Issue 172
The global market place contains staggering contrasts. In a major city, a business leader can earn millions in any of the most valuable currencies, whilst a child can work twelve hours per day, seven days a week, for a few pence a day. Some are capable of toppling and replacing governments while others can barely walk to find drinking water. Everyone, however, is a believer in wealth and power. The wealthy and powerful are invited to the most prestigious events and offered the best deals. As a result they become wealthier and more powerful as time passes and assets accrue.
It is commonplace in pious circles to criticise the rich and powerful for simply being that. It is not unusual for words to be written in envy or malice, designed to pressurise them or bring them down. Envy goes hand in hand with disdain, and ambivalence results.
Closer to home, we compare ourselves to our managers, directors or colleagues wondering what pay scale they are on or aspiring to out-do them.
The issue here is that this is simply not the way to live. Life is not about wealth or power. They are not irrelevant, of course, that would be foolish to propose – nor are they automatically wrong, that would be naïve to believe, they are just not the yardstick.
David’s argument is that life is about righteousness, or being right with God, and being upheld by him. It is about a two-way, open, truth-centred, dynamic relationship with the Lord of all that there is. So it can’t be about what you have, but must be about relating to him. It is not about the power you wield but the power that supports you.
I have an image in my mind of a child labourer chopping stones for the construction industry. It is easy for me to say that power and wealth don’t matter when I have enough of both. But truth is not altered by injustice or global inequalities. To have little yet to be right with God is better than having wealth and being wicked. To be held up by God is better than wielding wicked power.
The Son of David followed the same A to Z when He told us to seek first the rule of God and right relationship with God.
Today, this week, or this month make it your aim to be right. Make it your stance to be reliant on the support of God. It will help you take your eyes off the wealth and power, divert you from envy or dissatisfaction and enable you to work for good. This can change the way you see your colleagues and undertake your tasks. It may help you get out of bed on a winter morning, to do good, be right and explore being upheld when you are tired, under-resourced and resentful.
You may also find that as you seek these right priorities, other things will be added to your life which will enable you to use more wealth and power for the purposes of God. Unlike the other power, this one cannot be broken because it is upheld by the Lord.
Psalm 37
1 Do not fret because of those who are evil
or be envious of those who do wrong;
2 for like the grass they will soon wither,
like green plants they will soon die away.
3 Trust in the LORD and do good;
dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.
4 Take delight in the LORD,
and he will give you the desires of your heart.
5 Commit your way to the LORD;
trust in him and he will do this:
6 He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn,
your vindication like the noonday sun.
7 Be still before the LORD
and wait patiently for him;
do not fret when people succeed in their ways,
when they carry out their wicked schemes.
8 Refrain from anger and turn from wrath;
do not fret—it leads only to evil.
9 For those who are evil will be destroyed,
but those who hope in the LORD will inherit the land.
10 A little while, and the wicked will be no more;
though you look for them, they will not be found.
11 But the meek will inherit the land
and enjoy peace and prosperity.
12 The wicked plot against the righteous
and gnash their teeth at them;
13 but the Lord laughs at the wicked,
for he knows their day is coming.
14 The wicked draw the sword
and bend the bow
to bring down the poor and needy,
to slay those whose ways are upright.
15 But their swords will pierce their own hearts,
and their bows will be broken.
16 Better the little that the righteous have
than the wealth of many wicked;
17 for the power of the wicked will be broken,
but the LORD upholds the righteous.
18 The blameless spend their days under the LORD’s care,
and their inheritance will endure forever.
19 In times of disaster they will not wither;
in days of famine they will enjoy plenty.
20 But the wicked will perish:
Though the LORD’s enemies are like the flowers of the field,
they will be consumed, they will go up in smoke.
21 The wicked borrow and do not repay,
but the righteous give generously;
22 those the LORD blesses will inherit the land,
but those he curses will be destroyed.
23 The LORD makes firm the steps
of the one who delights in him;
24 though he may stumble, he will not fall,
for the LORD upholds him with his hand.
25 I was young and now I am old,
yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken
or their children begging bread.
26 They are always generous and lend freely;
their children will be a blessing.
27 Turn from evil and do good;
then you will dwell in the land forever.
28 For the LORD loves the just
and will not forsake his faithful ones.
Wrongdoers will be completely destroyed;
the offspring of the wicked will perish.
29 The righteous will inherit the land
and dwell in it forever.
30 The mouths of the righteous utter wisdom,
and their tongues speak what is just.
31 The law of their God is in their hearts;
their feet do not slip.
32 The wicked lie in wait for the righteous,
intent on putting them to death;
33 but the LORD will not leave them in the power of the wicked
or let them be condemned when brought to trial.
34 Hope in the LORD
and keep his way.
He will exalt you to inherit the land;
when the wicked are destroyed, you will see it.
35 I have seen a wicked and ruthless man
flourishing like a luxuriant native tree,
36 but he soon passed away and was no more;
though I looked for him, he could not be found.
37 Consider the blameless, observe the upright;
a future awaits those who seek peace.
38 But all sinners will be destroyed;
there will be no future for the wicked.
39 The salvation of the righteous comes from the LORD;
he is their stronghold in time of trouble.
40 The LORD helps them and delivers them;
he delivers them from the wicked and saves them,
because they take refuge in him.
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Geoff Shattock
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