July 14, 2007

Psalms 4-6
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1. Hear, ye children, the instruction of a father, and attend to know understanding.
2. For I give you good doctrine, forsake ye not my law.
3. For I was my father's son, tender and only beloved in the sight of my mother.
4. He taught me also, and said unto me, Let thine heart retain my words: keep my commandments, and live.
5. Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth.
6. Forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee: love her, and she shall keep thee.
7. Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.
8. Exalt her, and she shall promote thee: she shall bring thee to honour, when thou dost embrace her.
9. She shall give to thine head an ornament of grace: a crown of glory shall she deliver to thee.
10. Hear, O my son, and receive my sayings; and the years of thy life shall be many.
11. I have taught thee in the way of wisdom; I have led thee in right paths.
12. When thou goest, thy steps shall not be straitened; and when thou runnest, thou shalt not stumble.
13. Take fast hold of instruction; let her not go: keep her; for she is thy life.
14. Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men.
15. Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away.
16. For they sleep not, except they have done mischief; and their sleep is taken away, unless they cause some to fall.
17. For they eat the bread of wickedness, and drink the wine of violence.
18. But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.
19. The way of the wicked is as darkness: they know not at what they stumble.
20. My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings.
21. Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart.
22. For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh.
23. Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.
24. Put away from thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee.
25. Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee.
26. Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established.
27. Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil.

1. My son, attend unto my wisdom, and bow thine ear to my understanding:
2. That thou mayest regard discretion, and that thy lips may keep knowledge.
3. For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil:
4. But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a twoedged sword.
5. Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell.
6. Lest thou shouldest ponder the path of life, her ways are moveable, that thou canst not know them.
7. Hear me now therefore, O ye children, and depart not from the words of my mouth.
8. Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her house:
9. Lest thou give thine honour unto others, and thy years unto the cruel:
10. Lest strangers be filled with thy wealth; and thy labours be in the house of a stranger;
11. And thou mourn at the last, when thy flesh and thy body are consumed,
12. And say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof;
13. And have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me!
14. I was almost in all evil in the midst of the congregation and assembly.
15. Drink waters out of thine own cistern, and running waters out of thine own well.
16. Let thy fountains be dispersed abroad, and rivers of waters in the streets.
17. Let them be only thine own, and not strangers' with thee.
18. Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth.
19. Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou ravished always with her love.
20. And why wilt thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman, and embrace the bosom of a stranger?
21. For the ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD, and he pondereth all his goings.
22. His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins.
23. He shall die without instruction; and in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray.

1. My son, if thou be surety for thy friend, if thou hast stricken thy hand with a stranger,
2. Thou art snared with the words of thy mouth, thou art taken with the words of thy mouth.
3. Do this now, my son, and deliver thyself, when thou art come into the hand of thy friend; go, humble thyself, and make sure thy friend.
4. Give not sleep to thine eyes, nor slumber to thine eyelids.
5. Deliver thyself as a roe from the hand of the hunter, and as a bird from the hand of the fowler.
6. Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise:
7. Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler,
8. Provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest.
9. How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? when wilt thou arise out of thy sleep?
10. Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep:
11. So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, and thy want as an armed man.
12. A naughty person, a wicked man, walketh with a froward mouth.
13. He winketh with his eyes, he speaketh with his feet, he teacheth with his fingers;
14. Frowardness is in his heart, he deviseth mischief continually; he soweth discord.
15. Therefore shall his calamity come suddenly; suddenly shall he be broken without remedy.
16. These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him:
17. A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,
18. An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief,
19. A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.
20. My son, keep thy father's commandment, and forsake not the law of thy mother:
21. Bind them continually upon thine heart, and tie them about thy neck.
22. When thou goest, it shall lead thee; when thou sleepest, it shall keep thee; and when thou awakest, it shall talk with thee.
23. For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life:
24. To keep thee from the evil woman, from the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman.
25. Lust not after her beauty in thine heart; neither let her take thee with her eyelids.
26. For by means of a whorish woman a man is brought to a piece of bread: and the adulteress will hunt for the precious life.
27. Can a man take fire in his bosom, and his clothes not be burned?
28. Can one go upon hot coals, and his feet not be burned?
29. So he that goeth in to his neighbour's wife; whosoever toucheth her shall not be innocent.
30. Men do not despise a thief, if he steal to satisfy his soul when he is hungry;
31. But if he be found, he shall restore sevenfold; he shall give all the substance of his house.
32. But whoso committeth adultery with a woman lacketh understanding: he that doeth it destroyeth his own soul.
33. A wound and dishonour shall he get; and his reproach shall not be wiped away.
34. For jealousy is the rage of a man: therefore he will not spare in the day of vengeance.
35. He will not regard any ransom; neither will he rest content, though thou givest many gifts.

Thought for the day:
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Chapter 4 opens with a discussion of the importance of Biblical wisdom. I fear that there are many Christians today who are truly born again, yet they have no real knowledge of what the Bible has to say, particularly in terms of making wise decisions. As a pastor I have watched people make foolish choices, and have watched them suffer the consequences for them. Solomon spells out to his son the importance of knowing the Word of God and then applying it correctly to the situations of life.

In both verses 5 and 7, Solomon instructs his son to "get wisdom". Apparently, wisdom is not something that people have naturally. It doesn't just "happen", it must diligently be sought. Wisdom and intelligence are not the same thing. There are people who have an innate intelligence, and there are people who are less gifted academically. This in-born ability is not what the author is speaking about. I have met many people who were scholastically smart, but lacked everyday wisdom. There are many people who are knowledgeable about technology that can't keep their family together. There are people who have great business savvy that ruin their lives with the vices of the world. The problem is that they have never pursued wisdom.

In verse 7 Solomon states that wisdom is the "principle thing". It is vitally important that we have an understanding of what God has said, and then make use of that knowledge in our daily lives. It is more important than academics. It is more important than preparation for a career. It is more important than developing a talent, and certainly more important than recreation and leisure. A wise man once said, "We spend our child's educational years teaching him how to make a living, and we neglect to teach him how to make a life." A man who is prepared to live will prepare himself for his future work, but a man who is prepared only for a career may not necessarily be prepared for living. In verse 7 Solomon says, "With all thy getting get understanding." In other words, devote your learning experience to comprehending the Word of God. Learn about Who God is: His attributes, His character, His desires. Learn how that knowledge applies to real life situations. Knowledge without application serves no purpose. There are many students who know how to add and subtract, but they can't balance their checkbooks. They can't do a story problem in their textbooks because it requires them to think through the information given, sift out that which is irrelevant, and then determine the correct mathematical procedure to reach the proper answer. In the same vein there are Christians who know that they need to love their spouses and children, but they don't know how to apply that fact to real life. They know that they shouldn't lie, but they still deceive people, cheat on their taxes, and fail to give their employer eight hours work for eight hours pay. They know that God expects holiness from them, but they live lives that are certainly displeasing to the Lord. We need to get the wisdom found in the Scriptures, and learn to use it in everyday life.

Solomon tells his son to be careful not to forget what he has been taught, nor to move away from the principles that he has learned (5). This is why we are taught in the Bible to memorize Scripture (Psalm 119:11), and meditate on it (Psalm 1:2). Memorization helps us to remember what we have learned, and meditation helps us to think about the relevancy of that information to our current situation. Solomon states that if wisdom is not abandoned, but is rather loved, that it will keep us in the relationship with the Lord that we should have and will protect us from making foolish choices (6). If we lift up wisdom in our lives it will lift up our lives and will help us to succeed (8-9).

In verse 13 Solomon writes,

"Take fast hold of instruction; let her not go: keep her; for she is thy life."

Pastor Mark J Montgomery