Besieged of Kindness

Oh how great is thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee; which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee before the sons of men!   (Ps 31:19)

FEAR - reverential trust; hatred of evil

God has laid up great goodness for those who have a reverential trust in God and a hatred of evil; who place their trust in God instead of men.

Thou shalt hide them in the secret of thy presence from the pride of man: thou shalt keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues. (Ps 31:20)

SECRET - shelter

PRESENCE - face

PRIDE - conspiracy, snare

PAVILION - a temporary booth (like the OT tabernacle)

STRIFE OF TONGUES - contentious words

God hides those that fear/trust Him in the shelter of His face from the conspiracies and snares of men;  He keeps them secretly in a tabernacle from contentious words.

Blessed be the LORD: for he hath shewed me his marvelous kindness in a strong city.   (Ps 31:21)

MARVELOUS - something to marvel at; extraordinary; beyond natural ability

STRONG CITY - besieged city

Blessed be the LORD: I marvel at His extraordinary kindness toward me in a besieged city, where men starved for food and drink have lost all kindness toward one another.  How refreshing and extraordinary God's kindness is in those times in life when we've been starved of kindness from men.

The Four Generations that Always Exist

There is a generation that curseth their father, and doth not bless their mother. There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet is not washed from their filthiness.  There is a generation, O how lofty are their eyes! and their eyelids are lifted up. There is a generation, whose teeth are as swords, and their jaw teeth as knives, to devour the poor from off the earth, and the needy from among men.  Prov 30:11-14

These four generations always exist:

1. Parent-haters
2. Self-righteous
3. Proud / Arrogant toward God
4. Bullies / Cruel cowards who oppress the weak

The four generations teach us this lesson, most valuable, yet most humbling, thoroughly to know.  Yet so depraved is man, that he does not understand his own depravity.  Nothing is so much hidden from him as himself. (C. Bridges on Proverbs)

How true... think about it.  Nobody admits to abusing their parents.  Nobody admits to be self-righteous.  Nobody admits to being proud and arrogant toward God.  Nobody admits to being a cruel coward who oppresses the weak.  All of these have a more noble and justified view of themselves and their actions.

He keeps a good opinion of himself, by keeping the light out of the heart and conscience.  His imagination fancies good, where there is nothing but hateful deformity.  Under this self-delusion, we deal so gently and tenderly with sin, that no conflict is maintained with it, no sorrow or burden felt concerning it.  How deeply do we need the searching light and convincing power of the Spirit of God, to shew us our abominations. (C. Bridges on Proverbs)

May I allow the light of God's Word to search my heart and show me its true condition.

Fear or Faith, Snare or Safety, Bondage or Liberty

The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the LORD shall be safe (Prov 29:25).

By the fear of the LORD, men DEPART FROM EVIL; by the fear of man, they RUN INTO EVIL.  Fear brings us into the snare; faith brings us into liberty, safety, exaltation.

Here is one of the great paradoxes of the Bible, a truth that runs contrary to our natural instincts.  The man who depends on the world for happiness (who seems to have such freedom and liberty) is in bondage.  The servant of God (who seems to live under such strict restraints) is in liberty.

May I recognize, seek, and treasure the liberty and safety that comes from trusting God.  May I refuse to fear man.

To Answer or Not To Answer....

Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest thou also be like unto him.  Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own conceit.  Prov 26:4-5

These two verses seem to contradict one another, but in fact, they are rules for dealing with a fool in two different situations.

The first situation occurs when a fool's words clearly show his foolishness.  This is one of those situations when the words are so clearly foolish that all the hearers remain silent.  In this situation, silence is the most effective rebuke.  All the hearers seem to sense the foolishness, and no verbal rebuke is necessary.  To answer the fool in this situation would make you look like a fool for answering when no answer was necessary.

The second situation occurs when a fool's words make him appear wise.  In this situation, your silence may be mistaken for defeat and may make the fool more arrogant ("wiser in his own conceit").  Therefore, the fool must be answered.

In short, answer not IN folly, but TO folly.

Repelling the Backbiter

The north wind driveth away rain: so doth an angry countenance a backbiting tongue.     Proverbs 25:23

The Hebrew word for "backbiting" means covering, disguise, covert.  So the backbiting tongue is one that wounds covertly; the tongue that pours forth wounding words disguised as concern or prayer requests or old anecdotes or even praise of another...

The backbiting tongue wounds four at one stroke: the backbiter himself (herself might be more appropriate here), the object of his attack, the hearer, and the name of God. If the backbiter be rather welcomed than repelled, is not the willing listener thus partaker of his sin? Flee this deadly pest. Keep thine ears as well as thy mouth from the poison. Let thine angry countenance drive away either the slander of him, or the slanderer from thee. Proverbs by Charles Bridges

Interestingly, the next verse in Proverbs is this one:
It is better to dwell in the corner of the housetop, than with a brawling woman in a wide house. Proverbs 25:24
Perhaps the writer associated backbiting with a brawling woman... I know I do.

If thou forbear to deliver them....

If thou forbear to deliver them that are drawn unto death, and those that are ready to be slain;  If thou sayest, Behold, we knew it not; doth not he that pondereth the heart consider it? and he that keepeth thy soul, doth not he know it? and shall not he render to every man according to his works?  Proverbs 24:11-12

Whoever knows his brother's danger, and forbears to deliver -- doesn't God know it?  Will God render it?  The Hebrew midwives and later Esther delivered their own people drawn unto death.

• Reuben delivered Joseph from the pit.
• Jonathan saved his friend at imminent risk to himself.
• Obadiah hid the Lord's prophets.
• Ahikam and Ebed-melech saved Jeremiah.
• Daniel preserved the wise men of Babylon.
• The Samaritan rescued his neighbor from death.
• Paul's nephew delievered the great Apostle, by informing him of the murderous plot.

Excuses are always at hand for slightly passing over their sad condition -- we knew it not -- we knew not your state, how you came into it, or how to help you out of it.  But the true reason is, we want charity, but abound in self-love.

But doesn't God consider the excuse of ignorance to be the mere cover for selfishness?  Vain it is to plead ignorance before the All-seeing God.  He that pondereth the heart will thoroughly sift; his Omniscience will perfectly know; his retributive justice will render.

How much more guilty to forbear the deliverance of immortal souls!  The Lord preserve us from an indictment in the court of heaven for the murder of our brother's soul, by forbearing to deliver!

Excerpts from Proverbs by Charles Bridges

Slothful Coward or Trampler of Lions?

The slothful man saith, There is a lion without, I shall be slain in the streets.  Proverbs 22:13

I better stay home from work today because there might be a lion outside who will kill me in the street.  What a ridiculous excuse! 

Imaginary difficulties are the indulgence of sloth.  The slothful man is a coward.  He has no love for his work, and therefore he is always ready to put a  cheat upon his soul, inventing some vain excuse, because he will not do his duty.  He shrinks from every work likely to involve trouble.  Fancied dangers frighten him from real and present duties.

Many times as Christians we're called upon to perform a service that has real difficulties and dangers.  Sometimes there really is "a lion in the street"!  In those times, we must remember the promises of God. 

Thou shalt tread upon the lion and the adder; the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.  Psalm 91:11-13

May we obey God's calling in faith that He will provide protection as He sees fit.  May we remind our brothers and sisters in Christ to rise above sloth and cowardice and obey the Lord in faith.

Excerpts from Proverbs by Charles Bridges

Arrows in the Quiver

Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain. It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he giveth his beloved sleep.

Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward. As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate. Psalm 127
Children are not intended to replace or reduce our relationship with God or our service unto God. God doesn't intend for us to take an extended leave of absence from Him and our place of service while we raise our children.

 

Just the opposite. Childrearing becomes another task that God undertakes with us. God expects to be the builder of our homes, the keeper of our cities, the provider of our needs. And when we yield to this arrangements of things, He gives us sleep - rest.

 

To go a step further, these verses declare that it is vain to attempt to build our homes without Him.

 

God did not intend for children to become our idols around which we center our lives and measure our existance. Rather, they're arrows. Like arrows, they go with us as we walk through this life, safely housed in the quiver until the proper time for their release.

 

At the proper time, they're drawn from the quiver, carefully aimed at the target, and released with the proper force. Children, like arrows, will fly in the same direction as their parents' feet have been trodding. In fact, they will likely fly farther in the general direction traveled in the quiver. We shouldn't expect our children to fly in the opposite direction of our way of life.

 

How then should we raise our children?

• Keep serving, loving, and obeying God.
• Let God do the building.
• Keep your children safely in the quiver.
• Make sure your feet are traveling the right direction.
• When the time is right, let them go.

Reverence Tendeth to Life

The fear of the Lord tendeth to life: and he that hath it shall abide satisfied; he shall not be visited with evil.  Proverbs 19:23

Tendeth -- to make soft (as ground for planting)
Satisfied -- full

A reverence for the Lord makes us soft, fertile ground for planting and bearing fruit.  He that hath it (reverence for the Lord) shall abide satisfied (full).  The word picture here is a healthy plant full of fruit.

Reminds me of the parable of the sower.   The sower sowed the same seed in four different types of ground, all with different results.  The wayside ground was too hard to germinate the seed; it had not been softened by a reverence for God.  The stony ground had just enough soft topsoil to germinate the seed, but not enough to let the seed take root.  The thorny ground was soft enough to germinate and take root, but the cares of the world choked the plant out.  Perhaps this is a reverence for God, but without trust.  The good ground was soft enough to germinate, take root, grow to maturity, and reproduce much fruit.

Be careful to hold God in high esteem, to remember His holiness and majesty, to measure our words and actions in light of who He is.  To do less is to harden our hearts and destroy our fruitfulness.

Four Simple Steps to Wisdom

Through desire a man, having separated himself, seeketh and intermeddleth with all wisdom. A fool hath no delight in understanding, but that his heart may discover itself. Proverbs 18:1-2

How does a man acquire wisdom?
DESIRE - must want wisdom, yearn for it
SEPARATED - must be willing to get alone, be alone; to come apart FROM this world to draw nigh UNTO God
SEEKETH - must be willing to search; not casually as in window shopping, but with diligence, purpose,and focus
INTERMEDDLETH - as in "obstinate". As a scientist obstinately observes countless experiments to unlock a mystery of this physical world, so should we obstinately observe the truths of the Bible to unlock the mysteries of God's spiritual realm.


In contrast, a fool has no desire to understand the things of God; he merely wants to discover his own heart, the phenomena currently referred to as "navel-gazing". He will not desire, separate, seek, or intermeddle with the Word of God because he is unwilling to venture beyond knowledge of his own little self.