Coming to the Still Waters

Today's verses are Proverbs 22:16-18, which read, v.16 - He who oppresses the poor to make more for himself or who gives to the rich, will only come to poverty. Solomon gives us two unacceptable practices.  The first is taking advantage of others to your benefit and the others are those who are actually people that you should be helping rather than taking from.  The phrase  "more for himself"  let's you see that this action is feeding the sin of greed.  Again, we are doing just the opposite of what we should be doing for the poor and our focus is not on them but ourselves. The second action is coming up alongside of the rich for the same reason.  We give to those who have hoping they will give some of what they have to us.  The giving back to us might be for recognition of who we are or to put us in circles of others who are also rich by the world's standards.  We are  "brown nosing"  them or  "buttering"  them up....

Today's verses are Proverbs 22:12-15, which read, v.12 - The eyes of the LORD preserve knowledge, but He overthrows the words of the treacherous man. Our proverbs today start with a focus on what God can do.  His eyes, His focus, is on knowledge and preserving it.  He also deals with the words and messages of those who are not following after Him.  To preserve is to watch over and to keep.  To overthrow is to turn upside down.  Treacherous also means deceitful.  To read this again would be to say that the eyes of the Lord watches over and keeps knowledge, but He turns upside down the words of the deceitful man.  The point here again is that God sees and God will act with His truth prevailing in the end because He will see to it.  The temporary attack and advancement of evil and foolishness will be halted. v.13 - The sluggard says, "There is a lion outside; I will be killed in the streets!" The sluggard or the lazy person gives all...

Today's verses are Proverbs 22:8-11, which read, v.8 - He who sows iniquity will reap vanity, and the rod of his fury will perish. We have someone who is living a life a sin, of participating in iniquity, and his outward action is anger that has a rod attached to it.  He is violent with his actions but it produces a temporary vanity or attention to self.  We see this today.  Someone who is doing wrong is sometimes glamorized in our media and minds.  We make the  "bad guy"  to be the one to aspired to. I remember standing with the pallbearers of my first funeral in my first church that were talking about wanting to go like the deceased someday.  The deceased was drunk at the time and driving his car at a high rate of speed. He lost control of the vehicle and struck a tree after leaving the road killing himself.  The point of the proverb is that this type of thinking will perish and it will produce a vanity that is just that  "...

Today's verses are Proverbs 22:5-7, which read, v.5 - Thorns and snares are in the way of the perverse; he who guards himself will be far from them. I remember getting caught in some of my mother's raspberry bushes that were next to our make shift ball field.  I was going for fly ball and dove over the bushes to stretch for it.  I missed it and landed in the midst of all those thorns.  It was painful getting out and my mom was not too pleased with me.  I had the battle scares for my determination and a story to tell you today about what I know about thorns and snares. The proverb is that those who are perverse will encounter them.  They may not jump into them but they will receive some scares from traveling the way of thorns and snares.  Picking those same raspberry patches was quite a chore if you didn't want to get poked.  You planned your path to stay away from the thorns otherwise you came out of there like my diving event.  The w...

Today's verses are Proverbs 22:1-4, which read, v.1 - A good name is to be more desired than great wealth, favor is better than silver and gold. This is an interesting proverb because we live in a world that if you have great wealth then you also have a good name because we put value on the wealth as the means to the end of a good name.  We value silver and gold so much that its benefits, whether good or bad, are sought after and raised up.  We have plenty of late night infomercials to promote the good life through having more money. What is a good name?  It is not connected to wealth but to Someone else.  A good name is one who is seeking wisdom and following after God.  A good name is one who has a fear of the Lord, an awe of who He is to revere Him and to live by what is important to Him.  A good name is something to be desired so it means that you have to be active in following after God to obtain it by Him giving it to you. v.2 - The r...

Written history is a wonderful thing.  It helps us get a picture of something that maybe we were not able to witness in person.  It is great when the written history is recorded by someone of that era and was able to participate in what was going on.   The Bible contains history, real history.  Sometimes we just label it as a religious book and it gets lumped in with others but it is so different because it gives us actual names and dates to verify.  When we have other histories of that era that verify what we are reading in the Bible then we have collaborating evidence that this is what was going on. A picture of the 1st century church is given in Acts 2:42-47, which reads, "They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching, to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer.  Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and signs were being performed through the apostles.  Now all the believers were together and held all things...

Today's verses are Proverbs 21:28-31, which read, v.28 - A false witness will perish, but the man who listens to the truth will speak forever. If someone was found out to be a false witness then they received the punishment that would have gone to the accused.  So if someone one being accused of murder and the penalty was death then a false witness in that trial that was found out would receive the death penalty.  Needless to say, don't be a false witness.   The other side of this proverb is to be a person who listens to the truth.  This person puts themselves in the place to hear truth.  They guard what is going in and they are letting it mold how they will live their lives, not as false witnesses but as those who tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.  The truthful witness promotes justice and we need more of that.  The similar proverb of this one is Proverbs 12:17 that says,  "He who speaks truth tells what is ...

Today's verses are Proverbs 21:25-27, which read, v.25 - The desire of the sluggard puts him to death, for his hands refuse to work. A desire to not work is what the sluggard is going for.  The Bible is so against this.  The Bible wants our hands and our hearts active in being used by the Lord to love Him and to love others.  This is not saying you can't have a vacation here and there but do you take a vacation from being used by Him? The first question of the Westminster Catechism is,  "What is the chief end of man?"  or we could say,  "What is the desire of man?"   The answer is,  "Man's chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him forever."   There is no sluggard actions there or refusal to be at it. v.26 - All day long he is craving, while the righteous gives and does not hold back. Wanting more for yourself in a selfish way leaves you craving more from something that has an end.  The righteous is at g...

Today's verses are Proverbs 21:21-24, which read, v.21 - He who pursues righteousness and loyalty finds life, righteousness and honor. Those who are wise following after God will receive more than what they pursue.  It is not that they are seeking to get more or like it is a formula to manipulate how God works but they are genuinely glorifying God with their actions.  They pursue righteousness and loyalty, two things, and the find life, righteousness and honor, three things.   To pursue is to be behind and to follow after the practices of righteousness or a just life and loyalty or a kind, good and faithful life.  To find is to attain life or the sense of being alive, experiencing justice, and honor or weighted glory.  Those three words describe our Lord Jesus Christ.  He is life and He is right and just and provides justification and deserves all of our heavy honor to Him. v.22 - A wise man scales the city of the mighty and brings down the...

Today's verses are Proverbs 21:17-20, which read, v.17 - He who loves pleasure will become a poor man; he who loves wine and oil will not become rich. Solomon brings up again the foolishness of indulging in physical pleasures.  Also, we know that the poorness of the poor man is not just financially but emotionally and spiritually.  An aspect of wisdom is that of self-control in our lives that has a standard of God's word to guide.  The wise look at all of life and lay it alongside of God's word and therefore conform to it rather than the world.  Self-control rises up to be opposed to the foolishness of the world to have no constraints.   v.18 - The wicked is a ransom for the righteous, and the treacherous is in the place of the upright. Two sides are seen and shown here.  There is the wicked and there is the righteous.  There is the treacherous and there is the upright.  It is said twice to stress the importance of what is going o...