Author: Dave M Price

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Lady Wisdom

Daily Reading

Proverbs 4-6

Daily Thought

In God’s eyes, and therefore in reality, there are only two ways to live, two paths, one leading to life, the other to death. In Proverbs, the two paths are traveled by two women, each to her own way. One is Wisdom, and she is a lady; “Keep hold of instruction; do not let go; guard her, for she is your life” (Psalm 4:13). The other, not a lady, is “the evil woman, the smooth tongue of the adulteress. Her feet go down to death” (Proverbs 6:24; 5:5). It is we who seek shades of grey between, who want to keep a woman in each hand, but God says choose.

One woman is enticing and easy, “for the lips of a forbidden woman drip honey, and her speech is smoother than oil” (Proverbs 5:3). The pleasures are immediate, the dangers delayed, the temptation terrible. “Do not let her capture you with her eyelashes” (Proverbs 6:25). In contrast, the lady Wisdom must be pursued. You must want her and work for her; she doesn’t come easy. Proverbs 4:7 makes me laugh, “The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom”–like Steve Martin explaining how to become a millionaire, “First, get a million dollars.” It means, simply, to become wise you must want to become wise. You must choose to become wise, choose one woman over the other, because you must choose a path, and each woman has her own path. You must be willing to let go of that pleasingly available Wicked Woman of the moment and set your sights down the road.

Daily Prayer

God, forgive me the desires of the moment, of the immediate, of the attractive, of the available. Strengthen and deepen my desires, to love what is eternal and good, what never loses her beauty, what bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things, what never ends.

Give me wisdom, Heavenly Father. I seek it and I will work for it. I will dig deep in Your Word and let it dig deep in me. I love the path of wisdom, the path of life, the path that leads to Your Kingdom forever.

Amen

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Common Sense

Daily Reading

Proverbs 1-3

Daily Thought

For a few years as a youth pastor, I took a youth choir on tour, and one stop was a California Youth Authority facility in Ione. By facility, I mean prison, and the teenagers there had committed the most violent crimes, arson, rape, even murder. At the end of a performance, the inmates were given an opportunity to speak to us, and the first rose and said, simply, “Listen to your mother.” Apparently he had not. What he said was a proverb, not unlike what we find in the first chapter of the biblical proverbs,

“Hear, my son, your father’s instruction,
and forsake not your mother’s teaching” (Proverbs 1:8).

Proverbs are just that, simple slices of wisdom, often a couple lines long, poetic and easy to remember, and that’s the point. It is the simple, seemingly obvious things in life we neglect to our detriment. The book of Proverbs was written to make common common sense, “to know wisdom and instruction, to understand words of insight, to receive instruction in wise dealing, in righteousness, justice, and equity; to give prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the youth” (Proverbs 1:2-4).

Proverbs present a choice, a choice with consequences, “the wise will inherit honor, but fools get disgrace” (Proverbs 3:35). Results are not automatic; if you don’t listen to your mom, it does not mean you will end up in prison. But you have upped the odds.

Daily Prayer

My God, Creator of all, I’m going to ask for what Solomon asked for: wisdom. Teach me Your ways. I will stay on the path You put in front of me, I will follow You. As I do, God, may I know You better, may I understand You and the world You created, may I see more clearly the difference between right and wrong, and may my will be strengthened to choose rightly.

God, You have let me stand close to You. I trust You completely with everything, and deep down inside I know it would be foolishness to do anything but that. I know You hold all of life, all of what is good in Your hand. May I choose well, choose life, choose You. Simple choices matter; may I choose wisely.

Amen

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Praise God

Daily Reading

Psalm 146-150

Daily Thought

Twelve of the 13 lines of the final psalm begin with the word “praise.” The one that doesn’t ends with “praise the Lord,” and tells everything that has breath to do it. Jesus says even the rocks would cry out if the things that breathe did not (see Luke 19:40).

Look to the past, the stars, the sky, this vast universe, “He determines the number of the stars; he gives to all of them their names” (Psalm 147:4); “he commanded and they were created” (Psalm 148:5). Peer into the future, “The Lord will reign forever, your God, O Zion, to all generations” (Psalm 146:10). And in between, break out the band; “Praise him with trumpet sound; praise him with lute and harp! Praise him with tambourine and dance; praise him with strings and pipe! Praise him with sounding cymbals; praise him with loud clashing cymbals!” (Psalm 150:3-5).

The Psalms, Israel’s songbook, close with five songs of praise. Only praise. These 150 psalms teach me to pray, to speak with God, to ask questions, to complain, to celebrate, to share my troubles and my victories, to open my heart, to seek help; but always and ultimately at the end, to stop everything else and praise the Lord. All things begin and end with God.

Let everything that has breath praise the Lord! ~Psalm 150:6

Daily Prayer

My Creator, my God, when I star-gaze, I look at Your handiwork. Amazed by the universe, I am awed by You. You explode the universe into existence by Your Word, by Your breath. All things were designed and created by You and for You. May all creation glorify its Creator.

I worship and praise You.

Amen

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Only God

Daily Reading

Psalm 140-145

Daily Thought

In Psalm 141, we hear a man pleading for purity. King David almost commands God to attend to him, “Give ear to my voice when I call you!” (Psalm 141:1), an exclamation mark rightly placed at the end–a reverent “Listen to me when I talk to you” would be an accurate translation. David wants help from God, “Set a guard, O Lord” (v 3), and from the godly, “Let a righteous man strike me–it is a kindness” (v 5).

Another time, another king, King Ahab, an evil king, was going to war. He asked King Jehoshaphat, a righteous king, to join him. Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, “Inquire first for the word of the Lord.” King Ahab had 400 prophets who said “Yes.” They always said “Yes.” Jehoshaphat asked, “Is there not here another prophet of the Lord of whom we may inquire?” Ahab said there was one other, “…but I hate him, for he never prophesies good concerning me, but evil” (1Kings 22:5, 7-8).

An evil king wants to hear only good. A righteous king wants to hear only God; “let him rebuke me–it is oil for my head; let my head not refuse it” (Psalm 141:5).

Daily Prayer

Lord God, You know the beginning and the end, Your words are wise and good, and You lead into righteousness those who are willing to follow.

God, I will make time each day to read Your Word. Speak to me. May Your Word reveal any rebelliousness in me and may it teach, reprove, correct, and train me to be righteous.

Amen

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God Knows

Daily Reading

Psalm 133-139

Daily Thought

Search me, O God, and know my heart!
Try me and know my thoughts! ~Psalm 139:23

Psalm 139 is a dangerous poem because intimacy is dangerous. David invites into his heart the one who has searched him and known his innermost and deepest thoughts. God knows David better than David knows David, and God will find more in David’s heart than even David knows is there. “For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb” (Psalm 139:13). Think about that; God knows you better than you know you. That is either wonderful or awful or both.

The difference comes not of what we believe God will find in us, but what we believe of God. If God is only judge, then there is only terror. We fear him and should. But he is Savior first, and so there is fear and wonder. “God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world,” explained God’s Son, “but in order that the world might be saved through him” (John 3:17). We are condemned already, he says, because we know enough of our hearts to know the darkness, but “God so loved the world” (John 3:16). We cannot hide our darkness, and we do not need one who closes his eyes to it. We need a Savior who sees the darkness and through it, and leads us in the way everlasting. (Psalm 139:24). Invite him in.

Daily Prayer

Heavenly Father, what a fantastic life! You have created the most wonderful world. You made me in Your image, gave me my intellect and emotions and will. You made me one who laughs and sings and works and runs and plays. You gave me the ability to be delighted, and then put a delightful world around me.

And I sin, and the world is clouded. Come inside and deal with that, God. Put me to the test and show me how badly I am missing the wonders about me. It is a wonderful life, You are a God of wonders, and I am wonderfully made. Restore me, God, to a life overflowing and everlasting and good.

Amen

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Sunday Church

Daily Reading

Psalm 120-132

Daily Thought

The fifteen Psalms beginning with Psalm 120 are each called “A Song of Ascents.” Probably (we don’t know for sure) sung by the Hebrews as they pilgrimed to Jerusalem three times a year for the great feasts, the gatherings of God’s people, these psalms are short, mostly cheerful, always hopeful—except the first, Psalm 120. It is short, but begins with distress, ends with war, and is filled with deceit. A low, all-too-real beginning, followed by a steady climb upward: “When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dream. Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy” (Psalm 126:1-2).

The Sunday gathering of God’s people is our high point, and otherworldly; in a sense, the city of God rising above the city of man. “You are the light of the world,” said Jesus. “A city set on a hill cannot be hidden” (Matthew 5:14). Nowadays, we call it Sunday church, but really it is the church going “up” and gathering in one place because the church is us, and would it be so wrong to sing on the way there?

I was glad when they said to me,
“Let us go to the house of the Lord!” ~Psalm 122:1

Daily Prayer

To You, O God, I lift my heart in praise. Out of chaos, You created a life overflowing with peace and hope and love. You did it once in the beginning of the world, You did it again at the cross and the empty tomb. You give me life everlasting, an eternity which has already begun. I am a citizen of Your Kingdom today and forever. My heart is glad and I will sing Your praises so all may hear of so great a salvation.

May I never be shy about it!

Amen

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Truth

Daily Reading

Psalm 119:89-176

Daily Thought

There is a reason to pay attention to the law of God and follow his commandments, and it is not because they work. Well, it is not only because they work, because they do, and that is good, but it goes deeper than that. They work because they are established by the Creator, they serve his will and reflect his ways. When I follow them I reflect him. I become godly. They make me “wiser than my enemies” and give me “more understanding than all my teachers” (Psalm 119:98-99). Bottom line, they are the bottom line; they are true and they are Truth.

The Law begins with “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might” (Deuteronomy 6:5), ends with “love your neighbor as yourself” (Leviticus 19:18), and everything in between reflects one or the other or both. No gods, but God; no idols; don’t use God’s name in vain; keep the Sabbath; honor your father and mother; do not murder; do not commit adultery; do not steal; do not bear false witness; do not covet what your neighbor has.

I do not follow God because it benefits me, but it benefits me to follow God. I follow God because he is God. “But,” you ask, “isn’t that circular reasoning?” You bet it is, and God gets to do that. Truth is truth because it is. It does not have to defend itself; disobey it often enough and you will crash right into it. Obey it and you will know God.

Oh how I love your law!
It is my meditation all the day. ~Psalm 119:97

When have you mastered a foreign language? I’m told that you truly know a language when you use it until you no longer translate it, you simply read and speak and hear and do and even dream in the foreign language, which then is no longer foreign.

Daily Prayer

My God in heaven, You established the earth and all that is in it and all of it’s ways, You are my Beginning and my End. I have life because of You and live life for You. Your word expresses Your desires and delights; may they be mine, as well. I empty my heart of You when I sin; fill it again. Teach me to love anew because I spend too much time loving only myself. Teach me to love others like I love myself.

May I truly love You with all of my heart, all of my soul, all of my strength, all of my mind.

Amen

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Practice Makes Perfect

Daily Reading

Psalm 119:1-88

Daily Thought

“The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.” ~Philippians 4:9

Psalm 119 is the ABC’s of God’s Word. One hundred seventy-six verses broken into sets of 8, each verse of the first set begins with Aleph, the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet, the second set, the second letter, and so on. The psalm speaks of God’s Word in my life, a Word to be known, to be studied, to be mastered and to master me, to be lived and to be played like a beautiful instrument. “Your statutes have been my songs in the house of my sojourning” (Psalm 119:54).

If you have ever put a guitar in your hands or brought a horn to your lips, you get this psalm. “Practice makes perfect,” and the goal is to stop looking at your fingers on the frets, to forget even that you are holding a guitar, and just play; and there is no play without practice. 

Blessed are those whose way is blameless,
who walk in the law of the Lord!
Blessed are those who keep his testimonies,
who seek him with their whole heart,
who also do no wrong,
but walk in his ways! ~Psalm 119:1-3

Daily Prayer

Wonderful God, With pleasure I call You Master. You are the Lord of lords. You are the Lord of me. You are the King of kings. I pledge my allegiance to You.

May I be a worthy citizen of the Kingdom of God, an ambassador of Your grace. May I live for eternity by sharing and showing Your love today.

Amen

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Que Sara Sara

Daily Reading

Psalm 115-118

Daily Thought

Why, the psalmist wonders, would anyone put their trust in things that know nothing, with mouths that do not speak and eyes that do not see and ears that do not hear and noses that do not smell and hands that do not feel and feet that do not walk (Psalm 115:4-7). We worship idols of silver and gold and follow the stars or fate. Que sera sera. Really? We trust our math, but math does not think; 2 plus 2 is always 4. Math leads a dull life. Or science? We use science to do wonderful things, and we should, but science itself simply observes. Trust it with your life? It does not love you. It cares little for you at all.

Life is neither random nor wooden, it is personal. Science and math and fate and the stars do what they are told; “our God does all that he pleases” (Psalm 115:3). He made the stars in the heaven, and he made the butterfly flap. He knows everything, and he loves “you and your children! May you be blessed by the Lord, who made heaven and earth!” ~Psalm 115:14-15

Daily Prayer

My God and Savior, You are good. Your Son even said, “No one is good, but God alone.” Certainly not me. Yet, you have given me righteousness. Not mine, but the righteousness of Jesus Christ. What a gift. Thank you God. Why in the world do You care about me? Because You do what You please, and You chose to love me. I certainly didn’t do anything to deserve it. Thank You!!

May the Name of Jesus be praised, be honored, be worshiped. My God and Savior. May my life point to salvation through Your Son, the One who cares, who gave His all for me.

Amen

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For God So Loved the World

Daily Reading

Psalm 108-114

Daily Thought

In Psalm 108, David sings of the love of God, “For your steadfast love is great above the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the clouds” (Psalm 108:4). God’s love is so great, sings David, the world can hardly contain it. 

I love ice cream. It gives me pleasure. I love things that give me pleasure. I should admit, then, that I do not love spumoni ice cream. You see, my love is conditional. I love ice cream, but only the kind I like. That is one kind of love, my kind of love. There is another kind. “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). God hates evil, and we are covered in it. We reject and rebel against our own Creator, the Lord of the heavens and the earth, the one true God, and still he loves us. He loves us completely, to the death. What is amazing is not that the love of God reaches to the heavens, but that it touches earth; “and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). With all due respect to David, that is how I would write the song.

“For God so loved the world…” ~John 3:16.

Daily Prayer

Amazing God, You deserve the worship of all creation. Yet, so often, I forget about You. Many choose to ignore you. Some even hate You. And still, You love us, die for us, and offer us salvation. We reject Paradise and You invite us back. Truly, You are love.

I am able to love, God, because You first loved me. I pray that my love for the world always and fully reflects Your love for the world.

Amen