Declaring Glory and Righteousness

I've always loved the opening to Psalm 19.

"The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge".

If there's anything I love to discuss (or think about) is how and where this verse shows up in creation. The first picture here is from a very old slide that shows the sunrise over the trees that were at the end of my backyard where I grew up. (in arrington, TN). The second picture is one I took in Alaska a few years ago. Both are two totally different subjects, yet both moments express something profound about Christ; both his Beauty, and Majesty.

I just love when being set before such beauties in Nature (whither it be the grand canyon, or hearing the sound of morning birds, or as CS Lewis notes; 'the smell of cut wood in a workshop',) to think about whats going on here. God is not just simply giving us a gift of beauty...he's actually telling us something about HIMSELF. HE is as beautiful as this sunrise...HE is as strong and powerful as this mountain.

However, the other day when I reading Psalm 97, I noticed something that I never really thought about that much. in verse 6, it also states that "the heavens declare his 'righteousness'. I guess it should seem obvious, but I just never thought about how this impacts your view of creation.
For example....any one person could seem to be beautiful beyond comparison, and with it have a sense of 'majesty' in their power......however...still not have a trace of 'goodness'. The most powerful and most beautiful Queen may still be the cruelest. This is why I believe scripture goes a step further than just speaking of 'beauty and power' being woven into creation.....Psalm 97 says that God's RIGHTEOUSNESS is there as well.

I pray that the next time (and every time) I see a beautiful tree blooming in the spring, or hear the sound of katydids on a summer night, or feel the mist from a roaring waterfall, or hear one of my brother's little girls laughing, that I'd be moved not just by Christ's beauty and might...but his righteousness as well.

-michael

Proverbs 4 (new blog format)

*if you want to know what this blog is about, go back and read my first one called "Proverbs 1"*

Well I guess i missed a couple of days writing in this blog and realized that would probably happen a lot so I guess I've decided not to make it a goal of writing in this every single day...otherwise I know I'll end up jotting down stuff just for the sake of jotting it down.

I'm just going to post stuff on this from time to time (3 times a week maybe) something like that.

I was gonna try to write something on every Proverb (and maybe eventually i will) but mainly just to use it to put down my thoughts on anything really.

One verse I love is Proverbs 4:18

"But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until full day"

I've always loved the theme of "Morning" whenever it is used in the bible to describe God's kingdom or Christ himself (ie: the morning star) I think this verse really digs into that.

The whole concept of perfect righteousness being compared to the bright, beautiful full day; and just as important, how its not OUR righteousness, but Christ. If we were left alone to ourselves and our works, the image remains one of utter darkness (night). But when Jesus accomplished the perfection that God demands and rose from the grave (early in the morning by the way) we too rise with Him. Through faith alone, we have a sort of "dawn" begin in our lives...a completely "new day". We're not "perfected yet"...just as the darkness is not totally gone at 4:30 am....but the light has begun. One day....the sun will have risen in it's fullness.

I love to remember the joy I had riding my bike throughout my subdivision on a bright summer morning at the beginning of summer vacation. I think that is a hint of what is to come.

-michael

Proverbs 3

*if you want to know what this blog is about, go back and read my first one called "Proverbs 1"*

Proverbs 3

A few short thoughts on this proverb.

-I think its helpful to use the proverbs sometimes as a basis of prayer. In a world where riches can overtake you, verse 9 should really work its way into our requests, asking God to help me honor Him with the wealth that he provides. After all, all our money is his anyway.

-The crux of verse 11 is brought up very strongly to me when Paul addresses the Hebrews; pointing out how they are being treated as "sons" and therefor not to grow weary over His discipline. (Hebrews 12) I guess any trial in our life should always make us consider how it may be in one form or another a kind of "discipline", which should strengthen our hearts. We are being counted as His children.

-Verse 19 says that "the Lord by 'wisdom' founded the earth; by 'understanding' he established the heavens...". I think this is very interesting in regards to how many times the new testament talks about the creation of the universe being done by God the Father 'through' and 'by' God the Son. Its just mysterious to me to think about the relationship between Christ...and Wisdom/understanding. Its almost as if Christ (in a way) IS the Father's wisdom and understanding.
I dont know....maybe thats a wrong way to think of it though.

-michael

Proverbs 2

*if you want to know what this blog is about, go back and read my first one called "Proverbs 1"*

Proverbs 2

..."yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, if you see it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God." -Proverbs 2:3-5

The 4th and 5th verse of this Proverb stands out to me because I see a connection between it and probably my favorite parable that Jesus told. He said (in Matthew 13) that the kingdom of heaven should be looked upon like a treasure in a field. A man discovers it, sells all that he has to buy that one field. I think God's ultimate goal for our "wisdom and understanding" is to understand who He is through the person of Christ, and to understand what it means to have faith. God wants us to realize how much of a treasure both this wisdom, and God himself are.
He doesn't want us to simply worship him out of "duty"...but out of sheer joy. I think we should always be praying to see Jesus and his Kingdom as the wonderful 'treasure' that it is.

-michael

Proverbs 1

Proverbs 1 (intro to my blog too)

This may very well be either the first of many blog post to come or it could be the only one. I guess it will depend on how lazy I get.

By the random chance somebody happens to read this and doesn't know who I am; my name is Michael and I live in Nashville, TN. I've always wanted to keep a diary but I just can never do it so my brother suggested I give this a try.

I guess you could say then this is somewhat of an attempt to get my thoughts written down about particular scripture I've read for the day and what stood out to me. Hopefully it will be somewhat beneficial to me as sort of a personal growth exercise. Of course I'm already seeing my brother laughing when he tries to access this page a couple of days from now and all he gets is a "blog has been closed" page.

Last month I spent a lot of time in Proverbs (reading one for each day of the month) and jotting down things that seemed to stand out. Really quick, I will say how much I've come to enjoy proverbs in a way that I don't think I always saw; that is how they ultimately relate to Jesus. I remember hearing Scotty Smith (of Christ Community Church) once say how you should never read the old testament without trying to see Christ. I think that's very important because otherwise I think you will drastically miss the point. I think Jesus Himself points that out when in the book of Luke it records a moment when He appears to the men on the road to Emmaus. It says that "beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself". (luke 24:27)

So this past month I tried to see how each Proverb had in one way or another a sort of parallel to the Gospel. I don't mean to suggest we should not worry about how the wisdom and instruction to this book DOES relate to OUR personal walk in life by any means. But I do wonder if God's ultimate purpose for the book of Proverbs is to eventually point us away from what are actually our inabilities and failures in Wisdom, and focus us on resting in the One who was perfectly "wise" on our behalf.

So with that said.....here's one small thought from Proverbs 1:23. (by the way I'm using the ESV)

"..if you turn at my reproof, behold, I will pour out my spirit to you;"
-Proverbs 1:23

I guess what seemed to pop out to me was the words "I will pour out my spirit to you". Language that sounds very familiar of God giving us his holy spirit when we believe the good news of Christ...however in this passage, God is basically saying "If you do good....THEN I will give you my spirit". You "earn" it. This is to me how this ultimately points me to Jesus. He lived in my place, perfect obedience, but still took the punishment for my sins. Through His resurrection, he becomes the "propitiation" for me as 1 John 2:2 says. His perfection (which results in the pouring out of God's spirit) is literally "merited" to me as a gift. (this is 'good news') God's spirit is given to me "through faith" in the one who DID earn it.

Well I guess that's it for now cause i'm tired. If you see something that is just totally out of line point it out to me. Again these are just my thoughts on the particular subject at the time. However anything you see from my older brother Steve should be regarded as obviously "false".

-michael