Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

The craving of a sluggard will be the death of him,
    because his hands refuse to work.
All day long he craves for more,
    but the righteous give without sparing.
The sacrifice of the wicked is detestable—
    how much more so when brought with evil intent!
A false witness will perish,
    but a careful listener will testify successfully.
The wicked put up a bold front,
    but the upright give thought to their ways.
There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan
    that can succeed against the Lord.
The horse is made ready for the day of battle,
    but victory rests with the Lord.

• Proverbs 21:25-31

Proverbs 21:25: ”The ‘oh’ of our wishes and the ‘oh’ of prayer are two different things. The former comes out of our need as we understand it; the latter comes out of our need as God has taught us to see it. The former is demanding or despairing; the latter is humble and confident. We cannot bring forth even the right ‘oh’ from our own heart. God, through the Holy Spirit, must teach us to say it. In the right ‘oh’ our inexpressible deep needs are summarized before God; these are the ‘sighs too deep for words’ of the Holy Spirit, who represents us before God (Rom. 8:26). This right sigh, however, does not remain hidden from God (Ps. 38:9).
“Our wishes are directed toward an improvement of the world, but our prayer begins with our own selves. How yearningly we long for people to change, for evil in the world to come to an end, and for a new righteousness to come into being. But all of that leads us nowhere. All change and renewal must begin with me myself.
” ‘0 that my ways may be steadfast in keeping your statutes!’ (Ps. 119:5). That is a prayer that has promise. ‘The craving of the lazy person is fatal, for lazy hands refuse to labor’ (Prov. 21:25).
“Here, however, we have our hands full. This prayer leads promptly to action, and it leads to action where it is most needed: with me myself.”

• Dietrich Bonhoeffer, I Want to Live These Days with You, devotional compiled from several of his writings

The Message

The sluggard refuses to use his hands to work, but he puts his hands out for alms.  Then he complains you did not give him enough.  But the righteous do not tire of giving.

The wicked give sacrifices, but their sacrifices are detestable.  One needs to have the right intent, the right heart condition to make a sacrifice acceptable to God.

False testimony is against God’s Law, but the careful listener makes a good testimony.  In other words, if you are making stuff up, the lawyer can trip you up.  But if you stick to what the lawyer asks and do not make the evidence sound better than it is…  Added information allows the lawyer to explore information you were not prepared to present.

Proverbs 21:29 follows the prior proverb.  The wicked will charge ahead, while the righteous carefully plan their next step.

But if anyone devises a scheme, rather than a plan, against God, they will fail.  Yet, in battle, the best prepared soldier, the greatest hi-tech bombs, and the properly maintained tanks will do you no good unless God gives you the victory.

And now let us sing.

The following song is Onward Christian Soldiers.  This is sung by Mike Curb Congregation.

Closing Prayer

Dear Lord,
We need Your wisdom.  We often give more information in answering questions than is necessary to a lawyer or to a doctor trying to make a diagnosis that might help us.  Help us stick to the question and avoid confusion.  Help us realize that we accomplish nothing in life without Your help.  If you go before us, nothing will stand, but if you do not go before us, we will not stand.
In thy Name we pray.
Amen

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.