Proverbs 24:1-12

If you faint in the day of adversity,
your strength is small.
Rescue those who are being taken away to death;
hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter.
If you say, “Behold, we did not know this,”
does not he who weighs the heart perceive it?
Does not he who keeps watch over your soul know it,
and will he not repay man according to his work?

Proverbs 24:10-12

Since Roe v. Wade was first decided in 1972, over 63 million babies have been taken away to death. I am confident that very few of those mothers made their decision lightly, at least not those who were anywhere close to fully informed. And I very much sympathize with the painful circumstances that may have led those mothers to face that horrific “choice”. But very few of those circumstances could possibly truly warrant the death of the child. I am also quite confident that the vast majority of those mothers regret their actions deep down, even if they won’t admit it to anyone, including themselves.

With the recent Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the abortion landscape has changed radically in this country. Whereas Roe previously took authority away from the states, Dobbs has thrown it back to the states. So now the real battle begins…

I’m not here to tell anyone how to vote. That’s between you and God. But I think it all deserves full consideration. Where will you stand? Will you hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter? Or will you say, “Behold, we did not know this”?

Proverbs 23:22-35

“They struck me,” you will say, “but I was not hurt;
they beat me, but I did not feel it.
When shall I awake?
I must have another drink.”

Proverbs 23:35

What a tragic scene! One that has played out countless times down through the ages — the grip of addiction. It is clear from this passage that the author understood something of the nature of addiction/alcoholism. The author recognizes the alluring nature of addiction (and temptation in general), how deceptively pleasant it appears at the beginning, but that the end result is not so pretty. (Pr. 23:31-32) The author also recognizes that the addict — once hooked — is powerless to deliver himself. Though it is clear that his life is a mess, the alcoholic’s only interest is to have another drink.

And so it is for all of us. We are all born already addicted — to sin. And we are utterly powerless to deliver ourselves from its grip. That doesn’t mean we don’t try. There are books galore offering self-help advice, seminars promising a better life if you just do X, and whole systems of religion to help us “ascend”. But the truth is that there is no deliverance apart from Jesus Christ.

Unfortunately, most Christians (myself included) live as if the deliverance we have in Jesus is simply one of deliverance from the consequences of sin, rather than from sin itself. And so we accept a certain level of ever-present sin as normal or even inevitable and end up being somewhat nonchalant in the battle against sin, just looking forward to the point of death when we will finally really begin to experience freedom. But I am sure that is not the Gospel. That would be like telling the alcoholic to go ahead and have another drink because it is unavoidable anyway.

Christ calls us to something better, to true deliverance. We should not be content with an undercurrent of ongoing sin. We must put to death our old self and put on the new, living by the Spirit of Christ. (See Eph. 4:17-24, Col. 2:20-3:17, and Romans 8.)

So, what will it be? True deliverance in Jesus? Or I must have another drink?

Proverbs 23:12-21

Apply your heart to instruction
and your ear to words of knowledge.

Proverbs 23:12

Today’s reading returns to a common theme from the early chapters of Proverbs: seeking — and passing on — wisdom. The author urges the reader (again, “my son“) to gain instruction and words of knowledge (v. 12), to have a wise heart (v. 15), to speak what is right (v. 16), and to continue in the fear of the LORD (v. 17). As we have noted before, gaining wisdom is supremely important and requires diligence, as a search for treasure.

Hear, my son, and be wise,
and direct your heart in the way.

Proverbs 23:19

Good advice, but sorely lacking in our world today.

Proverbs 23:1-11

Many thanks to Fred for his commentary on the Psalms over the last few weeks. Now it is September, and that puts us back into Proverbs for a while, which means you are stuck with me again. (Sorry about that…)

When you sit down to eat with a ruler,
observe carefully what is before you,
and put a knife to your throat
if you are given to appetite.

Proverbs 23:1-2

A knife to your throat? Indeed. If a warning like that does not get our attention, I don’t know what would. So heads up! But what is the author talking about?

Do not desire his delicacies,
for they are deceptive food.
Do not toil to acquire wealth;
be discerning enough to desist.

Proverbs 23:3-4

Ah! There it is: bribery — dangling “goodies” in front of us to get us to support the ruler’s schemes. But such delicacies are deceptive, and we should not be taken in by them. They are also fleeting (Pr. 23:5) and ultimately sickening (Pr. 23:8).

Bribes come in all shapes and sizes and at any level of society. Parents bribe their children — and children their parents. Coaches bribe athletes. Criminals bribe law enforcement. Lobbyists bribe politicians, and politicians bribe voters. So be on your guard!

Although it is sometimes difficult to discern the difference between a legitimate incentive (e.g., wages paid for a job well done) and a bribe (e.g., a bonus paid to bend the rules), deep down, we know the difference. So guard against being taken in by the attractiveness of short-term “easy” gains and set your mind on doing what is right.

Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written,
   “‘You shall worship the Lord your God
   and him only shall you serve.’”

Matthew 4:8-10

Psalm 103:11-22

Yesterday I posted about God’s mercy (vv. 8, 10). Today it’s about His love: The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love … For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His steadfast love toward those who fear Him … But the steadfast love of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him… (vv. 8, 11, 17).

Mercy and love; love and mercy. We see those two attributes together in verse 4: …Who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy… And in response to his recognition of these two attributes, David’s response is praise as he closes this Psalm: Bless the LORD…, Bless the LORD…, Bless the LORD…, Bless the LORD, O my soul!

Psalm 103:1-10

The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. … He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. (vv. 8, 10) David (the psalmist) says it better than I can add to it.

Psalm 102:18-28

I’m seldom certain of Biblical interpretation, but today I see verses 18-22 in the context of the Israelites in exile in Babylon. The psalmist first says that he is writing down some details (v. 18) so that future generations (a people yet to be created) can praise the Lord for His deliverance. That deliverance is God’s setting the exiles free to return to Jerusalem (vv. 19-20). There they and nearby peoples will praise the Lord for His deliverance (vv. 21-22). And because the psalmist wrote about it, we can read about it. Nice.

In verse 23 the psalmist returns to his own pain and suffering, the topic he began in yesterday’s reading, asking the Lord not to shorten his life (v. 24), especially as He sees the Lord’s existence for all eternity (v. 24). He then closes this psalm, amplifying that sentiment, that this God who pre-existed all creation will also continue in His existence after all His creation is gone (vv. 25-26): You are the same, and Your years have no end. (v. 27) Finally, he reminds his readers of the deliverance of which he wrote back in verse 18: The children of Your servant shall dwell secure; their offspring shall be established before You. If we look far enough down the road, maybe the psalmist is writing this line to us, about us. Whaddya think?

Psalm 102:1-17

A lament. The psalmist seems to be in personal, physical pain, calling on God to deliver him. There are a few things to note about the psalmist’s pain:

1. He feels it! (vv. 3-5)
2. He is alone and feels that loneliness. (vv. 6-7)
3. His enemies mock him and make him feel worse. (v. 8)
4. He blames God for his condition. (v. 10)

Yet even after getting angry with God, the psalmist quickly repents and acknowledges the Lord’s greatness, His majesty, and His love. (v. 12) He even goes beyond his own condition and seeks the Lord’s favor on all of Israel (vv. 13-14), with confidence that all the world will come to know the Lord when they see His greatness and His glory (vv. 15-16). To me, verse 17 is the key verse for today’s reading; it summarizes the psalmist’s feelings: He regards the prayer of the destitute and does not despise their prayer. (v. 17)

Psalm 101

A note from one of my study Bibles: “A perverse heart (v. 4) and a deceitful tongue (v.7) are root and fruit.” Cute.

It’s easy to applaud David’s intent in this Psalm, but the reality of removing all evil from around him and his reign (or that of Solomon’s) is much more difficult. A leader has a limit as to how many of his subjects are closest to him. He can know those few well; he can trust them to do what is right, but then they have people under them only slightly well known to the leader. You can quickly see the problem. At Freedom Road this past week we had a discussion about control and came up with a simple truth – you can control your activities (and you should do what is right), but you cannot (and should not) try to control the outcomes of those activities. David’s activities (his intent to remove all evil from around him and his reign) and those outcomes (that reality) are most certainly at odds when we consider fallen humanity. Consider Jesus and His three (Peter, James, and John), then the other eight, then Judas. The heart and the tongue, root and fruit.