Day 21, Proverbs Chapter 21

[brinny]

Proverbs 21:

WHOSE battle IS it?

This verse reminds me of what i'm reading in Judges right now. Man can do this that and the other, and THINK they "got this", but the bottom line is, that GOD'S got the final word.

Goliath just KNEW he "had this" with David. But guess what? DAVID knew that GOD "had this". David was also wise enough to know WHO was fighting Goliath. It wasn't HIM, it was GOD. As in "The battle is the Lord's".

He knew that GOD has the "last word".

Not man.

Not even Goliath.

Amen.

 

[brinny]

Proverbs 21:

'nuff said.

Amen.

 

[brinny]

Proverbs 21:

The cries of the poor (and the helpless).

God's own do NOT close their ears to the cry of the poor, nor to those speaking out on behalf of the poor and those who cannot speak out for themselves. We will be accountable for all the cries of the poor, the needy, and the helpless and defenseless that we heard, and did not heed.

That was GOD calling to us, to our hearts, and many times, in the forms of "angels unawares".

God help us if we turn a deaf ear to them.

"Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares." ~Hebrews 13:2

 

[musicalpilgrim]

Christ's is the world in which we move,
Christ's are the folk we're summoned to love,
Christ's is the voice which calls us to care
and Christ is the one who meets us here.

To the lost Christ shows his face
to the unloved he gives his embrace
To those who cry in pain or disgrace,
Christ makes with his friends a touching place

 

[brinny]

Proverbs 21:

Guarding our tongues.

Guarding our tongues is directly interwoven to the guarding of our hearts. Both are needing to be willingly surrendered to God, and under His control. Otherwise we ride that roller coaster of struggling with what slips out of our mouths, because we just didn't quite "catch" that one. However, the bottom line, is that it's what's in our hearts that is the problem. Trying to cover it up or to temporarily "quelch" it, is a failure after failure in the making.

The bottom line is that we continue riding that roller coaster, until we surrender our wills to God, which is the bottom line of surrendering our hearts and thus our tongues to Him.

Reminds me of this:

"Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it." ~Pr 4:23

 

[brinny]

Proverbs 21:

A right heart.

There are times God is nauseated by our "sacrifices" and the "accolades" that we speak about Him. At these times, God is "insulted" by all of them.

Brings to mind Cain's "sacrifice" and how God abhorred it, and why God despised it. The bottom line here, is that God was STILL patient with Cain and offered "grace" as He said to Cain this:

"If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him." ~Gen 4:7

Yet Cain rejected it. He was angry and had jealousy in his heart against not only Abel, but was enraged at God.

And why was he enraged at God?

It was because of "pride". It was HIS will and HIS pride that he raised ABOVE God. And what was going on here, bottom line, rebellion, which is ALWAYS about our will vs. God's will. He could've cared LESS about what God deemed "acceptable". He was "offended" that God didn't appreciate all HIS work, and the crop of fruit he put together so beautifully, that "exalted" HIM, and NOT God. Didn't God SEE and RECOGNIZE what a "FAVOR" Cain did FOR Him? Hey, WHERE is God's "appreciation", and "PRAISE"???!!! How DARE God reject his magnificent work!!

This comes to mind:

"Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall." ~Pr 16:18

"For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. " ~I Sam 15:23

GOD decides what is "right" and "just".

Not "us".

Amen?

 

[musicalpilgrim]

so true...

 

[brinny]

Proverbs 21:
Seeking God's Kingdom.

When we pursue righteousness, as we seek God's Kingdom above all else, all these things will be added.

Reminds me of this:

"But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." Matthew 6:33

Amen.

 

[brinny]

Proverbs 21:
(This bears repeating)
WHOSE battle IS it?

This verse reminds me of what i'm reading in Judges right now. Man can do this that and the other, and THINK they "got this", but the bottom line is, that GOD'S got the final word.

Goliath just KNEW he "had this" with David. But guess what? DAVID knew that GOD "had this". David was also wise enough to know WHO was fighting Goliath. It wasn't HIM, it was GOD. As in "The battle is the Lord's".

He knew that GOD has the "last word".

Not man.

Not even Goliath.

Amen.

 

[Matthew-59]

Proverbs 21:
This verse reminds me of what i'm reading in Judges right now. Man can do this that and the other, and THINK they "got this", but the bottom line is, that GOD'S got the final word.

Ohhhh... This is something that sorta bugs me. I don't likes it when I hear/see people say that... "I got this" or "you got this". I understand what they really mean, but yet, it's not right. What you said here brinny, is right on! I agrees with you. To say "I got this" seems a bit self aggrandizing or prideful. It implies that God is not needed. We must know that He is needed in everything. I wouldn't have it any other way. I needs Him always! And I say AMEN to that!

By-the-way, I'm reading Proverbs this month again, and today being the 21st, means I read the 21st chapter today.

 

[SWIll]

Pr 32:9
It is better to live in a corner of the house top than in a house shared with a quarrelsome wife. ESV
The study notes in my Bible say: 'The wise husband will reflect on what aspects of his behavior have led his wife to become quarrelsome'.
Sounds like life.......

 

[brinny]

Pr 32:9
It is better to live in a corner of the house top than in a house shared with a quarrelsome wife. ESV
The study notes in my Bible say: 'The wise husband will reflect on what aspects of his behavior have led his wife to become quarrelsome'.
Sounds like life.......

I agree.

Amen.

 

[JackRT]

Pr 32:9
It is better to live in a corner of the house top than in a house shared with a quarrelsome wife. ESV
The study notes in my Bible say: 'The wise husband will reflect on what aspects of his behavior have led his wife to become quarrelsome'.
Sounds like life.......

This proverb sounds very much like an epigram of Jesus in that it has a comic twist that makes it memorable. Jesus used comedy quite a bit but you need to understand the culture to get it.

 

[SWIll]

Pr 22:2
"All a man's ways seem right to him, but the Lord evaluates the motives." HCSB

Amen

 

[brinny]

Pr 22:2
"All a man's ways seem right to him, but the Lord evaluates the motives." HCSB

Amen

i agree. Amen.

 

[brinny]

Proverbs 21:

The Final Word is God's.

God controls the hearts of those in authority. He can influence their decisions and thinking, even if they have a propensity to disregard God AND His sovereignty.

That is why we are to pray for our leaders here, and not just our leaders, but all of the leaders the world over.

And that is why we can be THANKFUL that it is GOD Who DOES have the final Word in the end, no matter what man's plans are.

 

[BaptistBibleBeliever]

"Every way of a man is right in his own eyes: but the LORD pondereth the hearts" (Pro 21:2 KJV).

The Bible is written to God's people. The message of the Book is primarily directed to the believer, but from time-to-time, God points to the unbeliever and says, "This is for you." Verse 2 seems to be one of those verses, though it can certainly also be applied to a disobedient believer, whether Old Testament saint or New Testament Blood-washed believer.

Ask almost any man about himself, and he will tell you that he is a decent fellow. Often when asked if they know they are going to heaven they will answer, "Of course!" When pushed for the reason they are sure, they respond with, "Well, I'm a good person. I go to church, I donate to charity, I follow the golden rule in my life." The basis of their belief is that being good is the only requirement for gaining God's presence.

This verse takes that man's belief and shreds it to pieces. He thinks he is good in his own eyes, because he has only himself to compare with. God's Word sets up Jesus Christ as the One to Whom we are to judge our own life against, and when we do that we must admit that we fall far, far short of His perfection. The Lord ponders our heart . . . He can see it just as it is, and He can see us just as we are. The truth is, though, that even a man knows his own heart and knows that if the truth were known--he would be ashamed of what folks would see.

The Old Testament, in many ways, can only reveal the justice and judgment of God. God gave us the whole Bible to find His grace and love as well. God's greatest expression of love is found at a hill that looked very much like a human skull where Jesus Christ died a cruel death to exchange the vileness of our own heart for the beauty of a new creature in Him.

Come to the cross, and let God give you a new heart! Come, just as you are, without one plea, but that Jesus died for thee.

"A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh" (Eze 36:26 KJV).

Lord, let us love the lost in the same way that you loved us. Amen.

 

[brinny]

Amen. praying in agreement.

We have much to be thankful for. The God of the universe LOVES us. No, we didn't/don't deserve it. Even back in the Garden of Eden, before the fall, God had ALREADY had a Provision for Adam and Eve, for He knew who was ALSO in the Garden. It was that ol' serpent himself. He KNEW the serpent would be tryin' to tempt them, cuz he's the original tempter. He had no tempter himself. He's the "originator" of sin. God also knew that he had it in for Adam and Eve.

This Provision was established even before the foundation of the world. Who did this serpent think he was messin' with? God knew him through and through. He also knew this serpents "blind spots". After all, this serpent was "created" by God. And this serpents "blind spot" was that God HIMSELF would be the Provision, through His only begotten Son.

Satan was to face God Himself, and HIS "sinlessness", which would eventually be in the form of His only begotten Son, on a cross, His blood shedding and His very death condemning and conquering and defeating Satan.

The other "achilles heel" and/or "blind spot" of Satan is that he is "short-sighted", in that he, perhaps convinced that he had defeated God via His only begotten Son on the cross, just witnessed his "own" death sentence, so to speak.

And yet he spews all the more at God. And he attacks us, Who God loves all the more.

Blind as a bat.

I'm soooooo thankful for this verse you posted, that we are not "sentenced to death", and that God can and did "open our eyes, our ears, and our hearts to His grace, and that we can and did grab hold of it, and that it is extended still, to those whose spiritual eyes are blind and whose spiritual ears are stopped up, and yes, we pray for those still in darkness, as we once were.

This song comes to mind. Thank you for the reminder and such rich spiritual Truth regarding our gracious God, Who has, from the beginning, sought us out, even as He did with Adam in the Garden after Adam sinned.

"A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh" (Eze 36:26 KJV).

Precious.

This song comes to mind from the prayer that you posted:

 

[brinny]

Proverbs 21:

This verse stood out for me:

 

[brinny]

Proverbs 21:

A "Right" Heart.

We can do this, that, and the other "for God", saying it's "for the Lord", but if our heart is not "right" before Him, it is likened to Cain bringing his abominations and pride before God in the form of the antithesis to what God commanded be brought before Him. Cain, in essence, was "showing off" what he was soooo very "proud" of. THIS is the very abomination of the heart that God is nauseated and insulted by. And that is the condition of a "proud" heart combined with a complete disregard for God and what God commanded.