Slander

For Friday, April 4, 2008
Proverbs 30:10

Do not slander a servant to his master,
lest he curse you and you be held guilty.

This is a warning to us not to be quick to "get someone in trouble." We can slander by fabricating a lie; we can slander by exaggerating a supposed offense; we can slander by accurately telling what happened without considering the circumstances. We can be quick to slander when we ourselves are in a bad mood and are unforgiving; we be quick to slander if our pride has been wounded; and we can be quick to slander to cover up our own guilt.

We can be quick to slander a "servant" because he is in a vulnerable position. He cannot get even; he has less standing and his job security is on the line. By complaining to the "master," we have an easy means of attack without endangering ourselves. We let the master carry out our vengeance for us.

But let us be wary of the servant's curse. The proverb does mean simply angry or profane words. Rather, the servant is calling upon God to bring justice against his offender. He may not have recourse to earthly justice, but he does have the ear of the Judge who sees all and weighs the human heart. No one gets away with anything. Let us remember that before we are quick to slander. If we have been ill-used, remember that God will provide justice, and, thus, we do not need to take sinful actions to get satisfaction. Don't be in position where another person must call upon God to get satisfaction against us.

Two Requests

For Thursday, April 3, 2008
Proverbs 30:7-9

Two things I ask of you;
deny them not to me before I die:
Remove far from me falsehood and lying;
give me neither poverty nor riches;
feed me with the food that is needful for me,
lest I be full and deny you
and say, “Who is the Lord?”
or lest I be poor and steal
and profane the name of my God.

If you were given two wishes to be granted, would these be the two you would choose - to be kept from committing falsehood and to given only what is needed so that you would not be tempted to sin?

Truly this is a request coming out of wisdom; for it is the wise person who recognizes his moral frailty and dependence upon God to sanctify him and to "deliver me from evil." The best of us are prone to falsehood, and the one we are most likely to deceive is ourselves. The best of us have our prejudices and fears that keep us from hearing and accepting the whole truth, whether it be about God, ourselves, or others. As the movie line goes, "[We] can't handle the truth."

Then there is the recognition of our susceptibility to temptation. If we have an abundance, we tend to take what we have for granted and to credit ourselves for what we have. Our religious fervor declines or we become like the Pharisee who turns religious faith into an opportunity for self-exaltation. If we are poor, we are likely to lose confidence in God and trust to our own means - even unethical means - to provide for ourselves. There real crime, then, becomes the disgrace we lend to God's name, because of being known as believing in him.

Recognition of such dangers as expressed here is not meant to lead us to be fearful, but, rather to turn to the Lord who alone can save us, preserve us, and lead us along his righteous path. It is meant to keep us from pride and false confidence in ourselves. It is meant to lead us to glorify God and give him the due honor that is his alone.

Every Word True

For Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Proverbs 30:5-6

Every word of God proves true;
he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.
Do not add to his words,
lest he rebuke you and you be found a liar.

Every word proves true - every promise, every warning, every instruction. What we are commanded to do is to study every word in his Word. Because every word is true, we need to systematically study the scriptures, not skipping over the portions that seem uninteresting and with no application. Because every word is true, our one intent is to understand what the words are teaching. We are to let the words determine what we are to learn; for if we do not, we will become guilty of adding to his words.

It works like this. I have a topic I am interested in, so I "search" the scriptures finding verses that may have a word I am looking for or seem to speak to my topic. I then pull those verses out of their context and make them say what they do not actually mean. Thus one "health and wealth" preacher twisted 1 Corinthians 2:9 - "What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him" - to mean that God intends physical prosperity for those who love him. In its context, the verse is a rebuke to those who prefer the wisdom of the world over the wisdom of the cross.

Or to take another example of a preacher who took the story of sinful woman washing Jesus' feet (Luke 7ff), which teaches the mercy of God towards those who repent, to be a lesson that it is okay to cry. Or yet another example of a preacher taking the story of the paralytic being lowered through a roof to speak disapprovingly of people who damage other people's property.

Such addition to God's words will result in rebuke and the verdict that the speaker is a liar. For perverting God's Word - whether it be to contract scripture or misapply or misinterpret - is to add what is not true. We undoubtedly will make our mistakes in understanding, but let it not be because we will not submit ourselves to hearing whatever it is that God wants us to hear, and all because we have our own agenda.

What Do We Know?

For Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Proverbs 30:1-4

The words of Agur son of Jakeh. The oracle.
The man declares, I am weary, O God;
I am weary, O God, and worn out.
2 Surely I am too stupid to be a man.
I have not the understanding of a man.
3 I have not learned wisdom,
nor have I knowledge of the Holy One.
4 Who has ascended to heaven and come down?
Who has gathered the wind in his fists?
Who has wrapped up the waters in a garment?
Who has established all the ends of the earth?
What is his name, and what is his son’s name?
Surely you know!

We enter into a new section of Proverbs, the last two chapters being the words of other sages. Chapter 30 presents the observations of Agur, son of Jakeh. He begins with an observation about man's ability (and himself) to uncover the secret knowledge of God. Compare his thoughts with those in Job 38. Here is a sampling:

Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said:
2 “Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?
3 Dress for action like a man;
I will question you, and you make it known to me.
4 “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?
Tell me, if you have understanding.
5 Who determined its measurements—surely you know!
Or who stretched the line upon it?
6 On what were its bases sunk,
or who laid its cornerstone,
7 when the morning stars sang together
and all the sons of God shouted for joy?

In brief, man cannot by reason nor by exploration know God truly. He can, through natural revelation, deduce some basic traits of God; but he cannot delve into the great mysteries. For that, divine revelation is needed. Without such revelation, who could have begun to think of the Trinity? Who could have thought through his omniscience, omnipresence, and omnipotence? His eternal nature, his immutability? Who could have explored with depth his holiness, his justice, and his mercy? Who could have grasped grace?

And who could have anticipated and understood such love by which the divine Father sent the divine Son to die for his enemies, and then to adopt such enemies to be his children and be united with them through the divine Holy Spirit?

What divine revelation reveals is enough to overwhelm our powers of reason. What more is left out because we could not handle such mystery? What is given is enough for us to spend all our lives, even in eternity, contemplating and then living in response to. And let us begin by giving the answer to the last question of verse 4. It is God the Father and his son's name is Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. Give praise that our God has revealed such wondrous knowledge to us!