“In this place, Solomon bluntly asserts that God controls all things. He does not say how God does it. Only a blockhead of the first order of magnitude would think to explain the way in which God reveals Himself through His works . . . We tend to assume, echoing Shakespeare, that the history of …
Additional Options Are Available
“If relativists seek after hollow minds, the godly must not respond by building minds of solid wood. Flexibility and prudence must not be confused with compromise and fear” (Joy at the End of the Tether, pp. 84-85).
A Dead Mackerel by Moonlight
“The religiously self-righteous are, to use the great words of John Randolph, like a dead mackerel on the beach in the moonlight. They simultaneously ‘shine and stink.’ What religious men esteem is not what God esteems. Our prayers need to be prayed for. Our tears need washing. Our repentance needs to be repented of” (Joy …
Free Fall
[Discussing Eccl. 7:26 & Prov. 22:14] “Foolish men believe they have found sexual liberty at just the moment when God has seized them by their yearning little idol in order to dash them against the rocks. Their exhilarating sensation of liberty is only temporary — a free fall with death at the end of it” …
As Godly as it Might Look to Some
“The upshot is that not everything ‘righteous’ is all that good. Not everything ‘sinful’ is all that bad. Only a fool jumps to pious and edifying conclusions” (Joy at the End of the Tether, p. 78).
Tiny Little Souls and Tight Little Shoes
“What does it mean to be overly righteous? Of course God is perfectly righteous; this does not mean He has taken it to an extreme. Clearly Solomon here is not addressing genuine piety, righteousness, or wisdom. He is speaking of what all too often passes for it. So what does this mean? Not to put …
Fruitful Anger
“Our Lord was angry in the incident of the man’s withered hadn, but the end result of His anger was a healing and glory given to God. The end result of man’s anger is broken crockery” (Joy at the End of the Tether, p. 72).
A Gnarled Key to Many Worlds
“We are familiar with the picture of a spoiled rich child with a family room full of expensive toys. He sits there in the corner, engaged in a furious sulk. Meantime, across town another little boy is filled with the goodness of life, running around in his back yard all afternoon, wonderfully occupied with a …
A Can Opener for the Peaches
“We are all familiar with the man who has everything. God frequently gives men many external blessings — without giving them the spiritual taste buds to enjoy what they have. This is a sore affliction from the Lord. If we understand the point here, we metaphorically see a man without any taste buds who can …
All That While for the Whistling Wind
“A man arrives without possessions and he leaves without possessions. In the interval, while he does have all his stuff, he cannot sleep because he worries about it. What a deal. But if he works hard and frets and worries a whole lot, he can make sure that his fine clothes (for the short time …