![]() Even those of us with the firstfruits of the Spirit who have been reborn by the grace of God and who have become new creations in Christ still groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for what we hope for to become a reality (see Romans 8.18-25). Solomon simply states what is true of the human condition. Delayed gratification is a part of life, but when the delay turns into a permanent state of postponement, that is when the heart grows sick. And that is what defers the hope, or postpones the hope, or forever keeps the hope just out of reach. Hope is “confident expectation” of something in the future that is yet to come, but certain to come, but unclear as to when it is coming. Hope, at least in the Bible, is more than wishful thinking. Or to use Solomon’s words, when hope is deferred, the heart grows ill. My eyes grow dim with waiting for my God. I am weary with my crying out my throat is parched. Over and over, the psalm writer cries out “How long O Lord?” Consider the following, ![]() ![]() And among those soul reflecting psalms are the psalms written by the heart sick. This collection of 150 psalms contains everything from psalms to praise the Lord to psalms of confession. The book of worship in the Old Testament is the Book of Psalms. Solomon is not so much teaching his son a wise course of action, but rather stating a very real fact of life: hope that never becomes a reality make the heart sick.Īnd it is not like Solomon is the only one to speak about “hope deferred.” We could just write this one proverb off as an isolated saying spoken in a moment of despair, but the Scripture is quite full of heart sick testimonies. Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life. Consider the following soul reflecting words, But sometimes the wisdom of the Proverbs simply gives voice to the aches of the soul, expressing the longings of the soul who is striving to live a wise life. The wisdom of this book searches the soul of the one who is willing to listen to advice, calling the reader out of foolish behaviors and desires into a life founded upon knowledge, justice, and righteousness. The Book of Proverbs is a soul searching book, sometimes because its wisdom searches our soul and other times because the searching of our soul finds its voice in its wisdom.
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