Psalm 94:8-11 - September 24, 2009

Ps 94:8-11 "Take heed, you senseless ones among the people; you fools, when will you become wise? 9 Does he who implanted the ear not hear? Does he who formed the eye not see? 10 Does he who disciplines nations not punish? Does he who teaches man lack knowledge? 11 The LORD knows the thoughts of man; he knows that they are futile." NIV

A call to the foolish! This passage is God crying out to provoke us to thought, to stir us to wise thinking. Too often each one of us yields to the tendency to think poorly or not at all. Many of us are driven by impulse and presumption. Still others of us are inclined to rush into decisions without considering either God OR common sense. WE WANT IT! Whatever IT is! We want to do it, buy it, spend it, use it, eat it, and feel it. For many of us there is an inner desire, sometimes so deep that we haven’t even acknowledged it to ourselves, to live without restraint, without discipline; a desire to simply yield to the seductive appeal of pleasure and comfort, or the rush of impatience and rashly vented anger. Psalm 94:8-11 is the voice of God calling us back to sound thinking.
“When will you become wise?” What a simple yet confrontational appeal from the heart of God. There is a profound implication resting within this simple phrase: “Anyone can walk in wisdom… it is a choice!” God would not ask of us “when” if wisdom was not a commonly available attribute. God has placed within His word the principles of life to make us wise and commands us in the proverbs to Prov 4:5-8 “Get wisdom, get understanding; do not forget my words or swerve from them. 6 Do not forsake wisdom, and she will protect you; love her, and she will watch over you. 7 Wisdom is supreme; therefore get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding. 8 Esteem her, and she will exalt you; embrace her, and she will honor you.” How powerful and clear this simple principle “Wisdom is supreme, therefore get wisdom!” It can’t be any plainer than that. God has provided wisdom in His word that is available to all and then exalts it before us as the supreme necessity of a blessed life.
Psalm 84:8-11 is a reminder to us that it was God who made us, every detail, every ability, every thought of man is known to God. Nothing is hidden from His eyes. It is a reminder that because He is all knowing He disciplines us and His discipline is perfect because it is perfectly informed. There is no issue He does not fully know and fully comprehend concerning us and so His dealings are both merciful and just. Because this is true the Prov 1:7 reminds us of the foundation of knowledge and the fountain of wisdom, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.” To despise wisdom and discipline is to be a fool. To fail to recognize that these things come from God is the greatest form of foolishness. God calls us to Himself, gives us the source of ALL wisdom through Christ, and instructs us to build our lives on a disciplined application of this wisdom in the context of every decision and desire so that we can have the fullness of life and yet man’s tendency is to be self-willed and independent of this wise counsel and yet he dares to lift a voice of accusation against God when hard times touch His life.
The Apostle Paul points us to God’s provision for us in Col 2:1-3 “My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, 3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” Know this without any doubt that God’s desire for you is that you have the full riches of complete understanding! The desire of God is clearly known and the pathway leads us into the depths of knowing Jesus Christ “in whom are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” Give yourself to knowing Him today. Seek diligently the wisdom that is revealed as we learn His Word and His ways and heed the warning that God sends to preserve our lives from the evils that lie all around us.