Ready for Some Wisdom?

“Let a righteous man strike me – it is kindness; let him rebuke me – it is oil on my head. My head will not refuse it” (Psalm 141:5).

What an odd passage. How in the world is striking another kindness? How is rebuke a balm of healing?

Then, what in the world could the Bible have in mind when it says “Let” a righteous man strike me – it is kindness? How can striking someone and rebuking someone be kindness?

First of all, the Bible is not advocating violence.

What the Bible is advocating is wisdom. There is so much wisdom that can be learned and gained for those less wise from those who are righteous. What better way to learn about how to live a life that is pleasing to God, a life that is fruitful than to learn it from someone who is righteous and someone who’s already been living this life?

Our issue is that we insist on living life according to our own rules and our own standards. We are terrible when it comes to listening to wisdom. We insist on making all our own mistakes. And that is a tragedy. That is so unwise.

What the Bible is trying to teach us is that we can either let life smack us around or we can humble ourselves and let the righteous teach us how best to live life.

What a genuine gift it would be to have the righteous show us when we are wrong and when we have gone off track so that before something really tragic can happen, we can make the necessary corrections.

In order for this to happen, we need enough humility to seek such guidance, and secondly enough wisdom to accept such rebuke and correction when it is given in love by the righteous.

So how about it? Ready for some wisdom?