Then shalt thou understand righteousness,

and judgment, and equity;

yea, every good path

Proverbs 2:9

the subject for today is:

If - then

Let us again open the Bible and read some from it

Today from: Proverbs 2:1-9

Proverbs 2:1-9 (AV)

¹My son, if you will receive my words, and hide my commandments with you;  ²So that you incline your ear unto wisdom, and apply your heart to understanding;  ³Yes, if you cry after knowledge, and lift up your voice for understanding;  ⁴If you seek her as silver, and search for her as for hidden treasures;  ⁵Then shall you understand the fear of the LORD (JaHWeH), and find the knowledge of God.  ⁶For the LORD (JaHWeH) gives wisdom: out of his mouth comes knowledge and understanding.  ⁷He lays up sound wisdom for the righteous: he is a buckler¹ (shield) to them that walk uprightly.  ⁸He keeps the paths of judgment, and preserves the way of his saints.  ⁹Then you shall understand righteousness, and judgment, and equity; yea, every good path.

1) [he is] a buckler to them that walk uprightly; who are sincere in their deportment before God and men; who walk according to the rule of the divine word; who walk by faith on Christ, and walk on in him as they have received him; and go on living by faith on his righteousness, which is walking in his uprightness, till they come to be with him for ever in heaven.

To these the Lord is a "buckler" or shield; he covers them with the "shield of faith," his own Son, his blood righteousness, and sacrifice; which faith lays hold on and uses as a shield against Satan’s fiery darts; and gives them "the shield of salvation" which secures them from sin and wrath and every enemy; and encompasses them about with his "favor," as a "shield," which is immutable and invariable; and keeps them by his power through faith unto salvation, (Eph.6:16; Ps.18:35, 5:12; 1Pet.1:5 with this compare Gen.15:1; Ps.3:3, 18:2, 84:11). Some^a read these words by way of apposition, and understand them of sound wisdom; that that is a buckler or shield to the persons here described (See Eccl.7:12).

a. So Mercerus, Piscator, Schultens. Gussetius chooses to take the word for a verb, and renders it, "he delivers it"; that is, sound wisdom to them that walk uprightly

(Ebr. Comment. p.454.)

Dear Friends,

Life is quite meaningless without Divine wisdom.

We need this wisdom to interpret life, death, and eternity. Worldly wisdom is "earthly, sensual, and demonic," whereas heavenly wisdom "is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy & good fruits, without partiality & without hypocrisy" (Jas.3:15,17).

The Gift:

"The Lord gives wisdom" (Prov.2:2:6).

To possess this wisdom we must fulfill certain conditions. Look at verses 1-4. We must receive God's wisdom (Prov.2:2:1). This is where we fail so often. We "do not have because we do not ask" (Jas.4:2). We must request God's wisdom. We must "cry out" for discernment and "lift up (our) voice for understanding" (Prov.2:2:3). God says, "You will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart" (Jer.29:13).

More than this, we must research God's wisdom. Like an eager miner, we must dig for "hidden treasures" in God's holy Word (Prov.2:2:4). Each of these conditions is preceded with the participle "if" !

Remember that God's spiritual blessings are always conditional.

The Goal:

"The Lord gives wisdom" (Prov.2:2:6) in order to reveal Himself to us.

The conditions we have looked at are followed by the important word "then" (Prov.2:2:5,9).

1. The first "then" teaches us that wisdom reveals the awesomeness of our God - only with Divine wisdom do we understand "the fear of the Lord" (Prov.2:5). In a day of irreverence and spiritual insensitivity, we need to contemplate the awesomeness of the God with whom we have to do! Divine wisdom also reveals the attributes of our God. These are summed up in one statement: "the knowledge of God" (Prov.2:2:5). Think right now of His nature and names; reflect upon His perfections and excellencies; worship Him in "the beauty of holiness" (Ps.29:2).

Divine wisdom likewise reveals the activities of our God. Among the many that could be enumerated in Scripture we are given several right here. God speaks wisdom to us - "from His mouth come knowledge and understanding" (Prov.2:6).

He stores up sound wisdom" in us (Prov.2:7). Recall the times when you lack wisdom (Jas.1:5). He sends wisdom to us in times of danger and peril "to preserve the way of His saints" (Prov.2:8).

2. This brings us to our second "then" (Prov.2:9). When we fulfill the conditions (mentioned above), God reproduces Himself in us with the sublime qualities of His "divine nature" (2Pet.1:4).

Our text (Prov.2:9) mentions three: "righteousness," "justice," and "Equality."

These three occur in the same order Proverbs 1:3 and suggest a course of action or way of life. The term "path" (Prov.2:9) means "the way in which a chariot rolls." What a beautiful metaphor! Like a chariot rolling down the highway, we should display the characteristics of our God for all to see.

In New Testament language, it is the outliving of the indwelling Christ. All this is possible because "in [Christ] are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.... and [we] are complete in Him" (Col.2:3,9). There is no demand made upon our lives for which He is not adequate. Thanks be to God!

Prayer:

O God of "every good and perfect gift," I ask in faith for Your promised wisdom to meet my lack and my need today. May the chariot wheels of my life carry the moral qualities of "righteousness, justice, and Equality" along "the highway" of Your perfect will. The highway of perfect morality. I pray this on all who study hard to show themselves improved to You. I pray in Jesus' name. Amen.

Share this good news with others!

Forward it to a friend who can be helped with it!

Contact:

Subscription:

If your friends like to receive "Daily Bread" as well, they can subscribe by using the following link: http://www.het-woord.com/daily-bread/Sub-DaiBr.html

Forum:

If you like you can talk further with the internet pastor and others about the contents of "Daily Bread" in our forum:

 http://www.het-woord.com/daily-bread/websitemodules/board

Internet Pastor:

If you want to talk privately with the Internet Pastor, you can reach him by using the reaction form. http://www.het-woord.com/daily-bread/websitemodules/Form

Reactions:

You can also give your reactions in our guestbook:

http://www.het-woord.com/daily-bread/websitemodules/guestbook

Info:

Further you can read news and information concerning "Daily Bread" in our News-system:

http://www.het-woord.com/daily-bread/websitemodules/news

You can read general information on "Daily Bread" on:

http://www.het-woord.com/brood  (Choose Daily Bread in the top of the page)

Support our Internet Ministry!

Are you every day looking forward to receive "Daily Bread"?  Do you like to browse in the by now tens of thousands WebPages, or do you like the conversations in the forums? Than this is for you !

A big interactive site with some 16 domains, news systems, newsletters, forums, web- polls, etc. pity enough costs a lot of money.

The reason why we although we have to live on social welfare, still do this, is because we are sure that hundreds of people are blessed by what we are doing on the internet. It is not by accident that we had now already over half a million visitors on our sites.

To do this all we are completely depending on God’s grace, and because of your donations we can afford to continue. Therefore we also ask you to see if you could help us to keep this internet activity alive. Thanks in advance for your support!

Incase you like to support financially your donations can be sent to: Faith Evangelistic Assn. - Rhijnauwensingel 176 - 3077 EV Rotterdam or transferred to bank account 53.20.57.678 of Faith Evangelistic Assn. - Rotterdam. mentioning: "Daily Bread". In case you would like to help us to pay for the computer please mention 'Computer'

To end your subscription, just send us a short e-mail