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Tag: wisdom

  • Banquet of the King in the House of Wisdom – 2

    Banquet of the King in the House of Wisdom – 2

    “Lord, Lord”

    You are about to sit in the presence of the King. Yet with the hearing of the wisdom of the King comes responsibility.

    “But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say?’ – Luke 6:46

    LUKE 6:49

    “But he who heard and did nothing is like a man who built a house on the earth without a foundation, against which the stream beat vehemently; and immediately it fell. And the ruin of that house was great.”

    Can you sit before the King and heed His words of wisdom?

    The Way of Wisdom

    Proverbs 9:HRH Queen Elizabeth

    Wisdom has built her house,
    She has hewn out her seven pillars…

    She has also furnished her table.

    6 Forsake foolishness and live,
    And go in the way of understanding.

    7 “He who corrects a scoffer gets shame for himself,
    And he who rebukes a wicked man only harms himself.
    8 Do not correct a scoffer, lest he hate you;
    Rebuke a wise man, and he will love you.
    9 Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be still wiser;
    Teach a just man, and he will increase in learning.

    10 “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,
    And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.

    Account for your actions

    Do you answer the tweets of a fool? Would you correct this scoffer?

    Does the world recognize a wicked one without you answering a fool?

    Contentious words provoke angry response,

    While silence speaks softly to those who hear.

    A fool speaks loudly and carries no stick.

    The wise one withholds comment from deaf ears..

    What basis have you to judge another? Are you so infallible or have you never transgressed righteousness?

    Learn from the Lord and ask forgiveness for your errors. Fear the LORD! Then you will begin to have wisdom.

    Wisdom of the King

    Earthly kings and leaders have appointed times, yet often they fail. Even Solomon forgot wisdom in his later days. The king’s banquet may become an event of singular honor or delectable cuisine, but wise words nourish the guest of the king’s table.

    Hear just a few morsels of wisdom from King Solomon. My reflections follow, as I invite your consideration.

    Savor wisdom’s words on the pallet of your understanding.

    Feast upon wisdom’s flavor before digesting a proverb as common fast-food.

    Proverbs 10:

    6 Blessings are on the head of the righteous,
    But violence covers the mouth of the wicked.

    I am a sinful man; therefore I will keep silence before the King.

    I recall the actions of so many wicked men and wayward women. We abhor their violence, yet the Lord will judge.

    9 He who walks with integrity walks securely,
    But he who perverts his ways will become known.

    he stores up sound wisdom for the upright;
    he is a shield to those who walk in integrity – Proverbs 2:7

    Integrity – completeness, fullness, innocence, simplicity.

    Acting in the Lord’s will, considering my imminent action as simply evil or good. Choosing good before exercising evil in thought, word or misdeed.

    And perversion? We have forgotten it’s meaning in an onslaught of common evil. Perversion twists the truth of righteousness with corruption of the pure and defiance against God. Consider the lives of an evil one:

    The way of peace they do not know,
    and there is no justice in their paths;
    they have made their roads crooked;
    no one who treads on them knows peace. – Isaiah 59:8

    Better is a poor person who walks in his integrity
    than one who is crooked in speech and is a fool. – Proverbs 19:1

    12 Hatred stirs up strife,
    But love covers all sins.

    How we continually hear the news of the world; taunting words of hatred from the lips of arrogant men and unbound women.

    Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. – 1 Peter 4:8

    More than everything, soft words of love and the mirror of time will turn harsh words of hatred into regret.

    More wisdom from Proverbs 10:

    14 Wise people store up knowledge,

    But the mouth of the foolish is near destruction.

    17 He who keeps instruction is in the way of life,
    But he who refuses correction goes astray.

    18 Whoever hides hatred has lying lips,
    And whoever spreads slander is a fool.

    19 In the multitude of words sin is not lacking,
    But he who restrains his lips is wise.

    20 The tongue of the righteous is choice silver;
    The heart of the wicked is worth little.
    21 The lips of the righteous feed many,
    But fools die for lack of wisdom.

    The fear of the LORD is instruction in wisdom,
    and humility comes before honor. – Proverbs 15:33

    Don’t think of Proverbs as only a few pithy sayings by Solomon and other ancient Kings.

    Think of Proverbs as personal advice from the King of kings; then consider your own words and actions.

    Will you be invited to the banquet of the King?

    To be continued…

  • Banquet of the King in the House of Wisdom

    Banquet of the King in the House of Wisdom

    The House of Wisdom

    Does not wisdom cry out,
    And understanding lift up her voice?

    Proverbs 8: NKJV

    6 Listen, for I will speak of excellent things,
    And from the opening of my lips will come right things;
    7 For my mouth will speak truth;
    Wickedness is an abomination to my lips.

    8 All the words of my mouth are with righteousness;
    Nothing crooked or perverse is in them.
    9 They are all plain to him who understands,
    And right to those who find knowledge.

    Ah, wisdom, such a rare jewel among riches, a hidden treasure in the palaces of kings.

    Does a son of man in this 21st century even consider her value before proclaiming foolishness?

    O, that a humble King could be found, a son of man with whom wisdom occupies a seat of honor at his banquet.

    15 By me kings reign,
    And rulers decree justice.
    16 By me princes rule, and nobles,
    All the judges of the earth.
    17 I love those who love me,
    And those who seek me diligently will find me.

    Wisdom. A wise ruler surveys the land, chooses the high ground and builds upon a foundation of the Lord’s righteousness. Though cunning may sweep an evil one into a palace on shifting sand, no monument outlasts the wisdom of the Lord.

    In the Beginning

     

    22 “The Lord possessed me at the beginning of His way,
    Before His works of old.
    23 I have been established from everlasting,
    From the beginning, before there was ever an earth.
    24 When there were no depths I was brought forth,
    When there were no fountains abounding with water.
    25 Before the mountains were settled,
    Before the hills, I was brought forth;
    26 While as yet He had not made the earth or the fields,
    Or the primal dust of the world.
    27 When He prepared the heavens, I was there,
    When He drew a circle on the face of the deep,
    28 When He established the clouds above,
    When He strengthened the fountains of the deep,
    29 When He assigned to the sea its limit,
    So that the waters would not transgress His command,
    When He marked out the foundations of the earth,
    30 Then I was beside Him as a master craftsman;
    And I was daily His delight,
    Rejoicing always before Him,
    31 Rejoicing in His inhabited world,
    And my delight was with the sons of men.

    John 1:

    In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.

    10 He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.

    Proverbs 8:

    33 Hear instruction and be wise,
    And do not disdain it…

    35 For whoever finds me finds life,
    And obtains favor from the Lord;
    36 But he who sins against me wrongs his own soul;
    All those who hate me love death.”

    Do you seek the house of wisdom and will you hear her voice?

    What word of wisdom would you with ears to hear obey?

    To be continued…

     

  • A Word to the Cunning

    A Word to the Wise

    We would typically think of the Proverbs of Solomon, or perhaps anyone else as being a ‘word to the wise.’ Although my introductory focus looks to the early thoughtful expressions of this oft’ quoted book, I direct your attention to those leaders of this day who seemingly ignore these time-tested nuggets of wisdom, candidates of cunning, men and women of questionable wisdom and little affinity for the guidance of God.

    Solomon was handed everything a leader could ask for from God or his own father, the conquering King David of Israel in this case. Solomon’s wisdom was sought out by other leaders during his reign in about 970–931 BC. We read his Proverbs and ought to heed his advice of Ecclesiastes written in his old age near to the time when Israel fell into division and ruin after the time of his death.

    Proverbs 1:

    The proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel:

    2 To know wisdom and instruction,
        to understand words of insight,
    3 to receive instruction in wise dealing…

    A word to the wise:

    Note the description of words lacking in this 21st c. AD environment of political upheaval and note that Solomon’s own country would experience a division of purpose led by those who repeatedly would do ‘what is evil in the sight of the LORD.’

    …   in righteousness, justice, and equity;
    4 to give prudence to the simple…

    Wisdom eludes the unrighteous, prudence is hidden from the cunning.

    Roger Harned

    Justice and equity become perverted in the eyes of evildoers.

    Roger Harned

    Let the reader understand the proverbs of my own understanding, as instructed in the Lord from the wisdom of the Bible. Although Solomon’s Proverbs are directed toward “.. knowledge and discretion to the youth—” understanding is reward to those seeking the Lord’s will at any age.

    5 Let the wise hear and increase in learning,
        and the one who understands obtain guidance,
    6 to understand a proverb and a saying,
        the words of the wise and their riddles.

    7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge;
    fools despise wisdom and instruction.

    Proverbs 1 – excerpts

    22 “How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple?
    How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing
        and fools hate knowledge?

    24 Because I have called and you refused to listen,
        have stretched out my hand and no one has heeded,
    25 because you have ignored all my counsel
        and would have none of my reproof,
    26 I also will laugh at your calamity;
        I will mock when terror strikes you,
    27 when terror strikes you like a storm
        and your calamity comes like a whirlwind,
        when distress and anguish come upon you.
    28 Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer;
        they will seek me diligently but will not find me.
    29 Because they hated knowledge
        and did not choose the fear of the Lord,
    30 would have none of my counsel
        and despised all my reproof…

    Where is God?

    The fools ask too late; for we did not listen to the wisdom of the LORD when we walked in our own paths. We did not lead the people to worship the Lord with gratitude for our freedom nor did we acknowledge our blessings. We turned from the Lord and from righteousness, led astray by cunning leaders. Fools have followed fools and ignored the wisdom of the godly.

    When calamity falls upon us and we finally ask God ‘Why did this happen?’ will the silence of the Lord not be appropriate to a people with ears that will not hear the wisdom of the Lord?

    Are you open to receiving the wisdom of the Lord or do you rely on your own cunning?

    To be continued…