Contemplative Bible Reading

Isaiah 11:3 (New Living Translation)

3 He will delight in obeying the Lord.
He will not judge by appearance
nor make a decision based on hearsay.

Most folks who study these things believe these verses from the prophet Isaiah are describing Jesus Christ. The prior verses tell us that the Spirit of the Lord will rest on this person. And that is the spirit of wisdom and understanding.

Note what this person will believe and use: NOT merely what is seen (appearance) and NOT what may be heard (hearsay). The person with the Spirit of the Lord will rely on more.

I believe this can be applied directly to what we call “deepfakes,” i.e., those made up videos that show people doing this and saying that. This and that were never done or said by the person, but it sure looks (appearance) and sounds (hearsay) like the person did and said them.

Life can be difficult today. We can certainly make life difficult today. There is so much video and audio and photographs everywhere all the time. Look at this, listen to that. Can you believe so-and-so would do and say this and that?

I believe the spirit of the Lord, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, provides me what I need to avoid all the this and that and other junk in our world. Let’s pause, breathe, pray, and look to God. Let’s keep our mouths shut and our social media commentaries quieted. God leads me when I get out of my own way. It is up to me to get out of my own way. Please God, help me to not judge by appearance and not decide based on hearsay.

Proverbs 10:19 (New Living Translation)

19 Too much talk leads to sin.
Be sensible and keep your mouth shut.

I have been writing this contemplation collection of thoughts for about 16 years as of this morning. I have struggled with contemplating the collection of Proverbs. Every phrase could be a contemplation. They could stand alone without comment—especially comment from me.

The Proverb above is yet another example. Be sensible and keep your mouth shut.

The King James Version is, “In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin: but he that refraineth his lips is wise.” Wow, that is one way to put it. It requires me to think a while, but there it is. The wise man “refraineth” his lips.

Now, does this apply to writers and writing words? I am afraid it doth, I mean does. Folks, believe it or not, I write a lot of words that I delete. I refraineth my keyboard now and then. Perhaps I should refrain more—much more that I do. Too much writing leads to sin. Please God, lead me.

Proverbs 10:17 (New Living Translation)

17 People who accept discipline are on the pathway to life,
but those who ignore correction will go astray.

One book that greatly influenced how I read the Bible and live as a Christian is “The Pilgrim’s Progress.”

Being a Christian is like walking on a pathway. There are several pathways to choose. Choose the pathway that Jesus Christ is walking. Walk so that I can see Jesus Christ. If I am on a different pathway, I cannot see Jesus Christ. Get back on the right pathway.

This little Proverb describes the pathway to life; it is there for those who accept discipline.

Of course “discipline” means different things to different people. I’ll use the definition that follows in the next phrase above—accepting correction.

Stop, wait, reconsider. You are on the wrong pathway, Dwayne. Change to the correct pathway, now.

Please God help me in my unbelief.

Jonah 4:7 (New Living Translation)

7 But God also arranged for a worm! The next morning at dawn the worm ate through the stem of the plant so that it withered away.

The story of Jonah is famous for??? The great fish or whale that swallowed Jonah. The fish was so great that Jonah lived inside it until it spit Jonah out on the shore. Wow! That fish was certainly big.

Now consider the little worm at the end of the story of Jonah. It was a worm, you know, one of those little things. This little worm bit the stalk of a leafy plant that was providing Jonah shade from the blistering sun.

Without the shade of the leafy plant, “the sun beat down on his head until he grew faint and wished to die.”

Okay, let’s back up a moment. Jonah was inside a great fish and prayed to God to be saved. Now Jonah wishes to die. Which creature sent by God caused Jonah to wish to die? The worm. The little worm. Uh, okay, makes sense, right?

Wrong. None of this story of Jonah makes any sense. Jonah the prophet goes in the opposite direction God told him to go. Jonah asked to be thrown into a stormy sea to a certain death. A great fish saves the life of Jonah. Jonah goes to an enemy city. The enemy city repents and turns to God. Jonah is mad that folks are worshiping God. Jonah wants to die because of a worm.

Enough contradictions and turning to the opposite path? The story isn’t believable.

But consider the worm. The lowest and lowliest of God’s creatures. It is the final straw that causes the prophet of God to wish to die. Consider the worm. Please God, don’t let a worm cause me to wish to die. Always help me to look on the glory of your creation and creatures and your grace.

Proverbs 1:15 (Christian Standard Bible)

15 my son, don’t travel that road with them
or set foot on their path,

The writer is encouraging the reader to avoid the path of all who make profit dishonestly. Those folks are greedy. They want profit so badly that they are trapped by the traps they lay for others.

Life is often simply a series of choices. I choose to go down this road, that road, or some other road. Sometimes I reject all the roads and set off across country. “Across country” is just another road. One that I choose to make, but I didn’t make it. Across country was already there. It was just another road I chose.

Sometimes I can step off the road I have chosen and step onto another road. Sometimes, however, changing roads isn’t possible. Well, I’ll backtrack to a point where I can get off this road.

Well, I can create an excuse or what sounds like an alternative to all these roads I can choose. That’s just me trying to be clever and outsmart the writer of this proverb. Silly me. That doesn’t work.

Choose the right road. God help me choose the right road. And God, please walk with me.

Isaiah 8:12-13 (New Living Translation)

12 “Don’t call everything a conspiracy, like they do,
and don’t live in dread of what frightens them.
13 Make the Lord of Heaven’s Armies holy in your life.
He is the one you should fear.
He is the one who should make you tremble.

This reads like it was written last weekend. Life is not filled with conspiracies no matter what TikBookGram or whatever tells me. Things are the way they are because people made them that way. There is more stupidity than evil intent. Perhaps.

God is of paramount importance. The rest of the stuff that fills social media? Don’t live in dread of that.

Fear God? Tremble in the presence of God? Yes. I don’t read this so much as, “you better watch out because God is gonna’ get ya’.” I read this as, “Pay attention to God.”

This does read like it was written last weekend. “This person said this. That person said that. Some group of people is doing some such thing! Let’s all panic!”

This reads like it was written every day in the history of mankind. Make Jehovah God holy in our lives. Look to God, not to InstaFaceTok or whatever is the most important place in the world this weekend. God is constant. This other stuff is just fluff that blows around this way and that. Children are frightened by the wind. Adults are not.

Isaiah 4:1 (New Living Translation)

1 In that day so few men will be left that seven women will fight for each man, saying, “Let us all marry you! We will provide our own food and clothing. Only let us take your name so we won’t be mocked as old maids.”

We don’t use the phrase “old maid” anymore. We’ve gone beyond childish mocking, I guess. The prophet Isaiah is telling God’s people about a bad time that is coming. The men will go to war in the army and be killed. Six-sevenths of the men will be killed. Losses like that are unprecedented. Losses like that devastate a society.

Seven women will fight over one man who remains from the war. Polygamy was allowed, so the seven woman would happily share the one husband.

No, that would not be a good situation for anyone involved. That, however, is how bad the punishment from God would be. Everyone would prefer this awful situation instead of the alternative. If a woman had no husband and no children, the second half of her life would be awful. She would sit on a street corner and beg for a sip of water, a crumb of bread, and a rag to shelter her from the elements.

Life without God is awful. The bad part is there is no hope for the future. Things will not be better some day. Life without God is awful. Thank you God for creating a life for me where someone pointed me towards you and told me to choose.

Psalm 3:7-8 (New Living Translation)

7 Arise, O Lord!
Rescue me, my God!
Slap all my enemies in the face!
Shatter the teeth of the wicked!
8 Victory comes from you, O Lord.
May you bless your people.

These words are from David. He is fleeing from his son Absalom in a short but cruel civil war. David asks God for relief from his enemies.

David asks that God shatters the teeth of his enemies. Ouch. That hurts and in the days without all this dentistry we have today, it hurts everyday the rest of your life. Yet, here it is, David asking God to hurt his enemies and have them suffer everyday of their lives. Uh, kind of cruel, huh? I mean, where is some compassion and forgiveness?

David knew about compassion and forgiveness. He had exercised those godly qualities many times in his life, but not now. Now David wanted revenge. A man after God’s own heart wanted God to shatter the teeth of his enemies.

I am not hurting as David was hurting in those days. I am not as tired as David was in those days. Yet, there are days when I want other folks to suffer and … well, let’s not mention all that. Why do we (at least David and I) wish such suffering on other people? We are an odd lot. God, however, still loves us and forgives us. How does God tolerate me? Thank you God. Please help me in my unbelief.

2 Chronicles 24:23-24 (New Living Translation)

23 In the spring of the year the Aramean army marched against Joash. They invaded Judah and Jerusalem and killed all the leaders of the nation. Then they sent all the plunder back to their king in Damascus. 24 Although the Arameans attacked with only a small army, the Lord helped them conquer the much larger army of Judah. The people of Judah had abandoned the Lord, the God of their ancestors, so judgment was carried out against Joash.

The judgement of God can be a terrible thing. Here we have King Joash of Judah. A small army of Arameans attacked Judah. The kingdom of Judah had a much larger army and was on the defensive. Military experts state that the offensive army needs a three-to-one advantage or some such thing.

Yet, here we have it. A small offensive army defeats a large defensive army. How? God intervened. God allowed the small offensive army to succeed, defeat the large defensive army, and carry off the plunder.

God helped the Aramean army defeat the army of God’s people. This is all backwards or something, right? Nope. This was the judgment of God carried out against King Joash.

The judgment of God can be a terrible thing. Please God, help me in my unbelief.

Esther 3:5-6 (New Living Translation)

5 When Haman saw that Mordecai would not bow down or show him respect, he was filled with rage. 6 He had learned of Mordecai’s nationality, so he decided it was not enough to lay hands on Mordecai alone. Instead, he looked for a way to destroy all the Jews throughout the entire empire of Xerxes.

Here we have Mordecai—a good and righteous Jew. We also have Haman—an evil person who sought power no matter how many other people died under his ambitious feet.

Haman despised Mordecai and the things that Mordecai did. Haman sought to kill Mordecai because of those things. In addition, Haman sought to kill all the Jews, i.e., all those in the same ethnic group of Mordecai.

First, Haman is evil with murder on his mind. That is wrong. Also consider that all the Jews were threatened with death because of Mordecai’s actions and Haman’s reactions.

Was it right for Mordecai to act in a way that brought the threat of death to all Jews?

Why is it that no one pulled Mordecai aside and said, “Hey, buddy. Tone it down a bit. You aren’t the only Jew here. If you rile up this Haman fellow, we are all in trouble.”

Tough question. Of course it is right to be righteous. What if, however, being righteous brings death and destruction to others?

These philosophical questions are beyond me—at least they are beyond my thoughts on this morning as I type these words. My thoughts go to Matthew 10:16 where Jesus told followers,

Look, I am sending you out as sheep among wolves. So be as shrewd as snakes and harmless as doves.

Please God, give me the wisdom to be righteous and be righteous in a way that blesses instead of poisons.