A Spoon Full of Sugar...

(Psa 141:5 KJV)  Let the righteous smite me; it shall be a kindness: and let him reprove me; it shall be an excellent oil, which shall not break my head: for yet my prayer also shall be in their calamities.

(Proverbs 30 also read)

Notice the phrase, “it shall be an excellent oil.”  This will tend to slip past us because we don’t think of oil the same way the ancients did.  For them it had medicinal uses.  The Living Bible paraphrases it as “If they reprove me, it is a medicine!”  

We need to wrap out minds around that.  Reproof and correction from those who care about us should be looked at as a medicine.  I might go so far as to suggest that even the criticisms of our enemies can do us good if we filter them through the Holy Spirit.

So?  May your day be full of good medicine.  

Point of Prayer

(Psa 141:2 KJV)  Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense; and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.

(Proverbs 21 also read)

One of the topics I contemplate is prayer.  What is prayer?  Why do we pray?  What should I focus on?  These are all real questions for me.  When I read different places in the Bible and come across a prayer, I look at it because I want to use the biblical models as examples of what I should be doing.

One of the things I notice about this chapter, which is a prayer, is that there is no list of things required or asked for.  The focus seems to be on David living a righteous life.  He’s not asking for things.  He’s not asking about his health.  He’s talking about being the kind of man that God wants him to be.

So?  My prayer focuses on fellowship with God.  I try to listen to see what He wants to say to me.  I have a basic assumption that He will meet my needs, so I don’t need to spend much more than just like Jesus did asking for His daily bread.  Prayer is a relationship not a shopping list. 

Worship from the Heart

(Psa 141:2 KJV)  Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense; and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.

(Proverbs 16 also read)

This gives us an insight into the place of the law and the necessity of applying it.  Notice that there is substitution going on.  The one you might notice the most is the substitution of lifted hands for an “offering” (4503).  The NASB is a better reading of this because the offering being offered is not a blood sacrifice but a grain offering.  Don’t get sidetracked by that because according to the law it is still supposed to be offered and done in the temple.

While God has rigorous standards and unbending moral demands, He is more concerned about attitude than ritual.  

So?  It is a common theme in the Old Testament that God wants our love and obedience more that rituals offered as dull routine.  He is a living God and wants worship from the heart.