July 8 ▪ Day 189

Scripture Readings

Proverbs 18:23
Numbers 15–16
Matthew 8
Psalms 5

Verse Focus (Proverbs 18:23)

The poor plead for mercy,
     but the rich answer harshly.

Meditation

Today’s verse focus is Proverbs 18:23. This verse only came to my attention recently, and I’m still not sure I’ve got a good grasp on what it means or how I should apply it.

• The NIV says, “The poor plead for mercy, but the rich answer harshly.”
• The ESV says, “The poor use entreaties, but the rich answer roughly.”
• The NASB says, “The poor man utters supplications, but the rich man answers roughly.”
• I also like what the GNT says, although it might be more of an interpretation: “When the poor speak, they have to be polite, but when the rich answer, they are rude.”

I looked at the Hebrew transliterated verse to see if I could gain more insight. The only surprise was the word that is being translated as “roughly” or “harshly.” It is an adjective that means strong, mighty, or fierce. It can also mean greedy or vehement. In one instance, the word was translated into English as insolent.

I believe this proverb speaks both of our interactions with other people, as well as our interactions with God. In society, those who are poor must ask for help, ask for leniency, ask for grace. The rich have no need to ask for any of these things. And if asked for these things, they are not sympathetic. The rich apparently value keeping their riches more than they value people — those in need of help.

I think of our posture before God, and know that we are all poor. Sometimes we do not realize how impoverished we are. And that lack of understanding translates as pride. When we rest on our own strength before God, I’m sure God views our attitude as disrespectful and harsh!

This proverb paints such an unflattering view of the rich. It makes me want to be always poor. And we are poor before God. If only we could keep that same humility as we relate to other people!

Father God, help us to remember this proverb as we relate to you and as we relate to other people. Let us not be harsh or greedy, but let us be generous and giving through the power of Jesus Christ. In his name, Amen.

Numbers 15 takes a brief break from the stories of rebellion and looks at the law. We have laws about sacrifices and laws about unintentional sins. What I like about these laws is the provision for resident aliens. The law is the same for them as it is for the Israelites. They too are allowed to make sacrifices, but they must keep to the same procedures that the Israelites use. As verse 16 says, “One law and one rule shall be for you and for the stranger who sojourns with you.”

A man was found breaking the Sabbath and so the Israelites find out what the punishment will be for breaking this law. The LORD decrees that the man should be put to death and that the entire community should stone him. And so the Israelites execute the Sabbath-breaker.

That the penalty for breaking the Sabbath should be death is somewhat shocking to us. Certainly the death penalty was not always enforced. We know that the Israelites were often guilty of breaking the Sabbath throughout the centuries. Considering how frequently the law commands the people to keep the Sabbath (if I recall correctly, it appears more than a dozen times in the Torah), we should have realized how important it is. After all, keeping the Sabbath is the fourth of the Ten Commandments; murder is the sixth. If murder is deserving of the death penalty, surely all the commandments higher on the list are also deserving of the death penalty.

Last in Numbers 15 are some instructions about making tassels for their clothing “to look at and remember all the commandments of the LORD (v. 39).” God knew we would need physical reminders of His word. It makes me wonder why Christendom never formulated habits like this.

In Numbers 16, we have a story of rebellion yet again. This time, it is Moses’ cousin, Korah, who is one of the ringleaders. Joining in the rebellion are two men from the tribe of Reuben. I suppose it was inevitable that the Levites would chafe because only one branch of their tribe was allowed to be priests. And Korah feels that he and other Levites should be able to offer incense before God as the priests do. Although Moses rebukes them for wanting to seek the priesthood, he also agrees that they should set up a test. On the next day, they will all come with their censers before the LORD — and then they will see whom the LORD will accept.

The men of Reuben didn’t want to be priests, but they object to Moses’ leadership. They claim Moses had brought them out of a fruitful land only to kill them in the wilderness; they also feel that Moses lords it over them. Their attitude makes Moses “very angry (v. 15)” — so much that Moses actually prays against them.

As you know, the LORD makes it very clear whom He wants to serve Him. The tents of Korah and the men from Reuben are swallowed up by the earth — their wives and children and all their belongings vanish with them. At the same time, fire breaks out from the LORD and consumes all the Levite men who were offering their censers to the LORD. The 250 censers are collected afterward and hammered into a covering for the altar — holy at the cost of their lives — and a permanent reminder of the consequences of such presumption.

The next day when the people grumble at recent events, God threatens to destroy them all. And a plague starts. Aaron goes to make atonement for the people. Verse 48 says, “And he stood between the dead and the living, and the plague was stopped.” But still 14,700 people died that day.

I suppose Korah’s rebellion makes sense when you consider that it happened soon after their disappointment that they would not be going into the Promised Land anytime soon. But it seems like this book has been nothing but stories of rebellion — the people grumble about wanting meat, Miriam and Aaron oppose Moses, the spies reject the Promised Land out of fear, the people also want to go back to Egypt, then Korah, and the men from Reuben — I’m glad I didn’t have to do Moses’ job!

One verse stood out to me today as I read these chapters. When Moses starts warning the other people to move away from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, he says to them in verse 26, “Depart, please, from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs, lest you be swept away with all their sins.” It was this last phrase that struck me. “Lest you be swept away with all their sins.” We may not often encounter people who will be swallowed up by the earth, but we can be swept away by others’ sins. There are consequences to sin, and ripple effects — both from sin, and from God’s judgment of sin. We struggle ourselves to keep sin out of our lives. But are we keeping company with those who do harbor sin in their lives? This is something that we should be very careful about. Obviously, God brings us into people’s lives for different reasons. We are also all imperfect, sinful people. But the Holy Spirit whispered to me today that I should be wary — “lest you be swept away with all their sins.”

Matthew 8 tells of a number of instances of Jesus healing people. First, is a leper. “Lord, if you are willing,” he asks Jesus in verse 2, “you can make me clean.” And Jesus’ response in verse 3 is, “I am willing. Be clean!” This is how Jesus responds to everyone who comes to him. “I am willing.” Jesus is willing to take the time, willing to heal. It’s not just that he is compassionate (although he is), but that he desires that we be well.

That God the Father is also willing is harder for us to comprehend. Perhaps because we’re too aware that God is sovereign. His power is so great we find it hard to believe that God is even interested in our problems. Even when I know in my head and from Scripture that God is gracious and compassionate, somehow I don’t understand it in my heart until I see Jesus. And when I see Jesus’ compassion and see how willing he is, day in and day out, to heal those he meets — yes, then, I begin to understand that God the Father is willing, too.

When Jesus expresses surprise at the centurion’s faith, I realize that Jesus is not identical to the Father. Some of their powers are different. And Jesus is not all-knowing, unlike God the Father. But Jesus still understands more than the rest of us. “I tell you,” Jesus says in verses 12 and 13, “many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness.”

Later in the chapter as Jesus warns several would-be disciples about the cost of following him, he tells one young man that “the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head (v. 20).” Yes, Jesus is on the road. He is traveling from town to town, preaching the news of the kingdom of God and healing the people. At this point in time, he has no fixed abode and he is given shelter and a place to sleep by the generosity of others.

As the Son of God, Jesus could be said to own everything — so how can he not have a place to lay his head? But as the Son of Man, Jesus does not take advantage of his divine rights. And he lives very humbly, letting God provide for his needs day by day.

This chapter shows us, yet again, that Jesus is lord over creation just like the Father is. He commands the winds and the waves, and they obey him.

When Jesus heals the demon-possessed men, I am struck by what the demons say to Jesus. “Have you come here to torture us before the appointed time?” they ask Jesus in verse 29. What a terrible view to have of God! Perhaps the demons do deserve judgment. But God rules with justice. Why would He torture anyone? But I think it’s a by-product of His holiness. I think God’s purity burns and consumes those who are not pure. That’s why we needed Jesus to be our Mediator — so that we would be able to stand in the presence of God and not die.

As I have noted before, Jesus was compassionate even to the demons. He allowed them to go into the herd of pigs as they had asked. (I do wonder if the demons realized that the pigs would self-destruct, though.) And when the people of the region begged Jesus to leave, he did that as well. Compassion.

Just as yesterday’s psalm can be thought of as an evening prayer, today’s psalm, Psalm 5, can be thought of as a morning prayer. “In the morning, LORD, you hear my voice,” says David in verse 3, “in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly.” Much of the psalm covers the topic of dealing with enemies — it is not how I think of starting my day, but it was certainly relevant for David.

Verse 4 says, “For you are not a God who delights in wickedness; evil may not dwell with you.” And this is what we learn about God. God loves righteousness. God is holy. God is just. And He does not delight in those who are wicked. Evil cannot dwell with God.

Now perhaps that doesn’t seem all that significant. Because as humans, we do sometimes delight in wickedness. We can sympathize with the bad guys. We like to see revenge, and enjoy a spot of payback. We marvel when the bad guys are clever. But God isn’t like that. And it’s not because He’s a stick-in-the-mud. God understands, far better than we do, the destructiveness of wickedness. He sees how it eats our souls, and destroys our relationships, and ruins any good things we have. So He does not tolerate wickedness. Those who are evil cannot dwell with God.

Verse 7 refers to “the abundance of your steadfast love.” It’s not just steadfast love, but abundance of faithfulness, abundance of love. When we think of God’s steadfast love, we need to pair that idea with bountiful grace. Love to excess. Grace overflowing.

Verse 12 concludes the Psalm. “For you bless the righteous, O LORD; you cover him with favor as with a shield.” It is a wonderful reminder of who God is and what He does. Hallelujah!

Father God, thank you that you do bless the righteous. Thank you that, because of Jesus Christ, you cover us with favor. You shield us from harm through your favor. Thank you for that. Thank you, too, that you are willing for us to be healed. You desire us to be whole — spiritually, emotionally, mentally, physically — in all ways. Help us to remember that when you command us to do things, it is for our benefit. Keeping the Sabbath is meant to help us. Learning not to complain is one of the things that will heal us. May we learn to do your will in all things, through Jesus Christ. Amen.