96
The reaction of the wise man to this prophetic Word of the Lord will be to recognize the guidance and purpose of the Lord. Hos. 14:9 He will also see the loving kindness of the Lord manifest in correction and a call to repentance. Ps. 107:43 Discipline, though it may hurt, is a necessity. Most wonderfully it is a dual sign. The individual has been accepted by the Lord, to be His son, and He loves him. Everyone accepted as a son is chastised in some manner, no one is excluded. Heb. 12:6 The blessing of His Divine correction is that we become partakers of His holiness. Heb. 12:10.
The prudent, those who have the God given ability to hear and see the truths of the Word. Hos. 14:9 They come to a comprehension of the will and desire of the Lord as recorded in the Word of the Lord. Far too many church people never achieve an understanding beyond the four gospels, and that limited to its historic value. The Word is a living Word and as such is filled with the revelation of the doctrines of the Father. John 7:16 It is the Spirit of the Lord who opens the mysteries of the Word and makes it to be a thrilling book to read and study.
The ways of the Lord are just, the right, the straight and narrow way. Hos. 14:9 The ways of the Lord are perfect. Ps. 18:30 The ways of the Lord are in righteousness and holiness. Ps. 18:30 The strength of the child of the Lord is obtained by walking in His ways. Prov. 10:29 The challenge to allow the full and complete work of the Lord in us is ever before us. When we live according to His way of life He has promised that every valley will be filled, every mountain lowered, the crooked made straight and the rough made to be smooth. Luke 3:5 The best life, the most profitable life, the only life that is real life is to learn the ways of the Lord and then follow them. There will be valleys, mountains, crooked places and rough times, but He stands with us in all of them and wonderfully leads us through them.
The same Word which is life to the saved is that which will judge mankind in the end of time. Transgressors fall when they see the righteousness of the Lord. Hos. 14:9 Contrasted to the way of life in the Lord Jesus is that which was spoken by Jeremiah. Their ways are slippery ways, ways of darkness and they are driven on by their sin and ungodliness. They will ultimately fall in the day of the judgment of the Almighty. Jer. 23:12 Added to that, if they are the enemy of the Lord, then the angel of the Lord will make their way more difficult. Ps. 35:6 The hard, the most difficult way of this present natural life is to try to live it without the Lord, for it is the way of the transgressor which is most difficult and wearisome. Prov. 13:15 On the other hand, the path of the just, the righteous, is constantly and more powerfully being flooded with light leading to the day of perfection. Prov. 4:18. :END: