Proverbs 23:15-18 English Standard Version
15 My son, if your heart is wise,
my heart too will be glad.
16 My inmost being[a] will exult
when your lips speak what is right.
17 Let not your heart envy sinners,
but continue in the fear of the Lord all the day.
18 Surely there is a future,
and your hope will not be cut off.
The Word of God for the Children of God.
Adeste Fideles! Laeti Triumphantes! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.
Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.
It’s tempting to admire rich and famous people who just seem to have every guilty pleasure in this world.
They always seem to have everything at their fingertips—money, fine food, adventurous travels, sleek cars and other toys, beautiful houses in beautiful places, big vacations where ever they want, power in business and politics.
Don’t they just seem to have everything in the world at their finger tips?
The Bible often cautions against having too much desire for the things other people have. That can lead to internal unrest that’s unhealthy for the soul.
Envy is cultivated in our hearts at such an early age.
Right from the get go, Society immerses, ingrains, soaks, teaches us to want all of those hidden and known treasures that the world offers at a very young age.
The commercials on television show kids with all of the newest fantastic toys and then envy is born and flourishes when another receives it and one does not.
Steadily exerting its subtle influence upon our souls, Envy often involves not only a desire for something but also a demand that no one else should have it.
And under its not so subtle influence, the sin of envy might tempt us to commit more sin in order to get what we want—to lie, cheat, steal, or to even kill for it.
Envy is a sin because it reveals all of our not so subtle ingratitude toward the abundant blessings that God has graciously bestowed upon God’s Children.
Is it more offensive to God when we envy those who gain through corruption and dishonesty?
I could not answer this but ingratitude towards God is wrong.
Contentment with what we have has to be a sincere form of praise to God.
It is acceptable to dream of good things to come or to want things, but when it creates envy then we have abandoned contentment.
God calls this coveting. Does this next verses sound familiar.
You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s. (Exodus 20:17 NKJV)
Our treasure and reward is accumulating and being stored for each of us in heaven.
We will have the healthy fear of the Lord when we care more about doing for God than getting from God.
If that is the desire of your heart, envy cannot get a foothold.
The only time contentment would not reign in our hearts is when we desire to do more for God than the current conditions allow.
If you find envy in your heart, especially envy for those that gain but do not know God, remember that your treasures are in heaven.
Use that energy that envy is sapping from you and turn it into service for the Kingdom.
It is not about pleasing ourselves but is always about pleasing the Lord.
“Soak Yourself in the Fear of God”
Proverbs 23:17-18 The Message
14
17-18 Don’t for a minute envy careless rebels;
soak yourself in the Fear-of-God—
That’s where your future lies.
Then you won’t be left with an armload of nothing.
The writer of our passage from Proverbs 23:17-18 says that even for today, it is far better to pursue doing things God’s way.
When we live God’s way, when we immerse ourselves in God’s way, when we soak our lives to maximum saturation in God’s way, our future will be secure, even if it does not seem so exciting or so extravagant by the world’s standards.
In fact, when we are truly wise and striving to live our lives in tune with God, we will have as much, if not ever so much more desire for God’s way as we might be tempted to have for the life of people who forever just seem to have everything.
The Worship Perspective of God’s People
“That’s where your future lies.
Then you won’t be left with an armload of nothing.”
Psalm 73:1-5 The Message
73 1-5 No doubt about it! God is good—
good to good people, good to the good-hearted.
But I nearly missed it,
missed seeing his goodness.
I was looking the other way,
looking up to the people
At the top,
envying the wicked who have it made,
Who have nothing to worry about,
not a care in the whole wide world.
The psalmist Asaph struggled with the age-old question of why the wicked prosper.
In Psalm 73 he wrote, “But as for me, I almost lost my footing. My feet were slipping, and I was almost gone. For I envied the proud when I saw them prosper despite their wickedness” (verses 2–3 NLT).
We definitely live in a time when people celebrate and flaunt ungodly lifestyles.
And like Asaph, we wonder to ourselves and sometimes rather out loud just how long do they believe they are going to get away with it.
As hopeful, hope-filled, faithful, faith-filled followers of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, we try to live our life by God’s Word, and people mock us for it.
So, we will say, or we will even sing, shout, out great raucous choruses of;
“This just isn’t fair. That’s a horrible thing they’re doing. They shouldn’t be able to get away with that.”
David, too, reflected on the life of the godly, the ungodly and contrasted them.
He looked at the priorities they have.
Psalm 5 The Message
5 1-3 Listen, God! Please, pay attention!
Can you make sense of these ramblings,
my groans and cries?
King-God, I need your help.
Every morning
you’ll hear me at it again.
Every morning
I lay out the pieces of my life
on your altar
and watch for fire to descend.
4-6 You don’t socialize with Wicked,
or invite Evil over as your houseguest.
Hot-Air-Boaster collapses in front of you;
you shake your head over Mischief-Maker.
God destroys Lie-Speaker;
Blood-Thirsty and Truth-Bender disgust you.
7-8 And here I am, your invited guest—
it’s incredible!
I enter your house; here I am,
prostrate in your inner sanctum,
Waiting for directions
to get me safely through enemy lines.
9-10 Every word they speak is a land mine;
their lungs breathe out poison gas.
Their throats are gaping graves,
their tongues slick as mudslides.
Pile on the guilt, God!
Let their so-called wisdom wreck them.
Kick them out! They’ve had their chance.
11-12 But you’ll welcome us with open arms
when we run for cover to you.
Let the party last all night!
Stand guard over our celebration.
You are famous, God, for welcoming God-seekers,
for decking us out in delight.
And in Psalm 5 he wrote, “You will destroy those who tell lies. The Lord detests murderers and deceivers. Because of your unfailing love, I can enter your house; I will worship at your Temple with deepest awe” (verses 6–7 NLT).
David was saying, “Nonbelievers can do what they want to do and live the way they want to live.
But, Guess What World?
– “I’m going to go to the house of the Lord and Celebrate God.” (Verses 11-12)
Asaph arrived at a similar conclusion.
Psalm 73:15-20 The Message
15-20 If I’d have given in and talked like this,
I would have betrayed your dear children.
Still, when I tried to figure it out,
all I got was a splitting headache . . .
Until I entered the sanctuary of God.
Then I saw the whole picture:
The slippery road you’ve put them on,
with a final crash in a ditch of delusions.
In the blink of an eye, disaster!
A blind curve in the dark, and—nightmare!
We wake up and rub our eyes. . . . Nothing.
There’s nothing to them. And there never was.
He wrote, “Then I went into your sanctuary, O God, and I finally understood the destiny of the wicked. Truly, you put them on a slippery path and send them sliding over the cliff to destruction” (Psalm 73:17-18 NLT).
When we gather with God’s people, pray with God’s people, and to study God’s Word together, celebrating God as God celebrates us we will see the big picture.
We will steadily realize that sin eventually catches up with everyone.
We will steadily desire to celebrate all of God than celebrating .01% of our sins.
And as followers of Jesus Christ, we will know that we’ve made the right choice.
To utterly Celebrate God, the Father as God the Father celebrates us!
To utterly Celebrate God, the Son and God the Son celebrates us!
To utterly Celebrate God the Holy Spirit as God the Holy Spirit celebrates us!
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
Father God, you give to us abundantly and exactly what we need. Your blessings flow every morning anew. Our greatest blessing is your Son. Forgive us when we envy others for the material things that this world offers. Those things are fleeting and never eternal. Help us see how serving you is worth more than anything of this world. We pray that our eyes always focus on your glory. Provider God, give us our daily bread today, to celebrate You and help us not to be tempted to do anything sinful to get more. We pray that we always bring honor to your holy name. Amen.
Adeste Fideles! Laeti Triumphantes! Venite Adoremus! Dominum. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.
Loving God, Living God, Loving Hope, Living Hope, Loving Living Life His Way! "Many things are possible for the person who has hope. Even more is possible for the person who has faith. And still more is possible for the person who knows how to love. But everything is possible for the person who practices all three virtues." - Brother Lawrence (1605-1691), Practicing the Presence of God (1692). 