Whoso Diggeth A Pit

Whoso Diggeth a Pit

Turn to Pr 26:27. Here we find the words of the wisest of all men save the Lord Jesus Christ, giving account of a plan that was designed, it was well though out and yet it failed. At first glance at this verse I think of the oddest image in my mind. I think of a cartoon. The verse at first glance seems comical, very much like the sly coyote. One that is scheming and designing and laying out a trap for what he though was an unsuspecting pray. Much effort was placed in to the digging of that pit. Much toil went into the labor of rolling stone. With every shovel of dirt, the coyote thinks, “I’ve got him this time!” With every sweat filled inch the stone is turned, he thinks, “I can almost taste him. He’s mine!” But in the end, the result is the same. The coyote is distracted, drawn away, or duped, and it is not long before he finds himself looking up from the bottom of his own pit or squished in to a funny paper thin shape. But just as soon as the disaster takes place, we find him in the next scene, doing the same thing all over, lighting a fuse that will explode in his own face or painting a wall that he himself will run straight into. Just the other day my five-year-old son laughed until he was out of breath at the antics of the foolish coyote. But as I read the verse again, I am shaken to my core by the thought that this is the Word of God! This is no fairy tale painted in the colors of the Sunday funnies. This is no laughing matter. No! this verse is drawn with the hard cold dark lines of reality! “Whoso diggeth a pit shall fall therein: and he that rolleth a stone, it will return upon him.” The verse depicts a man feverishly laying a trap for an adversary. One who is desperately, with all his might, putting into place a stone that will roll down and crush his enemy. But the plan backfires, the tables turn and now he finds himself the pray of the work of his own hands. Wise king Solomon gives these words of wisdom in a cautionary tone. I say to you tonight, take care that you heed these words and forsake not the council of the scriptures. Notice…

The Character Of the Verse

When I say “character” I mean the nature of the verse or what the verse is about. Plainly the verse is about a person performing certain tasks in order to get an intended result. The person digs a pit. The person rolls a stone. This scenario is easily seen today. It is the stuff of movies. Just like the cartoon, one makes a plan and it backfires on them. Take for example Romeo and Juliet. Juliet had it all planned out. She would fake her own death and there by attain her true love. But the plan backfired, and instead of two embraced in romantic joy, be find two lifeless bodies. Do you have well laid plans? The implication is that pit was dug and the stone was rolled to entrap and destroy an enemy. You say, “Bro. Ronnie, I have no enemies. I’m not planning to murder some one.” But dear friend, if you have not come in to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus, then God is your enemy. Psalms 7:11 God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day. You say, “But the t-shirts and the bumper stickers say that God loves me! And the song my momma taught me as a child said that “Jesus loves me this I know…” Yes, God is a God of infinite love. He gave his only Son to be beaten and butchered at the hands of sinful man because of His great love for a fallen creature. But God is just. That means he passes right judgments. This is a tune we often sing in out world today. “Where is justice? I have been wronged, who will make it right?” Be assured that justice will prevail. Psalms 9:8 And he shall judge the world in righteousness, he shall minister judgment to the people in uprightness. But what is the law by which he executes His judgments? Where is his standard of measures? The scale of the justice of God lies in the Law of God. The Law of God, the height of God’s holiness, the rules of God’s righteousness, the pinnacle of God’s perfection. Here is where every man will be weighted. Here is where you find yourself at odds with God, the enemy of God. “Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting.” Deuteronomy 27:26 Cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words of this law to do them. Jeremiah 11:3 Thus saith the LORD God of Israel; Cursed be the man that obeyeth not the words of this covenant, Ezekiel 18:4 …the soul that sinneth, it shall die. Romans 3:19 Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. James 2:10 For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. With guilt comes judgment. So there you find yourself: Guilty with judgment approaching. This begins the action. Men dig a pit. Men roll a stone. They try to lay a snare for God to fall in. Notice firstly…