As David’s celebration song about God’s forgiveness continues, he recognizes that confession is costly. He also acknowledges the fact that we have a window of opportunity that may, one day, close. Consequently, he prays for God’s future provision. Provision for Future Needs: Therefore, let everyone who is godly pray to You in a time when You may be found; Surely in a flood of great waters they will not reach him.
Read MoreCategory Archives: Sin
The Bitter Price of Secret Sin
David’s celebration of God’s forgiveness takes a dark turn as he recalls his anguished past. He remembers—perhaps accompanied by a gloomy minor key—the days of misery he spent in the isolation of secret sin. Reflection on Past Sins: When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away. Through my groaning all day long. For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me;
Read MoreFrom Self-deception to Relief
I once asked my sister, Luci, to name the emotion she considered the most powerful and enjoyable of all. She surprised me with her answer: relief. After thinking for a moment, I had to agree. Relief is everyone’s favorite feeling! David’s song about forgiveness begins with a celebration of relief, which he found in God’s forgiveness of his transgression.
Read MoreLiving under the Cloud of Guilt
Your conscience may be invisible but it is certainly not inactive! Who hasn’t been kept awake by its pleadings? With incredible regularity, an unforgiven conscience can rob us of an appetite, steal our sleep, and drive us to distraction. Do you remember Edgar Allan Poe’s haunting short story “The Tell-Tale Heart”? The main character has committed murder.
Read MoreSelf-Promotion
As you continue your attentive listening this week, keep your ears open for another kind of offensive, unproductive speech. It might seem like a minor problem, but I assure you, the Scriptures take this seriously. I’m referring to boasting, to speech or activities that assume a place of superiority over others. 4. Boasting
Read MoreYour Greatest Treasure
As we examine Solomon’s counsel on the importance of guarding one’s heart, note that he again directs his words to “my son.” Because the Holy Spirit preserved this passage for us, we now benefit from Solomon’s wise fatherly advice. Observe his comment about inclining your ear to his sayings and keeping them “in the midst of your heart” (v. 21). Very interesting!
Read MoreGod’s Standard of Living
Benjamin Franklin once called David’s Psalm 15 the “Gentleman’s Psalm.” To him, it represented the standard of life after which a gentleman should pattern his walk. As fine a description as that may be, David’s song goes even deeper than that—it is indeed the “Christian’s Psalm.” It sets forth not so much the way a person finds the Lord as the way we are to live after the Lord has entered our life.
Read MoreStinkin’ Thinkin’
Sunday, we examined two reasons why people fail to heed the counsel of wisdom—found either in Scripture or other sources—when making choices. Some stubbornly resist wisdom because they are strong-willed and refuse to surrender. Others simply fail to hear wise counsel due to insensitivity. Today, we encounter two additional factors. Indifference “You neglected all my counsel” (1:25).
Read MoreFailure to Yield
Solomon pleaded with his son—and, by extension, with all of us—to heed the warning voice of wisdom. A good question is, why? Why must Solomon plead? Why do we ignore God’s reproofs, those in Scripture as well as those that come through other means? Looking back at the sayings preserved for us in Proverbs 1, I discover at least four reasons we do not heed reproof.
Read MoreOut of the Mouths of Babes
Divine reproofs aren’t limited to Scripture. While Scripture is God’s primary instrument of communication, He will use any means necessary to get our attention when we’re headed in the wrong direction. On other occasions, reproofs come verbally from those who care about us, including parents, friends, children, mates, employers, neighbors, a policeman, a teacher, a coach . . . any number of people.
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