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The proverbs of the Bible were intended not only as principles to guide everyday living, but were used also like proverbs are used today in English, to explain various situations in life. As you read through these proverbs today, think not only of how guide, but also how they explain a lot of life. As I mentioned yesterday, I’ll be listing a number of what I think are great proverbs, but I’ll only be commenting on a few.

“Hope deferred makes the heart sick, But desire fulfilled is a tree of life.” Proverbs 13:12 — Guilt is the number one reason for depression, but hope deferred is easily number two. To be disillusioned you must first have had an illusion. Change to a hope that can be realized and watch how your spirits soar!

“He who withholds his rod hates his son, But he who loves him disciplines him diligently.” Proverbs 13:24 — Diligence here strongly implies consistency, the principle that many a poor parent neglects.

“The wise woman builds her house, But the foolish tears it down with her own hands.” Proverbs 14:1 — What builds? Love, encouragement, respect, following a husband’s lead, busy hands, kindness, forgiveness, romance, contentment, a gentle and quiet spirit, service to her family, and more. What tears down? A sharp tongue, continual complaint, disrespect, grabbing the reins, grudges, idleness, selfishness, harsh judgment, coolness, discontent, and more. Are you building or tearing down your own house?

“Where no oxen are, the manger is clean, But much revenue comes by the strength of the ox.” Proverbs 14:4 — In a nutshell, this is a proverb about the “cost of doing business”, but it applies to way more than just business. Every homemaker would like their neat and clean home to stay that way, but with children and — well anybody living in the house — it’s a little unrealistic. The cost of a happy family is a little dirt and chaos (not in the extreme, of course). If you want the strength of the ox, you have to live with a dirty manger. I know of a congregation who wants to pay their minister a salary much below a living wage, but doesn’t want him to get another job or look for outside support (it wouldn’t look good for us) — If you want the strength of the ox, you have to live with a dirty manger. The cost of having a much needed and effective minister is to allow him and his family to eat: pay him, let him “make tents”, or allow him to raise support!

“Leave the presence of a fool, Or you will not discern words of knowledge.” Proverbs 14:7 — The company you keep can keep you from learning and growing wiser.

“A gentle answer turns away wrath, But a harsh word stirs up anger.” Proverbs 15:1 — There’s actually a psychological research that backs this principle up — God knew it a long time before scientists discovered it. You can actually dial-down the emotions of an emotional situation by simply lowering the volume of your voice. But turn up the volume and up goes the emotion and irrationality! A good thing to remember next time you have a discussion with your spouse.

“A scoffer does not love one who reproves him, He will not go to the wise.” Proverbs 15:12 — The scoffer seeks counsel only of the those who agree with him.

“The heart of the righteous ponders how to answer, But the mouth of the wicked pours out evil things.” Proverbs 15:28 — Quick words equal trouble.

See you tomorrow, Lord willing.

No, I’m not talking about choosing the right spouse. That’s important, too, of course; but Proverbs 7-9 contrasts two courses for a young man personified as women.

The adulteress — The first course a young man might take is personified as an adulteress; she is both literally an adulteress but also folly in general. Why is she personified as an adulteress? Because both a literal adulteress and moral folly are seductive, alluring, full of empty promises, and often motivated by passion (e.g., sex, greed, anger, hatred, and other visceral impulses and emotions). The adulteress sings the siren song, “It can’t be wrong, when it feels so right,” and many a young man (and not a few older men passing through a mid-life crisis) have fallen prey to her temptations. She’ll say all the “right” things to pull you in; she’ll be everything that you think is important — but isn’t. And before you know it, you can trotting after her with a silly grin on your face, thinking how smart you are. And again, I’m not just talking about sexual sin only here; it also includes “get rich quick” schemes, materialism, revenge, drugs/drinking, fame & fortune, violence, and more.

But choosing this woman will ruin one’s life. The benefits of short-cuts are short-lived. The consequences of the short-cuts tend, on the other hand, to be long-lived. There’s many a high school and college drop-out that regrets the opportunity he or she threw away. There’s many a young man who joined a gang and now has no way out alive. There’s many a middle-aged man or woman who destroyed their families with a brief fling. There’s many a “get rich quick” schemer who has to keep moving and looking over their shoulder everyday. There’s many an alcoholic or drug addict who now wishes that they had never taken that first drink or that first “hit”. Choose the wrong woman and you’ll regret it the rest of your life.

Wisdom —  But choose the right woman, wisdom, and life will be much better. It’s not that she’s ugly, she’s just not as obviously seductive. She isn’t the “short-cut” but her benefits are much longer-lived. Proverbs 9:22ff points out that the LORD created the universe with this “woman” (wisdom) at His side with the implication being: “Don’t you think you could use some of this in living your life?” Choose wisely; choose wisdom.

I’ve a friend who’s really good at building and repairing things. He’s been a Christian for a number of years and has been associated with a number congregation and Christian camps over those years. One of his good-hearted, but consistent complaints is that the repairs done at a number of churches and camps (usually because of lack of funds and inexperienced volunteer repairmen) are “hammer-hacksaw” quality. Such “hammer-hacksaw” repairs have consistently been only short-term, short-lived solutions. It has often been his lot in life to follow up and repair the “hammer-hacksaw” repair, and as a result he has invented a motto in recent years: “No hammer-hacksaw!” The proverbs in our reading today are calling for “No hammer-hacksaw!” living — paying the rightful cost, putting in the time and efforts needed, avoiding the short-cuts, and doing it right.

A checklist for discovery — And one last thing thing… if most people were to be asked whether or not they are living wisely or not — choosing the right woman rather than the wrong woman — they’d mostly answer, “The wise woman, of course.”  Proverbs (9:7-9) gives us a little inventory to take for our self-discovery:

“He who corrects a scoffer gets dishonor for himself, And he who reproves a wicked man gets insults for himself. Do not reprove a scoffer, or he will hate you, Reprove a wise man and he will love you. Give instruction to a wise man and he will be still wiser, Teach a righteous man and he will increase his learning.” When you are corrected what is your response? Do you react angrily and insultingly? Does that person become your enemy now? Or are you thoughtful about what was said? Do you take measures to change? Are you appreciative of the person who offered the critique? It has been well said that we should appreciate our even enemies, because they will tell us things that our friends will not. Do you become wiser and better through the correction someone has offered? If your answer has pretty consistently been that you resent and shun correction, you may be choosing the wrong woman. If you have been open to correction, changed your life for the better, it would appear that you have chosen the right woman.

Choose wisely.

See you tomorrow, Lord willing.

You are hopefully in the midst of reading the whole Bible through in a year, with this blog as a brief, reflective commentary. But another Bible reading regimen that could be very worthy would be one that I heard using the book of Proverbs. Read through Proverbs one chapter at time every day for a month for several months running — there are 31 chapters, you know. The difficulty of this book is that the meaning is so densely packed. If you don’t take the time to consider each proverb (or proverbial section), it almost becomes like reading one fortune cookie after another — you may say, “Oooh-Ahhhh!” each time, but you won’t remember or apply much. Reading only one chapter at a time, takes you through slower giving you more time to think about how these meaty verses apply to your personal life. And reading them through a few months straight will give you more opportunity to gain the understanding that the book hopes to impart.

That being suggested, let dive into today’s reading, Proverbs 4-6.

“The beginning of wisdom is: Acquire wisdom….” (Proverbs 4:7) — Yes, I know; yesterday Proverbs said that the beginning of wisdom was fear the LORD. Which is it? It’s both. It’s like saying, “The beginning of school is books …and teachers… and pencils… and pads.” They’re all true, and the beginning of wisdom is fear of the LORD and a drive to acquire wisdom and understanding, too. Read, observe, learn, study, reflect, practice, correct mistakes, and practice again! It’s not something that comes in a one-time pill, nor something that you can get by sitting in a class one time. It takes drive, it takes desire, it takes perseverance, it takes effort, and it takes wanting it. That’s why it’s so rare. It’s so much easier to go with how we feel, what we think, or what everyone else is doing.

“Drink water from your own cistern And fresh water from your own well.” (Proverbs 5:15) — This section of the Proverbs is about keeping one’s sex life orderly. It is a warning to young men about sinful sexual relations, especially with married women. It is a warning that never grows outdated. As long as testosterone is around, young men will find themselves tempted by those who are fair of face and form — and are willing. But it’s a deathly mistake. Wisdom pleads with young men to find their own wife and “drink from their own cisterns” — be sexually satisfied with your own wife. “As a loving hind and a graceful doe, Let her breasts satisfy you at all times; Be exhilarated always with her love.” Proverbs 5:19, NAS95. We live in a society that has cast aside all the sexual moorings of the Bible, and society’s families are already reaping what they’ve sown, but will doubtlessly be reaping an even more vicious whirlwind in years to come. Save yourself from the emotional and spiritual train wreck of sexual immorality — listen to this wisdom.

“Go to the ant, O sluggard, Observe her ways and be wise,” (Proverbs 6:6) — The point here is that the ants all seem to know what to do without anyone telling them — unlike some lazy humans, who must be goaded, prompted, and pushed like a slave to get them to do anything. Much contempt has been thrown at what is sometimes called a “Protestant work ethic”, but it’s not something that belongs exclusively to Protestants — it’s a biblical work ethic, a godly work ethic. I’m not much into mixing the Bible and politics, but in my humble opinion laziness is becoming a problem in some parts of society, especially where “entitlements” abound. When we read things written to sluggards (lazy folks), “Your poverty will come in like a vagabond And your need like an armed man.” (Proverbs 6:11, NAS95), it makes us wonder if the current recession is really all Wall Street’s fault (don’t worry, I would still hold them responsible for their irresponsible actions). Ants don’t complain that there aren’t any jobs for them, they just do what needs to be done.

See you tomorrow, Lord willing.

Today begins the book of Proverbs. I’ll have to say right here at the start that there is a lot of really, really great stuff in here that I’ll not be able to address in my comments. If I manage to skip over a proverb that you think should not have been skipped over, let me encourage you to make a comment about it yourself in the comments below each posting.

On a different note, I’d like to point out here that the Bible uses a few terms here in ways that we may not be familiar with. For example, there’s the term “fool”. We use this term in modern times as another way of calling someone stupid. “Fool” in the Bible does carry a little bit of this meaning, but the main thrust of the word is a focus on a person’s immoral behavior — which then consistently leads to unpleasant consequences, which is, of course, foolish in the sense that we’re used to using it. In Prov. 1:6 there are three terms used for the contents of the book of Proverbs: proverb, figure, and riddles. A proverb is what we would think of as a proverb, a short pithy saying that’s easy to remember and applicable to a number of situations in life — e.g., “A stitch in time saves nine.” A figure is what we might call a metaphor, a comparison of a common, tangible image or story to explain a less tangible thing — e.g., “her eyes were sparkling jewels”. A riddle is what we’d call a parable, a story illustrating or teaching a moral principle. I’ll mention other terms as we might run across them.

The fear of the LORD (Proverbs 1:7) — Fear of the LORD is not mere terror of God; it is much, much more. It is respect, honor, and reverence that leads to obedience. It doesn’t exclude love but complements it. Most of us will understand and identify with how we could both love and fear our parents (often our fathers). And it is the fear of the LORD that is the beginning of wisdom; without it we fall into sin. This is the terrible mistake of framing God to our children and adults as a grandfatherly figure, who we need never fear, because He is all love and forgiveness. Our “wisdom” as humans is faulty. Our “self-control” as humans is in most cases weak or non-existant. We are easily persuaded to do evil and get hooked or enslaved to foolish things quickly. Without the fear of God to shed light, give us moral backbone, and get us to “wake up and smell the coffee”, we self-destruct — witness the world without God! Now, having said that, it is only the beginning. Hopefully in time, our fear will mature into love. But fools “know what they’re doing” and despise wisdom.

Seek her as silver (Proverbs 2:4,5) — Are you working as hard at increasing your knowledge of God’s word, increasing wisdom, as you are at making money. Isn’t that what the writer is urging us to do? We’ll cancel other appointments for making a little more money. We’ll get an education; we’ll sweat for it; we’ll work hard for it. What if we gave efforts at knowing God’s word and wisdom as we do to making money? Of course, I know that we all have to work for a living and can’t give 8 hours a day to study — but don’t you get the principle? Our grandparents (without TV and other diversions) knew the word and held convictions that we sometimes wonder where they got — maybe they got them from a deeper understanding of God’s word than we have today. They’d spend the evening reading and discussing Scripture, and that was the foundation of many an “uneducated” preacher that could quote Scripture better than any Ph.D. you’ve ever met.

Do not lean on your own understanding (Proverbs 3:5) — We live in a world where the common wisdom is to listen to your heart rather than the word of God. I’m not sure where it really began to get traction — perhaps with Jiminy Cricket who urged children to “always let your conscience be your guide.” But regardless of where the snowball started rolling it has caused considerable damage to many a life, Christian and non-Christian. The problem is that, although our basic notion of right and wrong is inborn, our conscience gets educated by religion, family, and society. And if our clarification is off, our conscience will be off. Worse still, sometimes the things that God commands look painful, difficult, and even nonsensical; and we’re all pretty good at rationalization and justification, so that our conscience won’t hurt us. It’s this last point that this proverb especially focuses on, trust in the LORD and in His wisdom and in His counsel. Do not lean on your own understanding. Our “wisdom” is folly, short-sighted, and uninformed. God’s wisdom is eternal and informed in the extreme.

See you tomorrow, Lord willing.

Each of these psalms begin and end with the phrase, “Praise the LORD.” It is the English translation of a Hebrew word we are familiar with, “Hallelujah”. If you’re reading the King James Version of the Bible, you’ll notice “Hallelujah” starts and finishes all of these psalms. The “hallelu” part means “praise to”. The “Jah” (pronounced “Yah”) portion of the word refers to the personal name of God, Yahweh. And this is perfectly proper for psalms whose major themes are singing about the praises and majesty of God.

His name alone is exalted (Psalm 148:13) — As you read through this psalm, you may find the words and phrases familiar; there is a fairly well known hymn “Hallelujah, Praise Jehovah” based directly on this psalm — in fact, one hymnal I’ve used in the past deliberately gave it the number 148. Anyway, as this psalm calls on all the created world — animate and inanimate — it begins to wind things up with the statement that His name alone is exalted. And indeed, there may be plenty of titles given among men: “Your honor”, “Your majesty”, “Your excellency”, “Mr. President”, and others that ramble on like “Bishop of Rome, Vicar of Jesus Christ, Successor of the Prince of the Apostles, Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church, Primate of Italy, Archbishop and Metropolitan of the Roman Province, Sovereign of the State of Vatican City, Servant of the Servants of God”, or “Queen Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God Queen of this Realm and of Her other Realms and Territories, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith.” But despite the exalted titles, there is only one name that is truly exalted, the LORD, whose glory is above earth and heaven.

A victory psalm (Psalm 149) — Its easy to imagine that this psalm would be used as a song of praise and celebration upon achievement of a victory over Israel’s enemies. “Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, And a two-edged sword in their hand, To execute vengeance on the nations And punishment on the peoples, To bind their kings with chains And their nobles with fetters of iron, To execute on them the judgment written; This is an honor for all His godly ones. Praise the LORD!” It might be a little challenging to imagine how Christians might apply this psalm to their lives, but it does remind me of Paul’s triumphant and even aggressive exclamation, “We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ,” 2 Corinthians 10:5, NAS95. We continue to be at war, a spiritual war — “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.” Ephesians 6:12, NAS95. And indeed it is an honor to be engaged in such a warfare; are you engaged?

Let everything that has breath praise the LORD (Psalm 150) — You know, sometimes passages in the Bible don’t need too much elaboration. This just might be one of them. And what a wonderful way to end the book of Psalms.

See you tomorrow, Lord willing.

It’s VBS week at the  Manchester NH church of Christ. Busy, busy, busy — but also pretty great at the same time. For that reason, however, this posting will be reasonably brief — all those of you who know me, can stop smirking.

Have you ever wondered this? (Psalm 142:4) — “Look to the right and see; For there is no one who regards me; There is no escape for me; No one cares for my soul.” Psalms 142:4, NAS95. “No one cares for my soul.” What a terrible, isolated, disconsolate place to be in. Ever been there? You’re not alone; a lot of people do. But you know what, you’ve likely got a church family that does care for your soul — you need to be at church! But you know what else? There’s a lot of people who don’t have your blessing of a church family and who believe that no one cares for their souls. Man, if that’s not a call to evangelism, I don’t know what is! We need to be caring for their souls — through the Gospel, through a cold cup of water, through food, through a conversation! They need Jesus first and foremost, but they need you, too. Be there. You could be the answer to just such a psalm being “sung” in someone’s heart. You could be God’s answer to them.

“Now I’ve gone and done it. Now what?” (Psalm 143) — This psalm is an interesting one, I think. He’s messed up; he says, “And do not enter into judgment with Your servant, For in Your sight no man living is righteous.” Psalms 143:2, NAS95. He’s feeling guilty and possibly that the circumstances of his life are the consequences from God for what he’s done. He’s asking for mercy, because everyone messes up — please forgive. So, he remembers how God has pulled His people out of the fire of punishment before — great rescues — and he longs for God to do something like that in his own life.

By the way, I’ve mentioned before how important remembering what God has done in our lives or the lives of others can be. This is one more example of it — take note and remember such things for your own soul’s sake.

But he concludes with a request for God guidance for extricating himself from the current problem, and more importantly for the future. Altogether, it’s a great example of what we should do, when we’ve really done something dumb. Admit it, ask for mercy, remember God’s past salvation, and seek to change our lives.

A beautiful blessing to ask (Psalm 144:12-15) — Here’s a psalm of what appears to be a man who has no illusions of grandeur or empire in his mind. He wants rescue from foreigners who have prompted conflict or war. And the last few lines seem to indicate that he’s be happy prospering in his own back yard. Perhaps you could call this a psalm of the middle-class. What a blessing it would be!

See you tomorrow, Lord willing.

Christianity takes a heaping measure of courage. The world seldom realizes it, believing that Christianity is for the humble, gentle, and the timid of heart. But how many of the world would invite the scrutiny and rebuke that these psalms open themselves up to?

Now that’s sincere repentance (Psalm 139:23,24) — For example, after the psalmist goes on and on about God’s ability to know everything about us from womb to tomb, every thought, deed, and word, he then invites the LORD, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; And see if there be any hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way.” Psalms 139:23, 24, NAS95. Too many of us would rather attempt to hide our sins and hurtful ways. But the psalmist knows better — we can no more hide our thoughts from God than Adam and Eve could hide from God after eating the forbidden fruit. Any lack of repentance, or any insincere repentance is as obvious to God as the proverbial nose on our faces. But it’s the “try me” part that especially impresses me as courageous and sincere. Would you be willing to invite God to scrutinize you this way to find any hurtful way in you? Would you be willing for God to test or try you and your repentance?

The LORD maintains the cause of the afflicted (Psalm 140:12) — It’s one thing to trust the LORD, when you have a padded bank account. It’s another thing to trust the LORD for protection from those who would oppress you, when you’re not. This psalm is an expression of a prayer of the poor for protection from the wicked, and confidence that God takes the part of the afflicted.

Let the righteous smite me in kindness (Psalm 141:5) — No one likes to be rebuked. No one likes to be wrong and corrected. But the humble disciple, like the writer of this psalm, knows that it is necessary. How often do we consider correction to be a kindness, like oil on the head? Someone has wisely said that we should listen even to our enemies, because they will tell us things that our friends will not. And if this is true, how much more from those who are righteous and kind? It is the way to growth in godliness and holiness. How else will we know when we’ve “run off the rails”? How will you take your next correction — with resentment and contempt or with gratitude? So next time your spouse, your parents, your elders, your preacher or whoever offers you a rebuke, receive it as something valuable rather than a mere insult.

See you tomorrow, Lord willing

I’m writing this post on a Sunday evening. This Sunday was no ordinary Sunday, however, today good brother and elder in the Lord’s church finished fighting his good fight and went to meet His Lord. Duane Coss died at about 10:30 this morning after a two and a half year struggle with cancer. Some might have retreated because of the disabilities, therapies, and a grasping for what remains of life, but Duane continued to do what he could as a shepherd of the congregation. There’s a lot that should be learned from his example. His love for God, his faith and courage in adversity, and his commitment to the Lord is reflective of someone who appreciated  the grace and redemption of the Savior — which brings me to the first psalm in our reading today.

His lovingkindness is everlasting (Psalm 136) — This is unique psalm in that it was apparently intended to be what is known as a responsive reading. Like the spiritual “Amen” in which a lead singer sings a line while the chorus responds with the same thing throughout, this psalm has someone (or possibly some special singers) tell of the manifold goodness of God toward His people, while a repetitive “chorus” was chanted again and again — “For His lovingkindness is everlasting”. The cumulative effect is a profound understanding of how God’s love for His people was, is, and continues to be manifested toward them. He begins with praise for the LORD above all other so-called gods, transitions to the story of the Exodus and conquest, and then expands to God’s continued support, rescue, and sustenance — because “His lovingkindness is everlasting”. If anyone’s listening, somebody ought to write Christian version of this psalm; it’s powerful and could help support our faith in times of trouble.

Bitter consequences (Psalm 137) — This psalm was written in the exile as a lament for the bitter consequences of their sins. It is suggested that this may reflect a time when Israel’s tradition of meeting by the river for prayer as a substitute for a synagogue was in formation — Paul in Philippi knew that without a synagogue, the river was where Jews met. The thing in this psalm that I’d like to briefly mull over is the bitterness of the consequences of sin. Like Israel it is not so unusual to practice sin and think, “There are no consequences” — a common modern expression of this is that “X” is a victimless crime. But the consequences do come, and when they do, they are bitter, unstoppable, and strong.

The LORD will accomplish what concerns me (Psalm 138:8) — This psalm is one of sincere thanksgiving, which all by itself makes it worthy of reading and thought. But toward the very end of this psalm of thanks is an uplifting reminder that God is really interested me and you. Oh sure, He’s interested in us as a part of a larger chosen people, the church; but could He possibly be really interested in me? “Yes,” David says. “For though the LORD is exalted, Yet He regards the lowly, But the haughty He knows from afar.” Psalms 138:6, NAS95. “The LORD will accomplish what concerns me.” How comforting, how encouraging! I’m important enough for God to pay attention to, and my griefs and petitions are not lost in the prayers for world peace and help for earthquake victims! Especially when our hearts are broken in personal or private sorrow — the LORD knows and cares and will accomplish was concerns me!

See you tomorrow, Lord willing.

Today is the Lord’s Day. I hope that wherever you are, you are worshiping the Lord and enjoying the fellowship of God’s people. In fact, now that I mention it…

Unity between brothers (Psalm 133) — I think I may have mentioned this in an earlier posting not too long ago, but I and everyone other human being in the world understand  that people often have conflicts, and sometimes those conflicts happen in the church. It should not — absolutely should not — happen in the church, but it does. But not always, not even most of the time. Conversely, it happens quite a lot in the world; in fact, it could be said that it is the status quo. All this is just to say that one of the great blessings of the church is its expected unity. But this unity is not easy to maintain and that’s why Paul commands “Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” Ephesians 4:1-3, NAS95. And when we do work at it, that’s when it’s “like the precious oil upon the head… down upon the beard…upon the edge of the his robes…like the dew of Hermon.” For those of us who have become Christians and enjoyed the fellowship of the church, we know what a blessing the family of God is. So work at it the way the Lord would want us to.

Let the special servants of God praise Him (Psalm 134) — Why is the psalmist urging the servants of the Temple to praise the LORD? Why them especially rather than the whole people of God? As someone who has been in ministry for over 30 years, I’ve got to say that I would never have wanted to do anything else. But on the other hand, ministers having been to thousands of worship services, Bible classes, and devotionals over the years, it can be easy to get distracted and give them less weight than they really deserve. This specialized psalm is an encouragement to God’s special servants to rekindle their zeal and praise for the LORD. Dear minister, elder, deacon brother, be encouraged and keep your flame of zeal as you lead and encourage the Lord’s people!

The starkest of contrasts (Psalm 135) — What a contrast there is between the one true and living God and the so-called gods of this world. From idols to money to fame and anything else that mankind has made into a god — they are all nothing. They are the “creation” of men — not creators. They can’t talk or give guidance or wisdom. They can’t see; they can’t hear; and they most certainly are not living beings. The God of Israel, on the other hand, acts as His sovereign will decides; it is He who has created heaven and earth and everything in it (including human beings). It is the God of Israel who makes the clouds and the rain and the lightning, and wind. It is the LORD who saved His people Israel by His power and gave them Canaan as their inheritance. It is the Lord who has lived, died, and risen again to rescue mankind from its sin through faith in Him. What a contrast! Never let the differences escape you or let them get muddled somehow. It is the LORD who should be praised, obeyed, and given precedent.

See you tomorrow, Lord willing.