Consider Your Motivation

 

So You Think You're All That

 

Proverb of the Week

Do not put yourself forward in the king's presence or stand in the place of the great, for it is better to be told, “Come up here,” than to be put lower in the presence of a noble.  – Proverbs 25:6-7 (ESV)

In the book of Luke, Jesus tells a parable which mirrors this proverb.  He ends the parable with this warning: For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.  (Luke 14:11)

Just as the Pharisees loved the uppermost seats in the synagogues to be honored by men, and even Jesus’ disciples who at one point argued as to which of them would be greatest in the kingdom of heaven, one of the temptations that we are all subject to is thinking more highly of ourselves than we ought. On the contrary, we should be humble for as scripture says: What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?  (1 Corinthians 4:7)

No Reason For Envy

 

Proverb of the Week

Fret not yourself because of evildoers, and be not envious of the wicked, 

for the evil man has no future; the lamp of the wicked will be put out. 

                                                                  - Proverbs 24:19-20 (ESV)

 

David’s words of Psalm 37 are echoed here in this proverb, from which we might surmise that he too was subject to the temptation to not only fear those who do wicked things but to look on their wealth or accomplishments or fame with envy. Why we should avoid seeking after such worldly things is answered right here in the proverb: the evil man has no enduring future.

But how to avoid such worry and envy is answered in Psalm 37 where we are told that we are to trust in the LORD, delight in the LORD, commit ourselves to the LORD, and to rest in the LORD.

A Warning to the Wicked

 

Proverb of the Week

Lie not in wait as a wicked man against the dwelling of the righteous; do no violence to his home; for the righteous falls seven times and rises again, but the wicked stumble in times of calamity. - Proverbs 24:15-16 (ESV)

Given that Paul quotes a Psalm which points out that ““none is righteous, no, not one” we can understand that the righteous man spoken of here is one who is trusting Christ’s imputed righteousness rather than his own right actions.  

In this proverb we see a warning to the wicked that their efforts to cause the righteous to stumble will ultimately be unsuccessful, because they will persevere in their faith and their purposes which God has ordained. The wicked, on the other hand, are liable to fall and not recover from their fall into calamity or as it may also be translated, fall into adversity or evil.