Tuesday, 14 April 2020
Proverbs 14.1
A wise woman builds her home, but a foolish woman tears it down with her own hands. (NLT)
A woman’s family is held together by her wisdom, but it can be destroyed by her foolishness. (CEV)
The wisest of women builds her house, but folly with her own hands tears it down. (ESV)
Proverbs 14.1-35 there are four sections:
- Walking in Wisdom vs. Folly vv 1-7
- Walking by Faith and Not by sight. Vv 8-15
- Walking before others vv 16-32
- Walking to impact the nation vv 33-35
The contrast between Lady Wisdom and Lady Folly continues from Proverbs 9.1. The brief statement about the wise woman here will be further discussed in Proverbs 31.10-30. Whereas the second part of verse one, “the foolish woman tears it down with her own hands.” Was discussed in Proverbs 7.10-23 and Proverbs 12.4 “A worthy wife is a crown for her husband, but a disgraceful woman is like cancer in his bones.” Proverbs continue to say that the disgrace cannot be hidden, it will be like “trying to stop the wind or trying to hold something with greased hands.” Pro. 27.15-16
To be wise or foolish is a choice made by a person. Lady Wisdom is calling out, inviting you to come to her, to learn from her and be enriched by her. It’s all a choice. We can build up or tear down our homes with the same pair of hands.
The house can mean a building, dwelling or palace, the writer is using figuratively as home, household and family. The picture here is about a wise woman who is able to enlarge or extend her household, teaching her children and be a blessing to her husband in contrast to a foolish woman whose foolishness causes damage to her husband and a detriment to her children and result in breaking up the family.
One of the most common ways to tear down a home is by the words that a woman speaks. Words are very powerful and can be used to build up the family members or tear them down. One way that a woman tears down her home is by being a nagging wife. Webster’s Dictionary defines the word “nag”: 1) to annoy by continual scolding, fault finding, complaining, urging, etc. 2) to keep troubling, worrying, etc. Therefore, a nagging wife is one who must be in control, not trusting God and living in faith, but is one who tries to get her way by continually complaining. She is never pleased with her husband or children and tells them so.
Buildings don’t just pop up from the ground on its own. Neither are homes built on their own. A house is built with brick and mortar; wood and nails. But a home is built with love, kindness, beauty, orderliness, discernment; instructions and disciplines; harmony; unity and stability. A wise woman creates an environment where the husband and children will love to come back to. A place where the family plays and prays together; where Christ is honoured; and a place where everyone is love and accepted. The Biblical pattern for building a home is to follow the command of God. The father leads with example and love for his wife. The wife submits to the husband and the children obey their parents.
A plain marble stone, in a churchyard, bears this brief inscription: “She always made home happy.” This epitaph was penned by a bereaved husband, after sixty years of wedded life. What a rare combination of virtues and graces this wife and mother must have possessed! How wisely she must have ordered her house! In what patience she must have possessed her soul! How self-denying she must have been! How tender and loving! How thoughtful for the comfort of all about her! (Christian Treasury.)
1 Peter 3:8-12 (NLT)
8 Finally, all of you should be of one mind. Sympathize with each other. Love each other as brothers and sisters.[a] Be tenderhearted, and keep a humble attitude. 9 Don’t repay evil for evil. Don’t retaliate with insults when people insult you. Instead, pay them back with a blessing. That is what God has called you to do, and he will grant you his blessing. 10 For the Scriptures say,
“If you want to enjoy life
and see many happy days,
keep your tongue from speaking evil
and your lips from telling lies.
11 Turn away from evil and do good.
Search for peace, and work to maintain it.
12 The eyes of the LORD watch over those who do right,
and his ears are open to their prayers.
But the LORD turns his face
against those who do evil.”[b]
Prayer for today
Heavenly Father, Thank you for your love and grace that empowers us to overcome the fear of the pandemic. We thank you for each of our families. We are grateful that you have kept us safe and provided all our needs. We thank you for the family time you have given to us. Lord, we also feel that we are bored being locked up in our home for such a long time. There are times our pride comes between our relationship. Give us patience and forbearance with one another. Help us to be gentle and kind especially now. Help us to guard our mouths so that we speak gracious and kind things about one another. Help us to build up one another and never to tear down others with our mouths. We are anxious about the future. With this indefinite lockdown, we are faced with much uncertainty of the unknown. We come humbly before you, asking you to be merciful to us and all of our families.
We thank you for all our wives and mothers. Grant them the wisdom to daily choose Wisdom over Folly to build our homes. We commit every member of our home to play our role responsibly to make our home a place we love to be.
We pray for the frontline workers, protect them, renew their strength and provide their daily needs. We pray for all those who are infected by the Coronavirus and are under treatment, heal them, Lord.
We pray for the Government, that they be wise in distributing help to the needy people. We pray that they be able to come up with effective financial plans to help the lower-income group to survive in the lockdown period. Traders and businesses will receive help so that they can provide jobs for workers. Watch over the migrant workers, where they live in crowded areas.
We pray for Adriel Yim, as he is not to go for the operation today, but will go for further tests. Doctors are still studying all the details and come up with an effective plan to help him. Thank God, he went through the Echo and CT Scan. The heart surgery date is still uncertain. Lord, your time is the best time.
Lord, we are grateful you are there to listen to our prayers.
In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
Pastor Isaac Yim
xxx
每日灵粮
14/4/20
作者：严以撒牧师
箴14:1
箴言 14:1 智慧妇人建立家室，愚妄妇人，亲手拆毁。
箴言14.1-35有四个部分：
1、智慧与愚妄中行走 1-7节
2、凭信心而不是凭眼见行走 8-15节
3、在人前面行走 16-32节
4、为影响国家而行走33-35节
智慧妇人和愚妄妇人的对比由箴言9:1开始，此段经文的智慧妇人也将在箴言31:10-30中进一步被讨论。而箴言14:1的第二部分“愚妄妇人，亲手拆毁”已在箴言7:10-23和箴言12:4中讨论过：“才德的妇人是丈夫的冠冕；贻羞的妇人如同朽烂在她丈夫的骨中。”箴言继续说到，耻辱不能被掩盖，如箴言27:15-16“想拦阻她的，便是拦阻风，也是右手抓油”。
成为智慧人或愚妄人是一个选择。智慧妇人正在呼唤，邀请您到她跟前，向她学习。这一切都是选择。我们可以用同一双手建立或拆毁家室。
“家室”可以代表建筑物，住宅或宫殿，作者把家室比喻为家或家庭。经文的意思是一个有智慧的妇人可扩展家庭、教导儿女、成为丈夫的祝福，因此使家庭更密切；而一个愚妄的妇人能因为自己的愚妄，给丈夫、儿女带来伤害，导致家庭破裂。
拆毁家室最常见的方法之一是妇人或妻子的话语。言语的功效极大，能使家庭成员被建立或拆毁。唠叨的妻子是家庭拆毁的方法之一。韦氏词典对“ 唠叨”（nag）的定义是：1）通过不断地责骂，挑错误，抱怨，敦促等方式来烦恼他人；2）不断的烦恼，担忧等。因此，一个唠叨的妻子跋扈、喜爱辖制别人、不信靠上帝、不活在信心中，总是利用唠叨为自己夺取利益。她未曾对丈夫或儿女满意，并告诉（拆毁）他们。
建筑物不可能从地面上突然弹出来。房屋也不是自然被建造的，而是用砖、灰泥、木和钉子所造成的。建立一个家必须有爱、良善、美丽、有序、辨别、教导与责备、合一与稳固。有智慧的妻子为丈夫和儿女创造一个受欢迎、他们愿意、喜爱归回的环境。这地方能让一家人一起玩耍、祷告；一起高举、尊重基督的地方；家庭成员被爱、被接纳的地方。根据圣经的教导，建立家庭必须遵循上帝的命令。父亲以身作则、爱妻子，妻子顺服丈夫，儿女听从父母。
在一个教堂墓地的一块普通大理石上刻有简短的题词：“她总是使家庭幸福。”经过六十多年的婚姻生活，这个墓志铭是一位丧亲的丈夫写的。这位妻子和母亲拥有的美德与优雅是何等的稀少！她安排处理家庭事务是何等的有智慧！她心中的耐心是何等的多！他是何等的舍己！何等的有温柔和爱心！对她是何等的安慰！ （摘自Christian Treasury）
代祷事项
天父，感谢您的爱与恩典，使我们有能力克服疫情的恐慌。我们为我们的家庭感谢您。我们感谢您保守我们，满足我们的需要。感谢您给予我们有家庭的时间。主啊，我们在这期间少出门也感到无聊无奈。有些时候我们的骄傲影响了我们之间的关系。赐给我们彼此忍耐和宽容的信。如今特别帮助我们变得更温柔友善。保守我们的口，帮助我们彼此说恩慈善良的话。求主使我们彼此建立，不用我们的口拆毁对方。主，由于目前面临着封国，未得知何时结束，我们感到忧虑。我们谦卑地来到您面前，求您怜悯我们和我们的家人。
我们为我们的妻子和母亲们感谢您。赐给她们智慧，每天选择智慧过于愚妄来建造我们的家庭。我们交托我们的家庭成员，让他们在家中负责任，使家成为我们喜爱的地方。我们为一线工人祷告，保护他们，恢复力量并满足他们的日常需求。我们为所有被冠状病毒感染并正在接受治疗的人祷告，求主医治他们。
我们为政府祷告，使他们有智慧把资源分配于有需要的人民。我们求主赐给他们智慧能够提出有效的财务计划，以帮助低收入群体在封国期间得以过活。贸易商和企业可以获得帮助，以便他们可以继续为员工提供工作。看顾外籍人士，因他们住在拥挤的地方。
我们为Adriel Yim祷告，因为他今天不参加手术，但将进行进一步的测试。医生仍在研究所有细节，并提出有效的计划来帮助他。感谢上帝，他已进行了超声心动图和CT扫描。心脏手术的日期仍不确定。主啊，您的时间是最好的时间。主啊，我们感谢您总是愿意聆听我们的祷告。奉主耶稣的名，阿们。
杨仕涵译