February 18 ▪ Day 49

Scripture Readings

Proverbs 11:13
Isaiah 47–48
Mark 10
Psalms 49

Verse Focus (Proverbs 11:13)

A gossip betrays a confidence,
     but a trustworthy person keeps a secret.

Meditation

Hello, and welcome! 🙂

Proverbs 11:13 tells us, in the NRSV, “A gossip goes about telling secrets, but one who is trustworthy in spirit keeps a confidence.” The NIV translation is very similar: “A gossip betrays a confidence, but a trustworthy person keeps a secret.”

Does this proverb surprise you? Our cultural idea of gossip is that of malicious talk. While that is certainly a part of gossip, the Bible teaches us that gossips may have very good intentions. They may not intend malice, but their loose lips cause harm all the same.

When you think of a friend — especially good friends from childhood — wasn’t part of that friendship based on the fact that they kept your secrets? You could trust them. Best friends forever. 🙂

The first thing to notice about the proverb, though, is that it says a trustworthy person keeps “a secret.” This is singular, not plural — and that’s important. The Scripture deliberately does not say “all secrets.” And how could it? Some secrets are not meant to be kept — if, for example, someone’s life is in danger (is your friend suicidal?) — that secret may be one that needs to be shared with the appropriate authority. But to say that “some secrets are not meant to be kept” is a little glib. We should be very cautious about breaking trust. I don’t think knowledge of wrongdoing is a reason to break a secret. Likely, it’s not your place to respond to that wrongdoing, and if it’s not your place to respond, then it’s not really your secret to share. I think you should only break trust if you’ve really prayed about it and sought God’s guidance on the matter. When in doubt, keep your mouth shut.

Of course, one difficult thing about keeping secrets is when you didn’t realize that it was a secret in the first place. Have you ever found out — after you’ve already said something — that you were told that thing in confidence? I know I’ve done that. Part of me wants to protest… but, but… they didn’t tell me they were telling me that in confidence! But it’s a poor excuse. A person shouldn’t have to specifically tell another person to keep something confidential. We should be developing wisdom and discernment about our conversations and our relationships and we should just know, not have to be told. Again, when in doubt, keep your mouth shut.

Father God, we want to be trustworthy individuals. Help us to keep the things we are told in confidence. Help us to develop wisdom and discernment about what we hear. Keep us from having loose lips. We pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Isaiah chapter 47 speaks of the humiliation of Babylon. The prophet addresses the daughters of Babylon, although they are symbolic of the entire people. God acknowledges that He gave His people into the hands of Babylon because He was angry with them. But Babylon did not show God’s people any “mercy” (v. 6). Therefore, very suddenly, “in a moment, in one day,” they will experience “loss of children and widowhood.” This is despite the Babylonians “many sorceries” and “great power” (v. 9).

The biggest charge against Babylon comes in verse 10: “You felt secure in your wickedness; you said, ‛No one sees me.’ Your wisdom and your knowledge led you astray, and you said in your heart, ‛I am, and there is no one besides me.’ ” Not only does Babylon fail to recognize that God rules over all and sees all, but with this final statement, Babylon claims a stature that only belongs to God. God finds this kind of pride and arrogance completely detestable.

The LORD prophesies sudden disaster for Babylon — “of which you know nothing (v. 11).” Babylon won’t feel threatened; they won’t even see it coming. Further, there will be no one who can save Babylon from this ruin. Babylon’s allies “all wander about in their own paths (v. 15).”

Isaiah chapter 48 speaks about God’s relationship with the people of Israel. Even though Israel calls upon the name of the LORD, they do not call “in truth or right (v. 1).” Because Israel is “obstinate,” God gave his prophecies to the people, declaring things “long ago” so that when they did come to pass, the Israelites would not be able to claim that their idols had made these things happen. Now, however, God promises from this time forward to make Israel hear “new things (v. 6).” He does this so that Israel cannot claim that they already knew about these new things. God does this because he knows that Israel is treacherous and rebellious.

God declares that He restrains His anger at Israel, so that they will not be cut off. “See,” God says in verse 10, “I have refined you, but not like silver; I have tested you in the furnace of adversity.” God will not allow anyone else to have His glory. He declares his identity as Creator: “I am He. I am the first, and I am the last (v. 12).”

It seems to me that verse 10 is the perfect snapshot of how God deals with His people. He refines us and He tests us in the “furnace of adversity.” It is through that suffering that we learn God is faithful. It is through adversity that our character is developed. We are refined, and we come out stronger and purer in the end. Personally, I think we’d all prefer not to be tested (or at least we’d rather be on the other side of the testing)! But God’s ways are not our ways.

In verse 18, God exclaims, “O that you had paid attention to my commandments! Then your prosperity would have been like a river, and your success like the waves of the sea.” This is the promise of obedience.

The chapter concludes with the instruction to go and proclaim the redemption of Israel. The final verse is both a curse and a promise. “There is no peace,” says the LORD, “for the wicked.” I was a little jarred by how the chapter ended. It seems a bit incongruous to speak of redemption in one breath, but then warn the wicked in the next breath. I suppose this is a way of saying that God will not be mocked. The righteous will be redeemed, but those who continue to flout God’s law will never have peace.

Mark chapter 10 gives us Jesus’ teaching on divorce, his invitation to little children, the story of the rich man who asked how to inherit eternal life, additional teaching on Christ’s upcoming death and resurrection, the desire of James and John for positions of glory, the nature of true leadership, and the healing of Bartimaeus. These are all familiar stories in the gospels.

As I read the chapter today, though, I really focused on the story of the rich man who came to Jesus. Verse 17 tells us that he knelt before Jesus. Jesus was getting ready to go on a journey — likely to preach in another town, and to heal more people. And the rich young man comes running up and he kneels before Jesus. “Good Teacher,” he asks, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

Less than a half dozen times do we read of someone kneeling before Jesus. Most who knelt before him were pleading for healing. But this young man offers him homage and asks a spiritual question. Think of how earnestly the young man wanted this answer! He could hear God calling him.

However, Jesus first says to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone.” Do you think this was a test? Was he giving the young man an opportunity to confess him as Messiah? Or is Jesus merely making the point that all people are corrupt? God alone is perfect; God alone is good, faithful, and just.

Jesus goes on to tell the young man that he knows the commandments — and Jesus summarizes the first six of the Ten Commandments. The young man responds. “Teacher,” he says (not Good Teacher anymore, simply Teacher), “I have kept all these since my youth.” The Scripture tells us that Jesus looked at the young man and Jesus loved him. And loving him, Jesus responded, “You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” As we all know the story, the rich young man was shocked by this answer and he “went away grieving” because he had many possessions.

I feel like this young man could be a picture of any one of us. We feel the pull of God in our lives. We desire to do the right things. We live moral lives. We are also rich like this young man. Maybe not “wealthy” in comparison to others in our society, but in comparison to most of the world, we are extremely wealthy — with food, clothing, shelter, education, and technology at our fingertips. And if Jesus asked us to sell all our belongings and give to the poor, would we be able to do that? Or would we also be “grieved” because of our many possessions?

I am not trying to say that God wants us all to practice radical simplicity, or that He wants us to sell everything we own and trust Him as we devote ourselves to some kind of full-time ministry. Jesus asked the young man to do this. The young man was already on a quest to find out what was missing in his life. He was looking for spiritual certainty, for assurance of eternal salvation. And in this situation, Jesus, who loved him and wanted the best for him, knew that his riches were a stumbling block for him. And he wanted this young man to become his disciple.

My point is merely that our riches may be more of a stumbling block to us than we realize. As I read the passage today, I knew that if God asked me to sell everything I have and give to the poor, I would likely fail too. And that’s worth thinking about more. Fortunately, it’s not my final word that matters. It’s God’s word that matters — and with God, all things are possible.

Psalm 49 is an apt psalm for us today, especially considering my earlier meditation on the problems of the rich young man. The NRSV captioned this psalm as “The Folly of Trust[ing] in Riches.” Verse 6 speaks of those “who trust in their wealth” and goes on to point out that no wealth is great enough to ransom your life from God. (The psalmist, however, is confident that God will ransom his soul from Sheol.)

In the NRSV, which I read earlier today, verses 12 and 20 are identical. “Mortals cannot abide in their pomp; they are like the animals that perish.” As you know, any time something is repeated in Scripture, we should be paying attention. However, to my surprise, I saw that in other translations, the verses are slightly different. Nearly identical, but not the same. The NIV says in verse 12, “People, despite their wealth, do not endure; they are like the beasts that perish.” While verse 20 says, “People who have wealth but lack understanding are like the beasts that perish.”

Father God — Good Father — help us not to place our trust in wealth. Only you are able to redeem our lives from death and give us eternal life in Christ. We pray that we would follow you more closely every day. Keep us from holding on so tightly to our earthly possessions that it prevents us from doing your will. Give us the courage and the desire to seek you above all else. We pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.