"the balance of thought"

Monday, April 25, 2016 (7:57 a.m.)

Blessed, Holy God,

Thank You! I woke up to surprises early this morning. First, my soul was singing the song ♫Happy♫ and almost immediately I learned it had just rained. Thank You for God. Thank You for what I am learning right this very moment about “the balance of thought”.

I do that a lot. Unintentionally. Many times without even knowing it. This morning for instance, I was thinking about being happy. That led to me considering the importance of being joyful. The next thing I knew I was wondering about how to seek joy, when I remembered it is far more important to seek YOU (Matthew 6:33).

Mm, yes! ♫Seek ye first the Kingdom of God And His righteousness, And all these things shall be added unto you – Allelu, alleluia!♫ Thank You Holy God.

Thank You that so many times when I approach Your Word with one thought more of Your Truth opens up to me. Just now I searched 'surprises' and found myself at Proverbs 19:23 in The Message. “Fear-of-GOD is life itself, a full life, and serene – no nasty surprises.”

I can't turn the pages fast enough in finding more of all You have to offer us. Truth. Promises. History. Hope. Life. Joy. Balance. It's all here. In You! Thank You Father.

Illustrated Bible Handbook tells of the more than 3,000 proverbs written by Solomon. “The sayings are couplets, using the literary devise of contrast (see Hebrew poetry, antithetical parallelism, p. 252).” It was in turning to “Hebrew poetry” on page 252 that I read of the differences between English poetry and Hebrew poetry.

“English poetry relies on rhyme and rhythm for its impact” which makes it “difficult to translate into another language. But Hebrew poetry can be easily translated, for its major feature is not rhyme but parallelism.”

It's the next sentence that stopped my rushing to read more. “The balance of thought is vital to Hebrew poetry, not the balance of sounds or rhythm.” Hmm. Pause. Take this in. Proceed.

“The basic unit of Hebrew poetry is the verse, in which the first line states a theme”. In this particular case, “Fear-of-GOD is life itself” (Proverbs 19:23a). Continuing in the Handbook, “and one or more following lines in some way develop that thought. This is what is meant by 'parallelism': the balancing of thoughts by following lines.”

NONE of Your Word is there by accident! Every single thing in here is meant for something deeper.Thank You Father. Thank You for all those who have come before to help me understand just a tiny bit more.

Singing of seeking Your Kingdom first and being ♫Happy♫ and turning to the New Testament (Matthew 6:33) to balance my thinking I again get to read Truth. A Serenity Prayer devotion (The Life Recovery Bible) for this section of Scripture (vs. 25-34) begins with the reality that “It is easy to slip back into worrying about tomorrow, dwelling on the 'what ifs' and the 'if onlys'. Each day brings a host of things we cannot change;”.

Holy God, I have absolutely fallen back into this deadly trap! The devotion goes on, “there will always be circumstances beyond our control. We must also face the reality of who we are – human beings, confined within the slice of life we call today. It is tempting to deny the present”. I do that Father. I have been doing that again!

Thank You that You offer us the Way (John 14:6) out of our own ways of thinking. “We need to ask ourself at every turn in life, Am I accepting this present moment, or am I pretending – trying to escape into the past or the future? Each day there is something to find joy in, and there is strength promised for the troubles of that day.”

Yes! Yes. And yes! YOU give us these promises! “The psalmist wrote, 'This is the day the LORD has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it' (Psalm 118:24). We, too, can choose to find joy, strength, and sanity when we accept each day's realities.”

Oh, amen. Amen! Thank You. Praise You. Continue balancing my thinking this day Holy God. I love You. And I seek Your Kingdom. Thank You. Praise You. Amen.

(718 words ~ 9:20 a.m.)