Come Up Here - Proverbs 25:7

In the book of Proverbs Solomon said, “Put not forth yourself in the presence of the king, and stand not in the place of great men”, and in chapter twenty-five and verse seven of Proverbs Solomon said, “better is it that it be said unto you, Come up here” where we read,

For better it is that it be said unto you, Come up here;

than that you should be put lower in the presence of the prince

whom your eyes have seen.

The verse begins, “For better it is that it be said unto you, Come up here;” Solomon began with the words, “for better it is” or “because, since and on account that it exists as more pleasant, agreeable, excellent, rich and valuable” “that it be said unto you” which means “that the following is uttered, declared and proclaimed toward you, Solomon's readers and listeners”, “Come up here” or “ascend, climb and be exalted to this place”. Solomon said it would be more excellent for his readers and listeners to be told to ascend to the place before the authority compared to the following.

The verse continues, “than that you should be put lower in the presence of the prince whom your eyes have seen.”Solomon added the words, “than that your should be put lower” or “compared to you, Solomon's readers and listeners, to be placed, located and set in a humbled, abase and humiliated position” “in the presence” which means “within the front, face and countenance” “of the prince” or “belonging to the noble, generous and willing ruler” “whom your eyes have seen” which means “that your, Solomon's rulers and listeners', physical eyes have observed, inspected, perceived and considered”. Solomon referred to the way His readers and listeners could be humiliated before the face of the ruling noble of whom they already observed and perceived. 

When we think through the words in this verse, we learn through Solomon there is a benefit of not exalting ourselves and being humble before ruling authorities because it is more excellent to be lifted up by rulers rather than being humiliated by being told to step down. Jesus said, “when you are bidden of any man to a wedding, sit not down in the highest room; lest a more honorable man than you be bidden of him; but when you are bidden, go and sit down in the lowest room; that when he that bade you comes, he may say unto you, Friend, go up higher: then shall you have worship in the presence of them that sit at meat with you. For whosoever exalts himself shall be abased; and he that humbles himself shall be exalted.” (See Luke 14:8-11) To have access to God we must humble ourselves, repent of our sins and believe in His Son Jesus who died on the cross for the sins of all mankind. Let all who read these words yield themselves to Jesus and allow Him to exalt them.

Next time Solomon says, “go not forth hastily to strive”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

See more devotionals on the website "thewordfortodaywithray.com" or look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".