Fear of The Lord Keeps Me From Selfish Deceit
Scripture Passage: Micah 6:9-16 (NASB)
9 The voice of the Lord will call to the city—
And it is sound wisdom to fear Your name:
“Hear, you tribe. Who has designated its time?
10 Is there still a person in the wicked house,
Along with treasures of wickedness,
And a short measure that is cursed?
11 Can I justify dishonest balances,
And a bag of fraudulent weights?
12 For the rich people of the city are full of violence,
Her residents speak lies,
And their tongue is deceitful in their mouth.
13 So also I will make you sick, striking you down,
Making you desolate because of your sins.
14 You will eat, but you will not be satisfied,
And your filth will be in your midst.
You will try to remove valuables for safekeeping,
But you will not save it all,
And what you do save I will turn over to the sword.
15 You will sow but you will not harvest.
You will tread the olive press but will not anoint yourself with oil;
And tread out sweet wine, but you will not drink any wine.
16 The statutes of Omri
And every work of the house of Ahab are maintained,
And you walk by their plans.
Therefore I will give you up for destruction,
And your inhabitants for derision,
And you will suffer the taunting of My people.”
SUMMARY
God’s people are being rebuked because they have used deceit to gain wealth for themselves and thus, they have followed the ways of the wicked. The LORD is pronouncing judgment on them as a result of their ways.
MEDITATION & REFLECTION
God can not and will not tolerate deceit - he is a God of truth, justice, and holiness. And this wickedness happens not just because of our own greed and selfishness, but because of the lack of fear of the LORD.
In the passage, there is the imagery of a scale and those taking advantage of that for their own gain. They’re basically cheating the system. As a Christian, it’s easy to look at my life and convince myself that I’m free of this kind of deceit. I don’t think I actively take advantage of situations or people for my own gain. But my deceit probably isn’t so obvious. For example, I might be chatting with my manager at work and subtly exaggerating my recent achievements or the amount of work I’m handling in order to make myself look better or get a raise. Or I’m playing down a failure to make it seem less like my fault. And all the while I do this, I probably don’t even realize I’m doing it.
Occasionally, I know that I’m just deceiving myself. When I don’t want to serve God or pray, I tell myself lies so that my mind can be at ease with my actions. Unfortunately, my heart and spirit suffer as a result.
I think God understands the reality of the situation and knows if we are being truthful or acting in our own self-interest. And if the fear of the LORD was in me, I believe I would act for the glory of God and for the benefit of others. I would be less worried about what others thought of me and more concerned with what God thought of me.
The result of this wickedness makes us more sick and corrupt. Verse 13 says:
“So also I will make you sick, striking you down,
Desolating you because of your sins.”
I don’t think this judgment will always come within our lifetimes. I believe it applies to eternity as well. If we live a life of deceit to gain wealth, comfort, and our dream lifestyle, we may be “satisfied” for a short while, but God is the final judge when life in this world is over.
APPLICATION
First, I need to remind myself to fear the LORD.
In the workplace, I need to be honest about my accomplishments and my struggles so that my skills and work ethic are accurately understood.
At home and among friends, I need to prevent myself from making excuses to show love and compassion like Jesus commanded. Whether it’s because of my own insecurities or because of bitterness that’s harbored in my heart, I don’t want to deceive myself and refrain from loving others.
Also, I need to pray continually for the Holy Spirit to reveal areas of my life where I might be deceiving others or acting out of my own self-interest.
PRAYER
Lord,
You are a God of justice and righteousness. You don’t accept wicked scales and deceptive weights because they bring suffering to others. I repent for all the ways that I’ve deceived others and attempted to deceive you. I know I haven’t always been completely honest in all that I do, and I fail to recognize it myself at times. You know all of my ways and I thank you that you still love me and challenge me to live righteously.
Please help me to use righteous scales and accurate weights in all aspects of my life. I pray that I would be truthful in my workplace, not lying or blaming others just to get the upper hand or to make more money. I pray that I would be truthful with my finances, continuing to give offerings and tithes with thankfulness and not withholding what belongs to you in the first place.
And I pray that the Holy Spirit would show me whenever I might be deceiving others so that I can repent and act in righteousness and truth. Please have mercy on me and help me not to do this out of shame, but with a thankful heart knowing that you are watching over me and guiding me along the right path.
In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
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