Daily Devotional
Holy King, Just Scales
The Lord reigns; therefore His people must not deal lightly with one another. The holiness praised in the psalm is not shut up in heaven. It reaches into the house, the field, the loan, the wage, and the marriage bond. If God loves judgment and establishes equity, then those who bear His name must not use power harshly. The law in Deuteronomy restrains cruelty: do not take a poor man’s cloak into your house by force; do not crush the newly married; do not steal a person; do not deny the foreigner, the fatherless, or the widow. Leave some gleanings behind. Remember that you also were needy, and were shown mercy.
Even where Moses permits a bill of divorcement, the matter is treated with gravity, not as a license for passion or contempt. Sin pollutes the land because it first hardens the heart. The Holy One hears prayer, yet He also weighs deeds. As Justin says, “O Lord our God, Thou heardest them: O God, Thou wert propitious to them, and [yet] taking vengeance on all their inventions.” Mercy does not make God indifferent to our works; it calls us to repentance and straight dealing.
The psalm sets Moses, Aaron, and Samuel before us as men who called upon the Lord and obeyed His testimonies. Origen writes, “Moses was, of whom Scripture says that Moses spoke, and God answered him by a voice;” Such honor was joined to obedience. So let us fear God without despair, and seek mercy without presumption: keeping our hands from injustice, our mouths from falsehood, and our goods ready for the needy. To praise His terrible name while withholding bread or fairness from a brother is a lie.
“O Lord our God, Thou heardest them: O God, Thou wert propitious to them, and [yet] taking vengeance on all their inventions.”
— Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho
“Moses was, of whom Scripture says that Moses spoke, and God answered him by a voice;”
— Origen, De Principiis (On First Principles)
For Reflection & Discussion
Whom have you treated from a position of strength—worker, debtor, spouse, child, tenant, or stranger—and what just action must you take today to make your dealing straight?
What food, money, clothing, or time will you set aside this week for the poor, the widow, the orphan, or the foreigner, instead of consuming all your increase yourself?
What sin of hardness, falsehood, or impurity must you confess before God and amend in practice today, lest you praise His holy name with an unclean life?
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