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…

Proverbs 8:12-21

Wisdom continues calling, declaring her attributes, her deeds, and her virtue. She says, “I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently find me.” (v. 17) Do we love her? Do we seek her? Even more importantly, do we love and seek the One Who is the Source of all wisdom?

I daresay that we’ll never truly find her without first finding Him. That is not to say that Christians always act wisely or that non-Christians always act foolishly. (I think we could all fairly readily think of counterexamples for both.) But as we’ve seen before, true wisdom starts with the fear of the LORD, so it is hard to imagine a truly diligent search for wisdom that maintains hostility toward God. So there’s the question: In our search for wisdom, are we looking toward or away from God?

Proverbs 8:1-11

Today’s reading again personifies Wisdom as a woman calling to the children of man to learn from her, much as in Proverbs 1:20-33. Here are a few descriptors of what she offers:

• Prudence (v. 5)
• Sense (v. 5)
• Noble things (v. 6)
• What is right (v. 6)
• Truth (v. 7)
• Righteous words (v. 8)
• Nothing twisted or crooked (v. 8)

All of that sounds pretty good to me. Yet contrary voices abound. That is, Wisdom says sexual immorality is deadly, but many in our culture say anything goes — and you are horribly bigoted if you say otherwise. Wisdom says that life is precious, but there are those who declare that abortion is a fundamental right — and those who think otherwise are extremists. (Advocating for life is now extreme?) Wisdom says to avoid borrowing, yet we as a nation owe more than $30,000,000,000,000! (And I guarantee that although you can do the math, you cannot actually imagine a trillion of anything.) Real racists (those who judge people on the basis of skin color) are hailed as heroes, while those who say “all lives matter” are called racists. Legitimate news stories are squashed, declared to be “disinformation,” yet real disinformation is peddled for years as real news. That’s what you get in the mainstream media. Constantly. And I don’t just mean what the reporters report on. I mean the reporters and commentators themselves. [Wisdom’s words] are all straight to him who understands, and right to those who find knowledge. (v. 9) So pay attention, and if your sources of news and information seem to present wisdom and righteousness as twisted and crooked (and the twisted and crooked as legit), then maybe you need better sources…

Take my instruction instead of silver,
and knowledge rather than choice gold,
for wisdom is better than jewels,
and all that you may desire cannot compare with her.

Proverbs 8:10-11

Yes. Seek wisdom — real, godly wisdom.