If any of you lack wisdom...

Job 28:12 (KJV) questions,

Where shall wisdom be found?

The answer, provided throughout the entire bible, is God. Paul refers to God as (1 Timothy 1:17, KJV),

The only wise God.

The word "wisdom" is used throughout the bible to refer to a type of obedient spiritual insight. James goes a step further, by outlining how we can access that very wisdom (James 1:5, KJV),

If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God ... and it shall be given him.

So we can access that wisdom by simply appealing to God! Let us try exactly that through prayer.

 

But if not...

Chapter 3 of Daniel finds Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego tossed into the fiery furnace for their refusal to worshop a Babylonian pagan idol. Prior to being put in the furnace, they explain to the Babylonian king that God will save them (Daniel 3:17, KJV),

Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand.

But they don't stop there. They continue in the next verse (18), which has become famous,

But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.

This is fascinating. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego essentially state that God is perfectly capable of saving them, but he is not obligated to do so. And, crucially, even if God doesn't save them, they still refuse to disobey God's commandments.

Simply, we are commanded to believe and obey. We cannot expect individual rewards for doing what we're already supposed to be doing. Jesus touched upon this theme (Luke 17:10, KJV),

When ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do.

Achieving that mentality displayed by Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego is not easy. But that's the level of faith that God wants from us.

Why does God care about us?

If God created the infinite expanse of the entire universe, then how, and why, would he possibly care about each of us on an individual level. This is a very obvious, and frequent, concern for anyone taking a journey through faith. And it's by no means a new concern. Indeed, David, himself, struggled with this (Psalm 8:4, KJV),

What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?

Again, David says (Psalm 62:9, KJV),

Surely men of low degree are vanity, and men of high degree are a lie: To be laid in the balance, they are altogether lighter than vanity.

So why does God care about us on an individual level? Truth is, the bible never provides a complete answer, but from the front cover to the back cover, God is constantly trying to communicate that he does care. Genesis 2:7 (KJV), describes God's physical and intimate involvement in our existence,

The Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

And that theme continues throughout the bible.  In Jeremiah 23:23 (KJV), God says,

I am God at hand ... and not a God afar off.

So let's not get lost in philosophical arguments about whether God pays attention to us. The bible emphasizes repeatedly that he does. Let's accept that closeness, and take comfort in it. As God says in Isaiah 43:2 (KJV),

When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.

Yet they were not afraid

The bible repeatedly commands that we should "fear" God, which might seem like a strange, even uncomfortable, concept. The idea is that we are all sinners (Psalm 14:3, KJV),

There is none that doeth good, no, not one.

But God has not punished us as we deserve (Psalm 103:10, KJV),

He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.

We should there be thankful to God, but with a "fearful" attitude, realizing that we deserve much worse (Psalm 2:11, KJV)

Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling.

For the exact opposite attitude, turn to Jeremiah 36, which finds the king deliberately burning an early draft of Jeremiah's warnings. Despite such egregious behavior on the part of the king (Jeremiah, 36:24, KJV),

They were not afraid, nor rent their garments, neither the king, nor any of his servants that heard all these words.

Yikes! Let's not mimic that behavior. Rather, let us pray for forgiveness with a fearful attitude.

Ye have not looked unto the maker

In Isaiah 22, God comments on how the Israelites have undertaken great effort to protect themselves. God says (verses 10-11, KJV),

Ye have numbered the houses of Jerusalem, and the houses have ye broken down to fortify the wall. Ye made also a ditch between the two walls for the water of the old pool.

Important efforts, no doubt. Unfortunately, the Israelites had not done something more important: appeal to God, himself, for protection. God complains (verse 11, KJV),

But ye have not looked unto the maker thereof, neither had respect unto him that fashioned it long ago.

This is a major problem for all of us. Getting caught up in the rhythms of life, we assemble our own efforts to protect and provide for ourselves. But in the process, we forget God's role in bring things into existence in the first place. A presence that power surely can protect and provide for us. So why are we so quick to forget that?

Rather than to try protect and provide for ourselves, let us learn to appeal to God. As David says in Psalm 62:8 (KJV),

Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us.

Rejoice in the Lord

Following God is not about adhering to a set of rules. It's about achieving righteousness through faith. After all, Abraham was declare righteous not because he was a good guy. Rather, as stated in Genesis 15:6 (KJV),

He believed in the LORD; and [God] counted it to [Abraham] for righteousness.

Then, once we achieve that righteousness through faith, it doesn't end there. Rather, we have the opportunity to "rejoice" in our newfound union with God. Paul instructs in Philippians 4:4 (KJV),

Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice.

So we should pursue faith, and in that process, we should also "rejoice"!

Psalm 50

Psalm 51, in which David repents for his actions with Bathsheba, is one of the most famous Psalms, and therefore it tends to overshadow the Psalm immediately preceding it. But Psalm 50 is densely packed with spiritual insights, and it is useful exploring in detail.

In this post, I'll focus on a handful of verses from Psalm 50 (all from the KJV), taking them a bit out of order. Starting with verse 21, God states that, while the people were sinning,

... I kept silence; thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself: but I will reprove thee, and set them in order before thine eyes.

Just because God doesn't immediately punish us for our sins doesn't mean he's not paying attention. He "will reprove" eventually. Verses 3 and 4 look ahead to that time,

Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence: a fire shall devour before him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about him. He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that he may judge his people.

Yikes! Verse 23 puts forth what we must do to avoid that dreadful judgement, 

... him that ordereth his conversation aright will I shew the salvation of God.

The word "conversation" means behavior. And if our behavior is "aright," verse 15 promises,

Call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.

Note that, once we're delivered from our troubles, we will "glorify" God. But what does that (very biblical-sounding) word "glorify" mean? Verse 23 provides the answer,

Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me.

So, when reading Psalm 50, one must bounce around a bit, but a theme emerges. God pays attention to our behavior, and we'll have to answer for our behavior eventually. Therefore, we should try to order our lives according to his will, and if we do, he'll save us from trouble. And when he does save us from trouble, we should praise him, which brings him glory.

With that outline in mind, try reading the full Psalm 50, and let it guide your prayers.