Saturday after the Eighteenth Sunday after Trinity Sunday
Posted on October 14, 2023 by under
Scripture: Proverbs 14:21-31 (NKJV)
14:21 He who despises his neighbor sins; But he who has mercy on the poor, happy is he.
22 Do they not go astray who devise evil? But mercy and truth belong to those who devise good.
23 In all labor there is profit, but idle chatter leads only to poverty.
24 The crown of the wise is their riches, but the foolishness of fools is folly.
25 A true witness delivers souls, but a deceitful witness speaks lies.
26 In the fear of the Lord there is strong confidence, and His children will have a place of refuge.
27 The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, to turn one away from the snares of death.
28 In a multitude of people is a king’s honor, but in the lack of people is the downfall of a prince.
29 He who is slow to wrath has great understanding, but he who is impulsive exalts folly.
30 A sound heart is life to the body, but envy is rottenness to the bones.
31 He who oppresses the poor reproaches his Maker, but he who honors Him has mercy on the needy.
Devotion
How does one despise one’s neighbor? By not showing him mercy. We are once again taken back to this past Sunday’s Gospel reading. The last two days we have heard about the second great commandment, loving thy neighbor as thyself. To love thy neighbor is to show mercy toward him. Not showing mercy toward our neighbor, the writer of the Book of Proverbs says, is a reproach to our Maker. Why? Because He made both our neighbor and us. Our neighbor deserves our mercy because he also is a creation of our Maker.
What then is mercy? Mercy is not treating someone the way that they deserve to be treated. We are shown mercy by the Lord God, as even our neighbor is, because we are given all the things that we need to support this body and life. Even more, we have been given the preaching of the Word of God, which preaches into our ears the Christ, the Son of David, our Lord Jesus, who showed us perfect mercy by offering up His life as a ransom for ours.
We in turn show mercy to our neighbors by also opening up the way for them to hear about the works of the Christ. The Lord God desires for all men to be saved. We do good when we help rescue unbelievers from their rebellion against the Lord God and teach them about repentance so that they no longer trust in themselves and their works, but rather cling in faith to the true Vine, our Lord Jesus, the Christ.
Prayer: O God, forasmuch as without Thee we are not able to please Thee: Mercifully grant, that Thy Holy Spirit may in all things direct and rule our hearts; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
