Thursday, December 2, 2010

Proverbs 25

8 comments:

Berry Girl said...

"It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, But the glory of kings is to search out a matter" - I love that. It so aptly describes us and God. There is so much that we simply cannot understand about Him and about life, but we take great pleasure in the debate and research and experimentation to find answers and discover new things. It just shows God's unsearchableness and our unending curiosity :)

Lois said...

I'm here too, although I haven't ever commented before.
There are so many good things in this passage, but one I wonder about. Does anyone have any insight into verse 27 -- "It is not good to eat too much honey,
nor is it honorable to search out matters that are too deep."?

Unknown said...

So good to meet with you ladies here this morning :) For me the resounding theme of this chapter seemed to be self control in all matters. One of the verses that stood out to me the most was v4.

"Remove the scum from the silver so the silver can be used by the silversmith." It fits with what I learned about sanctification this week for small group (blogged about it at Prairie Prologue). We are justified in Christ which will result in our future glorification, all by and to the glory of God, but the work of sanctification (removing the scum from our lives) is a work that we must enter into daily thru the leading and empowering of the Holy Spirit, in partnership with Him. The more scum we remove, the more we will reflect His glory.

Verse 27... I think this verse is still pointing to self control. It makes me think of something that Solomon says at the end of Ecclesiastes (12:12) about how people are always writing books, and too much study will make you tired but how we should simply put our focus on honoring God and obeying His commands.

Personally in my life what I have taken this to mean is that while I highly value and believe God commands us to study and know His statutes, there is a point where you can drive yourself insane trying to understand deep matters or even debating certain issues that remain unclear and murky to us (the debate of election and free will for instance).

My translation for verse 27 reads as follows; "it is not good to eat too much honey, nor does it bring you honor to brag about what you know."

There are people out there who truly believe that they have every biblical doctrine and teaching pegged and filed systematically, under their belt. They come off as proud and haughty that anyone who thinks differently just isn't smart enough to have "figured it out" yet. I think this verse is referring to people like that, and it really does tie in so well with Jen's comment this morning. "It is the glory of God to conceal a matter."

We must let God be God, and while it is our duty to draw as near Him as we can in our daily walk, never to obsess so much about knowledge that we miss the point... which is relationship.

That's my take on it anyway!

So fun to meet and discuss, I love this kind of interaction. Have a great day, ladies!

Unknown said...

I just looked back at Shailey's verse and comment from yesterday's passage. Totally ties in with this theme of knowledge and mystery as well. love it.

Elisa said...

If your enemy is hungry,give him food to eat.If he is thirsty,give him water to drink.By doing those things,you will pile up burning coals on his head.And the Lord will reward you.-vs 21-22

If somebody hurts you don't hurt him back,instead say "please don't."And treat him nicely even if he hurt you,because God likes it when you are kind to your enemys.

-Elisa

Shailey said...

"Telling lies about others is as harmful as hitting them with an ax,wounding them with a sword,or shooting them with a sharp arrow."-vs 18

If you lie to someone you will no longer have thier trust and you will no longer be thier friend.Ifyou lie to someone they may tell your other friends and then youwill have no friends.If you tell a lie the person you lie to will be hurt.

Berry Girl said...

yes, my translation of v27 is "Nor is it glory to search out one's own glory" - my notes say that eating honey is analogous to enjoying the sweetness of your own self-glory.

Lois said...

Thanks for your comments on vs 27. Good thoughts. Another verse that struck me yesterday was verse 20 Like one who takes away a garment on a cold day,
or like vinegar poured on a wound,
is one who sings songs to a heavy heart.
Yesterday, I was spending time with my son who was struggling with something and, after reading this verse, resolved not to be overly cheerful. It turned out to be the right thing to do, so I was thankful to God for His leading.