Proverbs

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NASB	Proverbs 1:29 Because they hated knowledge And did not choose the fear of the LORD.
AMPLIFIED 2015	Proverbs 1:29 Because they hated knowledge And did not choose the fear of the LORD [that is, obeying Him with reverence and awe-filled respect], [Prov 8:13]

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Bible Question (short): But I say, Have they not learned?

Question (full): My dear sister:

I think there is so much wisdom in what you say.

I have pondered each of the statements and thought of scriptures associated with it, so I know that there is much truth there. I have also been looking at definitions of pride to try to understand it better.

It is also interesting to consider what fear is really made of, and what are the objects of our fear. Sometimes it seems that we fear other emotions, such as jealously and a sense of inferiority. I suppose it is natural to fear pain. It takes maturity to face pain and bear it.

Still, my real interest is in determining what we can do to help ourselves in that situation. We can try to ease their fears and pain, but then the surgery must be done, and we so need their permission to do it. Look at the response of compudex at 11:27 for example. What can you say to such a person? Romans 14:4 does not usually work. 1 Corinthians 12:21 has been tried unsuccessfully. Galatians 5:15 does not seem to slow us down at all.

After church today I had to counsel with a deaf man and then walk with him to his home. He was in a wheel-chair. He was not ashamed to ask for help. He had come to the church to seek it. Nor was he too proud to accept it. And sometimes it seems that that is what is needed: we must be brought low. Then we do not mind looking up to people who are more qualified in a certain area, or stronger than we are. Till that time, we prefer to try to knock them down to our level.

Your reference to brokenness seems apt. I have often prayed that the Lord will keep me broken now, so that calamity is not necessary to produce it. I like your reference to blindness too, because it seems it must be confusion that causes us to hurt each other and ourselves. We are just thrashing around. The word of God puts an end to confusion, but then we are back where we started. How do you minister to someone who is not responsive to the word of God?

A colleague suggested recently that we simply have to forget these people. There are enough people who are ready to accept help, he says; we can wait till the proud ones get ready. And I suppose there is much truth in that as well. Those who (think they are) whole do not (feel the) need for a physician. That is what Jesus said. But he also wept over Jerusalem. It is difficult to look at people perishing for lack of knowledge. And the fact is, we have what they need.

Someone has suggested it is just one facet of the human condition, and I suppose that is true. People might more easily accept help from an angel, perhaps, than from another human being. But he who became flesh and dwelt among us is the same one who said while here, “Come unto me … and I will give you rest”. Some thought he was presumptuous to say things like that. And some think we are presumptuous if we offer to lead them to him. But haven’t our Christian brethren learned to not say that?