Psalms 107: trouble, cry, deliverance, praise, repeat: part 6

Psalms 107
17 Fools because of their transgression, and because of their iniquities, are afflicted.
18 Their soul abhorreth all manner of meat; and they draw near unto the gates of death.

19 Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and he saveth them out of their distresses.
20 He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.

21 Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!
22 And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his works with rejoicing.

Verse 17

Psalms 107:17
Fools because of their transgression, and because of their iniquities, are afflicted.

What does the bible say about foolishness?

The root word “fool” is used in 189 verses in the kjv, and in 78 verses in Proverbs alone [41%!], more than any other book of the bible by a wide margin.

Proverbs 4:7
Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.

Proverbs 1:7
The fear [reverence] of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

An example of this is in verse 11 that we have already covered, so foolishness was one of the downfalls of these Israelites.

11 Because they rebelled against the words of God, and contemned [despised] the counsel of the most High:

Foolishness is basically the opposite of God’s wisdom.

The word “wisdom” in the kjv is used in 222 verses, with 53 of those being in Proverbs alone [24%].

The word “wise” is used in 257 verses, with 66 of those being in proverbs [25%].

Everybody knows that the book of Proverbs is all about wisdom, but Ecclesiastes, which directly follows Proverbs, is wisdom personified, doubly emphasizing the importance of God’s wisdom.

Fortunately, God’s words of wisdom outweighs the foolishness of man!

So, the words “wise” & “wisdom” are used in 479 verses vs 189 verses for the root word “fool”.

That’s a ratio of approximately 2.5 to 1.

Forms of Foolishness

Matthew 5:22
But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.

Raca:

HELPS Word-studies
4469 rhaká (apparently related to the Aramaic term rōq, “empty”) – properly, empty-headed. This term expressed contempt for a man’s head, viewing him as stupid (without sense) – i.e. a “numbskull” who acts presumptuously and thoughtlessly (TDNT).

It doesn’t seem right that if somebody simply calls somebody else a fool that he should be burned up in hell, does it?

Of course not!

Until you understand old testament law and see who it refers to in Matthew 23 – people who have sold their souls to the devil and have become his child.

Deuteronomy 19
16 If a false witness rise up against any man to testify against him that which is wrong;
17 Then both the men, between whom the controversy is, shall stand before the Lord, before the priests and the judges, which shall be in those days;

18 And the judges shall make diligent inquisition: and, behold, if the witness be a false witness, and hath testified falsely against his brother;
19 Then shall ye do unto him, as he had thought to have done unto his brother: so shalt thou put the evil away from among you.

Proverbs 19:5
A false witness shall not be unpunished, and he that speaketh lies shall not escape.

Matthew 23
17 Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifieth the gold?
33 Ye serpents, ye generation [offspring] of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?

So the takeaway here is that its extremely foolish to sell your soul to the devil or to falsely accuse somebody of being the devil’s child, especially under the old testament law.

Proverbs 1:7
The fear [reverence] of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

What else is foolish?

Matthew 7
24 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:
25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.

26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:
27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.

So not doing the will of God is foolish also.

This sounds like the Israelites in Psalms 107 who despised the words and wisdom of God.

Matthew 25
1 Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom.
2 And five of them were wise, and five were foolish.

3 They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them:
4 But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.

5 While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.
6 And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.

7 Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps.
8 And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out.

9 But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves.
10 And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut.

11 Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us.
12 But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not.
13 Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.

You must prepare for the unexpected, lest your foolishness cause you trouble.

What about homosexuality and foolishness?

Romans 1 [amplified bible]
21 For even though they knew God [as the Creator], they did not honor Him as God or give thanks [for His wondrous creation]. On the contrary, they became worthless in their thinking [godless, with pointless reasonings, and silly speculations], and their foolish heart was darkened.
22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools,

23 and exchanged the glory and majesty and excellence of the immortal God for an image [worthless idols] in the shape of mortal man and birds and four-footed animals and reptiles.
24 Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their own hearts to [sexual] impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them [abandoning them to the degrading power of sin],

25 because [by choice] they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.
26 For this reason God gave them over to degrading and vile passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural [a function contrary to nature],
27 and in the same way also the men turned away from the natural function of the woman and were consumed with their desire toward one another, men with men committing shameful acts and in return receiving in their own bodies the inevitable and appropriate penalty for their wrongdoing.

Foolishness is one of the ingredients of homosexuality.

More Miscellaneous examples of foolishness

1 Corinthians 2:14
But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

The unbelieving world will see the word and wisdom of God as utter foolishness because without the gift of holy spirit within, its impossible to understand it.

Galatians 3:1
O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you?

This is similar to the lesson in Matthew 7 where not doing the word of God, whether deliberate or out of deception, is foolish.

Ephesians 5:15
See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise,

Part of walking in God’s wisdom is not being in the dark, but having a full 360 degree view, without any blind spots.

Otherwise your foolishness will hinder you or cause you harm.

2 Timothy 2:23
But foolish and unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they do gender strifes.

Avoid foolish questions and you will have more peace.

I Timothy 6
8 And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.
9 But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.

10 For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

If you want to avoid “destruction and perdition”, then avoid “foolish and hurtful lusts”.

Since homosexuality involves being consumed by unnatural lust and the corresponding consequences, it could be classified as a foolish and hurtful lust.

These are just a few of the many forms of foolishness to avoid.

Psalms 107:17
Fools because of their transgression, and because of their iniquities, are afflicted.

The bottom line is that its foolish to rebel against God’s word because you are going to reap what you sow = consequences that make you cringe.

Verse 17 says they were afflicted.

Not fun.

You must decide which is greater: the pain of your problem or the pain of discipline that is necessary to fix it.

Verse 18

Psalms 107:18
Their soul abhorreth all manner of meat; and they draw near unto the gates of death.

There are only 2 verses in the bible that have both words “abhorreth” and “meat”:

Notice the parallel between Psalms 107:18 and Job 33:20.

This sounds like the Jepardy game!

“I’ll take Characteristics or Consequences for $200.”

Look at the very first usage of the word “meat” in the bible!

Genesis 1:29
And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.

The usage of the word “meat” is a figure of speech meaning nourishment.

Watch this enlightening 5-minute explanation of Genesis 1:29! [32 min – 37 min].

Exodus 29
41 And the other lamb thou shalt offer at even, and shalt do thereto according to the meat offering of the morning, and according to the drink offering thereof, for a sweet savour, an offering made by fire unto the Lord.
42 This shall be a continual burnt offering throughout your generations at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the Lord: where I will meet you, to speak there unto thee.

Leviticus 2:3
And the remnant of the meat offering shall be Aaron’s and his sons’: it is a thing most holy of the offerings of the Lord made by fire.

The remnants of the meat offering are the “most holy of the offerings of the Lord made by fire”, yet the Israelites abhorred it.

That’s not about the meat, but is symbolic of their rejection of God and rebellion against his commandments.

John 4:34
Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.

The word “meat” is again used figuratively to indicate that doing the will of God was Jesus’ spiritual nourishment.

Job 23:12
Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.

Job’s priorities were set right – the spiritual food from God was more important than his physical food!

Jesus Christ had the same attitude of reverence to God’s word.

Matthew 4:4
But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

John 6:27
Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed.

Look at the great wisdom of the bible!

Life isn’t about money, food or work, but in knowing and doing the will of God out of our love and respect for him.

Matthew 16:26
For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

This is the wisdom of the Lord.

Acts 2
46 And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart,
47 Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.

We should have gladness, not be at death’s door.

Spiritual meat and maturity

1 Corinthians 3:2
I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.

The Corinthians were too spiritually immature to be able to handle the in-depth spiritual truths of God, so the apostle Paul gave them the milk of the word instead, because they were spiritual babes in Christ.

That is why they were stuck on the crucifixion of Christ instead of his resurrection and the day of Pentecost.

And why God, through the apostle Paul, didn’t reveal the mystery to them, but to the Ephesians, who could handle the spiritual meat of the word.

The Israelites in Psalms 107 got to the place where they couldn’t handle the spiritual meat of the word.  Therefore, they were babes in the word.

I Timothy 4
1 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;
2 Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;
3 Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth.

Hebrews 5
12 For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.
13 For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe.
14 But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age [spiritual maturity], even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

As we learn the lessons of life in Psalms 107, and apply them with the wisdom of God, while avoiding the foolishness of the world, we too shall be able to enjoy the thick, juicy steak of God’s word.

The meat of the word is even better than the best cuts of beef the world has to offer!

Jeremiah 15:16
Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O Lord God of hosts.