Daily Bible Nugget #702, Proverbs 15:8

The Nugget:

Pro 15:8  The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD: but the prayer of the upright is his delight. (KJV)

Pro 15:8 The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to Jehovah, And the prayer of the upright is His delight. (Young’s Literal Translation)

Pro 15:8 The offering of the evil-doer is disgusting to the Lord, but the prayer of the upright man is his delight. (Basic English Bible)

Pro 15:8  The LORD is pleased when good people pray, but hates the sacrifices that the wicked bring him. (Good News Bible)

Pro 15:8  A sacrifice brought by wicked people is disgusting to the LORD, but the prayers of decent people please him. (GW, God’s Word translation)

Pro 15:8 The LORD is disgusted by gifts from the wicked, but it makes him happy when his people pray. (CEV, Contemporary English Version)

My Comment:

Does God really care if we pray? Does it make any difference to Him? So often it may happen that our prayers are met with the answer “No” or “Wait” instead of “Yes.” Yet the Apostle Paul advises us to “Pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17).

More than a century ago, Sir Robert Anderson wrote a book titled The Silence of God. He addressed the issue, especially near or at the end of his book, by pointing out some relevant passages from the Bible. This important issue is addressed even more completely in the notes and cross references available in The New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge and more completely in The Ultimate Cross Reference Treasury:

Psalms 50:3
3  Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence: a fire shall devour before him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about him.
King James Version

not keep silence. Now He is keeping silence. But He will speak again, and here we are told what He will say (CB). The silence of God is spoken of under several different terms and in some other not so obvious ways. The silence of God is spoken of in reference to prayer, when prayer is unanswered (**Psa 28:1; +**Psa 66:18). Today it may be that in mercy God is intentionally silent such that we do not see the miraculous interventions experienced in certain periods of Old Testament history and in the beginning of the church in Acts when its membership was still entirely Jewish and God still extended His mercy to the nation of Israel if they would repent (Acts 3:19, 20, 21). Miracles of healing were prominent in the early ministry of Peter (Acts 5:15; Acts 9:34) and Paul (Acts 19:11, 12; Acts 20:10). But Paul later left Trophimus at Miletum sick (2Ti 4:20). Peter and Paul experienced miraculous Divine Intervention earlier in their ministries when they were released from prison (Acts 12:5-10; Acts 16:25-40), but Paul later spent much time in jail. A clue as to why God does not now intervene in such outwardly visible ways in answer to prayer may be suggested by the manner in which Jesus read aloud the Scripture from Isaiah as recorded in Luke 4:18, 19, 20, where Luke records “And he closed the book.” Jesus stopped reading at a most significant place in Isa 61:2, in the middle of the verse, for He did not read “and the day of vengeance of our God,” which came next. This stopping point in the text of Isaiah is one of many places where there is an unannounced time gap in the prophecy (See the notes and references at Isa 61:2 note). The stopping point may also signify that when God next visits this earth it will be for judgment, not mercy. In accordance with that promise, His silence now exhibits His mercy. Peter speaks of this very matter when he says God’s apparent “slackness” is rather evidence of His mercy, for He is “not willing that any should perish” (2Pe 3:9). Study of the cross references given for such texts as 2Pe 3:9 and the subject of God’s longsuffering (see also the cross references at +**Mat 17:20; Mat 21:43; Mat 23:39) may further explain the nature and reasons for God’s present public silence. Psa 50:21, +Psa 28:1; Psa 83:1; Psa 109:1, Exo 19:16, 2Ki 19:7, Job 16:21, Isa 8:17; *Isa 42:13; *Isa 42:14; *Isa 65:6; *Isa 65:7, +*Hab 1:13.

Isaiah 8:17
17  And I will wait upon the LORD, that hideth his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him.
King James Version

hideth. In reaction to the silence of God, the Israelites yielded to the temptation to look elsewhere for supernatural guidance and revelation (Isa 8:19, **1Sa 28:6; **1Sa 28:7). They turned to the occult and to extra-biblical sources of revelation, a practice some follow today when they heed supposed supernatural revelation claiming to be Jesus speaking. God is not providing any new revelation today; He has said all He plans to say in His Word, the Bible, until Christ returns in person to establish His Kingdom. Isa 1:15; Isa 45:15; +*Isa 54:8; Isa 57:17; **Isa 59:2; +**Isa 61:2 with Luk 4:20, Isa 64:7, Deut 22:1; +*Deut 31:17; +*Deut 31:18; Deut 32:20, +*1Sa 28:6; +*1Sa 28:7, Job 13:24; Job 23:9; *Job 34:29, Psa 10:1; Psa 10:11; Psa 13:1; *Psa 22:24; Psa 27:9; Psa 30:7; Psa 44:24; Psa 60:10; Psa 69:17; Psa 88:14; +*Psa 89:46; Psa 102:2; Psa 104:29; Psa 143:7, Song 5:6, Jer 33:5, Eze 7:22; **Eze 39:23; **Eze 39:24, Mic 3:4, +*Mat 21:43; Mat 26:29, Mar 14:25, **Luk 4:18, 19, 20; Luk 22:18, **Act 19:11; **Act 19:12, **2Ti 4:20, Heb 1:1, 2, +*Jud 1:3 note.

Isaiah 61:2
2  To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;
King James Version

and the day of vengeance. The connection here to what is stated at Psa 2:5 illuminates the subject of the “silence of God” by connecting “the day of vengeance” with “Then shall he speak to them in his wrath,” confirming the fact that when God next speaks it will be in judgment, therefore He is indeed silent now. Isa 34:8; Isa 35:4; Isa 59:17, 18; Isa 63:1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6; Isa 66:14, *Deut 32:41, +*Psa 2:5; Psa 110:5, 6, Jer 46:10; +Jer 50:15; Jer 51:24, *Nah 1:2, *Mal 4:1, 2, 3; *Mal 4:6, *Luk 21:22, 23, 24, 1Th 1:10; 1Th 2:16, **2Th 1:7, 8, 9, *Heb 10:30; *Heb 10:31, Rev 6:10.

As you can readily see, there is much to learn as we study the Bible diligently using methods I call Real Bible Study! Since God declares prophetically that He has stopped speaking for now, any religion or denomination that claims to have received additional divine revelation since the completion of the New Testament is clearly mistaken. Thus, the Koran and the book of Mormon cannot be genuine additional revelation from God. Nor can any Church claim additional divine revelation preserved in its claimed “sacred traditions,” for such would be a direct violation of the Bible affirmation found in Jude 1:3,

Jude 1:3
3  Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.
King James Version

the faith. FS121R2, +Act 6:7, The faith was complete and entire in Jude’s day; it is now contained in the written Scriptures of the NT, with no need for additional revelation or doctrinal development. Jud 1:20, Isa 26:2, +*Luk 18:8, Act 6:7; Act 13:8; +*Act 14:22; Act 24:24, Rom 1:5; Rom 1:12; Rom 10:8, Gal 1:23; Gal 3:23; Gal 3:25; Gal 6:10, Eph 4:5; Eph 4:13, Php 1:27, +*Col 1:23, 1Ti 3:9; +*1Ti 4:1 note. +*1Ti 6:10; 1Ti 6:12; 1Ti 6:21, 2Ti 1:13; +*2Ti 3:8; 2Ti 4:7, +*Tit 1:9, Heb 13:9, 2Pe 1:1, Rev 2:13.

once. lit. once for all. Gr. hapax (S# G530, Heb 6:4). The body of doctrine embodied in the faith is not properly subject to any addition or modification: it was complete as delivered from the Apostles (Heb 1:2). Casaubon remarks, “Divine words, few in number, but rich in meaning. If rightly understood and duly obeyed, these words would put an end to all modern controversies, and restore peace to the Church. Do we desire to know what the true faith is? St. Jude here tells us—that which was once, and once for all delivered to the saints. Every doctrine which can be shown to be posterior to that faith is new; and every doctrine that is new is false” (cited in Lange). Jud 1:5, Heb 9:26, 27, 28, 1Pe 3:18.

delivered. or, communicated. Gr. paradidōmi (S# G3860, Mat_5:25), to surrender, that is, yield up, intrust, transmit (Strong). Communicated not immediately by God, but by the Apostles, cf. 2Pe 2:21; 1Co 11:2; 1Co 11:23; 1Co 15:3; Luk 1:2 (see Lange). Note that “the faith” is a complete, not developing, body of truth delivered in complete form “once for all,” “unto the saints,” not a church hierarchy, but very ordinary believers. Jud 1:17, Deut 9:10; Deut 31:9, *Act 20:27, Rom 16:17, +*1Co 11:2; +*1Co 11:23; +*1Co 15:3, Gal 1:9; Gal 1:14; Gal 2:5, Col 2:8, 2Th 2:15; 2Th 3:6, 1Ti 1:3; 1Ti 4:6; 1Ti 6:20, +*2Ti 2:1; 2Ti 2:2; 2Ti 4:3, 4, +*Tit 1:9, 2Pe 2:21; *2Pe 3:2.

to the saints. 1Sa 2:9, +Psa 16:3, Act 9:13; Act 9:32, Rom 8:27; Rom 15:26, 1Co 1:2, +2Co 1:1, See on Eph 1:1; Eph 1:15; Eph 1:18; Eph 2:19; Eph 3:8; Eph 3:18, Php 1:1, *Col 1:2; *Col 1:12; Col 3:12, Heb 3:1; Heb 6:10, 1Pe 1:15, 16.

Since I have just gotten started on what Proverbs 15:8 teaches about how much God delights to hear our prayers, I’ll have to write Part 2 next!