For today, One Year Bible Online links here.
There are two sides to what this proverb tells us. The first part is that the lazy never get all that they desire because they are unwilling to work hard enough to get it, while those who are diligent and work hard get what they desire. The second part is that the desires of the lazy know no limits, so it is not possible for them to ever be satisfied, while those who work hard limit their desires to that which they can obtain through hard work.
There are two ways to read this psalm. The first is relative to modern-day politics. If you look at the world today, many countries and political entities have allied to wipe out the nation of Israel. I do not believe that God will allow them to succeed any more than He allowed the alliance referred to in this psalm to succeed. The other way to read it is to look at the way in which those who oppose Jesus’ message have allied in order to destroy the Church which He created. They, also, will fail. God will allow them to believe that victory is in sight, then He will use their own evil to crush them. In both cases, God will reveal Himself so that everyone will know that He alone is Lord.
Jesus tells the parable of Lazarus and the rich man. At the end of the parable, Jesus has Abraham tell the rich man that if his brothers will not listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not listen even if someone rises from the dead. This reminds me of those today who demand “proof” that God exists. If you have ever interacted with most such people you will already know that they will explain away any proof which is provided. They have rejected the evidence of God’s existence which He has already provided them. They have chosen to believe in a world which has no room for God. The only answer we can give them is that if they are truly seeking God, He will reveal Himself to them. I can certainly attest to this. I was once one of those who was seeking proof of God’s existence. The key was that I was seeking. Those who seek God shall find Him. Those who have decided that He does not exist should not expect to find anything.
Jesus instructs us that if someone sins against us, we are to confront them. Then, if they repent, we are to forgive them. We are to forgive them each time even if they sin against us seven times in a day (I don’t think that represents an upper limit to how much we are to forgive those who sin against us). What I never noticed before is that He gives this instruction in the context of not causing someone to fall into sin. Or, perhaps I should say that I never noticed before was the connection between not causing others to fall into sin and forgiving them for sinning against us. One of the things which leads people into ever greater sin is the failure of others to forgive them for their previous sins. Time and again you will hear stories of repeat offenders who got out of jail and tried to make an honest living. However, people held their past against them. The only people who would accept them were criminals, so they fell back in among those who were criminals and returned to a life of crime.
The disciples asked Jesus to show them how to increase their faith. Jesus replied by telling them that if they had faith as tiny as a mustard seed they could accomplish great, seemingly impossible, things. This does not seem to be much of an answer to their question. Then Jesus goes on to what seems to be another topic. He tells the story of a servant who works in the field all day, then in the evening prepares his master’s meal and serves it to him. It is only after the servant’s master has finished eating that the servant can eat. In all of this the master does not thank the servant because the servant was only doing what he was told, which was his job. In the same way, when we do what God tells us to do we should merely consider ourselves servants unworthy of praise who have merely done our duty. However, this story is not another topic. Jesus was telling us how we can increase our faith. The way to increase our faith is to be constantly looking for the next task which we can carry out to serve God. When we complete one task, we should look for the next which God has for us to do.
The story of how the Gibeonites tricked the Israelites into making a treaty with them is an example for us all. The Israelite leaders examined the Gibeonite messengers closely. They did everything they could think of to determine if the messengers were telling them the truth. However, there was one thing they did not do. They did not ask God for guidance. They made a treaty with the Gibeonites based on their own wisdom and thoughts. We are often tempted to do the same. However, no matter how obvious a decision seems, we need to ask God for His guidance before we decide. If we turn to God for His wisdom in making a decision, He will show us things we might otherwise overlook. Let us never forget to ask God for guidance before we make a decision, no matter how obvious, no matter how minor.