A man shall be commended according to his wisdom: but he that is of a perverse heart shall be despised. (Authorised Version)
There is a fierce battle going on in every organisation, family, hospital, college, church and school between the wise and unwise. The unwise may have positions of influence and power and serve trendy ideologies. They may follow secret agendas often related to money, power, benefits, pensions or prestige. They may be time-servers or materialists. Some may persecute or look down on those who value sense, faith and reason and care for people. They may call them “dinosaurs” or “bigots” trying to block the unstoppable new age - and their own road to total power and “success”.
They may wilfully ignore that Wisdom is tested by all her children, that is by its results and outcomes. They may fail to realise that God always withholds complete possession from the disobedient and that He, alone, prevents them "taking the citadel". He too will bring destruction on their dreams and turn them into nightmares while simultaneously making the cause of the wise "shine like the sun at noonday".
The unwise may find themselves trapped by their own faults or schemes, overtaken, irrelevant, despised, most of all for what they have done to the innocent. They become “straws in the wind”, “the hollow men” (and women), people who are seen to have valued short-term gain over true values, faith, the welfare of people and sanity itself.
This text reminds us that the root of such wrong judgement is in the fallen human heart. The word “perverse” in a court hearing means "deciding something against the weight of evidence", irrationally and obstinately pursuing a course of action clearly without justification.
At the heart of the perverse is sinful rebellion against God’s sovereignty. Moreover, Scripture indicates that foolishness is not just the result of low “IQ” or “EQ” it is an innate bias towards evil. The only way back for the biblical "fool" is repentance.
Dear God, please let me know and follow wisdom and humility. Let wisdom rule my heart today not obstinate self-will. Amen
No comments:
Post a Comment