David Insight

Psalms 69:5 (KJV) O God, thou knowest my foolishness; and my sins are not hid from thee.

(Proverbs 6 also read)

Reading the Psalms opens up the heart of David as he worships God.  Some of his writing is very political and figurative.  If you look at the beginning of this chapter, you see him talking about being stuck in the mud and different things like that.  I don’t think those are literal.  I think he’s sharing where his heart is and what he’s feeling.

One of the things that we hear frequently about David is that he was a man after God’s own heart.  I think this verse points out why that is true.  God is listening as David confesses his “foolishness” (200) (folly NASB). Then he confesses an awareness that he doesn’t try to hide his sins from God.  He openly confesses them.  He is deeply repentant.

He is a man after God’s own heart.

So?  We also can be men and women after God’s own heart.  We can confess our foolishness.  We can confess our sins.  We can be open with God about our failures.  We can live with an attitude of repentance and a desire for obedience.  And then, if your heart isn’t right, God will make it so. 

What Was That?

Psalm 65:8 (KJV) They also that dwell in the uttermost parts are afraid at thy tokens: thou makest the outgoings of the morning and evening to rejoice.

(Proverbs 5 also read)

It was still dark as I read this, sitting on the front porch.  I’m enjoying the fellowship with the Lord in the morning.  There’s not even a glimmer that the sun is coming up.  And yet here, God reminds me of what I experience emotionally and spiritually in those times when it begins to get light, and the colors begin to emerge from the darkness.  I was reading the Legacy Standard Bible when this jumped out at me.  Here’s what it says,

Psalm 65:8 (LSB) They who inhabit the ends of the earth are in fear on account of Your signs; You make the dawn and the sunset shout for joy.

So?  That means that not only do the morning and the evening shout for joy, but I, a believer, and one who knows the Maker of the sunrise, can also shout for joy. 

Top Dog

(Pro 4:7 KJV)  Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.

Let me misread this a little bit.  Let me use a different word for “principal” (7225).  Let me substitute the other word that we often misspell, principle.  One, which is used here means primary or top dog.  This is the principal of your school.  The other has to do with the rules you run by.  And this is saying not only is wisdom top dog, but it is also a set of principles that we run by.  That is my interpretation.

Take a look at how this other translation puts it,

Proverbs 4:7 (CSB) “Wisdom is supreme -- so get wisdom. And whatever else you get, get understanding.

Actually, this is not the place to start.  Keep in mind that wisdom starts with the fear of God.  Then you can go on to collect the principles and apply them.

So?  Follow the pattern that God has given you follow the principal principles. 

A House Is Not a Home

(Pro 3:33 KJV)  The curse of the LORD is in the house of the wicked: but he blesseth the habitation of the just.

As I said, I am reading the Christian Standard Bible this month in Proverbs.  As I read it, I noticed that in the second part of this verse, instead of “habitation” (5116), it has “home”.  I think that is a valuable insight.

When I was a kid I remember a lady who would read a poem every year, I think on Mother’s Day, and the only thing I remember is “It takes I heap-a lot of livin’, to make a house a home”.  Our house, or habitation, is simply a building.  It can be finished, painted, the doors mounted, the roof covered and still not be a home.  It takes that added application of people.  Even then you can have a habitation full of people who don’t really live there because their lives are centered other places.

So?  Is your house a home?  Is it just a place to hang your hat and lay your body down to sleep?  I would suggest if that’s the case that you start by making a place where you worship.  And make it a place where family becomes important.  The place where you study.  The place that becomes your home, or as the gospel of John would talk about, your abode. 

The Primacy of Fear

Proverbs 2:5 (KJV) Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God.

Fear really gets a bad rap in our culture.  We overlook the fact that a reasonable fear is what keeps us out of a lot of tragic situations.  And on a more superficial level, I wonder how many traffic tickets I have not gotten simply because I’m afraid of getting a traffic ticket.  But this fear is on a higher level.

This fear involves a relatively accurate assessment of who God is and what He expects.  It involves the love which is in his character.  It is a key factor and that is why time and time again in Proverbs we find the fact that so much is dependent upon the fear of God.  Substitute what you want.  Call it awe.  Call reverence.  Call respect.  Most Bible translators like the word fear

So?  Fear God.  Define it anyway you want.  But in the mist of your fear, don’t forget that God is love, God is light, God is a spirit, and Jesus died for you.

More Than a Quote

Proverbs 1:2 (KJV) To know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding;

I have recently been looking at some of the old Charlie Chan movies.  It makes me want to say occasionally “Confucius say….”  Sometimes when Charlie shared some great bit of wisdom from the past, it’s very cloudy as to what it really means.  It isn’t enough to just be able to quote the elders.  Scripture, well known for cliches, does points out is that wisdom doesn’t come from knowing the quotations word for word, it comes from knowing what the words mean.

This book is going to try and teach us wisdom.  This month I’ll be reading the Christian Standard Bible, CSB.

So? If I don’t have anything to say that you find of value, then I encourage you to go beyond me and read the scripture yourself and see what God tells you.  He’s waiting in the wings.  He is speaking to you.  Your job is to listen. 

In Praise of Mediocre

(Pro 30:8-9 KJV)  Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me:  Lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the LORD? or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain.

It’s hard for us to accept the fact that mediocre represents excellence.  Here the emphasis is on our physical condition.  On one side, we don’t have enough.  On the other side we have too much.  What is ironic about this is that we would still feel like we did not have enough when we were on the side of excess.

One of the conditions of the human being is that we always want more.  Those of us who are gluttons know what it is to be full and yet still continue to eat . If you asked us for a rational explanation, I don’t think we could give one.  For some people it’s the size of their house.  For some it is that shiny new car that is just a little bit better than the one they had before.  For some it’s romantic entanglements.  The point is there comes a place where enough is, or should be, enough.

So?  I can’t tell you where that place is for you, but I know it exists.  I would suggest that it’s just a little bit before what you have now.  The truth is God is probably already supplied you with an abundance of everything you need.  Sure I go to work but don’t necessarily demand overtime.