The Song of Moses, pt. 2
Deuteronomy 32:4
“The Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is he.”
“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, but fools despise knowledge and instruction,” wrote Solomon in Proverbs 1, which means that wisdom proceeds from a right relationship and in no other manner. That is, one doesn’t even begin the process of spiritual growth until they understand their relation to God. Such understanding is the conception of wisdom—it’s cocoon as it were. Disregard IQ scores and PhD degrees and innovative technologies and medals in the fields of molecular biology and quantum physics and business acumen and stock market savvy. None of that adds up to wisdom’s simple and necessary qualification for advancement. That’s why some of the greatest fools in history have been Pharisees and Sophists and philosophers and Nobel Prize winning scientists and city slickers, whereas some of the greatest wise men in history have been slaves and shepherds and fishermen and country bumpkins and even children.
I’ve recently encountered a troubling trend in certain Christian circles where preachers are counselling members of their churches, especially those who’ve been abused or mistreated in some way, to ‘forgive God.’ In fact, just a few weeks ago, I saw an article that called out a famous pastor for telling his congregation publicly that Jesus actually asked him for forgiveness! Yet, even if we’d never have the audacity to speak such heresy aloud, we’ve certainly thought it. Haven’t you been angry at God before, whether due to the breakdown of your marriage or your friendship or your church or your ministry, and you whispered in the quiet of your heart, or maybe yelled it out in a bathroom stall, that He’s done you wrong?! Of course you have—we all have. That’s what pride is in a nutshell: thinking we’re right and God is wrong. Yet, that’s where the Scriptures come to our aid. That’s where the scalpel of truth cuts into our hearts, and our transgressions bleed out, and we see the desperate plight of our sinful condition.
Wisdom is a painful surgery at first, but a rejuvenating physical therapy ever after: “for all His ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is he.”