When
we respond to the effectual calling of Christ, we are most blessedly sustained
by the pledge of His glorious provisions (Eph.
Monday,
March 27th - Proverbs 9: 7-9
The
servants of wisdom are sent out to issue general invitations, but they are not
to cast pearls before swine. Such
discrimination accords with the dictates of our Lord (Mt. 7:6). For a scoffer, who has imprisoned himself
within his own cynical mentality wherein he esteems nothing but tears down
everything, will only perceive an object for destruction in the gospel, rather
than the pearl of great price. On the
other hand, one who has been effectually called by the Lord, and who has been
transformed into a righteous lover of wisdom, profits from the continued
instruction of the Lord. To the one who
has, more shall be given. Let us see to
it that we are such who rightly esteem the manifold gifts of God. Also let us be careful to be His
discriminating servants, giving more in ministry to those who appreciate and
profit most from the Christ we are commissioned to proclaim.
Tuesday,
March 28th - Proverbs
Once
more true wisdom is defined as our having a reverential attitude toward the
Lord, which serves to prevent our offending Him and to excite our desire to
please Him. We were created and placed
within the created universe not so that we might seek to know about ourselves
and this world, but rather so that we might know the Lord. Our chief end is to know and glorify the Holy
One of Israel, and when we live in accordance with this end, submitting everything
to it, we find our lives growing happy and long, at least in perspective, if
not in actual duration here below. The
choice is ours either to live lives of true direction and blessed meaning, or
to scoff at higher things and fill our hearts and the world with insults,
hatred, and all other manner of misery.
The choice is ours, and so are the consequences.
Wednesday,
March 29th - Proverbs
There
is no comparison between wisdom and folly, and yet that does not prevent folly
from competing against wisdom. Folly
issues an invitation (v.16) which begins just like that carried abroad by
wisdom (v.4). However, since folly
cannot completely conceal the illicit nature of her allurement, she
boisterously admits that her goods are contraband, but boasts them to be
superior precisely because they are so (v.17).
There may even be a high degree of sincerity in the claim, since foolish
boasters are themselves devoid of that understanding which rightly appraises
value (v.13). If we judge simply by the
sincerity and appealing aspects of an invitation, we shall go down into
death. Truth alone saves.
Thursday, March 30th - Proverbs 10: 1
The
first nine chapters of Proverbs have formed an introduction wherein the general
characters of wisdom and folly are drawn out and contrasted. Now we come to a more detailed analysis of
those contrasts. Solomon gives us a
series of antithetical proverbs, wherein diverse facets of wisdom and folly,
righteousness and wickedness, are contrasted in brief compass.
The
true happiness and holiness produced by wisdom serves as a compelling incentive
for young people to seek such wisdom.
But children are not the only ones truly, deeply, and lastingly to
profit from the application of divine wisdom to their lives. The gladness or grief of their parents is
also thereby determined. Our choices
affect not only ourselves, but also those around us, especially those nearest
to us. When a young one grows up
choosing God’s wise way, both of his godly parents are glad for him. The father, being most responsible to give
spiritual leadership, usually will be the most demonstrative with his humble
pride and joy. When folly is embraced
and pursued, however, both parents grieve, but the more tender mother most
openly shows it.
Friday, March 31st - Proverbs 10: 2, 3
The
pragmatist wrongly believes that the acquiring of possessions secures his
life. Thus he will seek to profit by
hook or crook. He will lie or steal if
he thinks he can get away with it, so long as he gains possessions
thereby. Yet, what does it profit him to
gain the world at the price of his soul?
The righteous, with their convictions which bar them from employing
by-ways and partaking of ill-gotten gain, may seem to be impoverished thereby. Yet righteousness delivers from eternal
death, and calls down upon its possessors spiritual and temporal blessings from
the Lord (Lk.
Saturday, April 1st - Proverbs 10: 4, 5
Negligence in any field never pays dividends. It is not enough that we work; we must work diligently if we expect to be enriched. This principle holds true in both the physical and spiritual realm. The precious promises of God’s Word do not yield their potencies without our diligent application (2 Pet. 1:5ff). We must work not only diligently, but wisely also. Opportunities for harvesting do not come every day. Let us be alert and appropriately active when the Lord sends seasons of ingathering. To slumber through the ordinances of His grace, as many do on His day, for example, is not only unwise, it is shamefully wrong.
Sunday, April 2nd - Proverbs 10: 6, 7
The righteous are blessed during the whole of their lives by the Lord, and during much of their lives by others. When the righteous die, they are lovingly remembered. Though they be dead, the example of their lives continues to speak, adding blessing to those who remember the righteous, and causing God to be blessed by those so gratefully remembering them. The wicked may boast, as though they are blessed, but their self-promotion is but a poor covering for their destructive and doomed natures. When the wicked die, no one blesses or even curses their memory. Instead, the wicked are simply forgotten.
Monday, April 3rd - Proverbs 10: 8
Wisdom is not something which can be externally applied. It must penetrate into and issue from the heart. The man who is truly wise will have a heart receptive of all truth. In particular, he will receive appropriate commands. Accordingly, he desires to discover and fulfill righteous responsibilities. A fool is not concerned about receiving direction, but delights in spewing forth vacant thoughts issuing from his empty and vile heart. Such a publisher of mere words will not be allowed to vex others indefinitely. In due course he will be thrown down by the hand of God, whose words the fool has failed to hear or heed.
Tuesday, April 4th - Proverbs 10: 9
Integrity is a deep, inner wholeness and consistency of attitude and action. The man who walks in integrity does not lead a fractured life, saying and doing different things to please different people. He practices the truth of God, which is utterly consistent and impartial. He may be considered by the wayward a rigid, unmovable character who is vulnerable to attack because he stands fast. Yet such integrity solidifies a man in himself, and in his walk integrity attaches him to the Lord. Thus he is secure. Those with no moral moorings, with flexible ethics, duplicity of heart, and continually changing tactics, while they think themselves safe from detection or destruction due to their apparently greater maneuverability, will be found out and found wanting. They know this, and so run even when no man is pursuing.
Wednesday, April 5th - Proverbs
Communications and their consequences are considered in these verses. A man who uses his eye to pass stealthy messages, misuses an organ given primarily for perception, and causes trouble. Such furtive glances are employed when one seeks to spring trouble on others. The babbling fool misuses his mouth, bringing trouble upon others, but ultimately upon himself. The Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Old Testament) renders the second part of v.10: But a frank rebuke will make peace, the supposition being that v.8b was inadvertently repeated in v.10. If so, the contrast is between ambiguous and unequivocal forms of communication, the former being shown to cause pain, the latter to create peace. The wicked cannot speak frankly, for they dare not disclose their evil hearts. On the other hand, the righteous bring forth good things—refreshing, invigorating, comforting truths—from their hearts made good by God’s grace.
Thursday, April 6th - Proverbs
There
is such a thing as righteous hatred. We
are to abhor evil (Rom. 12:9), and David speaks of counting the Lord’s enemies
as his own enemies, which enemies he hates with perfect hatred (Ps.
139:19-22). But this proverb has in mind
that wicked hatred which seeks only to vent its own bitterness by attempting to
make others similarly miserable. It
detects faults in others and seeks to magnify, rather than heal them. Love covers not only frailties and faults in
others, but also their sins. Love
desires to forgive sin and to heal injury (1 Cor. 13:5-7). Only Christ so loves us and enables us so to
love others (Eph.
Friday, April 7th - Proverbs
The discerning gather knowledge in order to digest it and transmit it to others in the form of wisdom, which wisdom is not the mere recitation of facts, but the giving of their correlation and significance as well. Such discerning souls render themselves fit instruments for the giving of blessing to others. The foolish, however, lack understanding, and thus are fit to give out nothing but trouble. Such foolish ones, lacking a sanctified heart, find themselves most often receiving various forms of discipline, which serves to correct outer behavior, but rarely, if ever, reaches and changes their hearts.
Saturday, April 8th - Proverbs
As
men assess things outwardly, the possession or lack of material possessions
would seem to determine whether a man were safe and secure, or ruined. Yet it is character, not possessions, which
determines the true and lasting felicity and secure enjoyment of a soul. The one who has, by saving faith, the
righteousness of Christ, has life and health and peace, with or without
material wealth (Phil.
Sunday, April 9th - Proverbs
Humble teachability, not with respect to every wind of doctrine but with respect to the truth, is the hallmark of the person who is making progress in the world of saving grace. Stiff-necked refusal to yield to righteous reproofs marks the soul wandering from the Lord, whose Word reproves, rebukes, and exhorts the wayward (2 Tim. 4:2). The former seek instruction, professing their need thereof, so that they may be wise. The latter view instruction, especially in its intense form of reproof, as being needlessly invasive, as though any suggestion that they change were designed not for their benefit, but rather for their injury.
Monday, April 10th - Proverbs
Those who employ lying flattery when speaking directly to others, and who spread slander behind the backs of others, reveal through such misuse of their mouths concealed hatred for others. They are fools to attempt to conceal that hatred, and bigger fools to harbor it. The grace of the Lord uproots malice from the heart, replacing it with the peaceable fruit of righteous love.
Tuesday, April 11th - Proverbs
The wise, righteous man puts a leash on his tongue. He weighs his words so that true and loving communications pass from his heart through his lips. He has foolish and malicious thoughts as do others, for he too is sinful; but such thoughts he seeks to mortify, rather than to multiply their injurious power by giving expression to them. Thus the words of the wise are precious and nourishing to others. Conversely, fools blab all, exposing their worthless, wicked hearts. Their words help no one, and they themselves perish due to the vacuity of their hearts.
Wednesday, April 12th - Proverbs
The
so-called blessings of the world prove to be at best hollow and at worst
deceptive bait enticing us into misery.
It is not so with the blessings of the Lord. Even when His blessings look like curses, as
in the cross, they are rich and potent, and serve for our highest ultimate
good. Our Lord’s blessing only gets
better over time, for He is a God who saves the best wine until last. Meanwhile, His blessing causes even our
current pain to work for our good (Rom.
Thursday, April 13th - Proverbs
The Lord adds only blessing to our lives. He adds no sorrow, but rather is the only Comforter able to take sorrow away from us. When it seems that He adds sorrow and removes blessing, we do well to consider the thoughts expressed in Francis Thompson’s The Hound of Heaven, in which the poet has the Lord saying:
All which I took from thee I did but take,
Not for thy harms,
But just that thou might’st seek it in My arms.
All which thy child’s mistake
Fancies as lost, I have stored for thee at home;
Rise, clasp My hand, and come!
Fools
find a gleeful fascination in wickedness.
They delight in perversity and in seeing the damage done to others by
evil. But the indulgence of such
perverse pleasure renders fools increasingly guilty of great evil. They are transformed into increasingly wicked
souls, sensing their guilt, and thus fearing that which they know will
rightfully befall them as retribution.
The
righteous, possessing a sense of godly understanding, delight in wisdom. Their delight is thorough, encompassing the
blessed practical fruits of wisdom, the attitude of wisdom, and the living
source of wisdom, the Lord Himself. The
desire of the righteous, being set on such a God so intent upon giving true
blessing, cannot fail to be fulfilled.
Saturday, April 15th - Proverbs
Wickedness,
being inherently self-destructive, provides no strength to enable one to
withstand the tests of life, let alone the all-consuming fire of the final day
(2 Pet. 3:10-12). The world, on which
the wicked dote, is destined to pass away; while he who does the will of the
Lord will abide forever (1 Jn.
Sunday, April 16th - Proverbs
A slack servant disappoints and aggravates his master, whose name and purposes are dishonored due to the servant’s lazy failure fully to carry out his master’s assignment. Let us not be slack in our service for those in authority over us, especially in the service of the Lord, whose Holy Spirit is grieved, whose glorious purposes are impeded, whose name may even be blasphemed, when carnal indolence rather than spiritual diligence characterizes the lives and service of those professing His name.
Monday, April 17th - Proverbs
The
fear of the Lord is no paralyzing, life-spoiling neurosis. A right attitude of holy reverence toward God
gives, sustains, and enriches life. It
brings healthful peace and joy to the soul, thus frequently prolonging physical
life. The righteous, while revering the
Lord, also place their hope in Him. That
hope, when realized, will remove every tear and produce unspeakable joy. The anticipation of such hope inspires
current gladness.
In
contrast, the wicked worry. Their
anxiety creates health and life destroying stress. Whatever joy they do anticipate never comes,
but, instead, the very expectation of joy inexorably dies away.
Tuesday, April 18th - Proverbs
The wise and loving way the Lord has in dealing with His children makes them strong and secure. When we walk in the way of the Lord, growing in the grace and knowledge of Christ, striving according to His power which mightily works in us (Col. 1:29), we find our spiritual powers growing with each step. Our progress in His grace serves increasingly to render impotent the workers of iniquity, who would harm us. The ruin they design for us is brought back upon their own heads. Recall how Mordecai’s faithful walk in God’s way saved him and, at the same time, brought ruin to his enemy, Haman (Esther 7:9). The Lord will never let His children be shaken, nor will He let the wicked abide with them in the stronghold of divine grace, thus spoiling that blessed refuge. In the way of the Lord we find sanctuary from all foes.
Wednesday, April 19th - Proverbs
The righteous, who because of their fear of the Lord have wise hearts, issue wise words. Their prudent and practical communications flow forth as a refreshing stream, sharing with others things true and helpful. Their words do not flow forth incessantly, for good and wise men seek constantly to take account of the necessity and aptness of their words, as well as to consider the capacity of their hearers. The wicked, however, gush forth perverted speech from their perverse hearts. Their ability to publish such evil communications will be stopped eventually, if not by their sickened audience, then certainly by the Lord.
Thursday, April 20th - Proverbs 11: 1
Men
can and do take unfair advantage of others in their business dealings. By their shrewd inconsistencies and bad-faith
exchanges they may delight themselves with profit in excess of what they
deserve. But the Lord, who sees through
it all, is not pleased. He hates such
corrupt commerce.
The
man who is fair in all his dealings will not fail to profit in the long
run. Meantime, he enjoys the priceless
profit of knowing that his honest dealings please his Lord.
Friday, April 21st - Proverbs 11: 2
Pride precedes a dishonorable fall, for pride draws its guidance and strength from the frail and sinful arm of flesh. The humble renounce self-sufficiency, depending instead upon the Lord, who makes them wise. Such humbly gathered wisdom is satisfying in itself, and moreover leads to deserved and secured promotions and honors.
Saturday, April 22nd - Proverbs 11: 3-6
Wicked men rely on shrewdly told lies, material riches, even treachery as means to promote and secure their lives. Such means, which promise to exalt one at the expense of others, are all deceptive props doomed not only to fail, but also to be the very means of destroying those relying on them. This is so because our world has a moral, not a material basis. Our righteous God governs the world, and He is effectually committed to protecting and promoting the righteous, while frustrating and vanquishing the wicked and their untrue ways. The man who concentrates on who he is before this God, the man who seeks by divine grace to be righteous and to have integrity before Him, will think and live in a way contrary to the treachery of the world, thus exposing himself to the anger and abuse of the wicked; but such a man will be surely guided through every course, safely delivered from dangers great and small, and will find the hills, valleys, and rough places in his way smoothed by the hand of the Lord.
Sunday, April 23rd - Proverbs 11: 7, 8
The
righteous reversals the wicked suffer in this life do not form the full portion
of their punishment. Whether the wicked
be unsuccessful in the employment of their evil devices and thus live as evil
idealists, sustained by the delusive expectation that their treachery will one
day pay dividends, or whether they be successful in extorting riches and thus
appear to live as impregnable strong men, death undeceives them, ushering them
into well-deserved judgment (Heb. 9:27).
Such judgment should come as no surprise to them. For throughout life the pattern of divine
rectitude is evident. God delivers His
children from the snares of the wicked, and causes evil men to fall into the pits
which they themselves had dug for others (Ps.
Monday, April 24th - Proverbs 11: 9
The godless man has no blessing in his heart and conveys no blessing through his mouth. Rather, he seeks to promote himself by destroying others. The righteous, in particular, are his targets. Yet the righteous are delivered, not by their directly battling against the malicious liars arrayed against them, but by their close adherence to the Lord, who gives them knowledge more than sufficient to neutralize godless threats. The psalmist, in the long psalm, repeatedly testifies to this: Even though princes sit and talk against me, Thy servant meditates on Thy statutes. (Ps. 119:23). When we make our devotion to the Lord to be our primary business, He makes it His business to deliver us from all destructive designs.