Day 8/25 – Marriage or Celibacy

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Thoughts from the Diary of a Desperate Man by Walter A Henrichsen (“Walt”)
Marriage or Celibacy
Day Two Hundred Thirty-seven

“But I want you to be free from concern. One who is unmarried is concerned about the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord; but one who is married is concerned about the things of the world, how he may please his wife.” I Corinthians 7:32-33

In his controversial seventh chapter of first Corinthians, Paul addresses issues primarily concerning the family. The family unit is a temporal entity; Jesus said, “For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.”312 Life’s ultimate decisions should not be made on the basis of the family. For example, a person should not allow the families desire for things to cause him to focus his energies on accruing mammon.313 Marriage is temporal; don’t make eternal decisions on the basis of temporal data. Thus Paul reasons that the unmarried are better positioned to serve the Lord than those married.

Some do not have the gift of celibacy, and Paul says, “But if they cannot exercise self-control, they should marry. For it is better to marry than to be aflame with passion.”314 If you are unmarried, or have unmarried children, do not assume that God plans marriage for you. Culture does not dictate the decisions you make, God does. He may have marriage for you, as He did for me. But this does not mean that marriage is preferable to celibacy. It is an issue of your calling and stewardship. Whether or not God plans marriage for you, you must surrender your desire to His Lordship and allow Him to lead you.

312 Matthew 22:30
313 cf. Matthew 6:24
314 I Corinthians 7:9

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Psalm 119:1-88 1 Corinthians 7:20-40 (New King James Version)

Psalm 119:1-88
Meditations on the Excellencies of the Word of God
א ALEPH
119
Blessed are the [a]undefiled in the way,
Who walk in the law of the Lord!
2
Blessed are those who keep His testimonies,
Who seek Him with the whole heart!
3
They also do no iniquity;
They walk in His ways.
4
You have commanded us
To keep Your precepts diligently.
5
Oh, that my ways were directed
To keep Your statutes!
6
Then I would not be ashamed,
When I look into all Your commandments.
7
I will praise You with uprightness of heart,
When I learn Your righteous judgments.
8
I will keep Your statutes;
Oh, do not forsake me utterly!
ב BETH
9
How can a young man cleanse his way?
By taking heed according to Your word.
10
With my whole heart I have sought You;
Oh, let me not wander from Your commandments!
11
Your word I have hidden in my heart,
That I might not sin against You.
12
Blessed are You, O Lord!
Teach me Your statutes.
13
With my lips I have declared
All the judgments of Your mouth.
14
I have rejoiced in the way of Your testimonies,
As much as in all riches.
15
I will meditate on Your precepts,
And [b]contemplate Your ways.
16
I will delight myself in Your statutes;
I will not forget Your word.
ג GIMEL
17
Deal bountifully with Your servant,
That I may live and keep Your word.
18
Open my eyes, that I may see
Wondrous things from Your law.
19
I am a stranger in the earth;
Do not hide Your commandments from me.
20
My soul [c]breaks with longing
For Your judgments at all times.
21
You rebuke the proud—the cursed,
Who stray from Your commandments.
22
Remove from me reproach and contempt,
For I have kept Your testimonies.
23
Princes also sit and speak against me,
But Your servant meditates on Your statutes.
24
Your testimonies also are my delight
And my counselors.
ד DALETH
25
My soul clings to the dust;
Revive me according to Your word.
26
I have declared my ways, and You answered me;
Teach me Your statutes.
27
Make me understand the way of Your precepts;
So shall I meditate on Your wonderful works.
28
My soul [d]melts from [e]heaviness;
Strengthen me according to Your word.
29
Remove from me the way of lying,
And grant me Your law graciously.
30
I have chosen the way of truth;
Your judgments I have laid before me.
31
I cling to Your testimonies;
O Lord, do not put me to shame!
32
I will run the course of Your commandments,
For You shall enlarge my heart.
ה HE
33
Teach me, O Lord, the way of Your statutes,
And I shall keep it to the end.
34
Give me understanding, and I shall keep Your law;
Indeed, I shall observe it with my whole heart.
35
Make me walk in the path of Your commandments,
For I delight in it.
36
[f]Incline my heart to Your testimonies,
And not to covetousness.
37
Turn[g] away my eyes from looking at worthless things,
And revive me in [h]Your way.
38
Establish Your word to Your servant,
Who is devoted to fearing You.
39
Turn away my reproach which I dread,
For Your judgments are good.
40
Behold, I long for Your precepts;
Revive me in Your righteousness.
ו WAW
41
Let Your mercies come also to me, O Lord—
Your salvation according to Your word.
42
So shall I have an answer for him who [i]reproaches me,
For I trust in Your word.
43
And take not the word of truth utterly out of my mouth,
For I have hoped in Your ordinances.
44
So shall I keep Your law continually,
Forever and ever.
45
And I will walk [j]at liberty,
For I seek Your precepts.
46
I will speak of Your testimonies also before kings,
And will not be ashamed.
47
And I will delight myself in Your commandments,
Which I love.
48
My hands also I will lift up to Your commandments,
Which I love,
And I will meditate on Your statutes.
ז ZAYIN
49
Remember the word to Your servant,
Upon which You have caused me to hope.
50
This is my comfort in my affliction,
For Your word has given me life.
51
The proud have me in great derision,
Yet I do not turn aside from Your law.
52
I remembered Your judgments of old, O Lord,
And have comforted myself.
53
Indignation has taken hold of me
Because of the wicked, who forsake Your law.
54
Your statutes have been my songs
In the house of my pilgrimage.
55
I remember Your name in the night, O Lord,
And I keep Your law.
56
This has become mine,
Because I kept Your precepts.
ח HETH
57
You are my portion, O Lord;
I have said that I would keep Your words.
58
I entreated Your favor with my whole heart;
Be merciful to me according to Your word.
59
I thought about my ways,
And turned my feet to Your testimonies.
60
I made haste, and did not delay
To keep Your commandments.
61
The cords of the wicked have bound me,
But I have not forgotten Your law.
62
At midnight I will rise to give thanks to You,
Because of Your righteous judgments.
63
I am a companion of all who fear You,
And of those who keep Your precepts.
64
The earth, O Lord, is full of Your mercy;
Teach me Your statutes.
ט TETH
65
You have dealt well with Your servant,
O Lord, according to Your word.
66
Teach me good judgment and knowledge,
For I believe Your commandments.
67
Before I was afflicted I went astray,
But now I keep Your word.
68
You are good, and do good;
Teach me Your statutes.
69
The proud have forged[k] a lie against me,
But I will keep Your precepts with my whole heart.
70
Their heart is [l]as fat as grease,
But I delight in Your law.
71
It is good for me that I have been afflicted,
That I may learn Your statutes.
72
The law of Your mouth is better to me
Than thousands of coins of gold and silver.
י YOD
73
Your hands have made me and fashioned me;
Give me understanding, that I may learn Your commandments.
74
Those who fear You will be glad when they see me,
Because I have hoped in Your word.
75
I know, O Lord, that Your judgments are [m]right,
And that in faithfulness You have afflicted me.
76
Let, I pray, Your merciful kindness be for my comfort,
According to Your word to Your servant.
77
Let Your tender mercies come to me, that I may live;
For Your law is my delight.
78
Let the proud be ashamed,
For they treated me wrongfully with falsehood;
But I will meditate on Your precepts.
79
Let those who fear You turn to me,
Those who know Your testimonies.
80
Let my heart be blameless regarding Your statutes,
That I may not be ashamed.
כ KAPH
81
My soul faints for Your salvation,
But I hope in Your word.
82
My eyes fail from searching Your word,
Saying, “When will You comfort me?”
83
For I have become like a wineskin in smoke,
Yet I do not forget Your statutes.
84
How many are the days of Your servant?
When will You execute judgment on those who persecute me?
85
The proud have dug pits for me,
Which is not according to Your law.
86
All Your commandments are faithful;
They persecute me wrongfully;
Help me!
87
They almost made an end of me on earth,
But I did not forsake Your precepts.
88
Revive me according to Your lovingkindness,
So that I may keep the testimony of Your mouth.
Footnotes:
• Psalm 119:1 blameless
• Psalm 119:15 look into
• Psalm 119:20 is crushed
• Psalm 119:28 Lit. drops
• Psalm 119:28 grief
• Psalm 119:36 Cause me to long for
• Psalm 119:37 Lit. Cause my eyes to pass away from
• Psalm 119:37 So with MT, LXX, Vg.; Tg. Your words
• Psalm 119:42 taunts
• Psalm 119:45 Lit. in a wide place
• Psalm 119:69 Lit. smeared me with a lie
• Psalm 119:70 Insensible
• Psalm 119:75 Lit. righteous

1 Corinthians 7:20-40
20 Let each one remain in the same calling in which he was called. 21 Were you called while a slave? Do not be concerned about it; but if you can be made free, rather use it. 22 For he who is called in the Lord while a slave is the Lord’s freedman. Likewise he who is called while free is Christ’s slave. 23 You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men. 24 Brethren, let each one remain with God in that state in which he was called.
To the Unmarried and Widows
25 Now concerning virgins: I have no commandment from the Lord; yet I give judgment as one whom the Lord in His mercy has made trustworthy. 26 I suppose therefore that this is good because of the present distress—that it is good for a man to remain as he is: 27 Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be loosed. Are you loosed from a wife? Do not seek a wife. 28 But even if you do marry, you have not sinned; and if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. Nevertheless such will have trouble in the flesh, but I would spare you.
29 But this I say, brethren, the time is short, so that from now on even those who have wives should be as though they had none, 30 those who weep as though they did not weep, those who rejoice as though they did not rejoice, those who buy as though they did not possess, 31 and those who use this world as not misusing it. For the form of this world is passing away.
32 But I want you to be without [a]care. He who is unmarried [b]cares for the things of the Lord—how he may please the Lord. 33 But he who is married cares about the things of the world—how he may please his wife. 34 There is a difference between a wife and a virgin. The unmarried woman cares about the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit. But she who is married cares about the things of the world—how she may please her husband. 35 And this I say for your own profit, not that I may put a leash on you, but for what is proper, and that you may serve the Lord without distraction.
36 But if any man thinks he is behaving improperly toward his [c]virgin, if she is past the flower of youth, and thus it must be, let him do what he wishes. He does not sin; let them marry. 37 Nevertheless he who stands steadfast in his heart, having no necessity, but has power over his own will, and has so determined in his heart that he will keep his [d]virgin, does well. 38 So then he who gives [e]her in marriage does well, but he who does not give her in marriage does better.
39 A wife is bound by law as long as her husband lives; but if her husband dies, she is at liberty to be married to whom she wishes, only in the Lord. 40 But she is happier if she remains as she is, according to my judgment—and I think I also have the Spirit of God.
Footnotes:
• 1 Corinthians 7:32 concern
• 1 Corinthians 7:32 is concerned about
• 1 Corinthians 7:36 Or virgin daughter
• 1 Corinthians 7:37 Or virgin daughter
• 1 Corinthians 7:38 NU his own virgin