Watching Daily At Wisdom's Gates

   I say to the LORD, “You are my Lord;     I have no good apart from you.” Psalm 16:2 ESV David could have counted his blessings and assumed that he had good apart from God. He had the kingdom of Israel at his fingertips. He was the commander in chief of Israel, a mighty warrior. He had wives and children in that polygamous society. One might have assumed that David didn't need God. He had everything he could wish for humanly speaking. Yet he never forgot where God had taken him from. David had been a humble shepherd boy when the Lord had him anointed as the next king of Israel. He knew that every good thing he enjoyed was ultimately a gift of God. He also knew that the Lord was his Shepherd: not just the inanimate Source of all goodness, but his good, good Father God in heaven. What of us? Are we so preoccupied with God's gifts that we're ungrateful for Himself? God forbid that we would be so blind to the reason we have anything to be thankful for at all. 'LORD, Yo...

Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. Matthew 18:19 ESV Taken in isolation, this verse seems like a blank cheque. If we were to agree that we'd win the lottery, surely we would according to the Lord Jesus? That's to twist Scripture and to rip it from its context. In the context, Jesus is talking about how sin is dealt with amongst God's people. It's not to be swept under the carpet. Neither is the blatant sinner to be executed! Thankfully, the aim of this passage of Scripture is restoration. God doesn't want His professing people condemned for eternity. He wants us to be restored to fellowship with the rest of His people. So if sin is confronted in a godly way, and restoration is agreed upon, then there is hope for such reconciliation. If the sinner repents and the wronged party forgives, there's opportunity to a healed relationship. That is the perfect will of God. 'Heavenl...

   Let peoples serve you,     and nations bow down to you.   Be lord over your brothers,     and may your mother’s sons bow down to you.   Cursed be everyone who curses you,     and blessed be everyone who blesses you!” Genesis 27:29 ESV I'm reminded of Solomon's proverb that death and life are in the power of the tongue. Of course, we can't absolutise this proverb. If I curse you undeservedly, it will be like water off a duck's back. Likewise if I bless you when you've done nothing to deserve it. Isaac inadvertently blessed Jacob, even though he meant to bless his elder son Esau. Yet even though it was a case of mistaken identity, the blessing still stood. Even though Jacob weaselled the blessing out of his dad, it was still valid. This incident just goes to show how powerful our words are. Of course, there is a limit to what we say. If I condemn someone to death, my words have no weight. If the American legal system for example condemn...

Abraham took another wife, whose name was Keturah.  Genesis 25:1 ESV He shouldn't have bothered! He had a right to remarry because Sarah had died. Yet one of Abraham's children with Keturah was Midian. The Midianites would become a thorn in the side of the children of Israel. There's nothing in the Bible to forbid remarriage after widowhood, but it's best if we don't bother. I suspect Abraham should have been content with his lot. Just because we have a right to do something doesn't mean to say it is right. We may have a right to divorce, but separation is preferable. When we marry, we become one flesh with our partner. To tear apart a marriage in divorce is a last resort. Jesus permits it in cases of adultery or even sexual immorality (Greek porneia - from which we get our word 'pornography'). Yet in an ideal world, the guilty party will repent, change and be reconciled to the wronged and hopefully forgiving partner. 'God Almighty, we thank You for ...

  if the foundations are destroyed,     what can the righteous do? Psalm 11:3 ESV The ESV offers an alternative translation, 'for the foundations will be destroyed; what has the righteous done?' The sense is similar. There's a sense of helplessness. There's a sense of inevitability in this verse. I think I prefer the alternative translation (although I'm no Hebrew or Greek scholar) because the main translation comes across as too fatalistic. The alternative suggests that if we're righteous we should be edifying to society, and not deconstructive. Deconstructionism is popular nowadays, and there is a place for it. There's a need to demolish wrong ideas. Yet deconstructionism alone isn't enough: alone, it leaves us in the rubble. We need an alternative vision to what society tries to sell us. We need God to make us righteous, through faith in Christ crucified. Though we're naturally in the rubble of our own making, God can help us to 'build back be...

Arise, O LORD; O God, lift up your hand;     forget not the afflicted. Psalm 10:12 ESV Sometimes, it might feel like God is reclining. Sometimes, we may want God to get up and to do something on our behalf. If we know the God of the Bible, we know that He cares for the afflicted, so we can hold Him to it. 'God helps those who help themselves' isn't necessarily Biblical. This verse for example suggests that 'God helps those who are helpless'. The afflicted are powerless to help themselves, but if God lifts up His hand, He can help them. The Bible emphasises that God is on the side of the marginalised and needy. Widows and single mothers have an Advocate in Him. Orphans and looked after children are looked out for by Him; and immigrants have Him on side. If we're afflicted, we should cry to God to be merciful to us. We can ask Him to arise and to lift up His hand. We can plead with Him to remember us in His graciousness. 'O LORD our God, please arise and lift ...

Far be it from you to do such a thing, to put the righteous to death with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked! Far be that from you! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?” Genesis 18:25 ESV I love Abraham's importunity with the Judge of all the earth. He was privileged to have an audience with His Master and Maker. He didn't pass up the opportunity to plead to his Lord for his nephew Lot. Sadly, Abraham was optimistic about the impact Lot had made in evil Sodom. Lot's impact had been minimal. Even his wife and daughters don't come across as righteous. If the Apostle Peter didn't tell us that Lot was righteous, we could be forgiven for assuming that he wasn't. Yet we're told that Lot was tormented in his righteous soul at the wickedness of Sodom. Sadly, his anguish wasn't enough to prompt him to speak out and to have a positive impact on that doomed city. When Jesus returns, this world will suffer the same fate as Sodom. T...

And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:7 (NIV) Peace is unnatural. Anxiety is our default, considering all the conflict and turmoil in the world today. Yet God can give us serenity in the face of all the difficulties that life throws at us.  God's peace transcends all understanding. It is counter-intuitive. Yet if He's looking after us, we'll be alright. Life is full of strife. We need God to guard our hearts and our minds. He does so by His Son, Christ Jesus. The Lord Jesus is our peace. By His sacrifice on our behalf we can be at peace with God. We can surrender from our rebellion against Him. 'God of peace, please give us serenity in the face of all the troubles we face in life. Please help us to trust in Jesus, in whose name we pray, amen'.

And he did not do many mighty works there, because of their unbelief.  Matthew 13:58 ESV At first glance, this makes Jesus seem like He isn't mighty. If He can't do mighty works because of His townsfolks' unbelief, that doesn't seem impressive. Yet I suspect that's a misreading of this verse. We already know from Matthew's account of Jesus's life that He was able to do mighty works elsewhere. Yet Jesus isn't some magician who performs 'miracles' to satisfy people's curiosity. Jesus didn't owe it to the Nazarenes to do mighty works for them. He refused to 'throw His pearls before swine'. The Apostle John describes Jesus's mighty works as 'signs'. He didn't just do them for the sake of the people who needed healing. He did them to point to His own Divinity. As Jesus said in an indictment against His townsfolk, 'A Prophet is not without honour, except in His hometown'. We have a similar saying in English: ...

 Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. Matthew 10:34 ESV This is a provocative statement by Jesus. Wasn't He meant to bring peace on earth, as Christmas cards proclaim? Yet here He is saying He came to bring conflict! The angels announced peace on earth 'to those on whom God's favour rests' at the birth of Christ. So Jesus didn't come to bring universal peace. If He had have done so, He clearly would have failed miserably. Jesus does bring peace to those on whom God's favour rests. Yet those favoured people are opposed by everyone else, who are hostile to the idea that they need to make their peace with the God who we are all naturally at enmity with. The enemies of Jesus's people become members of their own household, if they're not all united in faith in Him. The conflict Jesus refers to is, counterintuitively, most clear in religious households. Religious people don't like the idea ...