For whoever finds (Wisdom) finds life and obtains favor from the LORD,
but he who fails to find (Wisdom) injures himself; all who hate me love death.
Proverbs 8:35-36
In the Wisdom that comes from the Lord, and the Wisdom that comes with the Lord, we have Life, and favor. We also avoid injury, having hatred for death.
We can say that we have Her – yes, that we have the entity called Wisdom.. however, I dare to say that because of the finished work of the Son of God, we have something far better – more than Wisdom accompanying us, we have the mind of Christ – He is IN us, thinking along with us, as we think in line with Him.
Through all our thoughts and plans, we acknowledge that the omniscient Father is always with us, and, sure, that Wisdom is also WITH us – but, consider, and praise if you’re led to, when we grasp that we think as Christ thinks, and He thinks along with our thoughts.
Oh, to take in that we are THAT reconciled, made THAT righteous – and it’s all because of Christ, and His finished work! We have been reunited that much that all of us and all that concerns us is integrated to His glory and grace.
Now that may sound like too much of a stretch, but I suppose this is us, responding to the goodness of God, allowing our minds and our thoughts to be renewed, in awe AND wonder. That’s right, we wonder, and mentally wander in His infinite goodness, allowing revelations to flow in and through us, sticking or sliding, flowing, flowing, flowing…
…all the while taking an eternity and taking an instant to bask in the Father’s glory and grace, thanking Him, trusting Him.
Thank You, Jesus – through You all this was made, and through You all this is held together. Be glorified and magnified in this moment, and forever. Halleluyah!
Funny, I thought today was the 8th for some reason. Anyway, let me pull up Psalm 6 really quick. I’ll go over this now, so we can possibly go over it later at our Men’s Fellowship.
Psalm 6
O LORD, Deliver My Life
TO THE CHOIRMASTER: WITH STRINGED INSTRUMENTS; ACCORDING TO THE SHEMINITH. A PSALM OF DAVID.
1 O LORD, rebuke me not in your anger, nor discipline me in your wrath.
2 Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am languishing; heal me, O LORD, for my bones are troubled.
Our good brother David, King David, Shepherd David, slayer of Goliath, who has slain his tens of thousands – In this Psalm, as in many of his Psalms, he cries out to the Lord… but we see something unique (or, at least I do) in this particular composition.
For we’re used to quoting in favor of the Lord’s discipline; most commonly used is Hebrews 12:6-7:
6 For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.”
7 It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline?
Indeed, the discipline that comes from the Lord is one way He shows His love, as a Father lovingly disciplines His son. I’m also fond of quoting what Dr. Andrew Farley mentions – that is, that the discipline of the Lord is not punishment for the past, but preparation for the future.
By the way, that former verse points us to other parts of Scripture, both from the Old and New Testament:
12 Blessed is the man whom you discipline, O LORD, and whom you teach out of your law,
13 to give him rest from days of trouble, until a pit is dug for the wicked.Psalms 94:12-13
19 Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent. Revelation 3:19
Indeed, the Lord loves us, and He disciplines us – again, according to His infinite power and eternal wisdom, sure, but also according to His everlasting love. And as mentioned earlier, it is preparation for the future, and here was also read that it is for us to have rest ‘from days of trouble, until a pit is dug for the wicked‘; as if to say that part of the preparation for the future is for us to be safe, while the wicked fall into their pits. God loves us, so He reproves and disciplines us, unto zeal and repentance.
It’s with all this in mind that we’re able to go back to the first verse of Psalm 6, and we read that contrary to our supposed seeking of discipline, David asks the Lord NOT to rebuke him, nor to discipline him. What gives?
Well, you’ll read it there as well. David is not asking for rebuke ‘in (His) anger’, and He is not asking for discipline ‘in (His) wrath’; In verse 2, we read, David is miserable enough, languishing while his bones ‘are troubled’ (images of cartoon knees shaking in great fear pop up); He is instead asking for God’s grace, and he is asking for God’s healing.
I suppose this is a reminder to us, to prioritize just trusting in the Lord and running to Him in our own times of languishing, and when our own bones are troubled. We should probably be discerning – as the Holy Spirit empowers us, and as we have the mind of Christ – to know when to shut off the mental programming that insists that, apparently, above everything having a reason, everything has to have a lesson…
…But, see, more than everything having a lesson, a rebuke, or a stance to discipline us, everything just ought to remind us of Christ, and our dependency on Him.
3 My soul also is greatly troubled. But you, O LORD—how long?
In our trusting in the Lord, we should be honest with ourselves and with Him. David was straightforward here, saying that his soul was troubled… enough to go past any pleasantries with the divine, and just asking the Lord straight up – how long? How much longer would it take before we feel better? We may ask, how much longer until I feel the comfort that only you provide?
How long, until I get that breakthrough? How long, until You ‘zonk’ me in the head and I suddenly have no desire to sin as I used to? How long, until I see that supposed goodness in the land of the living? How much longer, o Lord, until I see blessings for me, more than I see Your blessing on others?
4 Turn, O LORD, deliver my life; save me for the sake of your steadfast love.
5 For in death there is no remembrance of you; in Sheol who will give you praise?
What’s good is that David doesn’t stay in that ‘how long’ stance, implying that the pressure’s on for the Creator of the Universe to directly intervene in one of infinite other creations… Instead, David just goes back to crying out to the Lord, possibly sobered by the sheer magnitude of his experiences, to the point that he feels the shadow of death looming; More than healing, and more than grace, David now just calls for deliverance, and for salvation – contending, indeed, who is dead that praises the Lord? ‘in Sheol who will give you praise?‘
6 I am weary with my moaning; every night I flood my bed with tears; I drench my couch with my weeping.
7 My eye wastes away because of grief; it grows weak because of all my foes.
8 Depart from me, all you workers of evil, for the LORD has heard the sound of my weeping.
Indeed, in all that is going on in David’s life at that moment, the Shepherd and the King cries out for deliverance from death, for salvation, ‘for the sake of (His) steadfast love‘; And at this point, David emphasizes how it has taken a toll on his physical body, to the point that he is tired and weary from all his groanings, crying through the night and through the day.
He also reveals a little about what’s going on as he writes this Psalm – He is asking, not for discipline and rebuke in His wrath, but for healing, for His grace, and later on for His deliverance from death – ‘because of all (His) foes‘.
We may not necessarily have our own foes or enemies – that, or they just haven’t revealed themselves to us (yet); However, I could say that this existence, especially now, generations after this Psalm was written by David, we can certainly find ourselves in the same, or a very similar situation – at wits’ end, with no more options, with the clock ticking, surrounded not by physical enemies, but by our own thoughts, by situations brought about by our deeds and misdeeds, by circumstances brought about by this hostile yet ultimately finite reality…
We can find ourselves crying out, more than lessons and realizations and revelations, but for His grace and mercy, and ultimately His deliverance – because we’re in the same darkness David was in, so many generations before.
9 The LORD has heard my plea; the LORD accepts my prayer.
10 All my enemies shall be ashamed and greatly troubled; they shall turn back and be put to shame in a moment.
But here, friends,we take hope – because, again, more than the Lord revealing things to us, He is happy to not only hear us, but to listen to us intently – why? Because He CARES for us. We can cast ALL our troubles and burdens upon Him, running to His throne of grace, why? Because He CARES for us.
He hears us. He accepts our prayer. And by the grace of God, the finished work of Christ, and the power of the Holy Spirit, we shall watch as our enemies are made ashamed more than our own shame, put into trouble far greater than anything we experience.
For this, we give God the glory. Whatever we are experiencing right now, we lift up to Him – not trying to figure Him out, not trying to determine (or outright demand) how He helps us, but moving, flowing in peace – knowing that He hears us, He listens to us, He cares for us.
Let us keep on trusting in Him. Let us keep crying out to Him, and let us give all thanks and praise to Him, as we see His grace and glory unfold.
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