Providence and Physics

(Pro 4:22 KJV)  For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh.

We have a tendency to separate the metaphysical and the physical.  This book is about wisdom.  We think of wisdom as great thoughts and principles, situated in ivory towers, examined at our leisure.  That is all true and yet nothing could be farther from the truth.  Wisdom is not reserved for introspective examination.  It is meant to be applied.  This verse points that out.

Wisdom is for the whole “flesh” (body NASB) (1320).  It delivers results.  The results are generally summed up as “health” (4832).  Sometimes the results are pure providence.  Sometimes it is simply physics.  Either way it is still results.  Remember that Providence designed physics.

So?  Many people fit exercise into their daily schedule.  It isn’t just because they like exercise.  They also like the results.  Schedule some worship time seeking wisdom.  It pays dividends. 

The Problem with Giving Good Advice

(Pro 3:22 KJV)  So shall they be life unto thy soul, and grace to thy neck.

I think that Solomon would have benefitted by reading his own writings.  If you know anything about the life of Solomon, he did not finish well.  The start was powerful.  God met him and he responded with humility.  God promised him much but he was not able to handle it.  Instead of being leery of pagan wives he jumped into polygamy with both feet.  In the end, the women won.  Satan won.  Solomon turned his back on the Lord and embraced the evils of his pagan spouses.

So?  It isn’t enough to be able to quote Bible verses.  Evidently it wasn’t even enough to write Bible verses.  The promises are real.  Make sure that your heart is in tune and your ears are cleaned out. 

The Joy of Offerings

(Psa 20:3 KJV)  Remember all thy offerings, and accept thy burnt sacrifice; Selah.

(Proverbs 2 also read)

Here we have David thinking back to the many times he has offered “offerings" (meal offerings NASB) (4503) and the sacrifice of “burnt sacrifice" (burnt offerings NASB) (5930a).  This is strange to us and it should be.  We live in the age after Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice on the cross.  In the OT “atonement” is a common word for being made right with God.  The NT has words such as “justification”, “regeneration”, “adoption”.  We might meditate on the glory of the cross and the forgiveness it offers.  David would have the same awe at what was symbolized in the offering of grain or the slaughter of an animal.  

So?  Take some time to “remember” (2142).  Make it a part of your daily worship, meditation, study or however you describe it.  Join David in rejoicing what God has done for you. 

From Beginning to End

(Psa 16:2 NAS77) I said to the LORD, "Thou art my Lord; I have no good besides Thee."

(Proverbs 1 also read, note the above quote is not KJV)

One of the common teaching to all branches of Christianity is original sin.  Various words are used to describe it but the idea is that when Adam sinned in the Garden of Eden, that sin was transferred to all mankind afterward.  In fact it polluted all of creation.

Of course the answer to that is Jesus but David did not know about Calvary.  In spite of that he understood that it was only through the grace of God that any good could be in his life.  That is one of the universal truths from Genesis to Revelation.  Don’t get distracted by people who want to divide the God of the Old Testament from the God of the New Testament.  Such things as grace and faith are clear all the way through.

One of the ways in which you can identify pseudo-Christian “churches” is on this issue.  The first of course is the deity of Christ but the acceptance that mankind is born in sin is also commonly rejected.

So?  It is possible to live a righteous life.  You can’t do it on your own but with the cleansing of the blood, the filling of the Spirit and a desire to belong to Jesus, you can do it. 

OT Grace

(Psa 119:149 KJV)  Hear my voice according unto thy lovingkindness: O LORD, quicken me according to thy judgment.

(Proverbs 31 also read)

The Old Testament is full of grace.  It is expressed in different ways but it is there.  All you have to do is read with your mind turned on and your heart open.

Here we have the Psalmist, no author is given for this Psalm, expecting to be heard by God.  Why?  Because of God’s “lovingkindness” (2617) [chesed].  This is one of the great words of the OT.  If David had written the Gospel of John he would have phrased John 3:16 as “For God had so much lovingkindness toward the world....”

Then you have the call to “quicken” (revive NASB) (2421a) which would easily go along with the idea of regeneration.  And it is done “according to (His) ordinances” (4942).

So?  Grace has been part of God’s plan from the beginning.  Rejoice. 

Seeing in the Dark

(Mat 6:23 KJV)  But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!

(Proverbs 30 also read)

How can “light” (5457) be in “darkness” (4655)?  The two are contrasted all through scripture.  Yet here they are together.  I think this is an attempt to investigate why there is so much evil in the world.  Everywhere you look you see people who think they are on the side of the angels.  While they think that they act like demons.  They call on feelings instead of truth.  They look at the majority in determining morality instead of the unchanging standards in the word.  They infiltrate churches, knowing that they are out to destroy the church as it exists.

And they pull out their thumb and say, “What a good boy am I.”

When you live in darkness you can’t tell shades of gray.  When you live in darkness any kind of light can be painful.  When you live in darkness you will have no tolerance for being in the presence of a holy God.

So?  Walk in the light as He is in the light. 

Now That Is Vexed

(Psa 6:2 KJV)  Have mercy upon me, O LORD; for I am weak: O LORD, heal me; for my bones are vexed.

(Proverbs 29 also read)

I hope this is poetic license.  I am not sure that I like the idea of my “bones” (6106) being “vexed" (dismayed NASB) (926).  It sounds serious.  This stood out to me because in my reading of Proverbs there are several references to bones.  There you have rottenness to the bones as well as refreshing.  It depends on the context.  

The point is that we may very well go through times when we feel like even our bones are worried.  Keep in mind that this is David writing.  He does not seem to be writing this when he was watching the sheep and worried about lions and wolves.  It wasn’t during his confrontation with Goliath.  It wasn’t even when he was hiding from Saul.  It was when he was king.  Notice the notes for the orchestra.  You don’t have those details before you are the monarch.

So?  Are you bone weary?  You are in good company.  If you read the entire Psalm you will find that David eventually trusts the Lord.  That is our goal too.