Reformed Doctrine Daily Devotions

Today’s devotion comes from Proverbs 20:1-15.

“Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler,
And whoever is intoxicated by it is not wise.
2 The terror of a king is like the growling of a lion;
He who provokes him to anger forfeits his own life.
3 Keeping away from strife is an honor for a man,
But any fool will quarrel.
4 The sluggard does not plow after the autumn,
So he begs during the harvest and has nothing.
5 A plan in the heart of a man is like deep water,
But a man of understanding draws it out.
6 Many a man proclaims his own loyalty,
But who can find a trustworthy man?
7 A righteous man who walks in his integrity—
How blessed are his sons after him.
8 A king who sits on the throne of justice
Disperses all evil with his eyes.
9 Who can say, “I have cleansed my heart,
I am pure from my sin”?
10 Differing weights and differing measures,
Both of them are abominable to the Lord.
11 It is by his deeds that a lad distinguishes himself
If his conduct is pure and right.
12 The hearing ear and the seeing eye,
The Lord has made both of them.
13 Do not love sleep, or you will become poor;
Open your eyes, and you will be satisfied with food.
14 “Bad, bad,” says the buyer,
But when he goes his way, then he boasts.
15 There is gold, and an abundance of jewels;
But the lips of knowledge are a more precious thing.”  Proverbs 20:1-15.

—————————–

“5 A wise man will hear and increase in learning,
And a man of understanding will acquire wise counsel,
6 To understand a proverb and a figure,
The words of the wise and their riddles.”  Proverbs 1:5-6.

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge;
Fools despise wisdom and instruction.”  Proverbs 1:7.

“There is gold, and an abundance of jewels;
But the lips of knowledge are a more precious thing.”  Verse 15.

“10 “Take my instruction and not silver,
And knowledge rather than choicest gold.
11 “For wisdom is better than jewels;
And all desirable things cannot compare with her.”  Proverbs 8:10-11.

“18 “Riches and honor are with me,
Enduring wealth and righteousness.
19 “My fruit is better than gold, even pure gold,
And my yield better than choicest silver.
20 “I walk in the way of righteousness,
In the midst of the paths of justice,
21 To endow those who love me with wealth,
That I may fill their treasuries.”  Proverbs 8:18-21.

“2 Make your ear attentive to wisdom,
Incline your heart to understanding;
3 For if you cry for discernment,
Lift your voice for understanding;
4 If you seek her as silver
And search for her as for hidden treasures;
5 Then you will discern the fear of the Lord
And discover the knowledge of God.
6 For the Lord gives wisdom;
From His mouth come knowledge and understanding.
7 He stores up sound wisdom for the upright;
He is a shield to those who walk in integrity,
8 Guarding the paths of justice,
And He preserves the way of His godly ones.
9 Then you will discern righteousness and justice
And equity and every good course.”  Proverbs 2:2-9.

“32 “Now therefore, O sons, listen to me,
For blessed are they who keep my ways.
33 “Heed instruction and be wise,
And do not neglect it.
34 “Blessed is the man who listens to me,
Watching daily at my gates,
Waiting at my doorposts.
35 “For he who finds me finds life
And obtains favor from the Lord.
36 “But he who sins against me injures himself;
All those who hate me love death.”  Proverbs 8:32-36.

Today’s devotion comes from Proverbs 19:1-14.

“Better is a poor man who walks in his integrity
Than he who is perverse in speech and is a fool.
2 Also it is not good for a person to be without knowledge,
And he who hurries his footsteps errs.
3 The foolishness of man ruins his way,
And his heart rages against the Lord.
4 Wealth adds many friends,
But a poor man is separated from his friend.
5 A false witness will not go unpunished,
And he who tells lies will not escape.
6 Many will seek the favor of a generous man,
And every man is a friend to him who gives gifts.
7 All the brothers of a poor man hate him;
How much more do his friends abandon him!
He pursues them with words, but they are gone.
8 He who gets wisdom loves his own soul;
He who keeps understanding will find good.
9 A false witness will not go unpunished,
And he who tells lies will perish.
10 Luxury is not fitting for a fool;
Much less for a slave to rule over princes.
11 A man’s discretion makes him slow to anger,
And it is his glory to overlook a transgression.
12 The king’s wrath is like the roaring of a lion,
But his favor is like dew on the grass.
13 A foolish son is destruction to his father,
And the contentions of a wife are a constant dripping.
14 House and wealth are an inheritance from fathers,
But a prudent wife is from the Lord.”  Proverbs 19:1-14.

————————

“House and wealth are an inheritance from fathers,
But a prudent wife is from the Lord.”  Verse 14.

“House and wealth” are also blessings from the LORD, but a prudent wife is such a greater blessing that it deserves such contrast as a special category of blessing.

“An excellent wife, who can find?
For her worth is far above jewels.”  Proverbs 31:10.

“He who finds a wife finds a good thing
And obtains favor from the Lord.”  Proverbs 18:22.

From the beginning, it was this way:

“Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone;  I will make him a helper suitable for him.”  Genesis 2:18.

In Proverbs chapter 31, there is a section giving a detailed description of the excellent wife, I will quote only the first few verses.

“10 An excellent wife, who can find?
For her worth is far above jewels.
11 The heart of her husband trusts in her,
And he will have no lack of gain.
12 She does him good and not evil
All the days of her life.”  Proverbs 31:10-12.

In conclusion, our “helper” and “excellent wife” comes from the LORD but she also points us back to the LORD Who is our ultimate “Helper” and our excellent Husband and our Head of the church.   

“Behold, God is my helper;
The Lord is the sustainer of my soul.”  Psalm 54:4.

“I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever;  that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.”  John 14:16-17.

“For your husband is your Maker,
Whose name is the Lord of hosts;
And your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel,
Who is called the God of all the earth.”  Isaiah 54:5.

“For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body.”  Ephesians 5:23.

“Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing;  but that she would be holy and blameless.”  Ephesians 5:25-27.

Today’s devotion comes from Proverbs 18:13-24.

“13 He who gives an answer before he hears,
It is folly and shame to him.
14 The spirit of a man can endure his sickness,
But as for a broken spirit who can bear it?
15 The mind of the prudent acquires knowledge,
And the ear of the wise seeks knowledge.
16 A man’s gift makes room for him
And brings him before great men.
17 The first to plead his case seems right,
Until another comes and examines him.
18 The cast lot puts an end to strife
And decides between the mighty ones.
19 A brother offended is harder to be won than a strong city,
And contentions are like the bars of a citadel.
20 With the fruit of a man’s mouth his stomach will be satisfied;
He will be satisfied with the product of his lips.
21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue,
And those who love it will eat its fruit.
22 He who finds a wife finds a good thing
And obtains favor from the Lord.
23 The poor man utters supplications,
But the rich man answers roughly.
24 A man of too many friends comes to ruin,
But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.”  Proverbs 18:13-24.

————————-

“A man of too many friends comes to ruin,
But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.”  Verse 24.

This friend who sticks closer than a brother is Jesus.

“A friend loves at all times,
And a brother is born for adversity.”  Proverbs 17:17.

Jesus was born for adversity.

“For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.  For one will hardly die for a righteous man;  though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die.  But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”  Romans 5:6-8.

“Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.  You are My friends if you do what I command you.  No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you.  You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you.  This I command you, that you love one another.”  John 15:13-17.

Today’s devotion comes from Proverbs 18:1-12.

“He who separates himself seeks his own desire,
He quarrels against all sound wisdom.
2 A fool does not delight in understanding,
But only in revealing his own mind.
3 When a wicked man comes, contempt also comes,
And with dishonor comes scorn.
4 The words of a man’s mouth are deep waters;
The fountain of wisdom is a bubbling brook.
5 To show partiality to the wicked is not good,
Nor to thrust aside the righteous in judgment.
6 A fool’s lips bring strife,
And his mouth calls for blows.
7 A fool’s mouth is his ruin,
And his lips are the snare of his soul.
8 The words of a whisperer are like dainty morsels,
And they go down into the innermost parts of the body.
9 He also who is slack in his work
Is brother to him who destroys.
10 The name of the Lord is a strong tower;
The righteous runs into it and is safe.
11 A rich man’s wealth is his strong city,
And like a high wall in his own imagination.
12 Before destruction the heart of man is haughty,
But humility goes before honor.”  Proverbs 18:1-12.

————————

“The name of the Lord is a strong tower;
The righteous runs into it and is safe.”  Verses 10.

“19 Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears our burden,
The God who is our salvation.  Selah.
20 God is to us a God of deliverances;
And to God the Lord belong escapes from death.”  Psalm 68:19-20.

And yet, other doctrine still preaches and teaches about man as if there is hope in man and man’s alleged free-will.
 
But, Reformed Doctrine preaches and teaches about God, Who He is and what He has done for us.
 
Reformed Doctrine runs to God and is safe.
 
Reformed Doctrine clings to God and what He has done for us from “Unconditional Election” to “Limited Atonement” to “Irresistible Grace to “Preservation of the Saints”, the “U”, “L”, “I” and “P”, the Five Points of Calvinism, the Reformed Doctrine of Salvation.

“5 Thus says the Lord,
“Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind
And makes flesh his strength,
And whose heart turns away from the Lord.
6 “For he will be like a bush in the desert
And will not see when prosperity comes,
But will live in stony wastes in the wilderness,
A land of salt without inhabitant.
7 “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord
And whose trust is the Lord.
8 “For he will be like a tree planted by the water,
That extends its roots by a stream
And will not fear when the heat comes;
But its leaves will be green,
And it will not be anxious in a year of drought
Nor cease to yield fruit.”  Jeremiah 17:5-8.

Other doctrine looks at man.
 
But, Reformed Doctrine looks at God.

“But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.”  2 Corinthians 3:18.

“And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.  For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren;  and these whom He predestined, He also called;  and these whom He called, He also justified;  and these whom He justified, He also glorified.”  Romans 8:28-30.

Today’s devotion comes from Proverbs 17:14-28.

“14 The beginning of strife is like letting out water,
So abandon the quarrel before it breaks out.
15 He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous,
Both of them alike are an abomination to the Lord.
16 Why is there a price in the hand of a fool to buy wisdom,
When he has no sense?
17 A friend loves at all times,
And a brother is born for adversity.
18 A man lacking in sense pledges
And becomes guarantor in the presence of his neighbor.
19 He who loves transgression loves strife;
He who raises his door seeks destruction.
20 He who has a crooked mind finds no good,
And he who is perverted in his language falls into evil.
21 He who sires a fool does so to his sorrow,
And the father of a fool has no joy.
22 A joyful heart is good medicine,
But a broken spirit dries up the bones.
23 A wicked man receives a bribe from the bosom
To pervert the ways of justice.
24 Wisdom is in the presence of the one who has understanding,
But the eyes of a fool are on the ends of the earth.
25 A foolish son is a grief to his father
And bitterness to her who bore him.
26 It is also not good to fine the righteous,
Nor to strike the noble for their uprightness.
27 He who restrains his words has knowledge,
And he who has a cool spirit is a man of understanding.
28 Even a fool, when he keeps silent, is considered wise;
When he closes his lips, he is considered prudent.”  Proverbs 17:14-28.

——————————-

“A joyful heart is good medicine,
But a broken spirit dries up the bones.”  Verse 22.

“A joyful heart makes a cheerful face,
But when the heart is sad, the spirit is broken.”  Proverbs 15:33.

Our LORD not only gives us a new heart inclined to righteousness as we meditated in the devotion yesterday (“Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. ” Ezekiel 36:26), our LORD also gives us a joyful heart. 

“I have inherited Your testimonies forever,
For they are the joy of my heart.”  Psalm 119:111.

“Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, you righteous ones;
And shout for joy, all you who are upright in heart.”  Psalm 32:11.

Other doctrine is focused on what it should do to make itself joyful.

But, Reformed Doctrine is focused on what God has done for it.

“2 Then our mouth was filled with laughter
And our tongue with joyful shouting;
Then they said among the nations,
“The Lord has done great things for them.”
3 The Lord has done great things for us;
We are glad.”  Psalm 126:2-3.

“Behold, My servants will shout joyfully with a glad heart, …”  Isaiah 65:14.

“Your words were found and I ate them,
And Your words became for me a joy and the delight of my heart;
For I have been called by Your name,
O Lord God of hosts.”  Jeremiah 15:16.

“Shout for joy, O daughter of Zion!
Shout in triumph, O Israel!
Rejoice and exult with all your heart,
O daughter of Jerusalem!”  Zephaniah 3:14.

“These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.”  John 15:11.

“And the disciples were continually filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.”  Acts 13:52.

“Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”  Romans 15:13.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”  Galatians 5:22-23.

“Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever.  Amen.”  Jude 1:24-25.

Today’s devotion comes from Proverbs 17:1-14.

“Better is a dry morsel and quietness with it
Than a house full of feasting with strife.
2 A servant who acts wisely will rule over a son who acts shamefully,
And will share in the inheritance among brothers.
3 The refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold,
But the Lord tests hearts.
4 An evildoer listens to wicked lips;
A liar pays attention to a destructive tongue.
5 He who mocks the poor taunts his Maker;
He who rejoices at calamity will not go unpunished.
6 Grandchildren are the crown of old men,
And the glory of sons is their fathers.
7 Excellent speech is not fitting for a fool,
Much less are lying lips to a prince.
8 A bribe is a charm in the sight of its owner;
Wherever he turns, he prospers.
9 He who conceals a transgression seeks love,
But he who repeats a matter separates intimate friends.
10 A rebuke goes deeper into one who has understanding
Than a hundred blows into a fool.
11 A rebellious man seeks only evil,
So a cruel messenger will be sent against him.
12 Let a man meet a bear robbed of her cubs,
Rather than a fool in his folly.
13 He who returns evil for good,
Evil will not depart from his house.
14 The beginning of strife is like letting out water,
So abandon the quarrel before it breaks out.”  Proverbs 17:1-14.

————————————

“The refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold,
But the Lord tests hearts.”  Verse 3.

“For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.  And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.”  Hebrews 4:12-13.

“O Lord, You have searched me and known me.
2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
You understand my thought from afar.
3 You scrutinize my path and my lying down,
And are intimately acquainted with all my ways.
4 Even before there is a word on my tongue,
Behold, O Lord, You know it all.”  Psalm 139:1-4.

“23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;
Try me and know my anxious thoughts;
24 And see if there be any hurtful way in me,
And lead me in the everlasting way.”  Psalm 139:23-24.

“13 The Lord looks from heaven;
He sees all the sons of men;
14 From His dwelling place He looks out
On all the inhabitants of the earth,
15 He who fashions the hearts of them all,
He who understands all their works.
16 The king is not saved by a mighty army;
A warrior is not delivered by great strength.
17 A horse is a false hope for victory;
Nor does it deliver anyone by its great strength.

18 Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him,
On those who hope for His lovingkindness,
19 To deliver their soul from death
And to keep them alive in famine.
20 Our soul waits for the Lord;
He is our help and our shield.
21 For our heart rejoices in Him,
Because we trust in His holy name.”  Psalm 33:13-21.

“9 “The heart is more deceitful than all else
And is desperately sick;
Who can understand it?
10 “I, the Lord, search the heart,
I test the mind,
Even to give to each man according to his ways,
According to the results of his deeds.”  Jeremiah 17:9-10.

But, there is hope!

“Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you;  and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.  I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.”  Ezekiel 36:26-27.

Today’s devotion comes from Proverbs 16:18-33.

“18 Pride goes before destruction,
And a haughty spirit before stumbling.
19 It is better to be humble in spirit with the lowly
Than to divide the spoil with the proud.
20 He who gives attention to the word will find good,
And blessed is he who trusts in the Lord.
21 The wise in heart will be called understanding,
And sweetness of speech increases persuasiveness.
22 Understanding is a fountain of life to one who has it,
But the discipline of fools is folly.
23 The heart of the wise instructs his mouth
And adds persuasiveness to his lips.
24 Pleasant words are a honeycomb,
Sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.
25 There is a way which seems right to a man,
But its end is the way of death.
26 A worker’s appetite works for him,
For his hunger urges him on.
27 A worthless man digs up evil,
While his words are like scorching fire.
28 A perverse man spreads strife,
And a slanderer separates intimate friends.
29 A man of violence entices his neighbor
And leads him in a way that is not good.
30 He who winks his eyes does so to devise perverse things;
He who compresses his lips brings evil to pass.
31 A gray head is a crown of glory;
It is found in the way of righteousness.
32 He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty,
And he who rules his spirit, than he who captures a city.
33 The lot is cast into the lap,
But its every decision is from the Lord.”  Proverbs 16:18-33.

———————–

We may flip a coin, so to speak, to let the apparent randomness make a decision for us similar to the purpose of casting a lot, but the LORD is sovereign over every move of the coin and every move of the lot and every decision.

And, even when we deliberately choose thinking our alleged free-will is in control, the LORD is sovereign, not our alleged free-will.

“The mind of man plans his way,
But the Lord directs his steps.”  Proverbs 16:9.

“The plans of the heart belong to man,
But the answer of the tongue is from the Lord.”  Proverbs 16:1.

“The steps of a man are established by the Lord,
And He delights in his way.”  Psalm 37:23.

Other doctrine trusts in its alleged free-will and wisdom to make the right decision.

But, Reformed Doctrine trusts in the LORD and His sovereignty to make the right decision.

“He who gives attention to the word will find good,
And blessed is he who trusts in the Lord.”  Verse 20.

Today’s devotion comes from Proverbs 16:1-17.

“The plans of the heart belong to man,
But the answer of the tongue is from the Lord.
2 All the ways of a man are clean in his own sight,
But the Lord weighs the motives.
3 Commit your works to the Lord
And your plans will be established.
4 The Lord has made everything for its own purpose,
Even the wicked for the day of evil.
5 Everyone who is proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord;
Assuredly, he will not be unpunished.
6 By lovingkindness and truth iniquity is atoned for,
And by the fear of the Lord one keeps away from evil.
7 When a man’s ways are pleasing to the Lord,
He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.
8 Better is a little with righteousness
Than great income with injustice.
9 The mind of man plans his way,
But the Lord directs his steps.
10 A divine decision is in the lips of the king;
His mouth should not err in judgment.
11 A just balance and scales belong to the Lord;
All the weights of the bag are His concern.
12 It is an abomination for kings to commit wicked acts,
For a throne is established on righteousness.
13 Righteous lips are the delight of kings,
And he who speaks right is loved.
14 The fury of a king is like messengers of death,
But a wise man will appease it.
15 In the light of a king’s face is life,
And his favor is like a cloud with the spring rain.
16 How much better it is to get wisdom than gold!
And to get understanding is to be chosen above silver.
17 The highway of the upright is to depart from evil;
He who watches his way preserves his life.”  Proverbs 16:1-17.

——————————–

Other doctrine tries to limit God’s sovereignty claiming that God is certainly not sovereign over man’s alleged free-will.
 
But, Reformed Doctrine recognizes that Scripture shows that the LORD is sovereign over all.

“The Lord has made everything for its own purpose,
Even the wicked for the day of evil.”  Verse 4.

Scripture compares the LORD to a potter. 

“Woe to the one who quarrels with his Maker—
An earthenware vessel among the vessels of earth!
Will the clay say to the potter, ‘What are you doing?’
Or the thing you are making say, ‘He has no hands’?”  Isaiah 45:9.

“Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for common use?”  Romans 9:22.

The LORD made vessels of wrath (the wicked) and vessels of mercy (the righteous).

“What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction?  And He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory, even us, whom He also called, not from among Jews only, but also from among Gentiles.  As He says also in Hosea,

“I will call those who were not My people, ‘My people,’
And her who was not beloved, ‘beloved.’”
“And it shall be that in the place where it was said to them, ‘you are not My people,’
There they shall be called sons of the living God.”  Romans 9:22-26.

The LORD is totally sovereign, choosing those on whom he will have mercy as vessels of mercy and also choosing those whom he will harden as vessels of wrath.

“For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”  So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy.  Romans 9:15-16.

“So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires.”  Romans 9:18.

The LORD has purpose for the vessels of wrath that he created.  Not only do such vessels of wrath have the purpose of showing the sharpest contrast between them and vessels of mercy as quoted before in Romans 9:22-26, the LORD may create and even raise up vessels of wrath to demonstrate His power and to preserve His people.  

For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I raised you up, to demonstrate My power in you, and that My name might be proclaimed throughout the whole earth.”  Romans 9:17.

“As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive.”  Genesis 50:20.

The LORD exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth for He delights in these things.

“Thus says the Lord, “Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches;  but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth;  for I delight in these things,” declares the Lord.”  Jeremiah 9:23-24.

And, for those who do not like God’s sovereignty, be warned.

“2 The kings of the earth take their stand
And the rulers take counsel together
Against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying,
3 “Let us tear their fetters apart
And cast away their cords from us!”

4 He who sits in the heavens laughs,
The Lord scoffs at them.
5 Then He will speak to them in His anger
And terrify them in His fury, saying,
6 “But as for Me, I have installed My King
Upon Zion, My holy mountain.”

7 “I will surely tell of the decree of the Lord:
He said to Me, ‘You are My Son,
Today I have begotten You.
8 ‘Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance,
And the very ends of the earth as Your possession.
9 ‘You shall break them with a rod of iron,
You shall shatter them like earthenware.’”  Psalm 2:2-9.

“But these enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and slay them in my presence.”  Luke 19:27.