Psalm 55:15-23

He redeems my soul in safety from the battle that I wage, for many are arrayed against me. (v. 18) Although I cannot know of the “many” who are arrayed against me, I believe that they are there. Why? We are told to be on the alert: Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. (I Peter 5:8) I have often wondered, upon returning home from a short trip or a long trip, how often I/we might have been delivered from who knows what. Just this morning as Carol and I were driving on the Washington Beltway we saw an accident on the lanes going the opposite direction. Wreckers were on the scene and traffic on that side was backed up three miles already. While we were thankful that we were not in that backup and that our lanes were clear, we are always aware that it could easily have been on our side and that it could easily have been us in that accident. Be watchful; be alert; there are many arrayed against us!

Psalm 55:1-14

Two thoughts came to mind as I read today’s verses. First, the descriptive heading from the NASB: “Prayer for the Destruction of the Treacherous”. The ESV was much nicer: “Cast Your Burden on the Lord”. Much more positive…! But as to that NASB heading – Although I often imagine the same destruction, especially when I think of Putin’s war with Ukraine and the Arab hatred of the West, more often as I’ve matured a bit I find myself praying for those “enemies”, praying for their heart transformation. Yes, I still ask the Lord why He allows horrible activities to continue and pray that He might take intervention against them. But more often I pray for conversion – for Putin, specifically, and for Moslem leaders around the world.

Second, verses 12-14: For it is not an enemy who taunts me – then I could bear it … But it is you, a man, my equal, my companion, my familiar friend. We used to take sweet counsel together; within God’s house we walked in the throng… When a dear friend turns against you, that hurts! Carol and I experienced that a few years back when we had a difference of opinion on a major issue with a married couple with whom we were quite close. We had declined their invitation to their daughter’s wedding to her partner, knowing that we could not be joyful at this union. Rather than being loving and understanding our situation they ended our friendship. They wrote us a very harsh letter announcing that “Some things last for a season; that season is over.” Reading verse 12 brought it all back to mind. Again, David has nailed it in his writing. Sad.

Psalms 53-54

There is no one who does good, not even one. (Psalm 53:3b) This verse is probably familiar to many of you. It is one of the most oft-cited verses used by many preachers when preaching a salvation message – except that they typically cite it as Romans 3:12 instead of Psalm 53:3b. I guess it’s more effective to cite a New Testament verse than the original Old Testament verse.

As with our reading yesterday, the heading for Psalm 54 also has an historical context. See I Samuel 23:19-24a. I love that the Bible often references itself. 

Written from the plane, sent upon landing at Washington Dulles…

Psalm 52

Hello from Athens, Greece! Headed back to the USA (Maryland) tomorrow!

As we begin our third group of Psalms we take a moment to thank John for his leadership in Proverbs – and we look forward to more of the same in July and September! But for now you have me back leading.

So, how much do you know about Doeg the Edomite, the man mentioned in the heading to this Psalm? You may recall some time ago that we read about David and his soldiers eating the sacred bread that only the priests were supposed to eat. (See I Samuel 21:1-6; Matthew 12:3-8.) It turns out that Doeg the Edomite had been nearby and saw that transaction and reported it to Saul as Saul was searching for David (I Samuel 22:9-10). But that one treachery against David was not enough. Later in the chapter we read about Saul’s response to David being given the sacred bread –he sought to have the priests killed. However, none of Saul’s soldiers were willing to kill the priests, so Doeg the Edomite willingly volunteered (I Samuel 22:16-18). A sad man! This is the man David mentions in the heading to this Psalm. So what does David say about Doeg the Edomite in the Psalm, itself? Why do you boast of evil, O mighty man?…You love evil more than good, and lying more than speaking what is right. (vv. 1a, 3) We don’t know anything more about Doeg the Edomite, but David did have this prophecy as to his ending: But God will break you down forever; He will snatch and tear you from your tent; He will uproot you from the land of the living. (v. 5) A word of caution to all of us to seek the Lord as we choose to follow or serve one “leader” over another.

Proverbs 9:13-18

We end these first nine chapters of Proverbs with the personification of Folly, who somewhat gracelessly mimics Wisdom in calling to those who pass by (v. 15) with what sounds like the same invitation: “Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!” (v. 16; see Pr. 9:4) But the second part of her offer is vastly different: “Stolen water is sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant.” (v. 17) That is decidedly not what Wisdom offered in Pr. 9:5-6.

The real punch line comes in verse 18: But he does not know that the dead are there, that her guests are in the depths of Sheol. That sounds very much like what we heard for the adulteress in Pr. 5:5 and Pr. 7:27, which goes to say that Folly is every bit as seductive and every bit as dangerous and deadly as adultery. So be on your guard against her and chose Wisdom!

Proverbs 9:7-12

Today in our reading of Proverbs we finally arrive at a few proverbs. 🙂

Have you ever tried to correct a scoffer? How did it go? Did the scoffer humbly accept your correction, learn from it, change his ways, and pour out appreciation to you? Or did the scoffer instead keep right on doing whatever he was doing, all the while blaming you for whatever setback he may have experienced, and designating you as his latest enemy? I’m guessing the latter…

On the other hand, have you ever corrected a wise person? And how did that go? Probably better than with the scoffer, right?

All of that goes to say that I suspect we have all seen and experienced the truth of Pr. 9:7-9. One person accepts correction and instruction and subsequently improves himself. Another rejects correction and compounds his problems.

Which one am I? Which one are you?

Proverbs 9:1-6

Wisdom prepares a feast and sets her table. She sends out her young women to call from the highest places in the town (v. 3), and she invites… Whom? Her friends? Geniuses? The powerful? The rich and famous? No. Whoever is simple…him who lacks sense… (v. 4) That’s whom she invites. Her feast is available to whomever will come.

This scene reminds me of Jesus’ parable of the wedding feast (Mt. 22:1-14) where the Kingdom of Heaven is compared to a king who gives a feast, but all his invited guests refuse to come, so he sends out his servants, saying, “Go therefore to the main roads and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find.” (Mt. 22:9)

And what does Wisdom have at her banquet? Bread and wine… (v. 5)

We have an open invitation. RSVP.

Proverbs 8:32-36

And now, O sons, listen to me… (v. 32) This is now the third time we’ve read that exact phrase in Proverbs. (See also Pr. 5:7; 7:24.) Perhaps we should indeed listen and heed, for Wisdom herself promises blessing:

• Blessed are those who keep my ways (v. 32)
• Blessed is the one who listens to me (v. 34)
• For whoever finds me finds life and obtains favor from the LORD (v. 35)

That sounds like a pretty good deal.

Proverbs 8:22-31

Wisdom continues her proclamations, declaring that she was the first of [the LORD’s] acts of old (v. 22), that she was set up at the first, before the beginning of the earth. (v. 23) She goes on from there, expanding on what we read in Pr. 3:19-20 and describing her presence at Creation.

One thing I think we need to recognize here is that the personification of wisdom is a literary device, and although we need to understand the point that is being made (i.e., that wisdom is utterly foundational) we should not quite treat these words as, well, literal. That is, wisdom is not really a woman (or even a goddess of some kind) who was created before all else. I am no theologian, but I think it is safe to say that God’s wisdom is not a created “thing” at all but is really an attribute of God Himself. God is wise, always has been, and always will be. He has always “possessed” wisdom as part of His essence. Hence, as an attribute of God, wisdom is eternal, and God used His wisdom in creating all things.

Yet most of our language and our own personal experience and observations would suggest that wisdom exists within creation too, separate from God Himself. (Note, however, that nothing at all exists without God’s sustaining power.) So what is the relationship between God’s own wisdom and the wisdom available to us? Perhaps that is something to ponder today…