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Guard wisdom and discretion (vss 21-22)
- The encouragement is to keep sound wisdom and discretion from a loving parent to child: don’t let them go, don’t forsake them. These two spiritual things are life and grace.
- Keep them means you need to put things in place to ensure sound wisdom and discretion aren’t lost. Why? When wisdom is lost or neglected, when discretion is lost, other things get lost.
- Innocence gets lost.
- Good judgment is lost (sobriety test, walk straight or crooked).
- Valuable relationships get lost.
- Sometimes even life is lost.
- What’s the will of God here? That you would get wisdom and discretion and KEEP them. If I know what’s going to take them away then I can guard against those things.
- Drunkenness takes away discretion.
- Drugs and other chemicals take away wisdom and discretion.
- Emotions take away wisdom and discretion.
- Bad influences and peer pressure takes away wisdom and discretion.
- Pride takes away wisdom and discretion. You think more highly of yourself than you ought to so you don’t guard yourself.
Keeping wisdom and discretion means you enjoy these benefits (vss 23-24)
- Walk safely without stumbling because the path is clear.
- Walk with assurance is like dad saying to his young child, It’s OK, just come over here. Over confidence can be a problem, but more often it is lack of confidence that makes children and adults do stupid things or fall into sin.
- Also the benefit of sweet rest. Sleep is something that is affected by your hope and your trust.
- We’ve all lost sleep worrying about the unknown. Do the things you can do and let the Lord handle the things that are beyond you.
The calm in the storm (vss 25-26)
- Be not afraid of sudden fear…why? If the desolation is targeting the wicked, faithless, ungodly, then it’s not directed at the faithful. So if you’re one of the faithful, this calamity isn’t for you. You won’t be in the cross-hairs of this calamity.
- If there is anything you and I should have confidence in is the Lord Jesus Christ.
- Habakkuk 3:16-19
