The Lord Destroys and Abhors

Psalm 5:6

Thou shalt destroy them that speak leasing:

the LORD will abhor the bloody and deceitful man.

The Lord Destroys and Abhors

The Lord will deal with those who deceive and lie.  He will bring their plans to nothing.  Anything a liar thinks he has gotten due to his deception will be destroyed by the Lord.  The Lord hates it when someone is willing to kill and deceive to accomplish their own goals.  He is against these people and will show Himself opposed and involved in their lives to reveal His hatred for what they are doing.  If we want our lives built in a way that will not be dealt with in a destructive way by the Lord, we ought never to use deceit or lies in our dealings.  Unless the Lord builds the house, we will labor only to wait for destruction.

                                            

Wisdom is to be Exemplified

Proverbs 23:24-25

The father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice: and he that begetteth a wise child shall have joy of him. Thy father and thy mother shall be glad, and she that bare thee shall rejoice.

For our children to have wisdom that brings us joy, we must teach them what is wise.  We also should see to be those wise women they can learn from in our own lives.  By being in the book of Proverbs we should be growing in wisdom that they can pattern their lives by.  Do you seek to be wise?   How are your sleep patterns?  Do your children see you go to bed at a reasonable time and wake up at an appropriate time?  How about your eating habits?  Do you make wise choices that are healthy and appropriate?  Are you guarding your mouth against gossip and complaints?  Do you do your work around the house with diligence and order your days with responsibility in mind?  Do you go and do what you want to do instead of what you need to do?  Let us be wise women so that our children will be wise children.  Our husbands’ hearts will greatly rejoice and we will be glad when they are wise children.  Let us make sure we have done all we can to influence them in the way of wisdom.

Hate Sin

Psalm 5:5

The foolish shall not stand in thy sight:

 thou hatest all workers of iniquity.

The Lord Hates Those Who Work Iniquity

The Lord has tolerance for many things but when we are foolish women who work sin, He is repulsed and clearly rejects this type of living.  The Lord has emotions as we see throughout the scriptures:

Deut 9:20 “And the LORD was very angry with Aaron”

Zeph 3:17 “ The LORD thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy;”

Gen 6:6 “And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.”

The Lord hates all the workers of iniquity.  Yes, he loves them in the light that He died for the very sin they commit and offers forgiveness and cleansing but He has a righteous hatred for the ongoing working of iniquity and all the havoc and pain sin produces in people’s lives.  Our God is a holy God and he hated sin so much that He gave His only begotten Son upon whom He laid the iniquity of us all.  He dealt with this hatred with punishment that befell Jesus Christ.  How thankful we ought to be and align ourselves with Him in our hatred of sin and not respect or give honor to those who work iniquity.

Buy the Truth

Proverbs 23:23

Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.

Truth is something we must buy.  We don’t buy it with money.  We consider the cost of choosing the truth.  Perhaps it will cost us the time we would have watched a television program but spent some time in prayer about a matter of concern.  Perhaps it will cost us convenience when we know doing the right thing will take time and effort.  Maybe it will cost us a friendship when we have to speak the truth.  Maybe it will cost us some money by telling the waitress she forgot to charge us for our soda.  We are told here that we must not sell it.  We must not sell out once we know something to be true and of the Lord.  We must hold on to it and never let it go. This goes for wisdom, instruction and understanding too. Once we get it, we need to keep it.  These are things worth keeping forever.

The Lord is not Pleased with Wickedness

Psalm 5:4

For thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness:

 neither shall evil dwell with thee.

The Lord is Not Pleased With Wickedness

The Lord does not think things that are wicked are pleasant.  We do not please the Lord when we are involved in anything He says is wicked.  As women we have some great explanations in the book of proverbs about what a wicked woman is like.  She is immodest, loud, stubborn, doesn’t like to stay at home, flattering, manipulative, among others.  This sounds like the most respected person on E! News, doesn’t it?  Our God is not pleased with wickedness and evil does not dwell with Him.  Lord, help us discern wickedness and not have any pleasure in it either.

Parents' Instructions

Proverbs 23:22

Hearken unto thy father that begat thee, and despise not thy mother when she is old.

Our children need to know that a parent’s instruction is to be valued far after the parents are gone.  One way for them to know this is to see and hear us hearken unto our parents’ instruction in our adult years.  We can quote our parents to our children bringing in much needed influence from generations before us.  If our parents are still living we can call them and ask them for their advice and counsel on matters.  We can take this before the Lord and with our husbands, determine if there is wisdom in their counsel.  We should not despise our mothers when they are old.  They may be a bit needy or even out of touch with some of the challenges we face in our generation, but there is so much we can glean from their years of experience and their older perspective.  Even if we learn from the bad choices they have made, they do instruct us one way or another.  This will help our children learn how to treat us when we are older as well.

Knowing God - The Lord is Our Personal King

Psalm 5:2

Hearken unto the voice of my cry, my King,

and my God: for unto thee will I pray.

The Lord Is Our Personal King

We realize in this verse that God is not only the King or a King but MY king.  The king of an individual’s life – from the beginning to the end God can be MY king and He can be YOUR king.  A king rules and reigns and determines what’s best for the land he rules.  Our King has resources, wisdom, authority and knowledge we need in the land of our lives.  He is majesty.  He is MY king.  He is MY God.

Knowing God - The Lord is Our Personal King

Psalm 5:2

Hearken unto the voice of my cry, my King,

and my God: for unto thee will I pray.

The Lord Is Our Personal King

We realize in this verse that God is not only the King or a King but MY king.  The king of an individual’s life – from the beginning to the end God can be MY king and He can be YOUR king.  A king rules and reigns and determines what’s best for the land he rules.  Our King has resources, wisdom, authority and knowledge we need in the land of our lives.  He is majesty.  He is MY king.  He is MY God.

Children Need to Guide Their Own Hearts

Proverbs 23:19-21

Hear thou, my son, and be wise, and guide thine heart in the way.

Be not among winebibbers; among riotous eaters of flesh:

For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags.

The first verse in this section of text gives us good instructions as parents.  We need to speak the right counsel to our children and then instruct them in guiding their hearts.  They must know that we cannot make them choose the right thing.  We can tell them the right thing but they must guide their hearts in the right way.  This right way includes staying away from people who drink alcohol and focus on food.  We should exemplify this to them.  Who do we hang around with?  Most alcoholics did not start out abusing alcohol.  It started with a casual drink.  Many alcoholics end up in poverty because they are unable to be responsible employees due to their abuse of alcohol.  Many gluttons end up being tired and clothed in rags because their health goes down and oversized clothing hangs upon them to hide and mask the consequences of overeating.  Choosing the right friends and being the right friend can really make or break the direction in which we journey.  Warn your children about who they choose to hang out with and exemplify to them healthy friendships.  Have people in your life that are wise.  He who walks with the wise grows wise but a companion of fools suffers harm.

Don't Envy Sinners

Proverbs 23:17-18

Let not thine heart envy sinners:

but be thou in the fear of the Lord all the day long.

For surely there is an end; and thine expectation shall not be cut off.

Our hearts can envy sinners.  We must be aware of this.  Although we may mentally assent to something being wrong, our hearts are deceitfully wicked.  In order to guard our hearts from this sort of envy we are told to be in the fear of the Lord all the day long – all the day long.  We should take each step with a conscious focus on pleasing the Lord and believing that he rewards the wicked and blesses the righteous.  There is an end to both paths.  If we are concerned about doing that which the Lord deems as right and worthy, our expectation will not be cut off.  We will reap what we plant and see the fruit of choices made with His pleasure at the forefront of our minds.   Be in the fear of the Lord all the day long today.  Don’t look at others, look up.  Seek to please the Lord in all you say and do no matter who you are around today.  Walk with the Lord and abide in Him.  He will not disappoint you.

The Lord Knows Our Thoughts

Psalm 5:1

Give ear to my words, O LORD, consider my meditation.

The Lord Hears Our Thoughts

The Lord listens to our spoken words and takes what we think about very seriously.  This verse reveals to us that when we use words to talk to the Lord about anything, He really takes it in and is listening.  The word ‘consider’ here means to understand or perceive.  Sometimes we can’t put into words exactly what we want to say but we are assured here that God understands our thoughts and hears our words.  He is a God who is familiar with the way we think AND the way we express ourselves.  This should greatly encourage us to continue to pray to Him with our words and think on things with a confidence He is hearing our thoughts as well.

The Lord Gives Victory

Psalm 2:9

Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron;

thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.

The Lord Gives Victory

The Lord is giving His king a promise about the victory He will give him.  Are you facing a battle?  Is something around you threatening you?  The Lord wants to give you a promise about success in a certain battle so that our strength will be rooted in Him and the power of His might.  He is involved in the affairs of His people’s lives and is called the Lord of hosts.  This is a military term.  We might say He is the Chief Commander of all the troops.  He has resource, intelligence and access beyond our imagination.  He will fight the battle for you.  Although He might use you and others, truly the battle belongs to the Lord – and He always leads us in triumph in Christ Jesus.

Wisdom Brings Joy

Proverbs 23:15 -16

My son, if thine heart be wise, my heart shall rejoice, even mine.

Yea, my reins shall rejoice, when thy lips speak right things.

A father is letting his son know that he is looking for him to be wise.  Do your children know that wisdom is the principal thing you are seeking for him to have in his day to day choices?  We should tell our children that when they make wise choices it makes our hearts glad.  We need to listen to the way they talk and when they speak about things with wisdom and God’s perspective we should affirm them and commend them pointing out the perspectives that are aligned with God’s Word.  Sometimes, as moms, we are always correcting but we should be affirming as well.  We need to stop and rejoice when their words are full of wisdom.  Tell them, tell your husband and comment on how much joy they are bringing you.

The Lord Wants Us To Ask

Psalm 2:8

Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.

The Lord Wants Us To Ask

The Lord wants us to ask for things.  Sometimes we don’t have certain things in our lives because we haven’t asked.   In this text, the heathen were threatening God’s people and trying to take them over.  They were encroaching and threatening with armies and pagan practices, God’s own people.  The Lord was instructing this king to ask Him for those very people as an inheritance rather than a threat.  Have you ever asked the Lord to take those situations, people and problems that seem to be threatening you and cause them to be a valuable inheritance for you?  Have you placed those problems before Him, asking Him to touch them in such a way that you will inherit incredible blessings out of them?  Ask of Him, that He may give you the heathen for your inheritance.

Withhold Not Correction

Proverbs 23:13-14

Withhold not correction from the child:

 for if thou beatest him with the rod,

 he shall not die.Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell.

We love to give our children good things.  Here we learn that correction is something we should give them.  Withholding correction means that we see what needs to be said and done but choose not to do it.  This is wrong.  We might be tired or weary and not want to get up and deal with it, but we are warned to not do this.  Correction is something we can give our children no matter how much money we have.  God has asked us to correct our children and show them the way that they should go.  It is our job and it is our calling.  Here the King James Version uses the word ‘beat’.  This is not a license to beat our children according to the current use of  such a word.  This just means that if we need to use a rod it won’t kill them.  A rod was used by shepherds to keep the sheep on the path.  It would be used to correct a sheep as he wandered off the path and just a gentle prod with the rod would steer them back on track.  If a sheep was stubborn and refused the gentle, a stronger prod and perhaps a strike would get that sheep back on the path and away from danger. A shepherd would be a fool to beat his sheep in a way that would damage them.  Ladies, seek the Lord for the rod you are to use and be sensitive to the degree in which it is to be exercised.  Is it a paddle, restriction or a loss of privilege?  No matter how much they act like they are dying, they will not if you are using a ‘rod’ as a means of correction not a release of your own frustration.  If you have done this, apologize and seek accountability.  If you are being lazy and withholding correction, apologize and seek accountability.  We must give our children the correction they need to get back on the path and stay there.