Meditationen am Gnadenstuhl: Monday, June 27, 2022 - Proverbs 1:7
Monday, June 27, 2022
Proverbs 1:7; 2:6
It is good to be getting back to a "regular" routine this week, including writing on this blog. The LCMS Ohio District Convention was held this past week, and the LWML Ohio District Convention was held the week before. The work of God's Church on earth was done by all who attended. Great things were planned, and all were sent back into the harvest fields to continue working, seeking the lost, the sojourner, and the hurting.
One thing that has remained on my mind in recent months and was driven home during both conventions as well as during many conversations in the past weeks was the importance of wisdom in making decisions while doing the work God has called me to do. Not decisions about how to vote on a floor motion in a convention or how to incorporate current events into a sermon yet remain true to the text of the Bible – though these things require wisdom as well. Rather, I thought about the importance of discerning what is wise when I'm about to open my mouth and respond to a question of faith or a situation that arises in a congregation. Even how to respond to a “conversation” on social media.
How does one share the love of Christ, render advice consistent with the teachings of the Bible, and respond in love to a situation while comporting oneself like an undershepherd of the Lord? Saying to respond with my own opinions rooted in ego is probably not the wisest choice would be an understatement. Prayer helps. But God gave us brains to reason in order to function in our daily vocations. My primary vocation just happens to be being a pastor, but the solution is the same for many vocations. God, in His own infinite wisdom, gave us some special books to help us seek the answers to these kinds of difficulties.
They are the books of wisdom in the Bible, all written primarily by King Solomon. Proverbs – how to be a wise king (leader, pastor, citizen, insert vocation here). The Song of Songs (also called the Song of Solomon or Canticles, depending on your Bible translation) shows the model of marriage according to God's design of one man and one woman should look, as well as the Church's relationship to Christ. And everyone wants to find advice in the Bible for how to live their life here on earth. Most of the Bible is from the perspective of the life of the world to come. But Ecclesiastes gives us advice for life here on earth in the meantime. If you want still more wisdom, other wisdom books in the Apocrypha are good to read, which I may touch on in another post.
For now, we will focus on the books of Proverbs. It all begins with this:
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.” (Proverbs 1:7 ESV).
The fool is the one who despises God's Word and does not read and take it to heart. The first commandment teaches us to have no other gods but the One True God and to fear and love Him above all things. What does fearing the Lord mean? Are we to be terrified of Him, cowering like a beaten dog? No! Fear of the Lord means we cling to Him above all else. If you fear God, you do not have to be afraid of anything. King Solomon's father, David, had something to say about it:
“I sought the Lord, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears.” (Psalm 34:4 ESV).
In the Bible, when speaking of God, fear does not mean terror but standing in reverence and awe before Him.
Join me in the coming weeks as we work through Proverbs, learning wisdom and discernment from Solomon while renewing a healthy sense of fear of the Lord. Solomon did, and he prayed for wisdom: “Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this your great people?” (1 Kings 3:9 ESV). When we love and trust God above all things, that is the beginning of wisdom.
“For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding” (Proverbs 2:6 ESV).
Knowledge and understanding, in turn, will focus us on Jesus, His gifts to us of the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation through His death and resurrection. It will strengthen us to engage the world, clinging to God all the while. It will help us remain true to our faith and discern what is wise from what is foolish. The fool is the one who is seduced by the world's whims and the devil's trickery and ignores God's Word. One who is wise clings to the Word, and to the Word made Flesh, and becomes strengthened to withstand the world. After all, Christ has already overcome the world.