Proverbs 9:18 {ESV} But he does not know that the dead are there, that her guests are in the depths of Sheol.
By obligation, or at least a self-imposed sense of obligation I have said yes to things that a hundred times over I should have said no to. The learning is two-fold; one, don’t allow any sense of obligation to make decisions for me; and two, don’t allow myself to make choices that put me in a position of obligation to someone who has radically different core values and agenda from myself.
Desperation can lead me to make choices that I regret. So now, even in the most desperate of situations, I make space to breath, to stop, to engage my EQ fully and step back for context. Prayer and patience become my nightstands, bringing light to the dark.
And God, will. He will bring light into darkness, he will make a way of escape. God’s way may or may not be physically challenging, but it will be a challenge to my character and my internal self. I will grow in the challenge, even if incrementally, I will grow. And God will be glorified, and situations will be resolved, and peace will be my portion. This Proverbs nine woman, who sits in the doorway and the high place has no authority in my life.
KNOWLEDGE – there are some places and situations that to the observer with wisdom create the question of “why”. Why would anyone want to be in this situation, why would anyone make the decisions that would land them in this situation.
To the person in the difficulty, there may be a sense of inevitability – this is what their life has been leading to and they feel powerless to restrain it. Or perhaps regret is their footstool, bringing a paradoxical sense of comfort, in the self-realisation of their own culpability.
UNDERSTANDING
Let’s pick one word from this verse to look closer at and see if that can help us gain a deeper insight into how God would love us to live?
The word for “guests” in Hebrew is pronounced as “qara” and carries the meanings, “to call, summon, announce, proclaim, to be invited as a guest, to be appointed”.
The LXX reads as “But he does not know that earth-born men by her are destroyed and upon the perch of Hades he meets.”
This translation uses the word πέταυρον [petauron] for the idea of the meeting place as opposed to the guests – the people who are met.
This word has the idea of a pole for fowls to roost on (so a very narrow and precarious place to meet) – and does not appear in the New Testament.
WISDOM – Before making any major decisions seek wisdom from God’s word and his Holy Spirits guidance. Whose advice influences you just now?
STRENGTHS THOUGHT: Futuristic as a Gallup Strength can vividly describe the future, bringing hope to others. Practice being fully present in your life.
Allan’s Unauthorised Version – He does not seek to know or ask that the spirits of the departed are invited as her guests obscured from the deep realms of death.
But he does not know – he does not seek or ask to know
that the dead are there – that the spirits of the departed
That her guests – are invited as her guests
Are in the depths – obscured from the deep
Of Sheol – realms of death.
PRAYER: Father, thank you for today. Help me to seek you and your ways as my first calling.
To chat to me as a professional coach/mentor – allan@theallankey.com
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