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{Since the Heavenly Trade Is the Best Trade…
Exhortation to Those Who Began the Heavenly Trade But Have Backslidden
Search Out the Causes of Your Soul’s Decay and Get Them Removed
Cause: Entering the Heavenly Trade without Skill to Manage It}
Another thing that throws back traders is this: they set upon employment without skill to do the work. Every craft has its principles, rules, and specialized knowledge by which it is conducted. To deviate from these is to mar the excellence and miss the advantage of it. Actions going against sound principles seldom produce good results. So it is with the heavenly trade. When people begin the heavenly trade and do not have the skill to conduct it to best advantage, it is no wonder that they do not prosper, but fall back in godliness. Solomon, giving directions for the heavenly trade, advises us to get wisdom as the principle thing for it (Proverbs 4:7).1315 And when the apostle wanted the saints to improve in holy walking as the necessary way to the heavenly trade, he begs wisdom for them: “For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God” (Colossians 1:9–10 NASB). Two things made David thrive so much in his public civil duties: integrity of heart and understanding (Psalm 78:72).1316 He fed [shepherded] them according to the integrity of his heart and guided them by the skillfulness of his hands. Some books read it in the plural number in the Greek [Septuagint], “in skillfulnesses [sic],”1317 noting the great measure of wisdom that people who wish to prosper in their particular work will need. They will also need wisdom for prudent administration so as to most further their spiritual welfare. In Christians, this wisdom and prudence is needed to guide them in everything they do in their general and particular callings, way of life, conditions, and life events in the world, all for the best advantage to their souls. The lack of this wisdom and prudence is one reason some Christians thrive so little in their heavenly trade. Wisdom would teach people how to avoid many snares and occasions of evil and also instruct them how to get good from everything they do. This would be greatly to the profit of their souls; the lack of wisdom makes them go backward in spirituals and continually decay.1318
1315“Wisdom is the principal thing; Therefore get wisdom. And in all your getting, get understanding” (Proverbs 4:7 NKJV).
1316“So he shepherded them according to the integrity of his heart, And guided them with his skillful hands” (Psalm 78:72 NASB).
1317In this case, skillful is an adjective modifying a plural Hebrew word that has the root כף [kaf], meaning the palm of the hand, often indicating an open hand or a palms-up gesture; it may be translated either palms or hands depending on the context. Hebrew grammar requires that adjectives be written in the plural form when modifying plural nouns, but this is not done in English. That palms instead of hands appears in the original may imply a gentleness in David’s shepherding his people. The use of the Septuagint here only muddles things as Greek similarly requires that adjectives agree in number (singular or plural) with the nouns they modify.
1318There are many sources of wisdom, including good Christian teaching and counsel, but Scripture as opened to by the Holy Spirit is the primary source of wisdom for believers.
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