For additional notes and resources check out Douglas’ website.
Salient points:
- Judging motives is highly problematic. See John 2:24; 1 Cor 4; Acts 8.
- V.3 is wise counsel much more than a promise that God's children always get what they want.
- Warning: pride and arrogance are the most serious of sins. Don't take a chance; go our of your way to stay humble / humbled.
- V.9 pertains to divine providence.
- V.18 is one of the best known biblical proverbs.
- Gray hair (v.31) indicates longevity indicates divine blessing indicates upright living. Generally true (not absolutely -- as Job and his friends struggled to understand).
- Determination of God's will by lots was practiced by the priests at the Tabernacle / Temple. The last this practice appears in the N.T. is in Acts 1, to make a choice between two candidates for Judas Iscariot's replacement. There is no assurance in the N.T. that this is how we ascertain the Lord's will.
Challenge:
- Commit to the Lord our discipline strategy.
- We are only asking him to help us to become the persons he wants us to be. In such cases we can move ahead with certainty that God is with us and will help us.
- "The men who have done the most for God in this world have been early on their knees. He who fritters away the early morning, its opportunity and freshness, in other pursuits than seeking God will make poor headway seeking Him the rest of the day. If God is not first in our thoughts and efforts in the morning, He will be in the last place the remainder of the day." – E. M. Bounds
Next: Prov 17. You are now in the second half of the Disciplined Life series.