Proverbs 15:25-33 English Standard Version 25 The LORD tears down the house of the proud but maintains the widow's boundaries. 26 The thoughts of the wicked are an abomination to the LORD, but gracious words are pure. 27 Whoever is greedy for unjust gain troubles his own household, but he who hates bribes will live. 28 The heart of the righteous ponders how to answer, but the mouth of the wicked pours out evil things. 29 The LORD is far from the wicked, but he hears the prayer of the righteous. 30 The light of the eyes rejoices the heart, and good news refreshes the bones. 31 The ear that listens to life-giving reproof will dwell among the wise. 32 Whoever ignores instruction despises himself, but he who listens to reproof gains intelligence. 33 The fear of the LORD is instruction in wisdom, and humility comes before honor. Let me start first by saying I'm sorry that I had to miss yesterday. We had an internet outage at our house Monday night through Tuesday morning and had some other important things to attend to yesterday morning as a family. So, I'll take a little bit of a larger chunk of Scripture today to "catch up," even though I know that's not how it works.
The LORD is the defender of the widows and orphans, the poor and the oppressed. In stark contrast to that, the LORD is also the one that will tear down the house of the proud. We have seen the characteristics of this proud person in the book for Proverbs already, but he stands in contrast to the widow because the proud person seems to have everything, and the widow seems to have nothing (think of the parable (or maybe better to call it a true story) of Lazarus and the rich man). God is not a respecter of persons in the sense that He does not give more love to someone because they have more possessions which He wants from them--God already owns everything and needs nothing from us. However, He does take a special interest in the defense of those who are helpless, and we should realize that really is all of us who are helpless and in need of His salvation--the proud person refuses to acknowledge he needs help and salvation though, and that is why "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble." The wicked don't just do wicked things. Their wickedness does not start there. Even their thoughts and desires are wicked and are an abomination to the LORD, as these lusts pull the wicked man further and further away from what the LORD wants for him--repentance and salvation that can only be found in Christ alone. Solomon contrasts the thoughts of the wicked with gracious words that are pure letting us know that there is nothing gracious or pure about the thoughts of the wicked. The greedy person who does evil things to gain money he didn't earn through all kinds of ill-gotten gain. This ill-gotten gain can come in many different forms, but the man alone does not suffer for his sins--he also drags his family down with him. They will either have to learn to live without him when he leaves them for his life of crime (if he wishes to protect them, which still may not protect them), continually look over their shoulder to see if they are going to get caught or to watch out for other evil people who want to do to them what they have done to others, or to look for the police who might arrest the evil person and probably will seize their assets in the process. The honest many who hates ill-gotten gain and whose integrity is not for sale and would never take a bribe doesn't have any of this to worry about. He and his family should be safe from all of these kinds of concerns and, hopefully, they truest in the LORD as their Shield and Defender and as their ultimate Provider. The righteous man thinks long and hard within his heart how to answer questions and objectives. A foolish man lets people stir up his emotions and all kinds of thoughtless and careless words come out that show the evil things in his heart and mind. The Lord Jesus said that the man who speaks in a careless manner will be held to account on the day of judgment. The blessing of the LORD is far from the wicked as the LORD will not turn His face towards them and bless their open sin and rebellion because He wants them to repent, believe in His plan of salvation, and then start living an obedient life. The LORD loves to bless those who love and obey Him as a sign to everyone else that He loves His children and as a way to make those outside the family and kingdom jealous to want to know how they can be a part of God's royal family so they too will experience His bountiful blessings. Just like with little children, our Father in heaven delights to listen to us and hear what makes us happy, sad, anxious, frightened, and so on. He wants us to pray to Him and have all those kinds of conversations with Him where we thank Him for the good things He has given us, and we put the things that are too big for us to handle in His hands. We trust once we do that that He is strong enough, good enough, and wise enough to handle all those things. The next verse tells us to take care what kind of face we wear. While we don't want to be hypocrites, we have so much to have joy and happiness about that we shouldn't be walking around with a sour personality and a frown all the time. Nobody is going to want to know about a gospel that leaves its believers like that. However, if you walk around with a smile on your face and a song in your heart, people will know you are different and will probably want to ask you want is different about you. it will be like a breath of fresh air for others, and it will be good news (that's the words gospel) to others that see and hear it and will bring healing and times of refreshing to you and those around you. Solomon doesn't want us to forget that we should be listening to wisdom, even when it comes in the form of reproof and correction. Sometimes it is difficult to hear and listen to, but how a person receives such correction is telling if the person is wise or foolish. Only after a person receives correction and correctly deals with it will they be accepted by other wise people who will invite them to be a part of their company (as the wise usually despise hanging out with fools and are careful about who they let be close to them). The one who ignores instruction despises himself as the person speaking instruction to him has his best interest in mind. The one who listens to reproof and correction (from a wise person) gains knowledge and wisdom of his own as he sees things in a different light or is more careful to not repeat the same mistake again. To fear the LORD (part of which we know is to obey Him), is instruction in wisdom. You cannot fear the LORD and be proud because the proud man is following the path of his father the devil, but those who are humble and follow the LORD want to be like their Father who is in heaven. Humility comes before honor, and we have Jesus as the ultimate example of thins (see Philippians 2:1-10, especially verses 5-9) I think that's a good stopping point as we remember to be imitators of Christ, including in His humility, trusting that one day God will glorify us not so that we can exalt ourselves, but so that we might continue to be humble and so that He will be highly exalted as He deserves. Comments are closed.
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Daniel WestfallI will mostly use this space for recording my "journal" from my daily devotions as I hope to encourage others to read the Bible along with me and to leave a legacy for others. Archives
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