Proverbial Proverbs

Recent events have caused me to think about something that I have wanted to write about for a long time. There is in the book of Proverbs some advice that transcends time and the place where it was written. This particular chapter was attributed to Solomon the son of king David, who was granted, by the Lord, the gift of wisdom.

In the book of proverbs in the Old Testament there is a statement of things which the Lord hates and are an abomination to Him.

Proud look
Lying tongue
Shedding innocent blood
Wicked imaginations
Running into mischief
Speaking lies (Here the Luther translation gives it as swearing a false oath)
Sowing discord among the brethren

Proud look
In the news today there was a man called to testify before congress. He was anything but humble. He sneered and refused to answer the questions and derided the congressmen on social media.

Lying tongue
If you note lying is mentioned twice. A good definition of lying is; any communication with the intent to deceive.
Although this man refused to answer, he was lying. The Fifth Amendment to the constitution allows us to not say anything that would incriminate us, but if he had not done anything wrong, he would not have to have had to take that dodge from the truth.

Shedding innocent blood

Most of us will never have to worry about shedding innocent blood in the sense of taking another persons life. But there is another meaning that most people do not think about. It is assenting to the crucifixion of Christ and putting Him up to open shame. We are to bear witness of Christ at all times and in all places. We bear witness verbally and silently by our actions. When we covenant to keep the commandments, we are expected to be an example of the believers.

Wicked imaginations

One need only look on the Internet to see the plethora of wicked imaginations. They invite and entice us to wander on wicked paths. One of the prominent plagues of our day is pornography. This is a wicked imagination of huge proportion. Movies and television now declare that it is acceptable to have premarital sex and engage in immoral behavior with members of the same gender. Even House Hunters, which is a relative innocuous show on the Home and Garden Channel will show same sex couples looking for homes together and unmarried couples who are living together looking for a new place to live.  This gives the impression to those watching that such behavior is socially acceptable, but it is not in the Lord’s sight and will eventually lead to misery and woe as the Lord has declared.

Running into mischief

I cannot leave this train of thought without mentioning the fact that many of us run into mischief. The greatest ill of the day in this regard is public criticism of each other. A quote from the movie "Bambi" seems appropriate here. "What did your father say Thumper? If you can't say somthin’ nice, don't say nothin’ at all!"  One only needs to watch the political debates to see hate and vitriol spew from the mouths of certain of the candidates.

Speaking lies (Luther translation gives it as swearing a false oath)

We had a president of the United States whose wife is now running for president appear before congress and swear that he did not commit adultery, when in fact he perjured himself. This seems to be a blot on the character of many in our nation.

Sowing discord among the brethren

I read today in the anti-Mormon newspaper that they wanted people to post online if they had gone through a crisis of faith in the LDS church. If this is not sowing discord, I would be surprised. In a recent movie there was a line that stood out to your grandmother and me. "Would it help?" That reminded me of a reply that I got from Elder Packer when I asked him about a personal problem that a member of the stake was having. He responded, "What good would it do?" What good will sharing your personal problems on social media or on a comment page of a newspaper do?  Would it help? Things like this only destroy faith and testimony; they do not build individual commitment.
There will always be people around you who fit into one or more of those categories. The opposition will be more and louder to try and get you to loose your focus on Christ and His gospel.
Let us remember the things that are an abomination to our Heavenly Father and order our lives accordingly.

Love,

Grandpa