Wisdom, the Companion of the Lord
by Jonathan & Lynne Zavodney • April 7, 2024
My son, if you treasure wisdom, you will discern the fear of Yahweh and you will find the knowledge of God ~ Proverbs 2:1–5 (summary)
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ!
SCHOOL | I turned in my final assignment for Historical Books, in which I mined 1 Samuel 12, often called “Samuel’s Farewell Address.” One fascinating detail is that “Saul” is never mentioned by name despite Samuel twice saying, “Behold, the king” (vv. 2, 13) and, in contrast, naming Nahash, king of the Ammonites (v. 12). One effect is to anticipate Saul’s failure and rejection (chs. 13–15). I now turn my attention to Advanced Hebrew Grammar—something I’m very excited for 😊
FELLOWSHIP | The highlight of my work with Dr. DeRouchie was that I got to teach the book of Proverbs to his Old Testament students. Though an impossible task—to teach Proverbs in two and a half hours!—God helped me do what I could. There are so many treasures, but in particular it struck me how Solomon uses every rhetorical tool in his toolbox to make only one appeal: Get wisdom! In chapters 1–9, he paints the unsurpassed glory of wisdom and the insanity of folly in such arresting and affecting colors.
Z-HOME | God continues to bless our ministry in our apartment community, slowly but surely opening doors for gospel proclamation. Our work is full of joy and sorrow: joy because the love of Jesus flows through us to our neighbors, and sorrow because our neighbors are stumbling in darkness but they know not over what they are stumbling (Prov 4:19). Also, as some of you know, God provided a way for us to visit our homes (Ohio and Indiana—see the picture of Nora enjoying her first flight). Our joy was full after such a visit.
PRAYER | We are deeply grateful for your faithfulness to pray, attributing any strength or success directly to God’s work through your labors of prayer. As you do, please pray:
that God would fill us with His Spirit, giving us what we need to accomplish the work He’s given us to do
In turn, may our God fill you with His Spirit so that Christ is exalted as strong in your weakness, that you might say your work on earth is clearly a demonstration of God’s Spirit at work in and through you.
