Posted on 12/04/2020 4:48:46 AM PST by Pilgrim's Progress
“He taught me also, and said unto me, Let thine heart retain my words: keep my commandments, and live” (Proverbs 4:4 KJV).
Most of the Book of Proverbs, of course, are the words of Solomon, who was the son of David, the king of Israel. It is David’s words that are being quoted in this passage. The immediate thought that comes to my mind is that my own children have heard words from me, that they will no doubt remember long after I am gone. I honestly hope that they are more meaningful than, “Were you born in a barn?” or “Because I said so!” I hope that, in some good way, that their lives will be affected for eternity by counsel that I have given them. Praise the Lord that their mother and I led them to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ while they were born, but did they always see the Lord in their father? Unfortunately, no.
Think of Solomon here. He had to know that his older brother was the result of an adulterous affair that led to the murder of his mother’s first husband, Uriah, and further led to the death of his brother as God’s punishment of David. He probably had every cause to despise his father. At least that is what Jerry Springer tells the world every day on his program from hell.
But that is not the case at all. Solomon obviously loved his father, and in large part, because even though his dad was a grievous sinner, he was also a man that loved the Lord with all his heart and a man that was after God’s own heart. Solomon saw also that his father was a man of great faith, and great devotion.
We do not know if Solomon read Psalm 51. He may well have. It is not often that a son gets a glimpse so deeply into their own father’s soul. It is a psalm that we all do well to read often, and memorize parts of it:
“Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me. Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest. Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me. Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice. Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit. Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee” (Psalms 51:1-13 KJV).
David sinned, yet David repented, and God did not kill him. David was likely a very different man after this tragic occasion in his life, but rather than become bitter and raise an angry family, David made things right with God and put it behind him. How often Christians will forget the forgiveness and cleansing of the Lord and carry their guilt to the destruction of their own families. As we face this new year, a verse I like to think about was given to us in Philippians.
“Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13-14 KJV).
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