“Does not wisdom call, And understanding lift up her voice? On top of the heights beside the way, Where the paths meet, she takes her stand; Beside the gates, at the opening to the city, At the entrance of the doors, she cries out: “To you, O men, I call, And my voice is to the sons of men. O naive ones, understand prudence; And, O fools, understand wisdom. Listen, for I will speak noble things; And the opening of my lips will reveal right things. For my mouth will utter truth; And wickedness is an abomination to my lips. All the utterances of my mouth are in righteousness; There is nothing crooked or perverted in them. They are all straightforward to him who understands, And right to those who find knowledge. Take my instruction and not silver, And knowledge rather than choicest gold. For wisdom is better than jewels; And all desirable things cannot compare with her. “I, wisdom, dwell with prudence, And I find knowledge and discretion. The fear of the Lord is to hate evil; Pride and arrogance and the evil way And the perverted mouth, I hate. Counsel is mine and sound wisdom; I am understanding, power is mine. By me kings reign, And rulers decree justice. By me princes rule, and nobles, All who judge rightly. I love those who love me; And those who diligently seek me will find me. Riches and honor are with me, Enduring wealth and righteousness. My fruit is better than gold, even pure gold, And my yield better than choicest silver. I walk in the way of righteousness, In the midst of the paths of justice, To endow those who love me with wealth, That I may fill their treasuries. “The Lord possessed me at the beginning of His way, Before His works of old. From everlasting I was established, From the beginning, from the earliest times of the earth. When there were no depths I was brought forth, When there were no springs abounding with water. Before the mountains were settled, Before the hills I was brought forth; While He had not yet made the earth and the fields, Nor the first dust of the world. When He established the heavens, I was there, When He inscribed a circle on the face of the deep, When He made firm the skies above, When the springs of the deep became fixed, When He set for the sea its boundary So that the water would not transgress His command, When He marked out the foundations of the earth; Then I was beside Him, as a master workman; And I was daily His delight, Rejoicing always before Him, Rejoicing in the world, His earth, And having my delight in the sons of men. “Now therefore, O sons, listen to me, For blessed are they who keep my ways. Heed instruction and be wise, And do not neglect it. Blessed is the man who listens to me, Watching daily at my gates, Waiting at my doorposts. For he who finds me finds life And obtains favor from the Lord. But he who sins against me injures himself; All those who hate me love death.””
Proverbs 8:1-36 NASB1995
The Lord is my Shepherd = That’s Relationship!
I shall not want = That’s Supply!
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures = That’s Rest!
He leadeth me beside the still waters = That’s Refreshment!
He restoreth my soul = That’s Healing!
He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness = That’s Guidance!
For His name sake = That’s Purpose!
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death = That’s Testing!
I will fear no evil = That’s Protection!
For Thou art with me = That’s Faithfulness!
Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me = That’s Discipline!
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies = That’s Hope!
Thou annointest my head with oil = That’s Consecration!
My cup runneth over = That’s Abundance!
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life = That’s Blessing!
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord = That’s Security!
Forever = That’s Eternity!
Unknown
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
1 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
2 A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
3 A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
4 A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
5 A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
6 A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
7 A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
8 A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.
Beautiful song and cool hairdos.
I also like this rendition of Psalm 137:
1 Peter 5:6-7 (NASB)
6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, so that He may exalt you at the proper time, 7 having cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares about you.
From the article below:
Greek to the rescue. I know that we often have to make long Greek sentences into shorter English sentences, but so often important connections are lost. This is one of the most egregious passages, and the connection is lost in the NIV, NRSV, and KJV when v 7 starts a new English sentence.
The NASB, ESV, and CSB keep vv 6–7 as one sentence, connecting the important ideas of humility and anxiety. “Humble yourselves (ταπεινώθητε), therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting (ἐπιρίψαντες) all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you” (ESV). The participle “casting” is only possible after we have obeyed the imperative “humble yourselves.” It is when we humble ourselves before God that we are able to cast our anxiety on him.
Memorized Romans 8 and preached it.
Luke 15:3-7
3 Then Jesus told them this parable: 4 “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? 5 And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders 6 and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ 7 I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.
I heard a very cool sermon by a Robert Barron that went something like this: God is crazy in love with us. Catherine of Siena described this in her native Italian as “pazzo d’amore,” by which she meant that there’s an almost irrationality to God’s love for us- it’s crazy. The Parable of the Lost Sheep paints a good picture of what God’s love looks like. A shepherd has a hundred sheep and loses one. He drops everything, leaves the remaining ninety-nine unattended, and goes to search for the one lost. Who would do this? The more responsible and logical thing would be for the shepherd to count his losses and do whatever it takes to ensure that the remaining ninety-nine sheep are kept safe. But God’s love for us isn’t governed by calculation or logic. It’s a crazy love. It’s pazzo d’amore.
/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZiAWLJkxBpk&list=PLKuG2pATx6JDIZaZ4aLMczoDQ7kHDD_5m&index=7
(video won’t embed so I’m sharing it as a link)