Day 9...

Morning Meditation:

“But let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me...” (Jer. 9:23)

In our previous meditation, we saw that God judged Israel because they refused to embrace the knowledge of God’s self-revelation to them. They had no delight in God or His ways. Proverbs 1:20-33 delivers a scathing commentary, revealing God’s sentiments, concerning those to whom He has reached out to and, yet, they refused to hear. In part, it reads, “...since you ignored all my advice and would not accept my rebuke, I in turn will laugh at your disaster; I will mock when calamity overtakes you like a storm (vv.26-27)....Since they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord...they will eat the fruit of their own ways...” (vv. 29-31)
While the Lord feels and speaks this way, we know that He has no pleasure in the road that those who reject Him choose nor does He rejoice when they are destroyed for their refusal to follow Him.

The Lord, our God, takes pleasure in those who receive His word and rejoices in the fruitfulness they experience when they obey Him. Where is your boast today? In what do you take pleasure? Through the Prophet Jeremiah, the Lord says, “Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight, declares the Lord” (Jer. 9:23-24)

The Lord delights in us when our rejoicing is centered on our intimate knowledge of Him. May our greatest joy and overwhelming desire be to understand and know the Lord, our God, all the days of our lives.

To Consider:

Psalm 139:23-24: “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”

Are you actively involved in the process of renewal and transformation? (Rom. 12:1-2; II Cor. 3:17-18)

Evening Reading:

Psalm 119:65-72
ט Teth
65 Do good to your servant according to your word, LORD. 66 Teach me knowledge and good judgment, for I trust your commands. 67 Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I obey your word. 68 You are good, and what you do is good; teach me your decrees. 69 Though the arrogant have smeared me with lies, I keep your precepts with all my heart. 70 Their hearts are callous and unfeeling, but I delight in your law. 71 It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn your decrees. 72 The law from your mouth is more precious to me than thousands of pieces of silver and gold.