Day 7/22 – Signs and Wisdom

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Thoughts from the Diary of a Desperate Man by Walter A Henrichsen (“Walt”)
Signs and Wisdom
Day Two Hundred Three

“For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles.” 1 Corinthians 1:22-23

If someone came to you with a strange, counter-intuitive thought, how could they convince you that it is true? They would have to do one of two things. They could use logic, whereby step by step they walk you through the argument, so that at the conclusion you have to agree that their premise is correct. The only other way they could convince you is by performing wonderful signs or miracles. For example, if they raised the dead and walked on water, you might say, ”Your message is incredible, but I cannot call into question your miracles; what you say must be true.” The first represents the Greeks, the second the Jews.

God designed the Gospel in such a way that it had the opposite effect. Paul says the human intellect is inadequate, for it is incapable of bringing people to God. All people are spiritually inclined and yet spiritually dead. The foolishness of the world’s wisdom is seen in its failure to find God. All religions believe that they are uniquely correct, which is why they become the enemies of one another. You see this in India with the tension between Muslims and Hindus. All religions oppose the Gospel, for it claims that only in Jesus can a person be saved.

Signs and wisdom are inadequate in finding God. For God constructed the Gospel in such a way that it satisfies the justice of God while breaking the pride of man. Apart from Divine initiative, you cannot know God. “It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.”273 You will never believe foolishness. Only when God opens your eyes can you see that the foolishness of the cross is the power of God for salvation.

273 I Corinthians 1:21

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Psalm 31-32 Acts 23:16-35 (New King James Version)

Psalm 31-32
The Lord a Fortress in Adversity
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.
31
In You, O Lord, I [a]put my trust;
Let me never be ashamed;
Deliver me in Your righteousness.
2
Bow down Your ear to me,
Deliver me speedily;
Be my rock of [b]refuge,
A [c]fortress of defense to save me.
3
For You are my rock and my fortress;
Therefore, for Your name’s sake,
Lead me and guide me.
4
Pull me out of the net which they have secretly laid for me,
For You are my strength.
5
Into Your hand I commit my spirit;
You have redeemed me, O Lord God of truth.
6
I have hated those who regard useless idols;
But I trust in the Lord.
7
I will be glad and rejoice in Your mercy,
For You have considered my trouble;
You have known my soul in [d]adversities,
8
And have not shut[e] me up into the hand of the enemy;
You have set my feet in a wide place.
9
Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am in trouble;
My eye wastes away with grief,
Yes, my soul and my [f]body!
10
For my life is spent with grief,
And my years with sighing;
My strength fails because of my iniquity,
And my bones waste away.
11
I am a [g]reproach among all my enemies,
But especially among my neighbors,
And am repulsive to my acquaintances;
Those who see me outside flee from me.
12
I am forgotten like a dead man, out of mind;
I am like a [h]broken vessel.
13
For I hear the slander of many;
Fear is on every side;
While they take counsel together against me,
They scheme to take away my life.
14
But as for me, I trust in You, O Lord;
I say, “You are my God.”
15
My times are in Your hand;
Deliver me from the hand of my enemies,
And from those who persecute me.
16
Make Your face shine upon Your servant;
Save me for Your mercies’ sake.
17
Do not let me be ashamed, O Lord, for I have called upon You;
Let the wicked be ashamed;
Let them be silent in the grave.
18
Let the lying lips be put to silence,
Which speak insolent things proudly and contemptuously against the righteous.
19
Oh, how great is Your goodness,
Which You have laid up for those who fear You,
Which You have prepared for those who trust in You
In the presence of the sons of men!
20
You shall hide them in the secret place of Your presence
From the plots of man;
You shall keep them secretly in a [i]pavilion
From the strife of tongues.
21
Blessed be the Lord,
For He has shown me His marvelous kindness in a [j]strong city!
22
For I said in my haste,
“I am cut off from before Your eyes”;
Nevertheless You heard the voice of my supplications
When I cried out to You.
23
Oh, love the Lord, all you His saints!
For the Lord preserves the faithful,
And fully repays the proud person.
24
Be of good courage,
And He shall strengthen your heart,
All you who hope in the Lord.
The Joy of Forgiveness
A Psalm of David. A [k]Contemplation.
32
Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven,
Whose sin is covered.
2
Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not [l]impute iniquity,
And in whose spirit there is no deceit.
3
When I kept silent, my bones grew old
Through my groaning all the day long.
4
For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me;
My vitality was turned into the drought of summer. Selah
5
I acknowledged my sin to You,
And my iniquity I have not hidden.
I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,”
And You forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah
6
For this cause everyone who is godly shall pray to You
In a time when You may be found;
Surely in a flood of great waters
They shall not come near him.
7
You are my hiding place;
You shall preserve me from trouble;
You shall surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah
8
I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;
I will guide you with My eye.
9
Do not be like the horse or like the mule,
Which have no understanding,
Which must be harnessed with bit and bridle,
Else they will not come near you.
10
Many sorrows shall be to the wicked;
But he who trusts in the Lord, mercy shall surround him.
11
Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, you righteous;
And shout for joy, all you upright in heart!
Footnotes:
• Psalm 31:1 have taken refuge
• Psalm 31:2 strength
• Psalm 31:2 Lit. house of fortresses
• Psalm 31:7 troubles
• Psalm 31:8 given me over
• Psalm 31:9 Lit. belly
• Psalm 31:11 despised thing
• Psalm 31:12 Lit. perishing
• Psalm 31:20 shelter
• Psalm 31:21 fortified
• Psalm 32:1 Heb. Maschil
• Psalm 32:2 charge his account with

Acts 23:16-35
16 So when Paul’s sister’s son heard of their ambush, he went and entered the barracks and told Paul. 17 Then Paul called one of the centurions to him and said, “Take this young man to the commander, for he has something to tell him.” 18 So he took him and brought him to the commander and said, “Paul the prisoner called me to him and asked me to bring this young man to you. He has something to say to you.”
19 Then the commander took him by the hand, went aside, and asked privately, “What is it that you have to tell me?”
20 And he said, “The Jews have agreed to ask that you bring Paul down to the council tomorrow, as though they were going to inquire more fully about him. 21 But do not yield to them, for more than forty of them lie in wait for him, men who have bound themselves by an oath that they will neither eat nor drink till they have killed him; and now they are ready, waiting for the promise from you.”
22 So the commander let the young man depart, and commanded him, “Tell no one that you have revealed these things to me.”
Sent to Felix
23 And he called for two centurions, saying, “Prepare two hundred soldiers, seventy horsemen, and two hundred spearmen to go to Caesarea at the third hour of the night; 24 and provide mounts to set Paul on, and bring him safely to Felix the governor.” 25 He wrote a letter in the following manner:
26 Claudius Lysias,
To the most excellent governor Felix:
Greetings.
27 This man was seized by the Jews and was about to be killed by them. Coming with the troops I rescued him, having learned that he was a Roman. 28 And when I wanted to know the reason they accused him, I brought him before their council. 29 I found out that he was accused concerning questions of their law, but had nothing charged against him deserving of death or chains. 30 And when it was told me that [a]the Jews lay in wait for the man, I sent him immediately to you, and also commanded his accusers to state before you the charges against him.
Farewell.
31 Then the soldiers, as they were commanded, took Paul and brought him by night to Antipatris. 32 The next day they left the horsemen to go on with him, and returned to the barracks. 33 When they came to Caesarea and had delivered the letter to the governor, they also presented Paul to him. 34 And when the governor had read it, he asked what province he was from. And when he understood that he was from Cilicia, 35 he said, “I will hear you when your accusers also have come.” And he commanded him to be kept in Herod’s [b]Praetorium.