Read
4Troublemakers listen
to troublemakers,
and liars listen to liars.
5By insulting the poor,
you insult your Creator.
You will be punished
if you make fun
of someone in trouble.
6Grandparents are proud
of their grandchildren,
and children should be proud
of their parents.
Reflect
Solomon lived in a time when lies and other forms of deception were fairly easy to discern. In small-scale societies, where most people lived in villages, and their number of acquaintances was only a couple of hundred people, deceit was hard to sustain: one could fool some of the people some of the time, but not all of the people for very long. Centuries before, Moses had warned, “Be sure your sin will find you out” (Numbers 32:23). This was a simple fact of everyday life. Solomon’s warnings against lying were frequent and loaded with assurance that lies would be discovered and liars punished.
In our age we are bombarded everyday with half-truths, speculative conclusions and outright lies. The advertising business is built upon it; the political world depends on the credulousness of voters; the internet and social media pages are virtually unregulated. Philosophical arguments over the universality of “truth” easily obscure the simple issue of truthfulness in communication. Untruths are rarely exposed for what they are: usually all we can say is “Buyer beware!”
The standard for God’s people is much higher: Jesus said, “Let your word be ‘Yes, Yes” or ‘No, ‘No’; anything more than this is from the evil one.” (Matthew 5:37 NIV) In these verses Solomon warns against using unsubstantiated words we hear to take unfair advantage of others: doing so to the poor and thus exploiting their vulnerability is especially offensive to God. It mocks the very nature of God’s justice.
Respond
O God, throughout Scripture you have shown yourself to be particularly protective of the widow, the orphan, the poor and other people who are particularly defenseless in dealing with the principalities and powers. Give us grace to follow the ways of your Son, Jesus in our everyday lives and decisions.
Clair MacMillan
Clair MacMillan is the National Director of the Church of the Nazarene Canada, a position he has held for the past 8 years. He served the Church of the Nazarene as a local pastor for 33 years before accepting assignment in church administration. He is the primary author of The SourceBook for Clergy Development Canada, and has contributed articles to numerous periodicals and books. He and his wife Donna, live in Moncton, New Brunswick.