SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR
3/31/2013 7:53 AM
My Worship Time Focus: A Holy God
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Studies in
Proverbs
Message of the
verses: Today we begin looking at
the last chapter in Dr. Warren Wiersbe’s commentary on the book of
Proverbs. As mentioned on many occasions
in my SD’s I use Dr. Wiersbe’s commentaries to aid me in the study of the Word
of God. Dr. Wiersbe has a way of making
difficult things seem a lot easier and it has been said of him that he puts the
cookies on the shelf where you can reach them.
I have also mentioned that after looking at the first seven chapters in
the book of Proverbs on a verse by verse way of studying it that there was an
interlude in both the book of Proverbs and the commentary of Dr. Wiersbe and
after the interlude we began to look at the rest of the book of Proverbs in a
topical study, and today we begin the thirteenth and final chapter in Dr. Wiersbe’s
study of Proverbs. He entitles this
final chapter “This God is Our God.”
Introduction: Why
does a person have a desire to study the Word of God? I believe the best answer to this question is
to know the God of the Word. I suppose
we can study it to gain facts about it, to know theology about it, and that is
all fine and good, but if we don’t begin to know the God of the Word in our
study of the Word of God we would be, as Dr. Wiersbe writes like a young person
looking at photo albums in order to get to know his family, and not taking the
time to personally get to know them. He
may understand a lot of facts about them, but not know them on a personal
level.
In Dr. Wiersbe introduction
to this thirteenth chapter he quotes from A. W. Tozer’s book “The Knowledge of
the Holy,” a book that I spent a lot of time recently reading and
studying. He states in an end note the
following, “This is one of the finest devotional studies of the attributes of
God in print.” He then goes on to say
that another book written by Richard L. Strauss entitled “The Joy of Knowing
God” is also a good book to read to better understand the God of the Word.
The following are the two quotes from Tozier’s book: “It is impossible to keep our moral practices
sound and our inward attitudes right while our idea of God is erroneous or
inadequate. If we would bring back
spiritual power to our lives, we must begin to think of God more nearly as He
is. The essence of idolatry is the
entertainment of thoughts about God that are unworthy of Him.” Dr. Wiersbe goes on to say the following
about this last quote, “If that’s true, and I believe it is, then it’s possible
to be a Bible student and also an idolater!”
He concludes his introduction by saying “The book of
Proverbs reaveals to us the wonderful God whom we should trust, obey, love and
get to know in a deeper way. As we grow
in our intimacy with God, we will develop the wisdom and skills we need to be
successful in making a life.”
A Holy God:
Here are some verses about God being Holy from
Proverbs: “The fear of the LORD is the
beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding (Pr.
9:10).” “Neither have I learned wisdom,
Nor do I have the knowledge of the Holy One (Pr. 30:3).” One may ask what the word “Holy” means and
the answer is that it means “utterly different, wholly other.” We know from the study of the Word of God
that His nature is holy. Peter quotes
from the book of Lev. when he writes “but like the Holy One who called you, be
holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, ‘YOU SHALL BE
HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY.’” (1 Peter
1:15-16)
When ever I think of the word Holy I can’t help but think
of the wonderful old hymn “Take Time to be Holy.” When I think of this song I often think that
the title should have been “It Takes Time to Be Holy.” The following are the lyrics of this song:
- Take
time to be holy, speak oft with thy Lord;
Abide in Him always, and feed on His Word.
Make friends of God’s children, help those who are weak,
Forgetting in nothing His blessing to seek. - Take
time to be holy, the world rushes on;
Spend much time in secret, with Jesus alone.
By looking to Jesus, like Him thou shalt be;
Thy friends in thy conduct His likeness shall see. - Take
time to be holy, let Him be thy Guide;
And run not before Him, whatever betide.
In joy or in sorrow, still follow the Lord,
And, looking to Jesus, still trust in His Word. - Take
time to be holy, be calm in thy soul,
Each thought and each motive beneath His control.
Thus led by His Spirit to fountains of love,
Thou soon shalt be fitted for service above.
I
can say that there is much spiritual truth in each of the verses of this
wonderful old hymn
I
don’t suppose that when a person reads the following verse from the book of
Revelations that they would think of God’s holiness, “And I saw something like
a sea of glass mixed with fire, and those who had been victorious over the
beast and his image and the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass,
holding harps of God.” Or how about Hebrews
12:29 “for our God is a consuming fire.”
When we think about God’s holiness we cannot think of it like we would a
surgical instrument all cleaned up and ready to use, for God’s holiness is
cannot be viewed as the absence of defilement or an inert, negative
attribute. God’s holiness is something
that is positive and active and that is how we can fit those two verses above
into understanding God’s holiness.
The
following verses from Proverbs 6 show us that God hates sin: “16
There are six things which the LORD hates, Yes, seven which are an
abomination to Him: 17 Haughty eyes, a
lying tongue, And hands that shed innocent blood, 18 A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that
run rapidly to evil, 19 A false witness
who utters lies, And one who spreads strife among brothers.” What we do know about God is that He does
hate sin but He does love sinners, loves them enough that He sent His Son to
take their place upon the cross to pay for their sins. “"For God so loved the world, that He
gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but
have eternal life.” (John 3:16) “But God demonstrates His own love toward us,
in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Rom. 5:8)
Proverbs
also teaches us that people can sin so much that they become abominable to
God: “For the devious are an abomination
to the LORD; But He is intimate with the upright (Pr. 3:32).” Pr. 11:20 “The perverse in heart are an
abomination to the LORD, But the blameless in their walk are His delight.” Proverbs 16:5 speaks of the proud “Everyone
who is proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD; Assuredly, he will not be
unpunished.” Liars are found in Proverbs
12:22 “Lying lips are an abomination to the LORD, But those who deal faithfully
are His delight.” Cheats in Proverbs
11:1 “A false balance is an abomination to the LORD, But a just weight is His
delight.” Hypocrites in 15:8 “The
sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD, But the prayer of the
upright is His delight.” Pr. 21:27 “The
sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination, How much more when he brings it with
evil intent!” Pr. 28:9 “He who turns
away his ear from listening to the law, Even his prayer is an abomination.” The unjust are spoken of in Proverbs 17:15 “He
who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous, Both of them alike
are an abomination to the LORD.”
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Now we will have a quote from Dr. Wiersbe: “Sin becomes so identified with the sinner
that the very person becomes reprehensible to the Lord. This doesn’t negate His love, but we must keep in mind that God’s love is
a holy love as well as a sacrificing
love. It’s a dangerous thing to
play with sin and defy the living God. ‘He who is often rebuked, and hardens his
neck, Will suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy (Pr. 29:1
NKJV).’” The highlighted portion of the
quote is a very important thing to know or at least be reminded of.
When we look at Proverbs 21:12 we will see that it calls
God the “Righteous One,” or the “Righteous God,” and this states that God
judges the wicked for their wickedness.
“The Righteous One takes note of the house of the wicked and brings the
wicked to ruin. The righteous God wisely
considers the house of the wicked, Overthrowing the wicked for their
wickedness.” First is from the NIV while
the second is from the NKJV.
Now we will look at Proverbs 24:11-12, “11 ¶ Deliver those who are being taken away to
death, And those who are staggering to slaughter, Oh hold them back. 12 If you say, "See, we did not know
this," Does He not consider it who weighs the hearts? And does He not know
it who keeps your soul? And will He not render to man according to his work?” These verses show us that a holy God must be
righteous in all His ways and just in all His dealings.”
One of the problems people have is they like to put God
in a box, they do not want to learn about God through what He has written in
His Word. To put God in a box makes Him
out to be something that He may not be.
When we look at God as being holy, and He surely is that, then we must
realize that the things that He does are all holy, even though some don’t think
they are. I had a conversation with a
relative at lunch about why God would allow the shootings to happen at the
school in Connecticut late last year, and what he was really saying was that
God did not know what He was doing or He would have stopped that. He was putting God in his own box and wanted
Him to perform the way he wanted Him to perform. It is interesting that our supreme court make
prayer in public schools illegal many years ago, so what they did was kick God
out of the school system in our country.
As Ann Graham Lots stated to Larry King, “God is a gentlemen and He
left.” Why do we wonder about things
like this when in our country we don’t want to follow God’s laws, and so we
reap the consequences of it, but as soon as something bad happens we want to
blame God for not being in control or not stopping it. Dr. Wiersbe writes, “Sometimes God sends immediate
judgment on the wicked (2:22), but sometimes He merely takes away His
restraining hand and allows the sinners’ sin to judge them. ‘The evil deeds of a wicked man ensnare him;
the cords of his sin hold him fast’ (Pr. 5:22, NIV).” (Read also Romans 1:18 until the end of the
chapter.)
Spiritual meaning
for my life today: I think that it
is a good reminder for me and for everyone to realize that God is holy.
My Steps of Faith for Today: I am going to put onto my prayer list that I
try to look at each day that God is Holy.
Memory verses for the
week: Psalm 32:7-9
7 You are my hiding place; You preserve me from trouble;
You surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah. 8 I will instruct you and teach you in the
way which you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you. 9 Do not be as the horse or as the mule which
have no understanding, whose trappings include bit and bridle to hole them in
check, otherwise they will not come near you.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
Question: “In Jerusalem” (Acts 8:1)
Today’s Bible
Question: “Who was Jacob’s first son?”
Answer in tomorrow’s SD.
3/31/2013 9:03 PM
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