Morons don’t develop.”
                    –Zane Grey  (Lost Pueblo)

       “Now if I have indeed found favor in Your sight, please teach me Your ways, and I will know You and find favor in Your sight…”
                    –Exodus 33:13 (HCSB)
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Since Memorial Day put me a little off schedule I will resume Psalm 143 this morning.  Have you ever brought an urgent need to the Lord?  One that needs an answer immediately?  This Psalm finds David in that situation; he needs the Lord, he needs an answer, he needs help.

          7 — Answer me speedily, O LORD; my spirit fails!  Do not hide Your face from me, lest I be like those who go down into the pit.
          8 — Cause me to hear Your lovingkindness in the morning, for in You do I trust; cause me to know the way in which I should walk, for I lift up my soul to You.
          9 — Deliver me, O LORD, from my enemies; in You I take shelter.
        10 — Teach me to do Your will, for You are my God; Your Spirit is good.  Lead me in the land of uprightness.
        11 — Revive me, O LORD, for Your name’s sake!  For Your righteousness’ sake bring my soul out of trouble.
        12 — In Your mercy cut off my enemies, and destroy all those who afflict my soul; for I am Your servant.  (NKJV)

     If God hides His face from us, especially in our dire circumstances, all that is left for us is the pit.  David realizes it and cries out to the Lord; he needs and wants God’s lovingkindness, or unfailing love.  This should be part of our prayer every morning.  The night is dark, as may be our soul, and we long for a new morning.  When the dawn comes he not only sees a new day, but there is a new dawning in his spiritual life.  Look at that prayer–show me the way I should walk.  In other words, he wants each step he takes to be ordered and guided by the Lord.
     But there is more to it than just a prayer.  Praying that God shows us the way, we then have to take the step.  If we pray for God’s lovingkindness upon us, we then must show kindness during the day.  Vincent Alsop said, “Knowledge without obedience is lame.  Obedience without knowledge is blind; and we must never hope for acceptance if we offer the blind and the lame to God.”  If sin has led us astray and we know it, then we must repent and obey.  If we know the path before us, then we must obey and walk in it.
     Verse 10 is a powerful lesson that we should take to heart.  David cries for the Lord to teach him the right way, teach him to do his will.  However, when we know the will of God, when we have been properly taught and trained, we must then do His will.  If we truly want to be led by the Lord, if we really want to be His disciple we must understand that discipleship implies apprenticeship.  James Merritt proclaims, “You don’t just learn facts from a teacher; you pattern your entire life after them.”  To be relieved from the pit, from the agony of despair we must realize that “genuine happiness is to be found in following the pathway of obedience.” (Alistair Begg)
     Look at those last three verses again.  David understands that his “confidence lies not in his own strength but in the fact that he is the Lord’s servant.  To attack God’s servant is to attack God.” (Steven Lawson)  Think of this.  When we are attacked for one reason or another it is really an attack on our heavenly Father.  To attack His child is to attack Him and He will defend His family name.  George Wood repeats David’s plea in a prayer, “Lord Jesus, unless You act for me, I will be destroyed, my enemies will prosper and justice will be trampled on…”  If not for the Lord intervening the devil would have his way with us, we would also be agents of our own destruction.  Oh, how we need the Lord!

               “When doubts and fears arise,
               Teach me thy way!
               When storm clouds fill the skies,
               Teach me thy way!
               Shine through the wind and rain,
               Through sorrow, grief and pain;
               Make now my pathway plain,
               Teach me thy way!”
                       –B. Mansell Ramsey

My sword I give to him that shall succeed me in my pilgrimage, and my courage and skill to him that can get it.  My marks and scars I carry with me, to be witness for men, that I have fought his battles who now will be my rewarder.”

What a man knows isn’t important. It’s what he is that counts.”
                    –Jack Schaefer  (Shane)

       “Yet I am confident I will see the Lord’s goodness while I am here in the land of the living.”
                    –Psalm 27:13 (NLT)
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There are many things that I do not understand and the older I get it seems as if there are more of them.  I don’t understand when people say, “adulting is hard,” or “I have to adult today.”  Grow up!  A couple of years back I responded to someone on Facebook who I thought I knew.  Through their high school years they were one of the “whining babies” but a good student.  They wrote a whining note on Facebook to which I responded, “Get a life,” and received a scathing letter on messenger on her behalf.  Another one I hear quite a bit, “I’m so stressed out.”  My mercy, do you not have the Holy Spirit living within you?  
     I read the words of Jesus, “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.  I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10, NKJV)  More abundantly, not stress, not worry, but abundant life is through Jesus.  The abundant life that gives salvation, nourishment to our souls, healing for our bodies and minds, strength to face the problems of the day and life.  Why then do we whine and whimper?  
     Perhaps it is because we try to do everything in our own strength; we forget that we belong to the Lord.  Our confidence is in ourselves and when we fail, well, some just fall apart.  Shame…  Because of Christ and the Holy Spirit living within us and guiding us we should have confidence to face each day, to face each problem, to climb over each obstacle.  In Christ life is good.  That does not mean that everything in life is good.  Someone wrote, “Life is composed of both joys and sorrows, triumphs and defeats.  Yet when we consider all the experiences of life in relation to our love for God, life as a whole works out for our good.”  Paul reminds us, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28, NKJV)  Grab hold of those first few words–“We know that all things…”.
     I know of those who say that we can make it.  Have confidence in yourself; pull yourself up; take one more step.  Listen, without Christ that is a recipe for failure.  Oh, yes, we are to have confidence, but our hope is in the Lord.  We should have confidence–faith and trust–in our heavenly Father.  He is the One who has our future in His hands.  He is the One in whom we can depend.  Therefore, put your confidence in Him.  “Success or failure is not measured by a few outstanding or disappointing days, but by all the days of our life.” (Elijah A. Cockman)  
     Quit being a whining baby!  Be a man or woman of God!  Stand firm, and when having done all, continue to stand. (Ephesians 6:13)  Listen, through the exercise of our faith, God will take the events of each day and work them for our good.  But we must trust and not doubt.  We are to be joyful and not murmur.  Perhaps we should recall what happened to all the whining babies that Moses had to deal with.  If I recall rightly, they all died in the wilderness except the two who had faith–Joshua and Caleb.  Live your life abundantly in Christ.  The words of Thoro Harris should be ours as well:

               “Are you trusting Jesus, All along the way?
               Does He grow more precious To your heart each day?
               Are you His disciple?
               Test His Word and see,
               He will give the Spirit more abundantly.”

People who search for their past, forgetting the importance of living now, lose their future.”
                    –Donald L. Robertson  (Forgotten Season)

       “But first and most importantly seek (aim at, strive after) His kingdom and His righteousness [His way of doing and being right—the attitude and character of God], and all these things will be given to you also.”
                    –Matthew 6:33(Amplified)
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One more look at the duty of the Father (and Mother) and the listening requirements of the child — call it Proverbs 4:1-9, part two.  This morning we focus on verses 5-9.

          5 — Get wisdom!  Get understanding!  Do not forget, nor turn away from the words of my mouth.
          6 — Do not forsake her, and she will preserve you; love her, and she will keep you.
          7 — Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom.  And in all your getting, get understanding.
          8 — Exalt her, and she will promote you; she will bring you honor, when you embrace her.
          9 — She will place on your head an ornament of grace; a crown of glory she will deliver to you.   (NKJV)

The ESV translates verse 5, “Get wisdom; get insight; do not forget, and do not turn away from the words of my mouth.”  So many roll their eyes when their parents begin to tell them the way to walk.  Old fogeys, they think.  Shame–instead they should listen, take it to heart.  There are many needs that begin with life and will not cease until death.  One of the primary ones is to get wisdom.  Without wisdom how will the needs and issues of life be dealt with?  
     Wisdom is valuable; it is precious.  Think of the words of Jesus, “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.  Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it.” (Matthew 13:44-46, NKJV)  Wisdom is one of those pearls.  True wisdom is rare and precious.
     With wisdom we have that inner voice which will guide us if we remain true to God’s instruction, His words of wisdom.  Dan Dick states, “Doing what we know to be right offers not only freedom from guilt, but also a joy which comes forth from our soul.”  Be wise then and your soul will be kept.  Those words of verse 6 could be translated, “she will stand sentry over you.”  Wisdom will help guard us.  The words of Samuel Miller carry much truth, “Each wise thing that we do makes us wiser.”
     The principal thing!  Get it, hold it, live by it.  “Real wisdom is the knowledge of God and all His handiworks.” (Dick)  Therefore we must start with God.  We are given life to enjoy; it is a gift from God, but to enjoy it we must first come to Him.  We must enjoy life with godly wisdom, not with man’s.  “Weeds and thistles only will be the spontaneous produce if the ground is not broken up and good seed sown.” (Horne)  Let true, godly wisdom be the seed that is sown in your life, and when that happens “the pleasures of wisdom exceed all others–in kind, degree, and duration.” (Horne)
     Which is it that you seek?  Fame or honor?  Wisdom will bring honor but not necessarily fame.  Fame is loud and noisy applause while honor is silent and internal homage.  Oh, with honor may come a measure of fame, but that is not what is sought in the heart of the prudent.  “Fame floats on the breath of the multitude; honor rests on the judgment of the thinking.” (Blair)  Fame is awards and congratulations while honor seeks the will of God.  
     As mentioned in yesterday’s writing, there are two major problems:  Fathers are not teaching properly (or at all), and children are not listening.  There is a world of hurt and evil out there for the one who does not heed the voice and words of the heavenly Father.  Perhaps the real problem is as J. Vernon McGee states, “The real difficulty is that in man there is not that love and longing for God and for the things of God.”