Skip to main content

Ecclesiastes 5:4 - Did you know the God takes no pleasure in fools? Day 108

 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

2 Chronicles 33:7-9 Thoughts on Davidic covenant - Day 362

Good morning faithful readers, The finish line is in sight!!!  One of the themes of scripture is that God is a covenant keeping God.  There are many between God and man. Adam, Noah, David are examples.  Covenants are more than promises.  They are made between a superior and inferior with conditions for each side and blessing and penalties based on keeping the conditions.  These are covenants of works which fallen man was unable to keep.  Thanks be to God that the Father made a covenant of grace with Christ, the second Adam, which he fully kept. Blessings, Jeff The promise in v8 was made to David when he had planned to build the temple and God promised to build him a house forever. (2 Sam 7:10).  Seems like there are only two possibilities about Manasseh's disobedience.  Either he knew of this covenant that God had made with his 13th great grandfather and chose to disregard it, or he didn't know of it and was unaware of the penalty.  Let's con...
Post a Comment
Read more

2 Chronicles 30:16-20 Hearts set to seek the Lord - Day 359

Good morning fellow members of the household of God, After writing the devotional, I am thinking about the Passover as a household event.  In ancient Israel, the physical household of man was covered by the blood of the lamb.  Now, it is the spiritual household of God that is covered by the blood of the Lamb. Blessings, Jeff The account of the greatest celebration of Passover since time of Solomon (v 26).   Observations: One of the things that made this one great is participation of some of the tribes from the northern kingdom.  Israel was a united kingdom and Solomon and now toward the end of the northern kingdom, there is at least a semblance of being united. God allows some exemptions: Who offers the sacrifice:  The original Passover was a family by family sacrifice of a lamb.  However in  Deuteronomy 16:5-6 this changed to a centralized location once they entered the promised land.  (You may not offer the Passover sacrifice within any of ...
Post a Comment
Read more

2 Chronicles 35:23-26 Lament for the last good king - Day 364

Good morning fellow exiles and pilgrims, One more day of devotions.  We are indeed exiles and pilgrims in this world as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen.  The 20th anniversary of 9/11 attacks can serve as a reminder that this world is not our home. Blessings, Jeff The lamentations for Josiah written by Jeremiah.  However, the book of Lamentations does not include any reference to Josiah as they are focused on the fall of Jerusalem.  While these lost lamentations were "made the rule" there are only 4 more kings and none of them were good like Josiah and none died in Jerusalem.  The phrase "to this day" generally refers to the time of the author (post exile).  Taken together, it may be that these laments were for the last good king and during the exile the people were longing for the next good king. Zerubbabel in a way was the next good king as temple and Jerusalem were rebuilt. But Jesus truly was the next king and He...
Post a Comment
Read more