Wisdom of Sirach 50:22-24 LXX

And now bless the God of all,
Who does great things in every way,
Who exalts our days from our birth
And deals with us according to His mercy.
May He give us gladness of heart,
And may there be peace in our days,
In Israel as in the days of old.
May He entrust with us His mercy,
And let Him redeem us in our days.

Encouraging Words

Life, as we know it now, is not what God meant it to be. He created us in His image. He created us to commune with Him. He placed us in a garden where everything was perfect. We walked with Him and talked with Him. We did not need sunlight because His uncreated light was all that was needed. We lived sid by side with all of the beasts of creation with no fear or concern for our lives. We were in heaven on earth. Then we broke our relationship with God and chose to eat the forbidden fruit. The rest is history and our world around us is proof that we have fallen. But by God’s never ending grace and mercy and the incarnation of His Son, we are able to reclaim that position with God, which we had in the beginning. We must struggle and fight against the fallenness that we live in, but we are not alone. Our God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, is walking with us through this life. Glory be to God!

Wisdom of Sirach 39:33-35 LXX

All the works of the Lord are good,
And He will supply every need in its hour.
No one can say, “This is worse than that,”
For all things will be well pleasing in their time.
So now sing praise with all your heart and voice,
And bless the name of the Lord.

Encouraging Words

Our God transcends time. I live in a finite world and therefore, I am constrained by time. If something transpires today, i.e. the loss of a loved one or a job, having a serious illness, being involved in an accident, or anything else that causes a major, or even a minor, impact on my life touches me in the now and can modify how I deal with the future. It is real! It is a life changing impact! But our God is outside of the bounds and constraints of time. He knows how this situation will work for my good. He knows the past, present, and future. He knows that this will someday be pleasing in its time. So with that knowledge and faith in my God, I can sing praise for my Lord with all of my heart and voice.

Wisdom of Sirach 39:1-3 LXX

How different is the man who devotes himself
To the study of the law of the Most High.
He will seek out the wisdom of all the ancients
And be occupied with their prophecies.
He will preserve the discourse of notable men
And penetrate the subtleties of parables.
He will seek out the hidden meanings of proverbs
And be engaged in the riddles of parables.

Personal Challenge

Why do we pursue our God through the writings and the teachings of His church and the saints that have gone before us? If it is for personal gain or to amass knowledge then it is for the wrong reason. We do this so that we can look outside of ourselves and embrace the great knowledge and wisdom of others and learn from them. As we do this we take our eyes off of ourselves and put them on others opening up a vista so full and rich. We do this to empty ourselves of what we think we know and who we think we are so that we can be filled with Him and His wisdom. Glory be to God!

Wisdom of Sirach 37:13-15 LXX

Stand firm on the counsel of your heart,
For no one is more faithful to you than it.
For a man’s soul sometimes tells him more
Than seven watchmen sitting high on a watchtower.
And in all matters, pray to the Most High
That He may direct your way in truth.

Encouraging Words

I cannot count the number of times that I have been told by well-meaning Christians that I can never trust my heart because its nature is bad and sinful. I always had a hard time with this because I took Christ at His word that He lived in my heart. So, here we have a word of wisdom from Ben Sirach that reminds us to stand firm on the counsel of our heart because no one is more faithful than it. Isn’t this awesome! If Jesus dwells within my heart and I am striving to live my life in a way that honors and glorifies Him then He will speak to me more through my heart than He will through my mind. Again, awesome! Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner and please direct my way in your truth.

Wisdom of Sirach 35:7-10 LXX

Glorify the Lord with your generosity,
And do not reduce the firstfruits of your hands.
In every gift let your face be cheerful,
And sanctify your tithe with gladness.
Give to the Most High as He has given to you,
And give to Him with generosity, according to your windfall.
For the Lord is He who repays,
And He will repay you sevenfold.

Encouraging Words

Why do we give to our Lord? Is it because we are commanded to? No! Is it so that we get more back or earn our way into heaven? No! Is it because we feel guilty for our sins? No! We give because we are grateful for all that has been given to us and we desire to return the firstfruits of it so that others can be touched by His love. What do we give? We give of our material wealth, which is money, or goods, or the things that money can buy, like bringing a dish to the fellowship hour. But God also enjoys other firstfruits of our lives, such as our time, our ability to reach out to those in need, our love for another, and anything else that is a result of His blessings poured out on us. We give because our love for Him is greater than our love for what we are giving up. Glory be to God!

Wisdom of Sirach 35:1-3 LXX

The man who keeps the law will abound in offerings;
He who heeds the commandments sacrifices a peace offering.
He who returns a kindness offers fine wheat flour,
And he who does alms sacrifices a praise offering.
To forsake evil is pleasing to the Lord,
And to forsake wrongdoing is atonement.

Personal Challenge

One of the erroneous teachings of modern Christianity is that we do not need to do any works for God. This has resulted in a consumer-based practice of Christianity. We go to church expecting to be entertained. We look to God to be our great sugar-daddy who will meet our every need, desire, want, or desire. It is true, our salvation is in the Lord Jesus Christ alone. There is nothing that I can do to earn it because I am a sinner and undeserving of His love, grace, and mercy. But once He bestows His love upon me, and I know Him and all that He has done for me, then I cannot stop desiring to serve Him, to be obedient to His commandments, to be kind and loving to those in my life, to give alms, and to forsake evil and wrongdoing. My works become a result of my salvation. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

Wisdom of Sirach 34:15-17 LXX

Blessed is the soul of a man who fears the Lord.
To whom does he look? And who is his support?
The eyes of the Lord are upon those who love Him.
He is a powerful protection and a strong support:
A shelter from the burning heat,
A shelter from the noonday sun,
A guard from stumbling,
And help from a fall.
He raises up the soul
And gives light to the eyes.
He gives healing, life, and blessing.

Encouraging Words

One of the results of living a 60+ year life is having seen, and sometimes put into practice, a broad range of sheltering methods. Growing up in the Cold War era I remember the bomb drills and scurrying under my desk at school as well as the advertisements for backyard bomb shelters. As a Boy Scout in my youth and later as a Scoutmaster I remember learning how to seek shelter and practiced the application of it while getting caught in the mountains while backpacking. There was the earthquake preparedness in California and standing in doorways while waiting for the shaking to stop. There was shelter planning in Thailand for tsunamis and now tornado preparedness in Ohio. But none of this comes close to the shelter that our Lord provides to His children. It is provided through unending, unconditional love, and guards us through any issue, whether physical, emotional, or atomic bomb could ever be. And it is provided to me and everyone else, freely and with love and mercy. Glory be to God!

Wisdom of Sirach 34:13-14 LXX

The spirit of those who fear the Lord will live,
For their hope is in Him who saves them.
He who fears the Lord will fear nothing,
And he will not be cowardly, for the Lord is his hope.

Encouraging Words

I know that I have not lived some stellar godly and righteous life, for I know that I am a sinner. And as I grow older, the more I realize tat I am not just a sinner, but as Paul laments, I am the chief of sinners. However, even as low as I am, I have been blessed throughout my life to see the results of fearing and loving God. My spirit truly dies live. I am able to fear nothing and not be cowardly because the Lord whom I fear and live is my hope. I have lost my job, more than once, just to have God restore me. He even restored me once to the experience of a lifetime of being a missionary in Haiti. I have lost loved ones through death, relocation, and even divorce, just to have God restore my relationships tenfold in return. I have been beaten down spiritually, and have seen others oppressed by our enemy, and have watched as our almighty Father came through in inexplicable ways because hearts were stayed on Him. My God, our God is real. He is alive. He does care for His children. And He is my only hope. Glory be to God!

Wisdom of Sirach 33:13 LXX

All His ways are according to His good pleasure.
Like clay in a potter’s hand,
Thus men are in the hand of Him who made them,
To render to them according to His judgment.

Encouraging Words
Our creator is the creator and benefactor of all creation. He holds it in the palm of His hand and gives it life and sustenance. I am part of that creation, and therefore, He holds me in the palm of His hand. He is not some fickle, detached tyrant who has cast us aside to fend for ourselves. As the master potter, He is active in my life molding and shaping me into His image. The more I yield to His will the less resistance there is to His handiwork. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!