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:  

Proverbs 30:32-33 (KJV):
32 If thou hast done foolishly in lifting up thyself, or if thou hast thought evil, lay thine hand upon thy mouth.
33 Surely the churning of milk bringeth forth butter, and the wringing of the nose bringeth forth blood: so the forcing of wrath bringeth forth strife.

Proverbs 30:32-33 (AMP):
32 If you have done foolishly in exalting yourself, or if you have thought evil, lay your hand upon your mouth.
33 Surely the churning of milk brings forth butter, and the wringing of the nose brings forth blood; so the forcing of wrath brings forth strife.

Thoughts for the Day:

These verses from Proverbs instruct us not to exalt ourselves and also to guard our mouths from speaking the evil things that we think.  We are also warned if we force wrath, we will get into strife. 

Verse 32 warns against pride and self exaltation, as they are serious sins; and the best way to avoid these sins is to be careful not to brag about our own deeds. We see examples of those in the Bible who yielded to this sin and faced grave consequences.  King Saul in the Old Testament was one of those people. When he no longer was "little in his own eyes" we find that he took matters in his own hands and disobeyed what the Lord told him to do.  Because of this, he lost his position as king, because God rejected him. Although he made sacrifices unto the Lord, God was not pleased with him because he did not obey Him.  Samuel, the Prophet of the Lord, told him that obedience was better than sacrifice. The root of Saul's disobedience was pride in thinking he could do it his own way.

1 Samuel 15:10-23:
10 Then came the word of the LORD unto Samuel, saying,
11 It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king: for he is turned back from following me, and hath not performed my commandments. And it grieved Samuel; and he cried unto the LORD all night.
12 And when Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning, it was told Samuel, saying, Saul came to Carmel, and, behold, he set him up a place, and is gone about, and passed on, and gone down to Gilgal.
13 And Samuel came to Saul: and Saul said unto him, Blessed be thou of the LORD: I have performed the commandment of the LORD.
14 And Samuel said, What meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?
15 And Saul said, They have brought them from the Amalekites: for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed.
16 Then Samuel said unto Saul, Stay, and I will tell thee what the LORD hath said to me this night. And he said unto him, Say on.
17 And Samuel said, When thou wast little in thine own sight, wast thou not made the head of the tribes of Israel, and the LORD anointed thee king over Israel?
18 And the LORD sent thee on a journey, and said, Go and utterly destroy the sinners the Amalekites, and fight against them until they be consumed.
19 Wherefore then didst thou not obey the voice of the LORD, but didst fly upon the spoil, and didst evil in the sight of the LORD?
20 And Saul said unto Samuel, Yea, I have obeyed the voice of the LORD, and have gone the way which the LORD sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites.
21 But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the chief of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God in Gilgal.
22 And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.
23 For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king.

Proverbs 30:33 tells us another thing to avoid is getting into strife. It gives an illustration of how the churning of milk will produce butter, and someone who forcefully picks their nose will cause it to bleed; in the same way someone who forces an angry, wrathful issue will surely cause strife. Someone who does this is often referred to as a person who stirs up trouble. My husband, Bud, in his ranching days, recalls a time when he gave the ranch hands some advice about the way to avoid situations that would cause trouble. He told them, "You cowboys can walk through that cow pen and just get to the other side and you won't smell a thing; but if you take a stick and stir up the manure while you walk through it, it's gonna smell real bad."   This proverb gives the same advice -- just walk on by when there is trouble brewing.

Proverbs 15:1-2:
1 A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger.
2 The tongue of the wise useth knowledge aright: but the mouth of fools poureth out foolishness.

Prayer for the Day:

Dear Heavenly Father, Thank You for teaching us wisdom from Your Word.  Lord, help me to guard my mouth, and not to think thoughts that cause me to think too highly of myself.  I desire to remain humble in Your sight and the sight of men.  Lord, I am nothing without You, and the things I do accomplish are simply done by Your grace in my life. Lord, may I also answer softly to those who would try to stir me to anger. Help me to be silent when I should not speak, and to speak up when I should. May my words be like Yours.  I ask this in the name of Jesus. Amen.