January 25, 2022
Please use the comment section on this page to share insights from today’s reading OR your own personal Bible reading.
Reading along with us in some selections from Psalms and Proverbs? Here’s today’s reading:
Proverbs 24 (NIV)
Saying 20
1 Do not envy the wicked,
do not desire their company;
2 for their hearts plot violence,
and their lips talk about making trouble.
Saying 21
3 By wisdom a house is built,
and through understanding it is established;
4 through knowledge its rooms are filled
15 Do not lurk like a thief near the house of the righteous,
do not plunder their dwelling place;
16 for though the righteous fall seven times, they rise again,
but the wicked stumble when calamity strikes.
17 Do not gloat when your enemy falls;
when they stumble, do not let your heart rejoice,
18 or the Lord will see and disapprove
and turn his wrath away from them.
-Proverbs 24:15-18
These go so well together in how we should act when we and others stumble. We can be confident knowing that even when we fall, God gives us the strength to rise again; when the wicked stumble, they have no such strength. But when that happens, though they are our enemies, we should not gloat or find joy in that stumbling. Always react in love.
I am struck by the part about envying the wicked. Sometimes, I find myself thinking how freeing it must be to not have to follow Biblical standards in all aspects of life. But I also recognize that this thought is a deception. On the contrary, to be guided by a set of rules is actually freeing.
What a great companion Proverb to Psalm 52 and 53. There are clear benefits to living our lives according to God’s ways and clearly harmful things that come from wickedness, but it doesn’t always seem that way. Psalms and Proverbs like these enlighten us to the reality of what is going on and reenforce what is true and then guide us in the people we should be. Don’t any the wicked, because we have something far better. Don’t gloat when your enemy falls, because then God will have to deal with you rather than dealing with them. And we should work for righteousness and justice in all situations, not just ones that are easy or convenient. So we can work in the world to make it better, but recognize our ultimate hope is in the world to come. Unbelievers don’t have that, and that should fill us with compassion.
Proverbs 24
Proverbs is always such a common sense wake up call to the importance of wisdom and following God’s path for our lives. It is easy in our earthly mind to be happy when you see your enemy stumble or to get caught up in evil ways but we must focus on God’s truth and not this world’s truth and the benefits will be evident