Prayer is a Two-way Conversation

“Thou hast proved mine heart; thou hast visited [me] in the night; thou hast tried me, [and] shalt find nothing; I am purposed [that] my mouth shall not transgress.” (Ps 17:3 AV)

I don’t think David is speaking of perfection here.  Surely, as a depraved and sinful man, there was still sin in his heart.  I am sure he had to confess and forsake, seeking God’s forgiveness before his prayer could continue.  David is not claiming sinlessness.  Rather, I think what David is claiming is sincerity, truth, and purity in his prayer.  He is not claiming the purity of the substance of his heart.  This proving and visiting are what I am most interested in.  Finding nothing is also important.  What I see here is honesty in prayer.  This statement is a great illustration of the give and take that happens in genuine prayer.  Sometimes we approach prayer as a one-sided conversation.  We see it as a project or task.  We have our list. We have our sins to confess.  We have many things on our minds that have to be brought to the throne of God.  And that might be the case.  However, prayer is not one-sided.  I think if we stopped and paused long enough to listen to the Spirit’s input, our prayer life might just blossom into something far more intimate.

Who hasn’t had times of vulnerability with a parent or other mentor?  A time when patience and concern were the key elements in the conversation.  A time when there was give and take.  A time when honesty and openness were the character of the words you used.  A time like this requires trust.  When the heart is laid open, there has to be a trust that the one to whom it is opened will not take advantage of your vulnerability.  I remember a few conversations with a baseball coach, a scoutmaster, and a schoolteacher.  One of my most memorable ones was with my high school photography teacher.  My dad had a darkroom, so I was very familiar with the process.  It made photography class rather easy.  The teacher asked me to be the student who took the lead in managing the classroom.  It was my job to clean the room and set up the darkroom.  It also had the privilege of working with equipment that other students were not.  There were several afternoons I spent in the darkroom and with my teacher learning new skills or talking about life.  It was my senior year, and I had just moved from my hometown.  I lived there all my life, and my senior year was a very lonely one.  This teacher and I spent many hours talking about life.  He was an elderly man and was retiring after my senior year.  You could say that I was his last class pet.  There were things I could tell him that I could never tell my father.  But he never used that information to manipulate or misguide me.  He spent those hours listening and asking questions.  If it weren’t for the give and take of those darkroom sessions, I may not have made it my senior year.  In some way, he may have contributed to my finding Jesus and saving my life.

Prayer with God is not a rote exercise of naming off things we think we need.  Prayer with God is not merely speaking so we can be heard.  It is a conversation between two beings.  It is a two-way conversation.  To our detriment, we often speak of the word of God as the voice of God by which He speaks.  That certainly is absolutely true.  But His word is not the only way by which He communicates.  The Bible tells us that the Spirit of God bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God.  How does He do that?  Only through the written word?  The psalmist says that God knows there is no sin in his prayer.  How does David know that God knows that?  How does this searching happen?  The Spirit must bear witness with our spirit.  This means there is communication that goes on.  Not an audible voice.  It is not something someone else hears with us.  Rather, it is the opening of the heart and conscience to divine input.  It is the thinking and meditating on what the divine voice would tell us.  I have to say, when the Spirit does this, often there are chuckles that ebb forth.  Sometimes in the process of prayer, I have words, but I know the words are not accurate or truthful.  So, I stop and ask the Spirit to frame them better.  Prayer is not one-sided.  It is a dual conversation between two beings.  Our prayer lives would be vastly different if exercised our prayer lives in just that way.

Elephants and People May Never Forget

“And now thy two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, which were born unto thee in the land of Egypt before I came unto thee into Egypt, [are] mine; as Reuben and Simeon, they shall be mine.” (Ge 48:5 AV)

Reuben and Simeon fell out of grace with their father.  Reuben slept with Jacob’s concubine, and Simeon slaughtered the men of Shechem without his father’s permission.  Reuben was Jacob’s firstborn and would normally take the place as the head of the family.  Because of his sin, he lost that to Joseph.  Now, Joseph’s son Ephraim would assume that role.  Jacob’s words are intended to replace Reuben and Simeon with Ephraim and Manasseh.  Reuben and Simeon were not replaced as tribes in Israel.  The twelve tribes that inherited land did not include Levi.  When Jacob states that Ephraim and Manasseh would be as Reuben and Simeon, he was not disinheriting the latter two.  Rather, in function, Ephraim and Manasseh would replace Simeon and Reuben.  Ephraim, who replaces Reuben, would be that tribe from which the majority of judges were taken.  Reuben lost the privilege as the firstborn because of his sin, and another took his place.

Something to consider here is that Judah was blessed by his father, Jacob, as the lawgiver.  It would be through Judah that David and his descendants would rule.  It is through Judah that Jesus Christ was born.  So, the judgment on Reuben and Ephraim’s consequence rise was the doing of Jacob.  God may have honored it in the short term, but the transference of leadership from Reuben to Ephraim was temporary at best.  In fact, in doing so, Jacob occasioned the underpinnings of civil unrest within the nation for hundreds of generations.  There was never complete unity between Ephraim and Judah.  The ten northern tribes and the two southern tribes were never completely on the same page.  We see this from the book of judges until the carrying away of Israel to Assyria and Babylon.  Jacob’s reaction to his eldest son’s sin inadvertently led to the separation of the north from the south.  We have to be careful in assuming that Jacob’s actions regarding the history of Israel were the perfect and trouble-free will of a sovereign God.  God may have used the decisions of Jacob, but using his actions and endorsing them as purely holy are two separate things.

People hold grudges.  And those grudges can result in equally poor decisions.  Jacob may have chosen Ephraim and Manasseh as replacements for Reuben and Simeon, but that doesn’t mean God approved of it.  Simeon and Levi avenged their sister Dinah.  The prince of Shechem laid with Dinah without marrying her.  They were offended and killed all the adult males among them.  As they should have.  But Jacob was too scared of the repercussions upon his family and rebuked his two sons.  They did the right thing, and Jacob never forgot it.  Holding a grudge against his two sons who showed initiative in defending his daughter, should have been lauded and not resented.  What we learn from Jacob’s blessing of Ephraim and Manasseh is that people do not forget.  God may forgive, but people may not.  Unfortunately, this also means consequences from poor decisions may not be God’s judgement upon them, but man’s opinion of them.  Yes, Reuben should have been replaced as the leader.  He could not control his flesh.  So, why would he be allowed to control a nation?  Simeon, on the other hand, was a man of passion and justice.  There was no cause for his loss of importance.

Love Beyond Death

“And we said unto my lord, The lad cannot leave his father: for [if] he should leave his father, [his father] would die.” (Ge 44:22 AV)

These words are spoken by Judah to Joseph as they barter for Benjamin.  I don’t think this is an exaggeration.  Joseph and Benjamin are full brothers.  As far as Jacob knows, Joseph is dead.  The only son he has by Rachel is Benjamin.  Having lost one son, Judah’s argument is that Jacob would not survive the news that Benjamin had been taken as well.  As I read this, I could help but be moved by the depth of love Jacob had for Benjamin.  For a father to lose his son and it affect him so deeply as to wish to die is not shallow love by any means.  This love is a depth of love experienced by few.

This brings me back to the deepest sorrow I would ever feel.  I have lost both parents, a brother, and many friends.  But the deepest sense of loss I ever felt was when my son left for the foreign mission field.  It had come when my mother and my organ player (who was a dear friend and confidant) both passed away.  So, the sense of loss was rather raw and deep.  Three months after my mother passed and two months after my organist and good friend died, my son left the country for a new life.  I had never wept as deep and hard as I did that night.  It never occurred to me that we could video call and that he and my grandkids would be back in about four years.  I wept as if I had buried the entire family.  It was so deep and raw that muscle aches continued for days.  I saw how much it affected my father when my brother was killed.  I had never seen him weep so deeply before or since then.  I cannot imagine what it would be like to lose a child.  Life is not supposed to work that way.  When I think of Jacob and Benjamin, this is what I think of.  Jacob would have missed Benjamin so much that it would literally kill him.

Then the Spirit reminded me of the love of the Father toward us.  Jacob could only love Joseph and Benjamin inasmuch as his life was within him.  He had limits.  If he tried more than he could possibly give, it would kill him.  Yet the Father is eternal and infinite.  If Jacob could love his son unto death, God can and does love us infinitely more.  Because we are finite beings with a beginning and a measured existence, we cannot possibly fathom eternity or infinity.  Therefore, the love by which God loves us is far deeper than any human love could ever be.  As much as it would pain Jacob to lose his son, so much the more for an infinite being.  God cannot die.  But He can feel.  To lose even one human soul would be indescribably painful.  To lose the fellowship of a backsliding child would be excruciating.  God loves us infinitely.  Which means He also feels loss equally deeply.  That is how much God loves you.  He loves you with an infinite love, which cannot be measured or understood.  Oh, what love!

Attitude of the Mind

“This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind,” (Eph 4:17 AV)

“And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;” (Eph 4:23 AV)

The vanity of the mind and the spirit of your mind.  The first requires the second.  Vanity of the mind is easy to define and understand.  When something is vain is it profitless.  It is pointless.  Being so often leads to harm.  Therefore, using the mind or being entertained in the mind to no constructive purpose would be a vanity of mind.  But what of the spirit of your mind?  Looking at Strong’s numbers for the word ‘spirit’ is not exactly helpful.  The word used for ‘spirit’ has wide variety of meanings.  It means everything from the Holy Spirit to that which gives animation to the body.  And everything in between.  However, Strong’s Numbers dictionary gives a few of which one has a particular application here.  It means the disposition of the mind.  Strong’s Dictionary runs the whole phrase together to define the word ‘spirit’.  This would agree with, “For to be carnally minded [is] death; but to be spiritually minded [is] life and peace.” (Ro 8:6 AV) Although Paul gives one example of renewing the spirit of the mind, it gives us a general sense of what it means to renew the spirit of the mind as opposed to merely the mind.

When we think of the mind, often we limit it to the ideas or the information that the mind entertains.  Facts, images, ideas, etc are usually what we associate with our minds.  What we do not tend to associate with our minds is our disposition or attitude.  Bias and the condition of the heart have a lot to do with what we choose to think on.  Vanity, spirit, and spiritually are adjectives describing the condition of the mind, or for what one is using it.  Or both.  But it is the spirit of the mind that intrigues me.

I had a great annual physical.  Diabetes runs in my family, so I have been watching my sugar and carbohydrate intake.  At first, I was strictly Keto.  Then came the holidays.  I thought my A1Cs were going to be unacceptable.  However, they dropped from a year ago.  GLORY!  All good news except for one number.  My cholesterol was trending in the wrong direction.  Too many eggs for breakfast, I guess.  One thing that helps good cholesterol is exercise.  Approaching my senior years, that is not a simple thing to do.  When your joints ache and your feet hurt, the last thing you want to do is walk two miles a day.  The disposition of my body was to stay still and enjoy very little pain.  However, if my doctor is watching those numbers and will give me a hard time because of it, then I had better change the spirit of my body and push on through.  The body does what the heart desires.

The same is true of the mind.  To renew the spirit of the mind means to reset the mind to a disposition that pleases God and helps us grow.  What we choose to take in, dwell on, or meditate upon must change.  Even if at first it is boring or a lot of work.  As many of you know, I have taken up German.  I am of German descent, and I have a son who is a missionary in a place where many speak the language.  I wanted to learn to surprise him and to know that I care about his mission field.  We visited this past spring, and the likelihood of returning there becomes slimmer as time passes, but I still hack away at German.  Why?  I need my mind to exercise it in constructive things.  Learning something new is a way to keep the mind young, elastic, and interested.  The spirit of the mind is renewed.  The same is true of reading good Christian material.  At my age, there isn’t much I haven’t heard or learned.  Generally speaking, that is.  So, I read more inspirational material or historical material to keep the mind alive.  Renewing the spirit of the mind is not merely taking in more information.  Renewing the spirit of the mind is readjusting and refocusing the mind on what pleases God and edifies the soul.  Our minds are the gateway into the rest of life.  If we do not care for it, we will lose it.  Perhaps changing the disposition of the mind will help the mind think on edifying things.

The Law of the Wise

“The law of the wise [is] a fountain of life, to depart from the snares of death.” (Pr 13:14 AV)

Isn’t that interesting?  The law is called ‘the law of the wise’ and not merely the law.  Several ideas here.  The law, as coming only from God, would be wise in nature.  The wise of heart would seek out the law of God.  Therefore, the law is not arbitrary.  It is not subjective.  The law is not a living idea.  It is concrete and absolute.  It becomes the law of the wise because the wise desire to know and follow it.  That is why they are wise.  Note the motive for the wise internalizing the law.  It is to depart from the snares of death.  This brings me to the point for this morning.  The law is ineffective unless the wise live by it.  The law existed before God created anything.  Over time, It was revealed to mankind.  But the word of God is eternal.  God does not need the law.  He is the law.  He does not need the law to discipline His choices or be judged if He fails to apply them.  He cannot sin.  He has no nature that can break His law because His law is Him.  It would be a contradiction.  Therefore, the law is for those who need it.  That would be created beings.  The angels, mankind, and even the animal and plant kingdoms need law.  The wise are those who take the law of God and make it their own.

The phrase ‘law of the wise’ reminds me of a phrase that would occur in some story involving a mystic source of knowledge that is reserved for the most learned or noble of seekers.  Perhaps a knight on a quest or a riddle that needs solving before passage is granted; the phrase reminds me of something that would evade most.  The ‘law of the wise’ sounds like something Hollywood would use to indicate some source knowledge existing beyond the reach of all but one.  There have been plenty of storylines around that theme.  From The Raiders of the Lost Ark to Star Trek, it seems there is one puzzle-solving hero who can figure out all the clues and solve a grand mystery the world has never solved.  The phrase does not seem like something available to all.  But the law of God is not so.  It is available to all who wish it.  It is not a mystery inside of an enigma.  It is not some series of nonsensical source code that needs a cipher.  The law of the wise is the law of the wise because the wise are wise.

The law remains dormant and unprofitable if it is not learned and applied.  A stop sign at an intersection is pointless if there are no vehicles that use it.  Thou shalt not kill would not apply if God had not created mankind.  The law exists.  The law is ineffective unless there are wise creatures willing to make it their own.  We often look at law as a bad thing.  But according to Solomon, we have two choices.  We can either chose the fountain of life or the snare of death.  There is no middle ground.  We can either stop at the stop sign and proceed safely.  Or we can ignore it and suffer an accident.  We are traveling down the road of life.  We have no choice in that matter.  The sign exists.  We have no power to remove it.  We either stop and live, or we ignore it and die.  The law remains.  Therefore, the wise will make the law their own law.  It will be a part of who they are and what they do.  It will be the defining trait of their character.  The law of the wise is from eternity, and it is the law of the wise because the wise have accepted it as their law.

The Way We Go Matters

“The righteous [is] more excellent than his neighbour: but the way of the wicked seduceth them.” (Pr 12:26 AV)

This proverb can be taken slightly different in two ways.  First, the righteous, with the intention of teaching and guiding the wicked, is more excellent in his choices than the wicked neighbors by which he dwells.  The first way in which it could be understood is the general futility of trying to affect the world around you because the world around you is naturally bent toward sin.  The second manner is which it is understood is a matter of simple observation.  The righteous are righteous because they are not wicked.  They walk excellently as compared to the wicked.  The wicked are so because they walk in such a way that their way is a seduction into wickedness.  Either way, Solomon intends to make a distinction between those who walk excellently and those who do not.  Those who do not are seduced into sin because of their pattern of life.  Those who are righteous are so because they are habitually excellent.  It is ‘the way’ that is the problem.  Because they are neighbors, both the excellent way and ‘the way’ that seduces are equally available to either the righteous or the wicked.  The righteous are in close proximity to the way of the wicked and vice versa.  ‘The way’ in which they choose to go determines righteousness or wickedness.

My wife and I have visited come interesting and quaint places over the years.  I don’t remember everything, but I remember little things.  Many years ago, we were in a mall that had cobblestone floors.  The theme was an olde world theme.  The storefronts looked like they could be in a centuries old European village.  We were doing some window shopping, and an aroma caught our senses.  Not knowing exactly what it was, we decided we would make our way to where it was coming from.  Along the way, we went into several stores and browsed around.  As we worked our way through the ‘streets’, the aroma was getting stronger and stronger.  It was also becoming more refined.  We could pick out distinct aromas that didn’t normally go together. We could smell cooking beef, pizza, and funnel cakes.  Because we were on a tight budget, we knew that eating at this mall was not going to happen, but the smells were alluring.  Even though we could smell these distinct aromas, there was still one that was overpowering and attracting.  We could smell coffee.  But that wasn’t it.  We could smell the roasting nuts, but that wasn’t it either.  Not in a rush to find out what it was, we continued to inch our way toward that delectable smell.  We ducked into a purse store.  Then, a stationery store.  Eventually we found the source and nature of the aroma.  It was coming from a confectionary store of high-end chocolates.  Knowing the sugar high would give me a headache, I should have passed.  But alas, I was seduced.  Why?  Because I was in a place to be seduced.

I think a good portion of sin could be avoided if we simply chose to be in a different place or doing something different.  Where we allow ourselves to be or what we allow ourselves to be doing plays a large part in whether we make righteous choices or wicked ones.  If we know that a particular type of entertainment is more likely to contain images or ideas that will lead us to sinful thoughts or actions, we should probably forego watching it in the first place.  If we know that an app or website may contain advertisements that might stir in us wrong thoughts or desires, it is probably wise to avoid it.  The word excellent doesn’t mean merely better than an alternative.  Excellent means without error or even the potential of it.  Excellent means containing no impurities.  The righteous choose to avoid the common, profane, or potentially impure.  The way is excellent because they choose the best.  So, too, should the child of God.  He should choose the excellent way.  Not the acceptable way.

Unfaithful in Word, Unfaithful in Much

“A talebearer revealeth secrets: but he that is of a faithful spirit concealeth the matter.” (Pr 11:13 AV)

It would seem Solomon is telling us that a gossip cannot be trusted with much.  If he is unfaithful in keeping secrets, then he will be unfaithful is other areas.  If he has little discretion with the facts or details of the lives of others, where would his wisdom lie?  Those who have tamed the tongue, so says James, have tamed the whole body.  If confidentiality is honored, then the discipline to perform other duties is present.  Keeping in trust the private lives of others is a character trait for those who do all things well.

If someone is busy talebearing, they are probably not busy doing more constructive things.  If secrets are his industry, other tasks will go undone.  Have you ever watched nature?  It is fascinating.  Squirrels are interesting.  They often busy themselves in verbal jousting.  They sit in the crock of a tree, or hanging upside down on a trunk, or on a eave of a rooftop chirping away.  Their little tails will twitch with each chirp.  When they are sparring, little verbal input is offered.  However, once they stop sparring, a conversation can ensue.  Squirrels are known for gathering and burying food for the winter.  They will often take an acorn or walnut and bury it on the forest floor.  They have nests in trees, and they gather food for the winter.  They are very busy animals.  Yet when they chirp, all that industry stops.  There are no gathering of nuts.  There is no building of nests.  There is no burying food for the winter.  All they need to do to survive ceases for a moment.  They are too busy verbalizing to tend to more important duties.

So it is with the talebearer.  He cannot be trusted because he is not faithful.  He cannot be given important tasks because he is too busy sharing information to no end.  The talebearer cannot be entrusted with information.  So why trust him with anything more?  Being a gossip is more harmful than the words used to inflict harm on another.  It harms the one sharing the news.  He or she will be seen as someone who is unreliable.  He or she cannot be trusted.  They cannot put aside their own agendas for the sake of something much bigger.  If a person is unfaithful in information, he will be unfaithful in duties of life.