The poor man and the oppressor meet together; the LORD gives light to the eyes of both. -- Proverbs 29:13
This wouldn’t be a bad planet except for the people. I believe it was the late George Carlin who
asked, “If we are here to help others, what are the others here for?” There are various ways to translate the word
the ESV gives as “oppressor”, one who "exacts" from another, "IRS agent".
The King James says “deceitful man” because the one who vexes or
oppresses us generally does so by means of fraud and deception. Two honest individuals, regardless of their
relative wealth and power, will deal fairly with one another.
If we find much vexation in the world today, we can remember
that the Lord gives light to the eyes of all – that is, He sustains the life of
the oppressor as well as the one being oppressed. The life of Pharaoh was as much in the hand
of God as the life of Moses. As we look
about and see trouble and confusion, chaos and pain hemming us in on every
side, we may find consolation in knowing that God is present with every
perpetrator of evil as He is with every saint.
The wickedness worked by the rebellious will of man is only permitted by
the Lord. He (who is in us and we who are in Him) cannot be overcome by man’s
contrariness or the enemy’s deception. That which is whispered in dark corners might as well be shouted from
the rooftops for none of it is unknown to God.
We may be asked to bear much, and to forbear for the sake of
the kingdom, but our Lord is with us, guarding, strengthening, blessing, and
keeping us no matter what assails us in the visible realm. He will give us the wisdom, fortitude, and
endurance to pass through the fieriest trial we can imagine. Jesus made a promise to the Christians who
were at Smyrna: Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of
you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have
tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and
I will give you the crown of life.
Could we ask for more? Death is
the end for all in this world. For the
poor in spirit who are faithful unto
death, though we shrink from the pain of passing through the gate, we do
not fear the peace of complete and final victory that lies beyond.
The oppressors of this world, the deceivers, the plotters,
the manipulators, they deceive themselves into believing they are in
control. Hubris is madness. It always
ends the same way. For them, history is
but a broken record.
Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. (1 John 4:4)
No comments:
Post a Comment