For today, One Year Bible Online links here.
Lazy people are killed by their own desire. They do not wish to work in order to satisfy their desires and expect others to provide for them. The righteous work hard in order to give towards the needs of those who are unable to provide for themselves.
The wicked plot against the righteous and prepare their weapons in order to bring them down. However, the weapons of the wicked will be turned against them. The righteous may have little, but they are better off than the wicked with great wealth. The wealth and power of the wicked will not last, the Lord will strike them down. The only path to security is to follow the Lord. If we turn from sin and do good, God will bless us and keep us safe.
Paul spends the entire passage explaining that while speaking in tongues (or as the NLV puts it “special sounds”) is valuable, it is much more valuable to speak in words which the audience can understand. There are times when the Holy Spirit leading us to express ourselves through words that neither we nor those around us can understand will lift us up and bring us closer to God. However, seeking out such experiences can interfere with us receiving guidance from the Spirit and imparting it to others. Let us accept speaking in tongues if the Spirit gives it to us, but let us seek the Spirit’s guidance in ways which we can comprehend and communicate with others.
Reading the introduction to Job reminds me of recent reinterpretations of the temperance movement. Many of the influential members of the 19th century temperance movement were industrialists who became quite wealthy. I have read in recent years the claim that they supported the temperance movement because having a sober workforce was good business. However, this overlooks the fact that many of those who opposed the temperance movement, who encouraged the poor working class to drink heavily, were also industrialists. The former left writings which indicated that they believed that if their workers remained sober, those workers would be able to better themselves. The latter left writings which indicated that if their workers remained sober they would leave their employ, increasing the industrialists costs as they sought replacements. The evidence suggests that the industrialists who supported the temperance movement early on did so because they were concerned for the well-being of their workers and became wealthy as a result (this changed as people began to see this result).
Back to the Book of Job, Satan basically claimed that Job was only righteous because righteousness made him wealthy and if he lost his wealth he would abandon righteous behavior. When that did not happen, Satan claimed that Job was only righteous because he was healthy and if he lost his health he would abandon his righteous behavior. Job is a model for us. When his wealth was lost Job responded:
Then when he lost his health, he responded (I will use the NIV here),
Job’s response is that of those who are righteous because it is the right thing to do. Let us seek to so live our lives.