Daily Devotional
Betty Miller shares her daily
devotionals which are based on the book of Proverbs in the Bible.
The Wisdom
of God
Verses for the Day:
15 Lay not wait, O
wicked man, against the dwelling of the righteous; spoil not his resting place:
16 For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall
fall into mischief.
Proverbs 24:15-16 (AMP):
15 Lie not in wait as a
wicked man against the dwelling of the (uncompromisingly) righteous (the
upright, in right standing with God); destroy not his resting place;
16 For a righteous man falls seven times and rises again, but the wicked are
overthrown by calamity.
Thoughts for the Day:
These verses in Proverbs
are a warning to the wicked, not to attack a righteous man, nor his goods and
home, as the wicked man will reap calamity for the evil he does. The Bible
teaches that the righteous children of God are "the apple of His eye" and those
who are wicked will suffer for doing evil toward them.
Deuteronomy
32:9-10:
9 For the LORD'S portion is his people; Jacob is the lot of his inheritance.
10 He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; he led
him about, he instructed him, he kept him as the apple of his eye.
Zechariah 2:8: For thus saith the LORD of hosts; After the glory hath he sent me unto the
nations which spoiled you: for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his
eye.
God is very
protective of His own, and those who think they can get away with hurting a
Christian will find that the Lord will defend His own people and deal with the
wicked. The scripture above says that when anyone touches us, they touch
"the apple of His eye." Because God is merciful and slow to anger, the wicked
think they are getting by without any punishment, but there is a day of
reckoning for all men.
Psalm 7:10-11:
10 My defence is of God, which saveth the upright in heart.
11 God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day.
Psalm 9:16-19:
16 The LORD is known by the judgment which he executeth: the wicked is snared in
the work of his own hands.
17 The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.
18 For the needy shall not alway be forgotten: the expectation of the poor shall
not perish for ever.
19 Arise, O LORD; let not man prevail: let the heathen be judged in thy sight.
We are told in the above verses that the wicked are snared by their own evil
deeds, while God will not forget to defend the righteous. Verse 16 of
today's study says that even if a righteous man falls down in sin seven times,
that he will rise again to get the victory. Numbers are often symbolic in
the Scriptures, with the number seven standing for "perfection" or "completion."
For example, when Jesus told Peter to forgive seventy times seven, He did
not mean to forgive 490 times. He was telling Peter to forgive
completely and perfectly. To the Jew, numbers were descriptions,
rather than mathematics, as each number represented something. With this in
mind, when a righteous man falls completely down, He can still rise
again, because of what Jesus did for him on the cross. In Christ, there is
"complete" forgiveness, even in spite of our "complete" failure. Praise God!
Matthew
18:21-22:
21 Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against
me, and I forgive him? till seven times?
22 Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until
seventy times seven.
God will not only
spare the righteous, He will also spare the wicked for a season, for the sake of
the righteous. We find a discourse in Genesis 18 between Abraham and God,
when He was going to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah because of its great sin and
wickedness. In this conversation, we see Abraham, as an intercessor, pleading
with God to spare this city for the sake of the righteous and we see God
responding. Reading the entire account, we find that God would have spared it,
even if there had been only 10 righteous in the city. Apparently, there
were not even 10, so God removed Lot and his family from the wicked city and
then destroyed it. However, the point is that God spares the righteous and will
even spare the wicked for the sake of the righteous when we pray, thus giving
them more time to come to the Lord.
Genesis
18:20-26:
20 And the LORD said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and
because their sin is very grievous;
21 I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to
the cry of it, which is come unto me; and if not, I will know.
22 And the men turned their faces from thence, and went toward Sodom: but
Abraham stood yet before the LORD.
23 And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with
the wicked?
24 Peradventure there be fifty righteous within the city: wilt thou also destroy
and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are therein?
25 That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the
wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee:
Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?
26 And the LORD said, If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I
will spare all the place for their sakes.
Prayer for the Day:
Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank You for Your great mercy and goodness toward me. I am also thankful
that You are a God who is kind, even to the wicked, as You desire that no one
perish. Lord, may I be patient with the wicked, as You are, and pray for
them to come to the saving knowledge of Christ. I do know that we must all face
You in judgment one day, and I want to come to You now, and deal with any sin
and failures, so that when I face You on that day, I will not have anything
hidden or left undone that I should have taken care of today. Cleanse me from
all unrighteousness. I pray this in the name of Jesus, my Lord. Amen.
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