June 9 ▪ Day 160

Scripture Readings

Psalms 17:8
Job 15–16
I Timothy 3–4
Proverbs 10

Verse Focus (Psalms 17:8)

Keep me as the apple of your eye;
     hide me in the shadow of your wings.

Meditation

Psalms 17:8 says, “Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings.” What a wonderful prayer and plea! We ask God to keep us cherished and protected. Amen!

The “shadow of your wings” is protection — as anyone knows who has observed birds with their young. You might wonder, though, where the phrase “apple of the eye” comes from — or even what it means, exactly. The expression “apple” actually comes from Old English, rather than Biblical Hebrew. It refers to the pupil or to the dark center of your eye — or sometimes, simply, to the eyeball itself. The English expression predated the translation of the Bible into the King James Version. Over time, with both the Old English expression and the King James verses, the phrase “apple of your eye” has assumed an idiomatic meaning of a person who is exceptionally cherished and dear — a precious and favored loved one.

In the Hebrew, however, the word refers to the pupil. Keep me as the pupil of your eye. However, the Hebrew word also appears to be a diminutive form of another word — the word for man. Thus, even though it means “pupil” in the Hebrew, it can also interpreted as the “little man” of the eye. In this latter respect, it would be the reflection of a person in someone’s pupil — the little man. And, of course, you would not get such a reflection unless someone was gazing closely and intently at you.

From all these different meanings, we see that having God’s close and intimate gaze on you is part of the whole point for the psalmist. But the eye is also a very sensitive organ — the last thing we want to happen is to get poked in the eye. So we guard and protect our eyes. So the phrase has more than the meaning of close regard; it also has the meaning of cherishing and protecting. Then there’s the fact that it’s the pupil of your eye — the center. Keep me as the center of your focus. Keep me in the center of what you see and plan. It’s also kind of nice to think about the “dark” meaning of the eye — in other words, God keeps us sheltered in the dark unknown of His being.

Father God, thank you that you do cherish and protect us. May we always be the apple of your eye, hiding under the shadow of your wings. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

After hearing Job wish for a world where God would hide him in the grave and then resurrect him to never more count his sins against him, in Job chapter 15 Eliphaz the Temanite now accuses Job of not only speaking empty words (v. 3), but of undermining the fear and devotion that are due to God (v. 4). Eliphaz argues that Job is condemned by his own words (v. 6). He mocks Job for speaking of himself as if he were the only one to possess wisdom.

Eliphaz revisits the idea of original sin. Mankind is not pure, and not righteous (v. 14). Job had wondered why God would hold a man accountable for sin considering how constrained and fleeting his life is, but Eliphaz uses the argument of mankind’s fall to show how ridiculous it would be for God to consider any human righteous. As Eliphaz speaks of what the wicked are like, he subtly implies that Job is wicked since Job is experiencing all these effects: he “writhes in pain all his days (v. 20),” “distress and anguish terrify him (v. 24),” and “his branch will not be green (v. 32).”

Job responds to Eliphaz in chapter 16. He again says that his friends are all “miserable comforters (v. 2).” If their positions were reversed, Job could speak as they do — shaking his head at their misery. But rather, if they were experiencing what Job is now experiencing, Job would instead give them comfort. “The solace of my lips would assuage your pain,” Job says in verse 5.

But Job continues to speak of his own misery. The pain is constant, whether he speaks or refrains from speaking. He says that God has “shriveled (v. 8)” him up. As Job describes his suffering in verses 12 through 17, it reminds me of the Suffering Servant songs and it occurs to me that this might be a Messianic passage.

But even as Job describes his pain, he still holds out hope. In verse 19, Job declares, “Even now my witness is in heaven; my advocate is on high.” In the NIV, the following verses are equally inspiring — “My intercessor is my friend as my eyes pour out tears to God; on behalf of a man he pleads with God as one pleads for a friend.” I notice that other translations are a bit more obscure for verses 20 and 21; the Hebrew is not always easy to interpret and translate. But verse 19 is a shining beacon no matter which translation you read.

In 1 Timothy 3 Paul writes about the qualifications for those serving in leadership positions in the church. The qualifications make sense: leaders are to be above reproach, self-controlled, temperate, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, gentle, and not lovers of money. However, Paul also specifies that such leaders are to have good families — the potential leader and his wife are to be faithful partners, and the children should be obedient and respected. Verse 5 gives the reason for this: “For if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God’s church?” Again, this shows wisdom. We behave the worst towards our own families since these are the relationships we find most trying. If we are able to be kind, sacrificially loving, gentle, caring and forgiving in these intimate, family relationships, then we will have the wisdom to deal with relationships within the church body as a whole.

Verse 6 gives another qualification for those desirous of serving in top leadership positions: they should not be recent converts. Why not? Because of pride. A recent convert in a leadership position might become conceited at having that leadership role. Those who have been believers for a longer time have weathered more ups and downs, more temptations, more trials, and have presumably developed a more mature faith.

I like how Paul describes the church in verse 15 as “a pillar and buttress of the truth.” In our modern culture, there is so much emphasis on individual faith and individual belief that we forget the corporate nature of our identity in Christ. We are a body together. We need the church, and the church needs us as well.

In chapter 4, Paul speaks of some of the false teachings affecting the Ephesians. There has been false asceticism: some have advocated forbidding marriage and abstaining from certain foods. But Paul repudiates these teachings, writing in verses 4 and 5, “For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, since it is sanctified by the word of God and by prayer.”

Paul exhorts Timothy to “train yourself for godliness (v. 7)” which has “promise for the present life and also for the life to come (v. 8).” He tells Timothy not to let anyone put him down for being young. He encourages him to use his spiritual gifts, and to devote himself “to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching (v. 13).” He closes with the admonition to “watch your life and doctrine closely (v. 16).”

Paul’s advice for Timothy is advice for all believers. We should train for godliness. We should make use of our spiritual gifts. We should pay attention to how we live, and watch our doctrine. We may not be church leaders, but we should be equally committed to reading Scripture and to learning and growing as believers as Timothy was committed to nurture those believers.

We’ve been reading and studying Proverbs for some time now. Did you know that the Bible says that Solomon was the wisest man in the world? This is what 1 Kings 4:29 through 32 says:

²⁹God gave Solomon wisdom and very great insight, and a breadth of understanding as measureless as the sand on the seashore. ³⁰Solomon’s wisdom was greater than the wisdom of all the people of the East, and greater than all the wisdom of Egypt. ³¹He was wiser than anyone else, including Ethan the Ezrahite — wiser than Heman, Kalkol and Darda, the sons of Mahol. And his fame spread to all the surrounding nations. ³²He spoke three thousand proverbs and his songs numbered a thousand and five.

Now that we’ve reached chapter 10, we begin reading the first collection of proverbs by Solomon. Since proverbs are short, pithy, sayings expressing some kind of truth or advice, it can be difficult to read a collection of seemingly random proverbs — although Solomon likely did have some reason for ordering them as he did. Certainly you will see repeating ideas and themes. But don’t struggle to bring coherence to a chapter unit — simply read the proverbs as individual units, and let the Holy Spirit speak to you through some of them. For my part, I will comment on what strikes me today as I read the chapter.

The first proverb speaks of a wise son bringing joy to his father, or a foolish son bringing heartache to his mother. It is likely significant that the proverb that leads this collection speaks of family — and it also teaches us that what children do affects not only themselves, but it also has consequences for their parents.

The first half of verse 17 strikes me: “Whoever heeds instruction is on the path to life.” And, based on yesterday’s verse focus, I also like the first half of verse 30, which says, “The righteous will never be shaken.”

But the proverb that strikes me the most today is verse 22. As the ESV says, “The blessing of the LORD makes rich, and he adds no sorrow with it.” Or, as the CSB puts it, “The LORD’s blessing enriches, and he adds no painful effort to it.” How often do we think of the effort or struggle we must put in to achieve success? We push and strive. But when God gives His blessing, there is no painful toil — no sorrow. That’s a pretty amazing thing right there, isn’t it? Makes you rethink the way you do things, doesn’t it? Why are we struggling to achieve things in our own strength and with our own efforts? Why are we not turning to God and leaning on Him?

Father God, thank you for all that you give us. Thank you for the wisdom that exists in your Scripture — here in Proverbs, but also in Job and in Paul’s letters. Help us to absorb your wisdom, incorporate it into our lives, and live by your truth. We pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.