Watching Daily At Wisdom's Gates

  You led your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron. Psalm 77:20 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/psa.77.20.ESV The Lord as our Shepherd might be a familiar image, but it's still a humbling one. If the Lord is our Shepherd, we are His sheep. Sheep are smelly, silly, and often downright stupid. The Lord as our Shepherd is humbling for Him too. Shepherding is a smelly, and potentially dangerous job, when sheep need to be protected from predators like wolves, lions and bears. Thankfully, nothing and no one is a match for our Good Shepherd. Note too that God isn't too proud or precious to have mere mortals to help shepherd His heavenly flock. Moses and Aaron were commissioned to help lead God's people out of slavery to the promised land. With His help they succeeded. The ultimately Good Shepherd is the Lord Jesus Christ, who laid down His life for His sheep. His sheep hear His voice and follow Him. He delivers us from slavery to sin to the promised new creatio...

  And the Lord was angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice 1 Kings 11:9 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/1ki.11.9.ESV We can't bank on spiritual experiences to keep us going when the going gets tough. Solomon had the privilege of meeting God twice, yet his heart still turned away from the Lord. Understandably, this angered God. The first time God appeared to Solomon, He gave him a blank cheque of whatever he would like. Solomon asked for wisdom for his reign. Although God happily granted his request, maybe he should have asked for wisdom for his life in general. Solomon did generally reign wisely. Yet his personal life was awful. His many pagan wives led his heart away from the one true God. The second time God appeared to Solomon was after he built God's temple. Whilst Solomon built God an impressive building, he couldn't build faith within his family. He did much damage in the long run. He b...

  then hear in heaven your dwelling place and forgive and act and render to each whose heart you know, according to all his ways (for you, you only, know the hearts of all the children of mankind), 1 Kings 8:39 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/1ki.8.39.ESV In the context, Solomon is referring to prayers to God to get rid of plague. Innumerable prayers have gone to God to get rid of coronavirus. Whilst it's still around, thankfully we seem to be over the worst of it. God allows things like pandemics as a judgement on rebellious mankind. That's why Solomon asks God to be merciful and just in His dealings with us. God knows our hearts- whether we only pray when we're in trouble; or whether we have a genuine relationship with Him. Solomon might have built God a glorious temple, but it was all downhill from here. His many pagan wives led his heart astray from a pure, undivided devotion to God. Still, I take Ecclesiastes to be his repentant swansong as it were. We would do we...

  And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed. Acts 13:48 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/act.13.48.ESV Christianity was born out of Judaism. Yet Christ isn't only the Jewish Messiah. He's the Saviour of the world. This truth is cause for great rejoicing for Gentiles like me. The good news isn't exclusive to Jesus's ethnic group. Instead it is for all who are appointed for eternal life; who believe in Christ. The word of the Lord isn't just the Jewish Scriptures (the Old Testament). It's also the New Testament: mostly scribed by Jews, but full of hope for Gentiles too. Salvation isn't primarily dependant upon us believing, although of course that is part of the picture. We ultimately get saved if we're appointed by God for salvation. We believe only because God first chose us. 'O Lord our God, we're grateful that Gentiles like us can be ap...

  and by him everyone who believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses. Acts 13:39 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/act.13.39.ESV In the words of John Bunyan, the writer of Pilgrim's Progress, the law tells us 'walk' and gives no legs; the gospel tells us 'fly' and gives us wings. We're spiritually paralysed at best. The law is good, but we are not, and therein lies the problem. The law tells us what we should do, but are powerless to do. The gospel raises the bar even higher. We aren't just to love our neighbours, but to do so as Christ loved us and gave Himself for us. Loving God and loving others is good of course. But we fail all the time. The law is powerless to free us from our sinful failure. Thankfully, Jesus sets us free from the condemnation the law demands. He lived the life we failed to do; and died the death we deserve. So in Him we are free to live for His glory. 'Loving Father God, may we liv...

 But the word of God increased and multiplied. Acts 12:24 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/act.12.24.ESV Whilst the tyrants of the world strut across life's stage, God's word quietly marches on. The lamp of the wicked is quickly snuffed out. Yet the light of the world has shone brightly for two thousand years and counting. Herod was full of arrogance and hubris. When a flattering crowd said he had the voice of a god, he refused to give God the glory. So God struck him down dead. But the word of God increased and multiplied. It doesn't often make headlines, but it continues to do so to this day. The church may seem at a low ebb in the West, but it's marching on in much of the rest of the world, in the midst of much persecution. If we're not part of God's word, not in on His eternal script, we need to ask Him to write us into the story. Only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life will endure forever. Otherwise we'll be snuffed out into utte...

  It pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this. 1 Kings 3:10 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/1ki.3.10.ESV If God gave you a blank cheque, what would you write on it? Riches? A long life? Victory over your enemies? Or wisdom? Solomon chose the latter. Some people have speculated that Solomon asked wrongly for wisdom, especially seeing as he went off the spiritual rails in his old age. Yet this verse flatly contradicts that claim. We're clearly told that God was glad Solomon asked for wisdom. God granted Solomon's request for wisdom. Not only so! He also granted riches, a long life, and victory over his enemies. If we were to quibble with Solomon, maybe we would see that he wanted wisdom to rule well as king of Israel, when what he also needed was to be able to rule over his heart and household. His appetite for pagan women would lead his heart astray from the Lord. He would end up full of regret. 'Lord God, please grant us wisdom not just for our work, but for our l...

  As for the word that he sent to Israel, preaching good news of peace through Jesus Christ (he is Lord of all), Acts 10:36 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/act.10.36.ESV Jesus ministered in Roman Palestine, a pretty small geographic area. Yet His impact is global. He might have been sent only to the lost sheep of Israel, but He sent His followers out to the world. Jesus isn't simply the Jewish Messiah; He's the Saviour of the world. He came to save His people from their sins. His people are from any ethnic group who would put their faith in Him. Christ came to bring peace on earth to those on whom God's favour rests. God's favour doesn't just rest on Jewish believers, but Gentiles too. The division in humanity isn't ethnic but spiritual- depending on what we make of Christ. Christ is Lord of all. Whether we acknowledge Him now or not, every knee will bow and every tongue confess that He is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Best to worship Him now, befor...

  I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies. 2 Samuel 22:4 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/2sa.22.4.ESV David might have self inflicted some of his problems, but God always came through for him. His adultery and murder had horrific  consequences within his family, yet God delivered him time and again. Even when Absalom sought to usurp the throne, David was saved from him. I love the humility of David in this verse. He didn't brag that his enemies ended up dead, often by his hands. He attributed his success to God. We need to clarify that we won't necessarily overcome all our temporal enemies. Maybe we'll get martyred one day! Yet we still will overcome in eternity. In a spiritual sense, we very much do overcome our enemies. Sin and death, the devil and hell are all overcome by the blood of Jesus. We just have to believe in Him. 'O Lord, please help us to overcome our enemies, for Your sake, not our own. In Christ's name ...

  In the fear of the Lord one has strong confidence, and his children will have a refuge. Proverbs 14:26 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/pro.14.26.ESV Fear and confidence might seem like an oxymoron. Yet if we fear the Lord, we won't need to fear anything else. If the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, the love of God is the eternal end of wisdom. The fear of the Lord isn't the kind of fear that makes us run away. It's the kind of fear a child has to not want to disappoint their parent. It's not just the fear of punishment, but the fear of causing displeasure to a loved one. The proverbs are general truths. They're not cast iron promises. Sadly there's no guarantee that the biological children of believers will come to faith. If, like me, someone grows up in a Christian home, they'll likely have a secure upbringing, a refuge of a home from the storms of life. I think there's a spiritual application to this verse too. If we help to birth fa...