Pr. 27: Nothing for Granted

Proverbs 27:1 "Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth."

We can make all these plans, but who knows anything about tomorrow? So why brag about what you are planning, and how great things are going to be? That's different than having hope for the future. Hope is rarely specific.

It's annoying when people brag about themselves.

Verse 3 seems to elevate jealousy above anger and fury on the scale of stuff that's hard to withstand. Why is that? What makes jealousy so severe? Because anger and fury are born out of jealousy? Or is it vice-versa?

When someone has wronged you, don't they seem to fall all over themselves to "multiply kisses," to appear congenial to you? I mean, sometimes.

It is interesting the disparity in how appetizing the best food is when the belly is full and when it is empty. Too much of a good thing.

A loud blessing of your neighbor in the morning is taken as a curse? When you hear yelling outside in the morning, don't you want to curse? You assume someone is getting reamed out. And then you make assumptions that person did something to warrant that berating.

That quarrelsome wife being a constant dripping? Dripping is annoying man, and it just brings you down, because you're wasting water. What is that quarrelsome wife wasting?

Iron sharpening iron. I guess I get it. Is iron so special that it is the only element capable of such things?

Ps. 144: God Cares for Man

Psalm 144:15 "Blessed are the people of whom this is true; blessed are the people whose God is the LORD."

In the 144th Psalm, David asks a deeply theological question..."What is man that you should care for him? The son of man that you should think of him?" He recognizes his place in this world. In all the immortality and omnipotence he ascribes to God, David applies the inverse to himself. Why would God care for man, who lives for but an instant? I don't believe that David was asking for an answer to this question. He isn't really trying to understand why God is this way. He just revels in the fact that it is true. And this attitude is evidenced by the rest of the chapter.

David asks that God pour out the greatest of his blessings...of protection, of providence, of mercy. Look at all the things that God will do when his people trust him.

• Deliverence from foreigners
• Well-nurtured sons
• Beautiful daughters
• Barns full of provision
• Increase in sheep in the fields (so a place for those sheep to graze)
• Oxen drawing heavy loads (so...large harvest?)
• Unbreached walls
• Freedom
• No oppression.

It's a pretty good life, and it comes for the people who trust in the LORD.

Ps. 1: A Well-Rooted Tree

Psalm 1:1 "Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers."

The Psalms. I'm gonna be here a while. This continues the poetic form found in Job.

The first Psalm describes a man rooted in God's word. His "law." This type of man is blessed. God is said to prosper a person like this.

Someone who makes time for the word of God...well, not just makes time...someone who meditates on it day and night becomes permanent. Becomes well-rooted, refreshed, and strong. Who wouldn't want that? Mockers, sinners, the wicked...they are blow away like chaff. They don't have a leg to stand on when they come before counsel to be judged.

God appears to reward those (doesn't say how) who spend time in his word. Why? What happens when you dig into the Bible? You learn it. And if you believe it is the word of God, you learn God. If you learn God, you can get to know God, and walk in a relationship with him. Maybe that's the reward? Maybe that's how one prospers?

Dt. 33: Bless You Boys!

Deuteronomy 33:29 "Blessed are you, O Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by the LORD? He is your shield and helper and your glorious sword. Your enemies will cower before you, and you will trample down their high places."

Deuteronomy 33 is a blessing in poetic form of each of the tribes of Israel. Moses' famous last words, it would appear. He's winding down his life, as God has told him already that his death is near, and he would be gathered to his people. Death apparently takes a person to some other place.
Each tribe gets a slightly different blessing. Mostly they have to do with life.

Reuben - to live and not die.

Judah - that God would be his help against his foes

Levi - that God would bless his skills, for all Levi has done to advance God's precepts. To be pleased with the work of his hands (the priesthood), and strike down his foes.

Benjamin - to be shielded, and rest between the LORD's shoulders. I guess that means to carry
Benjamin on His back, literally.

Joseph (Ephraim and Manasseh) - bless his land with dew from above, and waters from below, from the sun and moon...the best that creation can give, essentially. A prince among his brothers is Joseph.

Zebulun - rejoice in going out

Issachar - rejoice in staying home. Both apparently will be blessed by offering sacrifices on the mountains, be good fisherman, and find treasures in the sand...find good in the extreme adversity?

Gad - An enlarged domain, the best land...for carrying out God's will.

Dan - A lion's cub, springing out of Bashan. Probably referring to the beatdown Israel administered to those kings in that area at the end of Numbers and beginning of Deuteronomy.

Naphtali - abounding with favor...thats an awesome blessing. He will inherit southward to the lake...Galilee?

Asher - will be strong, and rich (bathing his feet in oil).

These are all well and good, but I can't help but wonder if these are contingent on Israel keeping the covenant. All of the above are blessings...I wonder if they are just things Moses wishes for each, or if each will come to fruition? I have read the curses. I have read the blessings. And I have read what God has told Moses will happen to Israel.

Israel has God. The God. The God who is everywhere to help. The God who is a refuge...everlasting, and clearing away the enemy. Israel can choose this safety, this secure spring, where all good things are waiting for them. Will they be able to keep the covenant?