In the 21st chapter, there seems to be a couple of threads of thought. One deals with those who are a false witness, which Solomon has much to say about in Provers. The other, which I will share a couple of brief thoughts about, is the subject of worship. And more than that, hollow, meaningless, evil worship.
Today, we often define worship and a song service, but it is much more than that. The two verse I want to point out to you are:
Proverbs 21:3 To do justice and judgment is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice.
Proverbs 21:27 The sacrifice of the wicked is abomination: how much more, when he bringeth it with a wicked mind?
Now, is God against sacrifice? No. But God is against sacrifice when the sacrifice is true worship of Him. How many Christians, pastors included, just go through the motions every Sunday, every Wednesday, every day, and never have any heart in their actions? It is God's desire for our heart right with Him first and foremost. Why? Because God knows that if our heart is focused on Him, everything else will be "brought up to speed." We often define our spiritual temperature based on what we do and do not do. But as Solomon points out to us, God wants our heart to be in it. Is yours?
God wants us to worship him in spirit and in truth according to Jn4:24. We can have right doctrine till we're blue in the face and be dead as a doornail.
ReplyDeleteIn Ps9:1 David declares that he wants to praise God with his WHOLE heart. If God has saved a person, that alone gives a soul enough to shout about. God help us if the most exciting thing about church is the closing prayer.
This chapter defines wisdom - it is so full of advice...advice you can use every day. Don't nag your husband, or even if you house is huge, he would rather be without you in a tiny corner. Don't be miserly, or others will be miserly towards you in your need. Give a secret gift quietly to someone who is angry with you to help heal the relationship. There is so much good wisdom. The advice goes on and on. It is one of the reasons Proverbs can be read over and over every month of the year, and every month it still pertains exactly to situations you are going through - you can find yourself sayiong, "Yup, they are doing just what Proverbs says to do/not to do and Proverbs was right again." It's a great faith building book.
ReplyDeleteI truly believe every single verse in Proverbs is applicable to the New Testament believer today. All references to animal sacrifices are in a negative sense (ie. referring to the sacrifices of the wicked, for example); whereas if they were referring to keeping those sacrifices, then we would have to conclude that those sections were just intended for the Israelites, not for the church today.
ReplyDeleteOn that note, that is one of the reasons why I believe tithing is STILL intended for God's people today, because chapter three refers to its principle and its promise in a positive light.