As I was reading the "My Daily Walk" gray sidebar I praised God for how many different ways his Word through the Psalms had spoken to me over the past month. As you know, this has been quite a challenging Spring and beginning of summer for many of us, Cari and I included. We have spanned the spectrum of feelings and emotions and what a relief to know that our Psalmist did as well. Isn't it encouraging that God's Word speaks to all areas of our lives!? It wasn't cleansed of its raw emotions. It wasn't edited for the shocking and harsh statements that were made. All ranges of expression were allowable and encouraged by the Psalmist's very own example. And if these things are ALL allowed in God's Word then certainly God understands when we go through all these feelings and thoughts as well.
Just two of many examples from the last two days of reading:
"In your unfailing love, silence all my enemies and destroy all my foes for I am your servant" (Ps. 143:12).
Yep, I've been there, I've felt that ... and I wasn't chastised for it either. (Though I would be disciplined by God, and rightly so, if I continued to stay in that angry place and to harbor those bitter feelings.) The words of scripture weren't sanitized to fit perfectly into a politically correct box. The prayers of Israel expressed real sentiment and they still speak to us today as well. Praise the Lord!
From the pits of anger and despair to the heights of praise and adoration...
"Let every created thing give praise to the LORD, for he issued his command, and they came into being" (Ps. 148:5).
As Gen 1-2 remind us, we are created in God's image and He gave us our very existence. Paul reminds us in Acts 17:28 that "we live and move and have our being." What a comfort for me to know that all the range of emotions and feelings that I have experienced over the past month are things I don't have to be embarrassed by because God is big enough, He can handle them. After all...
"He counts the stars and calls them all by name" (Ps. 147:4).
I hope you have been blessed as you spent time in Israel's prayerbook; and many blessings to you all as you embark on our new journey into Proverbs! (See summary below)
God bless and much love, Seth
Proverbs: Taken from the opening chapter, Solomon states that the purpose of Proverbs is “for attaining wisdom and discipline; for understanding words of insight; for acquiring a disciplined and prudent life, doing what is right and just and fair; for giving prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the young” (1:2-4). The young are a clear intended audience of Proverbs by the sheer fact that the phrase “my son” is used at least 23 times; and because parents are depicted as grieved or overjoyed in how their son chooses to live (either wisely or foolishly, 10:1; 15:20; 17:25; 23:24). Another central focus of the book is that “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge” (1:7). The beginning of knowledge is listening to Lady Wisdom (8:22-31) as opposed to the Wayward Wife (ch. 7). Wisdom comes at a great cost (4:7) and if it is not adhered to death via the adulteress (ch. 5) or wicked men (2:12-16; 5:23) could be the end result. In summary, Proverbs uses the Deuteronomic framework and language to show the contrast between the fool and the wise and the resulting death or life that comes from whether or not the reader keeps God’s Law as personalized in Proverbs.
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