Lion, Bear, Serpent – There is no Escape!

Posted on October 2, 2024 by Bryan Hodge

“Woe to you who desire the day of the LORD!  For what good is the day of the LORD to you?  It will be darkness and not light.  It will be as though a man fled from a lion, and a bear met him!  Or as though he went into the house, leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him!” (Amos 5:18-19).

The phrase “the day of the LORD” occurs throughout the Bible.  It is used frequently in the prophets.  It refers to the day of judgment.  The specific judgment varies depending on the context.  It is used of judgment upon nations, for example: Babylon (Isaiah 13:1, 6, 9, 13); Edom (Isaiah 34:6, 8); Egypt (Jeremiah 46:1-2, 10; Ezekiel 30:1-6); and even Judah (Joel 1:15; 2:1; 2:11; 2:31 cf. Matthew 24:29).  It also seems to be used of the final, ultimate judgment (1 Thessalonians 5:1-2).

In Amos 5, they desire the day of judgment to come.  They probably thought that the day would be against their enemies.  However, this day would not be for their deliverance.  They themselves would be condemned. 

Can you imagine fleeing from a lion (which may be up to 4 feet tall at the shoulders, 10 feet long, and weigh 400-500 pounds), only to be met by a bear (a brown bear may be 3-5 feet at the shoulders, 5-7 feet in length, and stand 9 feet tall, and weigh 1,000 – 1,500 pounds)?  Can you imagine fleeing into a house for safety, only to be bit by a serpent (the Inland Taipan is considered the most venomous.  The Saw-scaled viper is considered the most deadly, killing the most people each year)? 

The day of the LORD would be terrifying for them, if they did not repent.  Danger would be everywhere.  They, as a nation, would not escape the judgment of the LORD.  They would go into captivity (Amos 5:27).

Application for us: (1) Some people can see the sins of others, but not their own.  They think that others should be punished, but not themselves.  Let us not be like this.  If repentance is needed, let us repent before judgment comes.  The LORD plead with them, “Seek Me and live” (Amos 5:4).  (2) If one is not right with God on the day of judgment, there will be no escape.  Therefore, Amos pleaded, “Seek the LORD and live, lest He break out like fire in the house of Joseph and devour it with no one to quench it in Bethel” (Amos 5:6).

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Running With Horses

Posted on September 20, 2024 by Bryan Hodge

“If you have run with footman, and they have wearied you, then how can you contend with horses?  And if in the land of peace, in which you trusted, then how will you do in the floodplain of the Jordan?” (Jeremiah 12:5).

Let us understand the context.  Jeremiah, the prophet, is spiritually weary.  Why does the LORD allow wickedness to exist in the land? (Jeremiah 11:20; 12:1-4).  The LORD does not answer Jeremiah’s question.  Instead, He responds saying, Jeremiah, it is about to get much worse.  (1) You need to get ready to run with horses (that is – contend with even more difficult circumstances, or even more powerful enemies).  (2) You need to get ready for a flood (that is – difficult times compared to what now exists).    These two allusions are worth a closer look.  (1) How would you do running with horses? God is probably speaking in hyperbole (exaggeration).  However, can you imagine running a race against horses?  The American quarter horse typically stands 14-16 hands tall at the withers (a location on the shoulders).  A hand is the equivalent to four inches.  It weighs 950-1,200 pounds.  It can reach a top speed of 55 mph and can run a quarter mile in about 21 seconds.  The current world record for a man in the quarter mile is 43.03 seconds by Wayde Van Niekerk.  The fastest human speed reached, on record, is 27.78 mph by Usain Bolt during a 100-meter race.  The thoroughbred typically stands 15-17 hands tall and weighs 990-1,200 lbs.  It can reach a top speed of about 44 mph and run a mile in about 1 minute and 36 seconds.  The current world record for a man in the mile is 3 minutes, 43.13 seconds by Hicham El Guerrouj.  Can a man beat a horse in a race?  The answer is yes, if the race is either very short or very long.  A man can beat a horse in a 50-yard dash.  Dwain Chambers, in 2017, beat a horse in a 100-meter race.  A man v. horse marathon has been run in Wales annually since 1980.  It is a 22-mile cross-country race in mountainous terrain.  Man has won 4 times.  Another man v. horse marathon exists in Arizona.  It has been run annually since 1983.  It is a 50-mile cross-country race in mountainous conditions.  Man has won once.  However, these man v. horse marathons are a bit unfair because the horse must stop and be checked by a veterinarian at certain intervals.  Man does not have to stop.

(2) How would you do in flooded conditions?  Imagine life as already challenging and then the flood comes.  The Jordan river commonly over-flowed its banks in the spring.  This not only brought much water into the floodplains, but it also scattered wild animals, such as lions, to higher ground.  This brought danger to some Israelites. 

The lesson is that challenging and difficult times were to come.  Jeremiah needed to trust God despite the difficulties.  He needed endurance. 

Application for us: We too need endurance.  “For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise” (Hebrews 10:36).  Jesus is our perfect example.  “Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has set down at the right hand of the throne of God.  For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls” (Hebrews 12:1-3). 

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Four Exceedingly Wise Creatures: The Spider (or Lizard)

Posted on August 23, 2024 by Bryan Hodge

“The spider skillfully grasps with its hands, and it is in kings’ palaces” (Proverbs 30:28).

Translations differ on what animal is intended.  Some translations think that the spider is intended (KJV, NKJV).  Other translations think that the lizard is intended (ASV, NIV, NASB, ESV).  It is difficult The Hebrew word (semamith) appears in the Bible only here.  Moreover, there is another word translated spider (Job 8:14; Isaiah 59:5), and there is another word translated lizard (Leviticus 11:30).  The Greek translation (the Septuagint, LXX) uses a word which seems to refer to some kind of lizard, possibly a gecko.

No matter what small creature is intended, the point is the same.  This little creature will not be deterred from entry.  It is persistent.  It is determined.  It will not be denied.  It will find its way into a house, or even a king’s palace.  Thomas Seals comments, “By determination and continued effort, this agile and clever little creature finds his way into the palaces of Eastern monarchs” (Thomas L. Seals, Proverbs: Wisdom For All Ages, p. 133).  Several creatures are like this.  Ants, lizards, and spiders are all capable of finding entry into the most tightly sealed and secured homes and buildings.  Even the White House has been known to have intruders of mice, cockroaches, and ants (President Trump’s Staff Complain of Cockroach, Mice, and Ant Infestations In the White House by Abigail Abrams, November 30, 2017, time.com).

Applications for us: (1) Determination and persistent effort is needed for success.  It is not enough to desire or wish for something.  A lizard could wish that he were inside the palace, but he would never enter without determination and effort.  Many desire a thing, but do not put forth the effort needed to make it happen.  (2) Let us have the determination and effort needed to enter into heaven.  “Then one said to Him, ‘Lord, are there few who are saved?’ And He said to them, ‘Strive to enter through the narrow gate, fort many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able” (Luke 13:23-24; Also see Matthew 7:13-14).

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Four Exceedingly Wise Creatures: The Locusts

Posted on August 21, 2024 by Bryan Hodge

“The locusts have no king, yet they all advance in ranks” (Proverbs 30:27).

Locusts are grasshoppers.  All locusts are grasshoppers, but not all grasshoppers are locusts.  Grasshoppers are usually solitary creatures.  However, weather, such as droughts and floods, and other factors sometimes bring grasshoppers together in high density.  When this happens, behavior and even appearance in some species changes.  They become a destructive swarming group.  One source describes this change saying, “Drought drives locusts to crowd in a small area where there is vegetation.  Locusts then abandon their solitary phase as grasshoppers and reproduce at dramatically high rates forming bands of nymphs (young, non-flying hoppers – B.H.) and swarms as adults.  The transition from the solitary phase is triggered by the secretion of the hormone serotonin… In their swarms, locusts move in a single direction making stopovers on any green area they notice.  This movement causes extensive damage to crops.  Locusts are known to cover long distances in short periods leaving behind a trail of damage” (What is the Difference Between Grasshoppers and Locusts? Worldatlas.com).  It is in this destructive, swarming group phase that grasshoppers are generally referred to as locusts.    A single grasshopper is not very frightening.  It is not large.  It may reach two or three inches in length and weigh 0.01 ounces.  Some Israelites once compared their own strength and size to grasshoppers, after seeing giants in the land (Numbers 13:31-33); they should have trusted God.

A swarm of locusts is a powerful force.  In 1874-1875 a swarm of locusts devastated an area 1,800 miles long and 110 miles wide across the American West and Midwest and Canada (Looking Back at the Days of the Locust by Carol Kaesuk Yoon, April 23, 2002, nytimes.com).  Laura Ingalls Wilder described living through this in her book, On the Banks of Plum Creek.  National Geographic says, “A desert locust swarm can be 460 square miles in size and pack between 40 and 80 million locusts in less than a half a square mile.  Each locust can eat its weight in plants each day, so a swarm of such size would 423 million pounds of plants every day” (Locusts, Facts and Photos, nationalgeographic.com).  World Bank Group suggests that a swarm of 80 million could eat the amount of food per day as 35,000 people (The World Bank Group and the Locust Crisis, worldbank.org). Locusts are like an army upon a land (Joel 1:4-7; 2:25-26). 

This army has no king.  They move together searching for food and devouring large areas of land.  They may travel over 80 miles in a day (nationalgeographic.com).  Yet, no one is directing them.  No one is giving orders.  Yet, they go forth.

Applications for us: (1) There is power in the collective group, strength in numbers.  An individual Christian may not be a powerful force in the world.  However, if all members of the church do their part, then collectively we can be a powerful force in the world.  Let us “stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel (Philippians 1:27).  (2) We should not wait around to be told what to do.  We should be looking for opportunities to do good.  Jesus “went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil” (Acts 10:38).  We are instructed, “As we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith” (Galatians 6:10).  We are to be “zealous for good works” (Titus 2:14) and “careful to maintain good works” (Titus 3:8).  Let us “learn to maintain good works, to meet urgent needs… (and) not be unfaithful” (Titus 3:14).

                                   

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Using the Familiar

Posted on August 16, 2024 by Bryan Hodge

David used familiar tools and familiar skills in battle against Goliath.  Saul provided his own armor, helmet, coat of mail, and sword to David.  David was dressed in these.  However, he took them off.  These were unfamiliar to him.  Instead, he chose the familiar – his staff, five smooth stones, and a sling (1 Samuel 17:38-ff).  These were tools with which he would have been familiar as a shepherd.  He used what he knew. 

The early church consisted of members who possessed different miraculous gifts.  “There are diversities of gifts, but the same spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:4).  All had a role, and could be used in the body.  “If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing?  If the whole were hearing, where would be the smelling?  God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as he pleased.  And if they were all one member, where would the body be?”  (1 Corinthians 12:17-19).  They had received different abilities.  They were to use what they had. 

There is still application.  While we do not possess miraculous gifts as they did, we still do possess different skills and abilities.     I am convinced that we should be seeking to use whatever skills and abilities we have as a part of the body.  Here are a few examples of what I mean.  (1) A schoolteacher or educators.  I knew a schoolteacher in Jamaica.  He used the church building, after school, as a place where students could gather and receive tutoring.   He enlisted other teachers, who were church members, to help him.  They charged no fees for their tutoring.  They always began with a short Bible lesson.  These teachers were able to reach some students and parents with the gospel.  I have known those who have taught E.S.L. using the Bible. I have known schoolteachers who use their skills to teach children’s Bible classes. I have known those who have written Bible class material and even curricula (This, of course, this this a great deal of knowledge of the Bible and Christianity. Not every schoolteacher has suck knowledge.) (2) A doctor or nurse.  I have known of medical doctors who have used their skills to treat those enrolled in a school of preaching.  I have known medical doctors and nurses who have treated those on mission trips, including me.  (3) A lawyer.  I have known lawyers who have provided free advice to churches.  (4) A music teacher.  I knew a woman who taught music who used her skills to privately teach a church’s song leaders to read music.  (5) A tradesman.  I have known electricians, plumbers, HVAC people and carpenters who have used their skills to build, maintain, and remodel church buildings. (6) A cook.  I have known cooks who have used their skills to show hospitality and benevolence.  Cookies are a great way to introduce oneself, welcome a new neighbor and invite one to worship. Taking food to the sick is a kind thing to do. (7) A mechanic.  I have known mechanics who use their skills to keep the church’s van running and to help the poor among the brethren.  (8) Those on social media.  I have known those who use social media to proclaim truth and spread the gospel.  I have known those who have used the internet to engage error and denominational thought.  (May we never use social media to like or “heart” things or share things that we should not.  Let us not condone sin.)  (9) A pilot.  I have known airplane pilots who have used their skills to fly others to gospel meetings or to do mission work.  (10) A wealthy person.  I have known rich people who have used their money to fund mission work, and to build church buildings.  (11) A bi-lingual.  I have known those who are fluent in multiple languages who have used this for translating, bridging the language gap between preacher and the hearer.  (12) The seamstress.  Tabitha or Dorcus used her skills to make tunics and garments for widows (Acts 9:36-ff).  (13) A police-officer or security.  I have known those with law enforcement training who used this training to help protect worshippers.  (14) A hotel manager.  I knew a hotel manager who was allowed so many free rooms in a period of time, and highly discounted rooms at other times. She used these benefits in a several of ways, First, she used this to help the church when they had a guest preacher. Second, she used this to help when the local preacher traveled to preach in other locations. Third, she knew preachers needed a place to retreat and rest, especially when discouraged or near burnout. She used her benefits for more than one preacher to be able to retreat and rest. Fourth, she allowed the church to use the conference room for a meeting between two eldership that were seeking reconciliation. What a blessing this woman was to the local church. (15) An accountant or bookkeeper.  I have known of those with such skills who used such for the accounting of the church.  (16) A florist or landscaper.  I have known those with such skills who use these skills to care for the church property and make things appear nice and attractive. One woman supplied fresh flowers for the church regularly at her own expense.  (17) A tech person.  I have known those with audio/visual or IT skills who have used these skills for the church. Some have designed websites. Some have created online directories.  (18) A janitor or custodian.  I have known people with such skills who use such to keep the building clean and functional. (19) A frequent flyers or airline workers. I knew a man who did oilfield work in Saudi Arabia. He used his many miles to help me on a mission trip. I knew a woman who worked in the airlines industry. She used her travel benefits to help me on a mission trip. These people will never be forgotten for their help. (20) A travel agent. A woman who owned a travel agency provided the tickets for one of my mission trips. She was using what she had to help in the Kingdom (21) A artist and painter or interior decorator or designer. I have known artists and painters in more than one church who have used their skills to paint and decorate classrooms, auditoriums, and a baptistry, and a church sign. I have known people who are good interior decorators or interior designers use their skill to decorate the church building more organized and efficient for use of space. (22) Family counselor. I have known a family counselor who have seen people in the church for free, and even non-members with whom I was studying. He did so to help the Kingdom (23) A zookeeper. I know a zookeeper who has used his knowledge to guide tours for church members and their children. Then, I later follow up speaking to the group about creation and Intelligent Design. He has also spoken on lessons from animals mentioned in the Bible in Bible classes. …… The list could literally go on and on!

Are you using your skills and abilities for the cause of Christ? “As each has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God” (1 Peter 4:10). Let us all work together to the glory of God.

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Four Exceedingly Wise Creatures: The Rock Badgers

Posted on August 10, 2024 by Bryan Hodge

“The rock badgers are a feeble folk, yet they make their homes in the crags” (Proverbs 30:26). 

Do not be confused by the word “badger” being a part of this creature’s name.  This is not the pugnacious fighter many associate with the word “badger.”  The animal mentioned here is not the same family as the American, European, or Honey badgers.

The animal mentioned here is known by several names.  It is referred to as “rock hyrax,” “rock dassie,” “dassie,” “rock rabbit,” “coney,” and “rock badger.”  It is a small timid creature.  It is about the size of a rabbit.  Its length is about 11-20 inches.  Its weight is about 8-11 pounds.  It lives in Africa and the Middle East.  It feeds on vegetation, eggs, insects, and small lizards.

The animal has many larger predators.  These include: leopards, lions, hyenas, jackals, snakes, and birds of prey. 

Rock badgers survive by knowing where to dwell for safety.  They dwell among rock crevices, outcrops, and cliffs.  They do not venture far from a place for safe retreat.  “The high hills are for the wild goats; the cliffs are a refuge for the rock badgers” (Psalm 104:18).

Rock badgers also survive by being alert.  They are watchful and cautious as they feed.  The feed quickly. They are never out of the safety of the rocks for long.  They feed in groups.  They have been observed feeding in a circle with each member of the group facing outward looking for danger (Rock Hyrax, a-z-animals.com).  They have excellent vision and can spot a predator over 1,000 yards away (Rock Hyrax, sandiegozoo.org). They even have a filter membrane that allows them to look directly into the sun.

These creatures know where to flee for safety.  If danger is spotted, an alarm is sounded by one in the group.  “The Rock Hyrax then runs to hide in the safety of the gaps between the rocks” (a-z-animals.com).  “A hyrax can wedge itself backward between rocks and bite savagely at the intruder with its long, sharp incisors” (sandiegozoo.org). 

Applications for us: (1) We need to know where to dwell for safety.  “The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold” (Psalm 18:2).  “But the LORD has been my defense, and my God the rock of my refuge” (Psalm 94:22).  (2) We need to be alert.  “See that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise” (Ephesians 5:15).  “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” (1 Peter 5:8). 

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Four Exceedingly Wise Creatures: The Ants

Posted on August 8, 2024 by Bryan Hodge

“The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their food in the summer” (Proverbs 30:25).

An individual ant does not appear to be very strong.  Most are less than ½ inch long.  Yet, they survive in abundance.  One study suggests that there are a conservative estimate of 20 quadrillion ants on this earth (that is 20 followed by 15 more zeros, or about 2.5 million ants per person on the Earth (How Many Ants Are There on Earth? By Orlando Mayorquin, USA Today, September 20, 2022, usatoday.com).  I have no idea if these numbers are close to accurate.  I do know that ants are abundant.

Ants are workers.  They are not lazy (Proverbs 6:6).  I have never seen a lazy ant, have you?  Leafcutter ants can strip a plant of its leaves in hours.  An ant can carry a burden up to 50 times its weight.  It can do this while sprinting, moving at speeds comparatively proportional to an Olympic miler’s speed.  Ants work while there is opportunity (Proverbs 6:8; 30:25).  They prepare for the future.  They prepare for the winter.  (1) Some ants gather and store food.  (2) Some grow their own fungus farms underground.  (3) Some “fatten” themselves up, huddle together, and go into a dormant state (called diapause) to survive the winter. Regardless how they prepare for seasonal changes, they all work while there is opportunity.  Aesop (c. 620-564 B.C.) once told a fable of The Ant and the Grasshopper.  It was about preparation for winter. 

Ants do their work without a captain, overseer, or ruler (Proverbs 6:7).  Unlike many men, ants do not need to be ordered, or made to work; nor do they need to be supervised in their work.  They simply do what they are supposed to do.  They do not wait around for another ant to tell them what to do.

Applications for us: (1) We should not be lazy.  “Go to the ant, you sluggard!  Consider her ways and be wise…” (Proverbs 6:6).  (2) We should work while we have opportunity.  Jesus said, “I must work the words of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work” (John 9:4).  Paul wrote, “Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith” (Galatians 6:10).  (3) We should be self-starters.  We should not wait around for someone to tell us what to do.  We should busy ourselves with what we know to do (James 4:17).  (4) We should prepare for the future.  Paul wrote, “We must all appear the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he had done, whether good or bad” (2 Corinthians 5:10).  Peter wrote, “Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness…” (2 Peter 3:11).  Let us prepare to meet our God.

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Independence Day

Posted on July 1, 2024 by Bryan Hodge

  “No taxation without representation” was the cry of the American colonies.  The Magna Carta (1215) said, “No scutage or aid may be levied in our kingdom without it its general consent.”  The English Bill of Rights 1689 said, “That levying money for or to the use of the crown by pretense or prerogative, without grant of Parliament, for longer time, or in other manner than the same is or shall be granted, is illegal.”  Charles Pratt, Earl of Camden, also known as Lord Camden, said in a speech given in Parliament in 1768, “My position is this – I repeat it – I will maintain it to my last hour – taxation and representation are inseparable. This position is founded on the laws of nature; for whatever is a man’s own is absolutely his own; no man hath a right to take it from him without his consent either expressed by himself or representative.”  The American colonies were not represented in Parliament.  They were being taxed without representation.  The Continental Congress declared independence from Great Britain on July 2,1776.  Congress approved the Declaration of Independence document on July 4, 1776.  It was publicly read by John Dixon in Philadelphia on July 8, 1776 in what is today Independence Square.  Bells rang with the reading.  It is not certain if the Liberty Bell was rang on that day or not.  Some think that it was.    

Do you know what is inscribed on the Liberty Bell?  “The Liberty Bell’s inscription is from the Bible (King James Version): ‘Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof.’ (Leviticus 25:10 B.H.) This verse refers to the ‘Jubilee,’ or the instructions to the Israelites to return property and free slaves every 50 years.  Speaker of the Pennsylvania Assembly Isaac Norris chose this inscription for the State House bell in 1751, possible to commemorate the 50th anniversary of William Penn’s 1701 charter of privileges which granted religious liberties and political self-government to the people of Pennsylvania.  The inscription of liberty on the State House bell (now known as the Liberty Bell) went unnoticed during the Revolutionary War.  After the war, abolitionists seeking to end slavery in America were inspired by the bell’s message… The Anti-Slavery Record, an abolitionist publication, first referred to the bell as the Liberty Bell in 1835, but that name was not widely adopted until years later” (The Liberty Bell, nps.gov). 

Freedom is something to be cherished and wisely used.  God has granted us freedom to pursue what we want in life.  How are we using our freedom?  “And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their pre-appointed times and boundaries of their dwelling, so that they should seek the Lord, in hope that they might grope for Him and find Him…” (Acts 17:26-27).               

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Leeches, Always Taking

Posted on June 23, 2024 by Bryan Hodge

“The leech has two daughters – Give and Give!” (Proverbs 30:15).

The leech is a type of worm.  Some are predators, feeding on other small invertebrates.  Some are ecto-parasites (parasites that live on the outside of their hosts).  A parasitic leech attaches itself to the skin of a host and feeds off its blood.  This is the leech of the proverb. 

“There are three things that are never satisfied, Four never say, ‘Enough!’: The grave, the barren womb, the earth that is not satisfied with water – And the fire never says, ‘Enough!’” (Proverbs 30:15-16).

Here are some examples of things which never seem satisfied.  (1) The grave (literally – sheol – the place of the dead).  It will take as many as it can.  It will never, on its own, say “enough.”  (2) The barren womb.  In Biblical times, women wanted children.  Many women were greatly troubled if they could not have a child (e.g. Genesis 25:21; 30:1; 1 Samuel 1:8-16).  (3) The earth.  As long as it stands, the hydrologic cycle will continue (Ecclesiastes 1:7 cf. 11:3).  It will never cease receiving water.  (4) Fire.  As long as conditions are present for fire to burn (heat, fuel, oxygen) then it will burn. It will never, on its own, say “enough.”

The proverb of the leech and the proverb of the four things never satisfied are related.  They both concern people.  Some people are takers and not givers.  Moreover, they never cease to take.  It is their manner of life.  It, of course, is true that we all are takers and givers in different circumstances of life.  However, a pattern of life is in view here.

Application for us: We should not be like the leech.  We should not always be taking.

Consider how Jesus lived.  He said, “the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and give His life a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28).  He “went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil” (Acts 10:38).  He said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35). 

Let us try to contribute, give, and help in this life when and where we can.  This includes giving money (Ephesians 4:28).  However, it includes many other things as well.  It includes our time (Colossians 4:5).  It includes our words (1 Thessalonians 4:18; 5:11, 14).  “Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith” (Galatians 6:10).  William Penn is credited with saying, “I expect to pass through life but once.  If therefore, there be any kindness I can show, or any good thing that I can do to any fellow being, let me do it now, and not defer or neglect it, as I shall not pass this way again.” 

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No Bit or Bridle

Posted on June 21, 2024 by Bryan Hodge

“I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye.  Do not be like the horse or like the mule, which have no understanding, which must be harnessed with bit and bridle, else they will not come near you” (Psalm 32:9).

Who is the speaker?  God seems to be he speaker.  However, some think that  the speaker may be David, who is teaching others.

Who is addressed?  This may be addressed, specifically, to David.  However, it may be addressed to man, in general (cf. Psalm 51:12-13). 

What is the context?  David had experienced great distress in his life because of his sin (Psalm 32:4).  He confessed his sin before God and was forgiven (Psalm 32:1-2, 5 cf. Proverbs 28:13; Acts 8:22; 1 John 1:7, 9).  David summed things up by saying, “Many sorrows shall be to the wicked; but he who trusts in the LORD, mercy shall surround him” (Psalm 32:10).

What is the point about bits and bridles?  (v. 9-10).  Some animals must be made to comply with their master’s wishes. A bit is the mouthpiece, and the bridle is the headgear used to govern and control an equine. We should not be like such animals.  One writer commented, “Do not be like the horse and the mule who resist being led.  Because of their stubbornness they have to be forced into submission.  Consequently, when one refuses to be taught by God and guided by His holy word, he is no better than the brute beast of the field.  Two great classes of men are here pictured.  The first, …are those who are in rebellion…  The later, the humble in spirit, are those ever willing to submit and obey” (Tom Wacaster, The Songs and Devotions of David, Vol 2, p. 103). 

Application for us: May we willingly serve the LORD. It is the “meek” who will be blessed (Matthew 5:3).  Meekness may be thought of as strength under control.  We should willingly be under the control of the LORD. 

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