Rest Easy

(Pro 21:1 KJV)  The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will.

We are in a time of great political tension.  Some of that tension is just a normal human condition.  We have an election coming up and we disagree on many issues.  Part of the disagreement is the sign of a healthy republic.  It says we have the right to speak our minds, and to express what we believe to be true.  It’s called freedom of speech, sometimes referred to as the First Amendment.  So this is a good time, even if it is a time of tension.

On the other hand, there are some of the issues that are really key.  We have a lot of people running for office who live in a world that is totally antithetical to our beliefs and what our God demands.  They have many followers.  What happens when we lose, or if we lose?

That is where this verse comes in and we need to be reminded of it.  God has the ability to force individuals in certain paths.  We believe in free will and we believe that God gives us the opportunity to make choices.  That’s part of the philosophy behind a republic or voting in a democratic system.  The people get what they want, or when I’m cynical, what they deserve.  At the same time God has the power to do what is necessary to bring about His well.

Remember how He eventually forced Pharaoh to let Israel go?  Remember how He broke Nebuchadnezzar?  Remember how He brought Paul to the point of repentance.  You may even have memories of things He did in your life to make you obedient.

So?  Get out there and do all the things that God wants you to do as a free citizen in a still somewhat free republic who has some remaining rights.  Speak up on what needs to be spoken up about.  You might include some testimonies about your God, and why He wants you to speak up.  Ultimately trust God because He is the one who is really in charge. 

Loving Law

Psalm 119:159 (KJV) Consider how I love thy precepts: quicken me, O LORD, according to thy lovingkindness.

(Proverbs 20 also read)

Here we have the balance.  On the one side, we have the “precepts" (6490).  That would be the written law.  That’s one of the words used for commandment, law, statute, and so forth.  Notice how the author of this Psalm does not fear the law, feel imprisoned by the law, or in any way condemned by the law.  He “loves the law”.  It is a glorious thing for him.

And then notice how that law is expressed to us.  It is through the “lovingkindness” of Almighty God.  This is grace, God‘s love in action.  This is God, taking the directions He has given us for righteous living and interpreting them with mercy and kindness.

This is the law of God as opposed to the law of the rabbis.

So?  Meditate on the law.  I might suggest that you actually take the laws that are worth meditating on such as the fact that we are to have no other God but Yahweh.  And then apply it in a view of the character of God and how He sent His son to die for us.  That is a glorious application of the law. 

Key Element

(1Ch 16:29 KJV)  Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name: bring an offering, and come before him: worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.

(Proverbs 19 also read)

The phrase, “Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness” came to my mind.  I wondered if it was “His Holiness,” so I looked it up.

We need to remember that the key element in our worship experience is always available.  That is the Lord God himself.  The key element is not our mood.  It’s not how we feel about things.  In a sense it’s not even our attitude, although that certainly can block us from coming into His presence.

The glory of worship is that we are coming into the presence of the living God.  Actually, we were not even coming into His presence, because we are always there.  He is with us, He is watching, He is upholding.  What we need to do is to reach out and touch Him and worship Him in the beauty of His Holiness.

So?  I guess you could wait for Sunday but God offers so much on a “now” basis.  Worship.  You might want to pull over to the side of the road if you don’t multi-task well. 

He Abides

(Joh 14:16 KJV)  And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;

(Proverbs 18 also read)

There is a portion of a song going through my mind.  The title is “He Abides”.  The words that keep vibrating through my brain are, “...for the hand of God in all my life I see.”

That pretty much sums things up.  I see my fingerprints on things and the chances of success are low.  And yet I see things in my life that I would chalk up as success if I saw them in anybody else’s life.  Many times they go contrary to what I thought I wanted.  Most times they work out for the best.

Most of this is because of Providence, the hand of God, the work of the Holy Spirit, grace in action.  I praise God for his hand in my life.

So?  Ultimately, it always comes bound down to trust and obey.  Rejoice. 

One of a Kind

(Psa 47:7 KJV)  For God is the King of all the earth: sing ye praises with understanding.

(Proverbs 17 also read)

This is a chapter filled with little, except for praise towards God.  We need to be more conscious of praise in our lives.

One of the things that stood out to me was this verse.  It shows us one of the key differences between the God of the Bible, and the gods of the pagans.  Yahweh is not a local god.  He is the God of the entire earth, whether you acknowledge Him or not.  Most gods were confined to a geographical location.  Thus in the pagan world when you went to a new area you might actually pray to the local god or offer a sacrifice, or an offering to the local god.

The Jews were to be different.  We are to be different.  There is only one God in reality.  We need to make sure that even in our imaginations there’s only one God.  And it is not us.

So?  When you praise God it’s not like telling your wife she’s got a nice dress on.  You are praising Him for His entire being:  For His loftiness, for His Holiness.  He is the real king of all the Earth. 

Missing

(Pro 16:6 KJV)  By mercy and truth iniquity is purged: and by the fear of the LORD men depart from evil.

In the beginning of this chapter in the Septuagint, there are a number of verses that are just missing and some that are translated totally different.  I ask myself why might this verse in particular be left out?

Not being a genuine scholar who can read all the foreign languages I probably don’t have a clue, but I have suspicions.  This at the first the talks about salvation coming from the mercy of God rather than following the law.  The Septuagint was translated into Greek at a time after the rabbis had taken over the scholarship regarding the Bible.  I’m thinking that they would want to push their theological opinions as they were translating for a new group of Jews who did not, perhaps, understand Hebrew.

This is the problem of scholars.  They tend to fall into this trap of thinking they’re smarter than God.  It’s not just the Jewish scholars.  I think we see the same thing amongst Christians and definitely today among the Progressive Christians who are denying most of the truth of the Bible.

So?  Accept the truth, even when you don’t agree with it, or it doesn’t say what you wanted to say.  That is the nature of truth, especially in the world where fallen man seems to think that he wants to be as a God. 

Better

(Pro 15:17 KJV)  Better is a dinner of herbs where love is, than a stalled ox and hatred therewith.

I was thinking about our pastor and his gifts.  He is a good man.  He is a godly man.  I think if he had a gift or wanted a gift it would be the gift of evangelism.  That is the thrust of every sermon and just about every Sunday school lesson.  He’s concerned about your soul.  I was asking myself if he ever had an original thought and it was as if the Holy Spirit brought this verse to mind.

Original thoughts are fine.  Being willing to be faithful to the word is even more important.  So in the figurative language of Proverbs, it’s better to have plain vegetables and truth, than to have great thoughts that are corrupted.

So?  In an ideal world, you would have both, but we all know we don’t live in an ideal world.  Usually we have to settle for the better rather than the best.  Of course, the thing that makes it better is that it is anchored in truth.