <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Times New Roman" ><I>negative </I></FONT>aspects of pursuing wisdom from our previous two verses.</div> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Perpetua" >    What else must we </FONT><I>avoid</I> to attain wisdom<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Perpetua" >?  Pride.</FONT></div> <div>     We might be able to think of some good senses of 'loftiness' or 'elevation' of spirit, but our verse is describing a spirit that exalts <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Times New Roman" ><I>itself</I></FONT>, one that is not content with a lower position.  There is one kind of elevation of spirit that rises in response to blessing, but which is not an attempt to break the chains of a lower station, which 'rises' only to say thanks.  The bad kind of exaltation mirrors Satan's original departure from righteousness:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Eurostile" >Isa 14:13, 14</FONT>  For you have said in your heart, <U>I will</U> <U>go up</U> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Eurostile" ><I>to </I></FONT> the heavens, I will <U>exalt</U> my throne above the stars of God; I will also <U>sit on the mount</U> of the congregation, in the sides of the north.  I will <U>go up above</U> the heights of the clouds; I will be like the Most <U>High</U>. </div> <bR> <div>     And Satan's crashing ruin is described in the same passage:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Eurostile" > Isa 14:15</FONT>  Yet you shall be <U>brought down</U> to hell, to the sides of the Pit. </div> <bR> <div>     Our verse is a prophecy of what will happen when we unnaturally raise ourselves.  Satan tried to raise himself to equality with God (note that he didn't seek to surpass God, only have co-dominion; Satan knew what was utterly impossible).  This attempt at eternal dominion (beyond the dominion granted him by God) doomed him to eternal torment.  It is a natural recompense in the order of the Universe.  Our dealings with God make pride both an act of discontent and a contest with the Creator.  God consigns both to a proper destiny.</div> <div>     Adam tried to raise himself to equality with God in the matter of determining ("knowing <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#555555" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>intimately</I></FONT>") right and wrong.  God could have <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Times New Roman" ><I>His </I></FONT>definition of morality, but Adam wanted his own for man.  Again, God had already told Adam what the 'recoil' would be from this shot.  Death was the fall awaiting Adam, making official his departure from God.</div> <div>     You and I and all men through history have <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Times New Roman" ><I>lived out</I></FONT> this same competition with God.  Our lives day by day without Christ are actually <B>replacement dominions</B>.  Is God calling the shots in our lives?  No.  Who, therefore, is wielding authority over us?  Ourselves.  Pride.  And note, once again, that pride is not an attempt to overthrow God.  It is merely the insistence that He make room for our <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Times New Roman" ><I>co</I></FONT>-dominion, <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Times New Roman" ><I>our </I></FONT>interpretation of the rules, <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Times New Roman" ><I>our </I></FONT>judgment of who or what is good or bad.   So what is our prophesied stumble answering this self-exaltation?  The same final one as it is for Satan:  the Lake of Fire.  After all, we did nothing essentially different than Satan.</div> <div>     Looking at pride from the standpoint of our creation, we cannot rise above what God made us or gave us the potential to become.  Growth is one thing; breaking out of our 'confining' sphere is another.  When we seek to break our God-given mold rather than simply fulfill its natural potential, our very <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Times New Roman" ><I>design </I></FONT>pulls us back, reminds us that we cannot be what we, in fact, are not.  This occurs on a routine basis.  There may be some 'elasticity' in our soul in relation to its surroundings, but eventually, when we bloat ourselves to unrealistic proportions, it is only natural that we will implode, or pop, or simply fall flat.</div> <div>     You would think that after a number of such falls we would be able to generalize the problem and figure ourselves out.  Actually, mankind does have something of a listening ear to aphorisms on pride.  Our proverb, "Pride comes before a fall," is a fairly oft-repeated one.  We allow these sayings as practical truths on the one hand- don't be unrealistic about your abilities.  We allow them as spiritual guidance on the other hand- don't make your<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Times New Roman" ><I>self</I></FONT> better than man in general; you are not more special than another human.  God is often included in such aphorisms.  He is acknowledged as the 'caretaker' who manages the progress of this fascinating little creature, man.  </div> <div>     Even when man pretty much puts the whole picture together- at how destructive pride is, yet how inbuilt and easy pride is for man- he still only accepts this as part of man's tragic destiny, a pathos even ennobling man.  Or else he consigns mankind to the pit but then does nothing to escape the doom himself-  proof that he doesn't really grasp God's curse on pride.</div> <div>     The exact opposite of pride is humility, but the connection between humility and wisdom makes wisdom nearly the opposite of pride as well:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Eurostile" >Jam 3:13</FONT>  Who <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Eurostile" ><I>is</I></FONT> wise and knowing among you? Let him show his works by <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#555555" FACE="Eurostile" ><I>his</I> </FONT>good conduct with <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#555555" FACE="Eurostile" ><I>the </I></FONT><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#555555" FACE="Eurostile" ><I> </I></FONT><U>meekness</U> <U>of wisdom</U>. </div> <bR> <div>     No meekness, no wisdom.  Our task is not merely to avoid pride and so a ruinous tumble.  Our task is to become pride's opposite.  We are to self-deflate in order to counterbalance our natural egotism.  To constantly humble ourselves, constantly pop our own balloon, is to simply bring us back to reality.  Lowering ourselves does not make us sub-human, it merely brings us down <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>from </I></FONT>our unnatural, yet inbuilt, Satanic, insane loftiness <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Poor Richard" ><I>to </I></FONT>what is plain-human.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> *********************************************************************</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>