SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 4/3/2013
7:17 AM
My Worship Time Focus: A Wise God
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Studies in
Proverbs
Message of the
verses: Today we come to the last SD
in the book of Proverbs. We have been
looking at “Our Great God,” and some of the characteristics of God and in today’s
SD we will look at God as being all wise which is one of His attributes.
How do we describe God’s wisdom? Dr. Wiersbe states “Theologians tell us that
God’s wisdom refers to His ability to devise perfect means to attain perfect
ends. Nobody has to teach God anything.” “"For who has known the mind of the
LORD? Or who has become His counselor?’ (Rom. 11:34.” Isa. 40:13 “Who has directed the Spirit of
the LORD, Or as His counselor has informed Him?” Jer. 23:18 “"But who has stood in the
council of the LORD, That he should see and hear His word? Who has given heed
to His word and listened?” Can anyone
ever truthfully say that God has ever made a mistake? God does all things well: Romans 8:28 “And we know that God causes all
things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called
according to His purpose.” Romans
9:20-21 “20 On the contrary, who are
you, O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the
molder, "Why did you make me like this," will it? 21 Or does not the potter have a right over the
clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for
common use?” In Romans 16:27 Paul writes
“to the only wise God,
through Jesus Christ, be the glory forever. Amen.” These are the last words that Paul writes in
his letter to the Romans.
There are a number of ways that God demonstrates His
wisdom in the Word of God and the first one we will look at is that God
demonstrates His wisdom through His creation.
“19 The LORD by wisdom founded
the earth, By understanding He established the heavens. 20 By His knowledge the deeps were broken up And
the skies drip with dew.” Let us look at
a hymn written by Isaac Watts which he entitled “I Sing the Mighty Power of God”
to help us better understand God’s wisdom in creation.
“I Sing the Mighty Power of God
1. I sing the almighty power of God,
That made the mountains rise,
That spread the flowing seas abroad,
And built the lofty skies.
2. I sing the wisdom that ordained
The sun to rule the day;
The moon shines full at His command,
And all the stars obey.
3. I sing the goodness of the Lord,
That filled the earth with food;
He formed the creatures with His Word,
And then pronounced them good.
4. Lord! how Thy wonders are displayed
Where'er I turn mine eye!
If I survey the ground I tread,
Or gaze upon the sky!
5. There's not a plant or flower below
But makes Thy glories known;
And clouds arise and tempests blow,
By order from Thy throne.
6. Creatures that borrow life from Thee
Are subject to Thy care;
There's not a place where we can flee,
But God is present there.
7. His hand is my perpetual guard,
He guides me with His eye;
Why should I then forget
the Lord,
Whose love is ever nigh?
Dr. Wiersbe was witnessing to a college student who kept
talking about the universe to which he replied to the student “Why do you say ‘universe’
and not multiverse?” He goes on to say “But my question is a valid one. If there weren’t wisdom and order built into
the universe (what most people call ‘scientific laws’), the farmer couldn’t
expect a harvest, the astronomer couldn’t predict an eclipse, the scientist
couldn’t safely conduct an experiment, the pilot wouldn’t be able to fly his
plane, and nobody on earth would know from one moment to another what the stars
and planets would do next!”
Next we will see how God’s wisdom is seen in His
providential ordering of events, and not just for the nations, but also for
individuals. I remember listening to a
sermon by John MacArthur who said that he felt that God’s providential was even
more impressive than the miracles that He performed while Jesus was on
earth. The reason for this statement is
that God’s providential ordering of events goes on every second of every day
when you think of all the people that are on the earth and all the nations that
are on the earth and each of them God is ordering their events.
Pr. 21:30 “There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan that
can succeed against the LORD.” Job 12:13
“"To God belong wisdom and power; counsel and understanding are his.” Dr. Wiersbe explains what the word providence
means: “The English word ‘providence’
comes from two Latin words video, ‘to
see,’ and pro, ‘before.’ God in His wisdom ‘sees before,’ that is,
plans in advance and ‘sees to it’ that His will is accomplished.
“Providene doesn’t mean that God simply ‘foresees’ what
lies ahead and ‘adjusts’ Himself accordingly.
God alone knows and controls future events. The Baptist theologian Augustus Hipkins
Strong calls providence, ‘that continuous agency of God by which he makes all
the events of the physical and moral universe fulfill the original design with
which he created it.’ Without violating
man’s ability to choose, God ‘works all things according to the counsel of His
will’ (Eph. 1:11, NKJV) and rules and overrules in all things. ‘The Lord does whatever pleases Him, in the
heavens and on the earth, in the seas and all their depths (Ps. 135:6, NIV).”
One of the reasons that we have the book of Proverbs in
our Bibles is because God has a desire to share His wisdom with us. “6 For
the LORD gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding. 7 He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He
is a shield to those who walk in integrity (Pr. 2:6-7).” In 1 Cor. 1:24b we read “Christ the power of
God and the wisdom of God.” In order to
get a hold of God’s wisdom we must do it through Jesus Christ by accepting Him
as our Lord and Savior, for as we see in the above verse He is the power of God
and also the wisdom of God. 9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as
Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be
saved; 10 for with the heart a person
believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses,
resulting in salvation. 11 For the
Scripture says, "WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED.’
(Romans 10:9-11)
To the lost the message of salvation is foolish, but to
those who are saved it is the power of God “For the word of the cross is
foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the
power of God (1Cor. 1:18).” Once you
have trusted Christ as Your Savior and Lord you become a child of God “11 He came to His own, and those who were His
own did not receive Him. 12 But as many
as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to
those who believe in His name, 13 who
were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man,
but of God (John 1:11-13).” The next
step is to ask God to give you His wisdom in the ordering of your life “But if
any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and
without reproach, and it will be given to him.”
Pr. 15:33 states “The fear of the LORD is the instruction for wisdom,
And before honor comes humility.”
Believers are then to read the Word of God, to meditate upon it, to pray
to the Lord to direct your steps and that brings us again to Proverbs 3:5-6 “5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart And do
not lean on your own understanding. 6 In
all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight.” Becoming a believer in Jesus Christ may not
always be easy, but God will work all things out for our good and for His glory
as seen in Romans 8:28. Let us look at
Psalm 33:11 to see where the will of God comes from: “The counsel of the LORD stands forever, The
plans of His heart to all generations.”
They come from His heart.
Dr. Wiersbe writes “When you have decisions to make, take
time to pray and meditate on the Word.
Ask God to direct you and, if necessary, seek wise counsel from friends
who are mature in the faith. At the
start of each day, ask God to guide you in every decision you must make, big or
small; a wrong ‘small’ decision could lead to disturbing ‘big’ decisions. As you grow in the wisdom and knowledge of
God, and as you walk by faith, seeking to honor the Lord, you will increase in
spiritual discernment and live skillfully.”
Proverbs 4:18-19 “18
But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, That shines
brighter and brighter until the full day. 19
The way of the wicked is like darkness; They do not know over what they
stumble.”
Dr. Wiersbe concludes his commentary on the book of
Proverbs with a quote from A. W. Tozer’s book “The Knowledge of the Holy.” “With the goodness of God te desire our
highest welfare, the wisdom of God to plan it, and the power of God to achieve
it, what do we lack? Surely we are the
most favored of all creatures.”
Lord willing we will begin to look at the second chapter
of Daniel in tomorrow’s SD, and then proceed to begin looking at the book of
Ecclesiastes after that.
The study of the book of Proverbs has brought to my life
many wonderful things that I had no idea were in it. It has been a wonderful study, like all the
other book studies that I have done beginning back in the mid 1990’s. By God’s grace I desire to finish my study of
the entire Bible before the Lord comes for me.
Spiritual meaning
for my life today: Romans 11:33
states “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how
unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!” God’s wisdom and knowledge are rich and they
are available to me, as they are to all believers.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Continue to seek to know the Lord as I study
His Word each day, to know Him better and to live for Him in a way He desires
for me to live.
Memory verses for the
week: Psalms 32:7-9
7 You are my hiding place; Your preserve me from trouble;
You surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah. 8 I will instruct you and teach you in the
way which you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you. 9 Do not be like the horse or the mule which
have no understanding, whose trappings include bit and bridle to hold them in
check, otherwise they will not come near you.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
Question: “No” (Genesis 41:4)
Today’s Bible
Question: “What does the Spirit give?”
Answer in Tomorrow’s SD.
4/3/2013 8:53 AM
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