December 2, 2008

Today's Reading - Proverbs 2
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Following Scripture Verses

1. My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee;
2. So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding;
3. Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding;
4. If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures;
5. Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God.
6. For the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.
7. He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous: he is a buckler to them that walk uprightly.
8. He keepeth the paths of judgment, and preserveth the way of his saints.
9. Then shalt thou understand righteousness, and judgment, and equity; yea, every good path.
10. When wisdom entereth into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul;
11. Discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee:
12. To deliver thee from the way of the evil man, from the man that speaketh froward things;
13. Who leave the paths of uprightness, to walk in the ways of darkness;
14. Who rejoice to do evil, and delight in the frowardness of the wicked;
15. Whose ways are crooked, and they froward in their paths:
16. To deliver thee from the strange woman, even from the stranger which flattereth with her words;
17. Which forsaketh the guide of her youth, and forgetteth the covenant of her God.
18. For her house inclineth unto death, and her paths unto the dead.
19. None that go unto her return again, neither take they hold of the paths of life.
20. That thou mayest walk in the way of good men, and keep the paths of the righteous.
21. For the upright shall dwell in the land, and the perfect shall remain in it.
22. But the wicked shall be cut off from the earth, and the transgressors shall be rooted out of it.

Today's Pathway:
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"He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous: [he is] a buckler to them that walk uprightly. He keepeth the paths of judgment, and preserveth the way of his saints." - Proverbs 2:07

In these verses we see several promises that are made to the righteous man. First of all God promises that He will lay up wisdom for this man. The expression "lay up" implies that God is going to prepare wisdom for the righteous before he actually needs it. When one lays something up, he is doing it in anticipation of a future event. Thus the Lord is already preparing to meet the needs of the just man long before the man realizes that he has the need. Note that the wisdom that He is preparing is sound. If the righteous man will simply ask for the Lord's wisdom and then follow it, he will make the correct decisions.

Second, we see that God promises to be a buckler. This term refers to a shield. Not only will the Lord give wisdom to the righteous man, but He also promises to defend him against the attacks of the enemy. The fact that we make a wise decision does not guarantee that the Devil will not come after us. In fact, he is more likely to do so when we are following the Lord than he is when we are in disobedience. On our own we do not have the strength to overcome Satan, but we can do so through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Finally Solomon writes that God will preserve the path of the man who is focused on Him. He will keep us on the right road and will see to it that the way leads us to where we ought to be. Sometimes we wonder whether the path of life that we are walking on is going to get us to the place where the Lord wants us. He promises in this passage that if we will make right choices and follow Him in an upright fashion, then He will see to it that the path is safe and secure.

Wisdom, protection, and direction are all promised to the righteous man. Can you claim these promises today?

Pastor Mark J Montgomery