Every word of God is flawless, he is a shield to those who take refuge in Him.

It’s been a little hazy the past few weeks!

I hope everyone’s been keeping well and drinking enough water!

Remember - if you’re not feeling well, like having breathing difficulties, please tell your teacher!

How did we get the haze?

Since 23 Jan, smoke from a place called Pengerang in Johor, Malaysia, has been coming to Singapore

Normally, it is easy to put out a fire if it’s on the top.

But this time the fire is in the peatland, where the fire is burning from under the soil.

And because it had been hot and dry, after putting out the fire one time,

it can restart again from the ground.

And the fire got so bad, that it had spread to about 100 ha, which is about the size of 120 football fields.

Hopefully the situation got better with the rains that started last Thu.

Normally when fire is constantly burning, it is a problem, because it creates a lot of smoke.

And it can be dangerous.

But in the old days, before people discovered gas and electricity, fire was important for warmth and protection.

And in holy places like the tent of meeting and later the Jerusalem Temple, the Bible tells us that the priests-in-charge is responsible to keep the light burning day and night.

So that the people are always reminded of God being there with them.

Our Bible passage today is from Proverbs 30:5.

It reads in the NIV: “Every word of God is flawless; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.”

However, the word “flawless” isn’t there in the original Hebrew in which it was written.

The original Hebrew is actually a passive participle that tells us that every word of God is being smelted.

Smelting is a process where impurities are removed from raw gold ore.

Impurities are the original dirt and other extra things that were added to gold.

To remove these impurities, we have to add a lot of heat, pressure, and chemicals, until the pure gold melts out from all the unwanted stuff.

King Solomon wasn’t the author of the book of Proverbs.

The author, Agur son of Jakeh, starts the chapter by saying that he couldn’t know anything well, as compared to God, who is so powerful.

And then he says in v5 that “Every word of God is flawless; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.”.

“Flawless” is the way the NIV chose to translate the idea of God’s word being constantly smelted and refined like gold.

The ESV and a few others translate it as “Every word of God proves true”.

In other words, the idea behind comparing every of God’s word as gold that is constantly being refined,

is because God’s word is so pure and flawless like the highest quality gold,

that even if we think we could find any fault with it, all the faults that we can find will eventually be burnt away like the impurities.

And therefore every word of God proves true and is reliable.

But what does this mean to us as we think about the value of empathy?

The next part of the verse says, “He is a shield to those who take refuge in him.”

There were many types of shield in the biblical world.

The shield that Agur son of Jakeh referred to here is a magen, which is a small portable shield, maybe a little smaller than the one Captain America used.

This word “magen” is also used to refer to someone with a lot of power, like a king, who can protect the people who come to him for help.

The Bible tells us that God is our king.

The Bible also tells us that Jesus is our Immanuel - God with us.

God is with us, and empathises with us whenever we are feeling stuck, sad, or stressed.

Because Jesus, being fully God, but also fully man, knows well when we go through hard times.

Because of this, let us all seek shelter in him, when the storms of the world rages around us.

Because every word of God is flawless, constantly being refined as gold.

And God is always around us, as a trusty shield,

empathising with us in our weaknesses, our worries, and our woes,

hearing every prayer we pray to him, whether said out loud or in our minds,

whether a quick prayer or a long prayer.

In fact, let us pray to him now.