Author Archives: David
About David
David: Half Scot, grew up in Guernsey and the UK. Lives in one of the most rural counties of the UK not far from the Welsh border. Former Merchant Navy officer and hydrographic surveyor. Self-employed risk management consultant from 1992 travelling globally to carry out risk and security audits, plus some loss adjusting. Now retired.
Father of Nick who encouraged David to start blogging. Married to Marilyn for 47 years. Four other children in addition to Nick. Eleven grandchildren.
Proverbs 3:27-28
“Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do it. Say not unto thy neighbour, Go, and come again, and to morrow I will give; when thou hast it by thee.”
The Call to Give
In 1998 my eldest son Nick was accepted onto a Baptist Missionary Society gap year scheme that required him to raise £2,400 ($3,700) to cover his costs. He carried out some fund raising, but also received gifts from various individuals and organizations. It was around this time that I heard God tell me very clearly to make a specific financial gift to a person serving in full time ministry who needed to purchase a new car. I refused. It wasn’t that I didn’t have the money, it just sounded too much to give. Every day in my quiet time I heard God repeat Himself, but still I held back.
One Sunday morning after church a retired nurse from our congregation gave Nick a gift of £100 ($155) towards his gap year. When Nick told me, I went to thank her. She didn’t welcome my thanks, but told me that when God told her to make this gift her response was, “I couldn’t possibly give that much. I am just a pensioner.” But God repeated His instruction until she obeyed. As she related the background behind her gift I felt tears welling up in my eyes as I was challenged by my own disobedience.
As soon as I arrived home I wrote out a cheque (check) for the amount God had told me to give and posted it. I soon received a letter of grateful thanks, but had to write back and admit that I should have sent the gift three months earlier. That young man and his family are now serving God in Africa, but their need right then in 1998 was for a car so that they could continue to serve Him in the UK.
The Blessing of the Gift
What did that £100 and all the other gifts mean to Nick? It meant that he could spend six months in Trinidad working without pay as an assistant teacher in a poorly resourced Baptist school. Trinidad changed Nick’s career plans and it changed his life. Instead of looking to a career in journalism he next spent a year as a Youth for Christ volunteer, followed by three years training for youth ministry. Nick is currently serving as youth pastor at a church in the north of England.
The Message translation of Proverbs 3:27 says: ‘Never walk away from someone who deserves help. Your hand is God’s hand for that person.’ We may never see the true benefits of our gifts of help, time, or money. What matters is that we are obedient to God when He tells us to give. The blessing of the gift is that it blesses others, not just the immediate recipient.
And it pleases God.
2 Comments | tags: Baptist, BMS World Mission, England, Gap year, Spiritual gift, Trinidad | posted in advice, Faithfulness, giving/charity
Proverbs 3:15
“She is more precious than rubies: and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her.”
More Precious Than Rubies
On 7 November 2000 a gang of criminals used a JCB excavator to ram their way into the vault area of the Millennium Dome in London. Their target was the De Beers diamond exhibition where the Millennium Star diamond valued at more than £200 million ($320 million) was one of several precious stones on view. Unfortunately for the gang they had been under police surveillance for some considerable time. The diamonds were substituted with worthless fakes prior to the robbery. On the day that the gang struck, the Millennium Dome was awash with undercover police officers. All the gang members were arrested, including one manning a powerboat on the River Thames, which was to have been the getaway vehicle.
The Value of Wisdom
The Millennium Dome gang were distinctly lacking in wisdom. Instead, folly driven by greed led them in an attempt to steal a diamond that would have been impossible to trade for cash.
What price wisdom? Solomon knew, and attempted to portray the priceless nature of wisdom in Proverbs 3:15. All the things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her. The message is that wisdom is to be valued above anything and everything this world can offer. But wisdom is not found on display behind armored glass. It cannot be bought, but is a treasure that has to be sought over time.
The word used by Solomon for rubies also translates as pearls. Jesus used a priceless pearl to illustrate a parable in Matthew 13:45-46:
“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.”
What do you value more than anything?
3 Comments | tags: Book of Proverbs, faith, folly, God, Gospel of Matthew, Jesus, London, Millennium Dome, Millennium Star, proverbs, River Thames, Solomon, Wisdom | posted in Fools, Value and Worth, Warnings, Wisdom
Proverbs 3:11-12
“My son, despise not the chastening of the LORD; neither be weary of his correction: For whom the LORD loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.”
Correction
I have yet to meet a human being who enjoys being corrected, or disciplined for errors, mistakes, or any form of wrongdoing. I well recall the unpleasantness of discipline exercised by parents and teachers when I was growing up. Physical punishment was the norm at school in my day, and the threat of a visit to the headmaster’s study generally had the desired effect on pupils.
Most of us do not like to imagine God as a Headteacher or Principal with a list of punishments to be levied for misdemeanors. But Scripture teaches that every one of us will one day stand before God and answer to Him for the way in which we have lived our lives (Romans 14:10-12).
Feared, or Welcomed?
Inevitably there will be times during our journey on earth when we will face corrective action from God. The question we must consider is whether correction from God is a form of discipline to be feared, or a process of discipling that is to be welcomed?
While Proverbs teaches that we should fear God, the above verses confirm that if God corrects us it is because He loves us and wants to delight in us as He trains us to be disciples.
Abba Knows Best
The use of the word father in verse 12 is important. The writer is defining the relationship that God desires with those He created. Jesus confirmed that God is a loving Father who delights in His children when He referred to God as ‘Abba’.
If God needs to discipline His children He will. It may not be pleasant, but it is vital if we are to grow into spiritual adulthood. Is that what you desire?
Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly – mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. (1 Corinthians 3:1-2)
7 Comments | tags: Bible, Book of Proverbs, Christ, Christianity, Correction and Discipline, devotional, faith, God, Jesus, Religion and Spirituality, Solomon, thought | posted in Fear of the Lord, Parenting
Proverbs 2:20-22
“That thou mayest walk in the way of good men, and keep the paths of the righteous. For the upright shall dwell in the land, and the perfect shall remain in it. But the wicked shall be cut off from the earth, and the transgressors shall be rooted out of it.”
Getting to the Root
Verse 22 offers a picture of trees being pulled out by their roots. Yet roots are notoriously difficult to remove, particularly if a tree is substantial and has been established for a long time. Evil is a tree that has become deeply rooted in society, and in the world in general.
While it is easy to get frustrated about the abundance of evil in our world, it is even more frustrating when we look back because it seems as if nothing has changed with time. Three thousand years ago the writers of the Psalms struggled with the prosperity of the wicked.
In Psalm 73 verse 3 Asaph declares, “For I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.” But David in Psalm 37 teaches us not to envy the wicked stating in verse 2: “For they shall soon be cut down like the grass and wither as the green herb.”
What Kind of Tree are You?
Make no mistake. Not just the evil, but also all who choose not to surrender their lives to God will be uprooted, extracted, removed. There will be no place for them in the New Heaven and Earth described in the Book of Revelation. But how do we walk in the way of good men and keep the paths of the righteous, so that we will not meet the fate of the wicked? Psalm 37 gives some pointers:
- Trust in the Lord and do good (verse 3).
- Delight thyself also in the Lord (verse 4).
- Commit thy way unto the Lord (verse 5).
- Rest in the Lord (verse 7).
- Wait patiently for Him (verse 7).
- Cease from anger, and forsake wrath (verse 8).
And you will be like a different type of tree, as described in the first three verses of the very first Psalm:
Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers (Psalm 1:1-3 NIV).
Do your roots reach into the Living Water (John 4:10-14)?
1 Comment | tags: Book of Revelation, David, evil, faith, God, Lord, New International Version, Poetry, Psalm, Religion, Wisdom, Wisdom literature | posted in Paths of Life, The Righteous, The Wicked, Warnings
Proverbs 2:1-5
“My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee; 2 So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding; 3 Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding; 4 If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures; 5 Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God.”
Treasure Hunting
There are people in the UK who arm themselves with metal detectors to search ancient battlefields and settlements for long lost treasure. While a few stumble upon finds of considerable importance and value, the majority search for years without finding anything much. Most never give up the search, convinced that one day they will make an important find.
Verse 4 of Proverbs 2 suggests that we should search for wisdom as if it were treasure, hidden in some secret storehouse. Wisdom is not a discovery to be made in an instant, some sort of easy one-off find. The search for wisdom should last a lifetime, the aim of the search to gain insight, understanding and knowledge of God. Such knowledge will lead us towards completeness in our relationship with Him, but it will also teach us to fear God.
Finding Fear
How and why does fear come into the equation? Moses was a man who knew how to fear the Lord, and could help answer this question. His first real fear encounter with God occurred with the burning bush incident, when Moses began to learn an awesome respect for God. He was a man who was changed because of his experience of God, evident in the way that his face was radiant after spending time in God’s presence.
That’s the key. Spending time in God’s presence will open our minds and allow us to understand more of God.
But the wisdom that comes from such understanding should inevitably lead to fear. This fear could be defined as being overwhelmed by the realization of who God is.
That realization is surely something to be desired, something to be sought, and something to be treasured.
(Originally published 4/08/12)
1 Comment | tags: Book of Proverbs, faith, Fear the Lord, Finding, God, Knowledge, Moses, Understanding, Wisdom | posted in Fear of the Lord, Knowledge, Uncategorized, Wisdom
Proverbs 1:8-9
My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother: For they [shall be] an ornament of grace unto thy head, and chains about thy neck.
Parents
It is interesting that verse eight of Proverbs 1 includes reference to both a father and a mother. Not one or the other, but both. Solomon in his wisdom knew that balance was required, and that a family requires two parents to provide guidance and instruction to children. This is what God intended from the beginning (Genesis 2:24).
Going to school in the 1960s just one of my classmates did not have two parents. The reason he grew up with only a father was that his mother died giving birth to his sister. Fast forward to 2012 and many children can rely on only one parent, even in Christian circles. While many single parents do a magnificent job, it was not God’s intention for a family to consist of one parent.
Ornament of Grace
Although verse eight appears to be directed at the young, there is a significant challenge to parents in verse nine. Initially any new parent is likely to be more overwhelmed by the gift of the child, rather than by the challenge of parenting that lies ahead. The challenge and the responsibilities are clearly defined in the prose of these verses. The instruction of a father and the law of a mother are to be an ornament of grace around the head of a child and chains around his neck.
The Hebrew word used for grace also translates as kindness and beauty, something precious to be attached like an ornament or a necklace. And that is a challenge. Do we consistently parent with grace, with kindness? Can our children respect us sufficiently to learn from our instruction? It is important that they can and do.
What do your children see in you?
(originally posted on 4/2/2012)
3 Comments | tags: Book of Proverbs, Christian, Divine grace, Family, God, Home, Single parent, Solomon | posted in Parenting
Proverbs 31:10, 28
Who can find such a virtuous woman? For her price is far above rubies….
Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her.
This last chapter of Proverbs has provided the male contributors to Proverbial Thought with several opportunities to reflect on the blessing of a good wife. Perhaps that is something all husbands should do more frequently. Perhaps by taking stock more often husbands would be prompted to praise their marriage partners instead of taking them for granted.
This challenge applies to our children too. How often do children fall into the same trap as their father and fail to appreciate just how blessed they are by their mother? This does saddle fathers with additional responsibility. If children see their father taking their mother for granted then it seems inevitable that they will fail to truly value the blessings they receive from their mother.
So here in my final entry as a contributor to Proverbial Thought I want to take the opportunity to thank my wife Marilyn. It is difficult to adequately express my gratitude. In two months we will celebrate our thirty-fifth wedding anniversary. As I look back on those thirty-five years I know that God has blessed me beyond anything I have ever deserved in a wife, and I thank Him for what I consider to be an arranged marriage. When God chose us for each other He knew what He was doing. He always does.
Some Pharisees came to him to test him. They asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason?”
“Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.” (Matthew 19: 3-6 NIV)
3 Comments | tags: Marriage Guidance | posted in affection, Love, marriage, Value and Worth
Proverbs 31:10,23
Who can find such a virtuous woman? For her price is far above rubies….
Her husband is known in the gates, when he sitteth among the elders of the land.
This proverb is a reminder that how one marriage partner behaves will more than certainly impact on the life of the other. The scenario described in Proverbs 31:23 speaks of a husband receiving respect from the elders of the land because his wife ticks all the boxes in the checklist prepared by King Lemuel’s mother.
There is one thing that sticks in my mind from personal experience. When my wife was pregnant with our fourth child (and only daughter) she met a group of younger women at maternity classes. Five of them became good friends, and an institution that has become known as ‘pizza night’ came into being. The five of them meet monthly in each other’s homes where they share a meal of pizza, salad, and dessert. When I asked one of them what they talked about on a typical pizza night she laughed and replied, “most of the time we moan about our husbands!” Then she paused before adding, “but Marilyn has never ever complained about you.” I can’t place a value on that statement. I might not sit among the elders of the land, but I am proud of a wife who chooses to stay silent when her friends are finding fault with their husbands, whether in jest or not. And I am reminded to be careful when choosing my own words.
1 Comment | posted in Value and Worth
Proverbs 31:10,16
Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies….
She considereth a field, and buyeth it: with the fruit of her hands she planteth a vineyard.
My wife is blessed with many gifts, talents, and abilities, but growing or sustaining green things is not one of them. While there is little chance that Marilyn would consider buying a field and planting a vineyard, the fruit of her hands is evident in many other ways. For a start there are the five children she has raised, and two grandchildren she also pours out her love upon. Then there are the other lives she has touched in so many different ways. Most of the time folk wouldn’t even know that Marilyn is there because she prefers to work away quietly in the background. You won’t find Marilyn up on the stage at church, but you will see her serving coffee and tea in the lobby to welcome people to the morning service, and she is often busy behind the scenes in the church kitchen, or producing cakes in huge quantities for church events, and as gifts to people she loves. And she is the same outside of home and church.
The fruit of Marilyn’s hands is evident in my life too. I cannot place a value on her loving support over nearly thirty-five years of marriage. If I consider the investment Marilyn has made in being a daughter, wife, mother, grandmother, and friend, then it could be compared to a field. Marilyn has taken that field and transformed it, and through the fruit of her hands she has benefited the lives of many. Without knowing it she has set an example. Without deliberately seeking to demonstrate the love of God through her life, she has done just that. Quietly, effectively, and always without seeking acknowledgement or praise.
Who can find such a virtuous woman? For her price is far above rubies.
Leave a comment | tags: fine wine, good fruit | posted in affection, Parenting, Paths of Life, Value and Worth
Proverbs 31:12
10 Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies……
12 She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life.
Mother knows best when it comes to many things, with this verse one of several, beginning with verse 10, that deal with attributes every mother would like to see demonstrated in her daughters-in-law. My wife Marilyn and I have three daughters-in-law, but I’d rather use Marilyn as an example.
Now I don’t know if my mother judged Marilyn by any of the criteria listed in Proverbs 31 but I do know that after nearly thirty-five years of marriage I have absolutely no regrets that God chose us for each other. I do not need an ABC of virtuous women to tell me how fortunate and blessed I am to be married to Marilyn, who as well as a wonderful wife and mother, is also an excellent grandmother.
Thirty-five years of marriage is a long time. It is closer to forty years that we have been together, if you add in the years we spent courting. We have changed in appearance, but the one thing that hasn’t changed is the heart of my wife. I look at Marilyn and I see a very special person. Someone who has not only enriched my life, but the lives of other people around her. Quite simply, I have never met anyone like her. Marilyn has, in the words of this proverb, done me good – all the days of my life. And I am truly grateful.
3 Comments | tags: marriage, wedding | posted in advice, marriage, Relationships, Value and Worth
Caitlin Klem
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Proverbial Thought 