March 31, 2026 -- Proverbs 8:12-13 -- Who are your people: misery or contentment?!

People loved by the Father, in the Spirit's power: Sh'ma ~ hear and obey Jesus!

12  “I, wisdom, dwell with prudence,
and I find knowledge and discretion.
13  The fear of the LORD is hatred of evil.
Pride and arrogance and the way of evil
and perverted speech I hate.
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2025),
Proverbs 8:12–13.
 
“Misery loves company”. You know that proverb, right? It is quoted so often that you might think it is a bible verse. It isn’t. But it is reflected in these two verses. Look at the vices that are clustered together. Pride. Boasting about oneself, one’s accomplishments, while acting superior to others, is joined to arrogance. Showing off one’s talents, one’s possessions, one’s work, as if this were solely the arrogant person’s own accomplishments which gathered in all this bounty. It is an absolute ignorance of the fact that all you have comes from the LORD. (Work and the ability to work: the gift of God. Inheritance and the gaining of wealth, the gift of God. What do you have that you didn’t receive from God?! I challenge you to think of one good thing in your life that isn’t directly tied to God’s blessing?! I’m waiting.)
 
Pride and arrogance are partnered together on the evil pathway. Pride and arrogance make one insensitive and insensible to the things of God. While the proud and arrogant people march toward hell, they chatter foolishly, accusingly of others whom they think are inferior, worthless, and worthy of scorn. The evil pathway is so familiar, when you point out to them it is evil, they are shocked. Pride and arrogance will reply: “This is the way of the world, isn’t it? Can the world be wrong?” (So wrong!)
 
Contentment loves company too! Wisdom is a deep-rooted security anchored in the knowledge of Jesus and profound assurance of His saving work. Wisdom walks with prudence. Those who are prudent are sensible. They are aware of their surroundings. They can interpret the times and recognize where a course of action will lead; so, aware of the goal of complete and contented submission to God, the prudent make decisions based on their commitment to God. Knowledge is more than bare information. Those who are a new creation in Jesus Christ realize that all education and information that is True must find its source in godliness. Knowledge always comes to you with a bias, either tilted away from God, or coming from God. Those who walk with wisdom are eager for knowledge from and of the Holy One.
 
Contentment loves company too! Wisdom walks with prudence, and they link arms with knowledge and invite discretion into their company. Discretion is the ability to disentangle oneself from awkward situations and to do so with the grace of God. Discretion is desperately needed when believers are walking the way of God. The discrete navigate a path toward Him and do so in a world that hates the very God the discrete are serving. Discretion allows one to know the goal, the purpose for life, simultaneously showing others (who are on the path of evil) how inviting and beautiful is the way of Christ.
 
The fear of the LORD is the backdrop to all these attributes. If you fear people, then you will bend to every human philosophy, trend and whacko idea. If you fear people, truth is fluid. Your truth, her truth, their truth and at the clash of all these puny truths, the cynical ones in power lead the way. Evil gains the upper hand. The fear of the LORD is bending one’s will to Jesus, Who is Truth. He is the source of Truth. He is the way of Truth. He is Truth that leads to life. One confidently and with contentment follows Truth in Christ knowing that God holds the key to life, to death, and to eternal life after this life is done. The fear of the LORD is submitting every area of life to the lordship of Jesus: finances and sex, marriage and singleness, work and free time, friendships and freedoms.
 
The fear of the LORD is the cross-roads, the place of decision. Will you try and hold onto a few evil things, some things you justify as “not so bad” while walking in the fear of the LORD? It is impossible. You will be torn apart. Eventually your choice will be revealed as evil all the way. The fear of the LORD is pure (Psalm 19:9). There is no mixture of Truth with evil. When one finally realizes misery and despicable company are the way of destruction and hell, then one will be at the point where the purity of the fear of the LORD will be embraced.
 
So, dear readers, with whom are you keeping company: misery? Contentment? What is your way of life? Contentment in Christ leads to enjoying the company of other Christians who navigate the hostility of the world in the sure knowledge that Jesus the King, the Captain of Salvation, is leading His hosts to victory. The battle is fierce, but the outcome is sure.
 
King Jesus, I confess how often I wear the armour of a Christian, but toy with the things of the enemy. I confess how easily I totter. Thank You for the clarity of Your Word. Thank You for the instruction of the Holy Spirit. Spirit of the Living God, dig deeply into the place where I make daily decisions and there, at the source of my actions, cleanse me so that wisdom that is found in Jesus will be the motivating factor in all of my life. Wisdom and prudence, knowledge and discretion will guide me all under the banner of the fear of the LORD, so that fellow believers in Christ will be the ones in whom is all my delight. Faithful Father, let this way of life shine for Your glory and be so compelling that those who’d been in misery’s company, will be drawn to this new way of life. Amen.
 
https://youtu.be/9zGbdg1YCYY?si=bMU6IFvPvjLVS7mh Afflicted Saint, to Christ Draw Near
 

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