Psalm 119:98-100 Your commands make me wiser than my enemies,
for they are ever with me.
I have more insight than all my teachers,
for I meditate on your statutes.
I have more understanding than the elders,
for I obey your precepts.

At first glance this passage seems quite conceited, but it contains some important truths. A genuine disciple is certainly going to be smarter than his enemies, because his enemies are going to be those who are in rebellion against God. A disciple is going to know that God’s commands are eternal, and therefore more important than anything temporal. A true disciple of Christ will learn from many people, but will have more understanding than they do because he is thinking God’s thoughts, lining his mind up with the Bible. And of course, a true disciple will have more discernment than any non-believer of any age, not from knowing the Bible but from obeying it. That last point is of vital importance, because we are so prone to equate head knowledge with wisdom, when they are very different things. Many intelligent, learned people have proved they have no real discernment by their rejection of God. Their problem stems from a refusal to acknowledge their responsibility to their Creator, and that rebellion makes them children of the devil. There is no wisdom there!

I have been guilty of conceit numerous times, but I haven’t been accused of it so much when it was real as I have been when I was simply trying to share the reality of Christ and the requirements of a Holy God. An assurance of salvation often comes across as conceit to those who don’t have it. That’s why it’s very important to come across as one beggar telling another beggar where to find bread. I sometimes have trouble with that! A major problem for me is remembering that the people I’m talking to have no framework for grasping things that seem very simple to me. That’s not their fault, because they weren’t raised in a home steeped in Scripture like I was. I must continually seek the help of the Holy Spirit in communicating God’s glorious truth, because otherwise it will be like rain on a tin roof, making noise but not sinking in.

Father, thank You for that last image You just gave me. Help me have patience with my hearers, just as You have had with me. I pray that my words may be light and life, and not condemnation and confusion. Keep me from preaching down to people, even in their perception, and much less in reality. May I be generous with what You have given to me, raising up generations of disciples who love Your Word, for their salvation and Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!