Women, Hear the Word of the LORD

Posted on October 5, 2023 by Carmen

Yet hear the word of the LORD, O women,
And let your ear receive the word of His mouth;
Teach your daughters wailing,
And everyone her neighbor a lamentation.

(Jeremiah 9:20)

LORD Jesus, we praise You for guiding us in Your Word. Forgive us, O God, we pray, whenever we fail to see Your mighty power and ability to change things for the good. Give us ears to hear and eyes to see what You are telling us through Your Word. Make us diligent readers and students of the Bible. Help us, O LORD, and let us have hearts that love You and keep your command. In Jesus’ precious name we pray. Amen.

Today’s verse is found in a chapter that is quite sad and challenging. Jeremiah 9 talks about sin and the judgment of it. God is holy. Therefore He cannot ignore sin. Not one of us will be able to hide from the God who can see and hear all things. That is why we must be born again (John 3). It is crucial for where we will spend eternity.

Today’s verse is talking to the women, and while reading it, I wondered, What is this all about? So I did a little research in a commentary. Matthew Henry writes to,

let the women hear it, whose tender spirits are apt to receive the impressions of grief and fear, for the men will not heed it, will not give it a patient hearing. … Let the women teach their daughters wailing; this intimates that the trouble shall last long, grief shall be entailed upon the generation to come.

He goes on to explain that young people (including young women) love excitement, expect it, and are somewhat airy about it. And therefore

let the elder women teach the younger to be serious, tell them what a vale of tears they must expect to find this world, and train them up among the mourners in Zion,

Matthew Henry says.

We, younger and older women alike, need to hear the Word of the LORD, and we need to encourage one another to trust and obey what God says. The older women have to teach the younger women to take life more seriously. On the other side, the younger women are able to show the older women that life on earth does not need to be as dark and depressing as it often appears.

Hear the Word of the LORD today.

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The Fear of the LORD

Posted on September 28, 2023 by Carmen

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge,
But fools despise wisdom and instruction.

(Proverbs 1:7)

LORD Jesus, we praise You, for You are the Word of God the Father. Forgive us, O God, we pray, whenever we seek counsel and instruction outside Your wisdom. Fill us with the knowledge of Your will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding. Guide us, precious LORD, so that we may seek, hear, trust, and obey Your Word today. In Jesus’ mighty name, we pray.

In a short devotional, Matthew Henry writes that,

We must pray for the fear of God.

You find yourself in a dilemma. You have to make a choice, and it has to happen soon, very soon, but you are afraid to make the wrong one. What are you going to do? Cast lots, or boldly choose one way or the other? Will you seek the counsel that comes from the Word of God, or will you limit wisdom to yourself and others?

We seek to know what exactly it is that we need to do in certain situations, do we not? We long for answers, especially whenever things are at stake, like our reputation, our family, our home, our health or our wealth.

Where can you begin to find knowledge about right and wrong? What kind of instructions can be translated into practice? Whose wisdom can work things out for your good? Do you know the answers?

Let’s read today’s verse again and fill in the blanks:

What is the beginning of knowledge?

___ ____ __ ___ ____ is the beginning of knowledge,

What should we not despise?

But fools despise ______ and ___________.

What good does the fear of God do?

By searching the Scriptures, we will find out what it is that the fear of God will accomplish. People will come out with one consent (1 Samuel 11:7), they will refrain from making war (2 Chronicles 17:10), and they are less likely to be in danger of falling for iniquity, partiality or taking bribes (2 Chronicles 19:7). The fear of the LORD endures forever (Psalm 19:9). It is the beginning of knowledge (Proverbs 1:7), of wisdom (Psalm 111:10, Proverbs 9:10), and a fountain of life (Proverbs 14:27). It is said to prolong days (Proverbs 10:27), give strong confidence (Proverbs 14:26), and enable one to depart from evil (Proverbs 16:6).

How the churches were multiplied

Acts 9:26–30 tells us that some of the congregations were afraid that Saul’s (Paul’s) conversion was not genuine. Listen to what is written about the churches after they had peace and were edified.

And walking in the fear of the Lord
and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit,
they were multiplied (verse 31).

What an encouragement and call to follow their example! Hallelujah!

Be zealous for the fear of the LORD today.

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Strong Confidence

Posted on September 26, 2023 by Carmen

In the fear of the LORD
there is strong confidence,
And His children
will have a place of refuge.

(Proverbs 14:26)

LORD Jesus, we praise You, for You are our Deliverer. Nothing is impossible with You. Forgive us, O God, we pray, whenever we choose to fear man and life’s circumstances instead of having the fear of the LORD. Help us to have confidence in You alone. Let us dwell in the secret place, abide under the shadow of the Almighty, and find a place of refuge with You. In Jesus’ mighty name we pray. Amen.

Self gets a lot of attention in this world, does it not? It is good for a person to have self-confidence, so they say, to have a positive view of self and to show self-reliance.

While applying for a mortgage, my husband and I were quite sure that we would get a good deal. I mean, we do not have any debt at all—no car or any other loan to pay off, no credit cards that have been maxed out, no debt at all. Fact is that we do not owe any money, but we have a good amount of savings in the bank. The mortgages, however, did not work out.

We decided to keep on renting houses instead, and were looking into another place that we could call home. We had very good references, surely they would open the door/s for us to be accepted as tenants, would they not?

We were confident that our circumstances and the people involved would make things possible. We have been proven wrong!

Being confident was not the problem, but self was. Self likes to work things out, prefers to be in control, and it does not like to depend upon God. Self puts confidence in people and material things and fiddles around to have the outcome that self wants to have. What if the LORD has quite different plans?

Ouch!

Where should we seek confidence?

Today’s verse tells us where we can find strong confidence. God’s Word counsels us that it is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man or in princes (Psalm 118:8-9). Please note, that this is not a mere suggestion, but more of a warning. Proverbs 29:25 sheds more light on what will happen if we fear man instead of trusting in the LORD.

The Fear of the LORD

In other words, today’s verse tells us that it is “in the fear of the LORD” where we will find strong confidence. That will be the topic for the next blog post, so please stay tuned.

Put your confidence in the LORD today.

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