Proverb A Day, Proverb 3 [Prayer and Meditation]

NKJV Bible ^ | 900 B.C. | Solomon

[OneVike]

Proverb 3 (NKJV)

Guidance for the Young

01 My son, do not forget my law,
00 But let your heart keep my commands;
02 For length of days and long life
00 And peace they will add to you.

03 Let not mercy and truth forsake you;
00 Bind them around your neck,
00 Write them on the tablet of your heart,
04 And so find favor and high esteem
00 In the sight of God and man.

05 Trust in the LORD with all your heart,
00 And lean not on your own understanding;
06 In all your ways acknowledge Him,
00 And He shall direct your paths.

07 Do not be wise in your own eyes;
00 Fear the LORD and depart from evil.
08 It will be health to your flesh,
00 And strength to your bones.

09 Honor the LORD with your possessions,
00 And with the firstfruits of all your increase;
10 So your barns will be filled with plenty,
00 And your vats will overflow with new wine.

11 My son, do not despise the chastening of the LORD,
00 Nor detest His correction;
12 For whom the LORD loves He corrects,
00 Just as a father the son in whom he delights.

13 Happy is the man who finds wisdom,
00 And the man who gains understanding;
14 For her proceeds are better than the profits of silver,
00 And her gain than fine gold.
15 She is more precious than rubies,
00 And all the things you may desire cannot compare with her.
16 Length of days is in her right hand,
00 In her left hand riches and honor.
17 Her ways are ways of pleasantness,
00 And all her paths are peace.
18 She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her,
00 And happy are all who retain her.

19 The LORD by wisdom founded the earth;
00 By understanding He established the heavens;
20 By His knowledge the depths were broken up,
00 And clouds drop down the dew.

21 My son, let them not depart from your eyes--
00 Keep sound wisdom and discretion;
22 So they will be life to your soul
00 And grace to your neck.
23 Then you will walk safely in your way,
00 And your foot will not stumble.
24 When you lie down, you will not be afraid;
00 Yes, you will lie down and your sleep will be sweet.
25 Do not be afraid of sudden terror,
00 Nor of trouble from the wicked when it comes;
26 For the LORD will be your confidence,
00 And will keep your foot from being caught.

27 Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due,
00 When it is in the power of your hand to do so.
28 Do not say to your neighbor,
00 "Go, and come back,
00 And tomorrow I will give it,"
00 When you have it with you.
29 Do not devise evil against your neighbor,
00 For he dwells by you for safety's sake.
30 Do not strive with a man without cause,
00 If he has done you no harm.

31 Do not envy the oppressor,
00 And choose none of his ways;
32 For the perverse person is an abomination to the LORD,
00 But His secret counsel is with the upright.
33 The curse of the LORD is on the house of the wicked,
00 But He blesses the home of the just.
34 Surely He scorns the scornful,
00 But gives grace to the humble.
35 The wise shall inherit glory,
00 But shame shall be the legacy of fools.

[OneVike]

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[Silentgypsy]

Thank you.

[Bob434]

If I regard iniquity in my heart- the Lord will not hear. What does it mean to regard iniquity? Does it mean sinning over and over again and not taking those particular sins seriously by striving to overcome them? Many of us have certain sins we're just not willing to take seriously- we may 'ask for forgiveness' but if we're to be honest, we don't really mean it- because we easily go right back to the same sins. We don't truly repent- to repent means to 'have a change of mind about something'. In otherwords, repent means to view sin as seriously as God does, to confess it seriously, and to turn from such sin. What exactly does it mean to 'regard iniquity'? This is perhaps the single most important issue to understand, becaUSE if we do regard iniquity, God simply refuses to hear our prayers, and we basically lose our communication with Him. I don't know the answer- Like Adrian said- 'people do what they want to do' - in other words, many of us are carnally minded, which leads to spiritual death. We desire to satisfy the flesh- the carnal mind, instead of desiring to obey God because that is too much work- and 'costs too much'- Is this what it means ot 'regard iniquity'? To care more about satisfying the flesh than we do about serving God? I suspect it does- and if so- then God does not hear us=- and we become spiritually dead (Not that we lose salvation- but we lose our communion with God)

[Bob434]

If I regard iniquity in my heart- the Lord will not hear. What does it mean to regard iniquity? Does it mean sinning over and over again and not taking those particular sins seriously by striving to overcome them? Many of us have certain sins we're just not willing to take seriously- we may 'ask for forgiveness' but if we're to be honest, we don't really mean it- because we easily go right back to the same sins. We don't truly repent- to repent means to 'have a change of mind about something'. In otherwords, repent means to view sin as seriously as God does, to confess it seriously, and to turn from such sin. What exactly does it mean to 'regard iniquity'? This is perhaps the single most important issue to understand, becaUSE if we do regard iniquity, God simply refuses to hear our prayers, and we basically lose our communication with Him. I don't know the answer- Like Adrian said- 'people do what they want to do' - in other words, many of us are carnally minded, which leads to spiritual death. We desire to satisfy the flesh- the carnal mind, instead of desiring to obey God because that is too much work- and 'costs too much'- Is this what it means ot 'regard iniquity'? To care more about satisfying the flesh than we do about serving God? I suspect it does- and if so- then God does not hear us=- and we become spiritually dead (Not that we lose salvation- but we lose our communion with God)

[NEWwoman]

19 The LORD by wisdom founded the earth;
00 By understanding He established the heavens;
20 By His knowledge the depths were broken up,
00 And clouds drop down the dew.

Yeah-Science!

[OneVike]

Sorry Bob, but I was not been on FR all day yesterday after I posted my Proverb. I just noticed your comment and question this morning.

You seem to almost answer the question yourself.

One thing you may not realize about the statement in this Psalm 66;

If I regard iniquity in my heart, The Lord will not hear. (66:18)

Is that David is speaking of the sins of the heart. The unspoken sins that we all battle with. A sin that Jesus eluded to in Matthew 5 where in His famous Sermon on the Mount where he points out that both murder and adultery in the heart are just as sinful as if you did them for real.

The Pharisees were famous for their hypocrisy as you know. They would do things to be recognized by men for their praise, while ignoring the fact that god could read their hearts. So they would go to God expecting their show in public of their good deeds and open righteousness to be accepted by God.

Yet God read their hearts, and thus Jesus called them whitewashed tombs. Thus when they gave offerings at the Temple and came to God in prayer, they believed their actions in public were enough for God as it was for men who could not read their hearts. However, like the bodies in the tombs were dead, so to were their hearts, and God rejected their offerings and their prayers fell a deaf ear.

So when you take the whole purpose of Psalm 66 into context you see in verse 13 he sets up that portion by starting with;

I will go into Your house with burnt offerings;
I will pay You my vows. (66:13)

He is going to God with an offering, an action that is taken when one is asking for forgiveness or when one is thankful for a blessing. In this case he says,

If I regard iniquity in my heart, The Lord will not hear. (66:18)

In this case David understands that God can read the hearts of men, and unless he is honest and asks forgiveness for his unspoken sins that lay in his heart, his offering and his presence before God is useless, and God would reject his prayer and him. Something the Pharisees and Sadducee's, in their arrogance and self righteousness, refused to see. So God not only rejected their offerings and prayers, but He also rejected them.

In the sermon on the Mount, Jesus corrected that error about the matters of the heart. A lesson we needed lest we, like the Pharisees and Sadducees, would be lost eternally. It is of utmost importance that we are honest with God at all times.

I pray my response was of assistance. God bless you brother.

[Bob434]

thanks- well, when we don’t deal with ‘small’ things like anger- jealousy, inaction, callousness, gossip, etc- that seems to me as though we ‘regard iniquity in our hearts’- the fact that we keep committing them over and over show that we aren’t really serious about abandoning them- we essentially value them more than we do obedience it seems- It seems we are always in a state of regarding iniquity in our hearts-

[OneVike]

Amen