Skip to main content

Ecclesiastes 5:4 - Did you know the God takes no pleasure in fools?

Hello again,

Hope everyone was safe in the snowstorm last night.  And in digging out today.

Sometimes wisdom literature is a little hard to understand.  Then there are days like today when there is not doubt. As you will see, I found this passage to be very convicting.

Blessings,

Jeff

God has no pleasure in fools.  Let not your mouth lead you into sin.  

Two stark warnings.   As a Christian, I know that God is omnipresent and omniscient.  He hears every word I say and in fact before a word is on my tongue he knows it altogether (Ps 139:4)

Isn't it interesting that I ask God to "hear my prayer" or "listen to my plea" as if that is the only time he pays attention to what I say.  Would I  ask Him to not listen to what I am about to say against a brother?  It would appear that what I "know about God" does not impact how I live and in particular what I say.

How would my speech be different if I said these thing to myself before every conversation or prayer?  What if someone said this at the beginning of every meeting?  We open meetings in prayer all the time.  Based on this passage, I know that it his will that I not let my mouth lead me into sin.  This goes with "your will be done" and "deliver us from evil" 

Instruction - What God expects - God is the one I must fear/respect/honor/reverence in my speech.  Speaking to gain favor of audience can be an occasion for my mouth leading me into sin if what I am saying is offensive to God.  Or if I really can't or won't follow through on what I commit to.  I can live with people being angry with my voice (what I say).  I cannot live with God being angry at my voice.

Thanksgiving - Of course the only wise God takes no pleasure in fools.  Of course the God who spoke creation into being cares about what comes out of my mouth.  Logical conclusion yet You had Solomon state these truths for my correction and benefit.  Thanks be to God.

Confession - living with gap between belief and practice to the point that I don't recognize it as sin.  I know the right thing to do but fail to do it.  Therefore it is sin to me. James 4:17

Petition - Yield full obedience and submission with the whole man in the area of speech and not taking Your name in vain.  WSC Q54 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Revelation 22:3-5 Final and eternal restoration - Day 365

Dear saints in the Lord, Congratulations!  You made it.  We have been through much turmoil in the last year ('20-'21).  But God is faithful to His promises.  I trust that you have been blessed in your reading and have drawn closer to God.   Since we didn't get the blog up and running at the beginning of the challenge, I am going to go back and post entries to cover that first month or so.   Blessings, Jeff Nothing accursed in the city of God, the new Jerusalem.  The presence of sin will be gone.  I am working on memorizing Westminster Shorter Catechism and currently on question 82.  Is any man able perfectly to keep the commandments of God? No mere man since the fall is able in this life perfectly to keep the commandments of God but does daily break them in thought, word and deed. I think our passage today points to the truth of this question.  Do you notice how this answer is not exactly the same as the question. "Any man" bec...
Post a Comment
Read more

Malachi 2:10-12 Here we go again!! Day 363

Good afternoon friends, As we draw to the end of the Old Testament, we see that Judah has rebuilt the temple and the walls of Jerusalem, but they are following in the footsteps of faithless fathers and not in the footsteps of Abraham and ultimately God.  The exile was a low point, but now a new low is about to happen.  The prophetic voice has once again become warning and not encouraging. Faithful reading and preaching of the word is all that keeps us from losing our way.  May we be faithful in our generation. Blessings, Jeff I am sure I have mentioned this before, but it bears repeating.  The section summary, chapter and verse are not in the original language.  They are all rather modern inventions to help us.  For example, the section title here is "Judah profaned the Covenant".  That is OK as far as it goes, but which Covenant?  So let's take a look. Observations Starts with 3 questions but who is asking the questions and to whom are they addre...
Post a Comment
Read more

Romans 14:1-6 Not hindering the way of a brother Day 42

Good morning brothers and sisters, During sermon yesterday (originally written 10/12/20) I mentioned Martin Luther's approach to prayer in the letter to Master Peter.  I still have much to learn, but hope that we can learn and grow together. In the Beloved Jeff  Using Luther's "wreath of four strands" from  A Simple way to Pray  Instruction, thanksgiving, confession, petition.  Goal is a heart warmed and inclined to prayer. Instruction - textbook - what do these 4 verses teach me about what God expects of me? Not to pass judgment on one another any longer by deciding not to hinder the way of a brother.  Paul gives an example of food.  I think of "pass judgment" as a mental or verbal activity, but "not hindering" is a physical activity.  What I think or say about a brother or sister will show up in the way I treat them.  God is extremely interested in how we live with each other. Note of reminder - Faith and practice.  Paul develops theol...
Post a Comment
Read more