19 “Every man also to whom God hath given riches and wealth, and hath given him power to eat thereof, and to take his portion, and to rejoice in his labour; this is the gift of God”.
We see in this verse that it is God that gives wealth and it is God that gives the power to enjoy the fruits of ones labor. There are several aspects to this verse we want to bring out. One is that every thing comes as a gift from God “...to whom God hath given riches and wealth...” There is, therefore, no boasting, everything man receives is from the hand of God. Secondly, the power to enjoy what God has given, as we have seen in the previous verse, is a separate issue all together "...and hath given him power to eat thereof, and to take his portion, and to rejoice in his labor..." It is the gift God gives to the man or woman who pleases Him and is good in His sight (Ecclesiastes 2:26). Who is good in His sight? We should be very interested in who is good and we should seek to meet that criteria. We have a specific verse in Micah 6:8 which tells us who is “good” in the eyes of the Lord:Micah 6:8 ”He hath shown thee O man what is good and what doth the Lord require of thee but to do justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with thy God”
- To do justly – this is the thought of passing the right sentence or acting judiciously; in short, coming to the right conclusions and acting upon them. Job touched on this when he said: “…the cause which I knew not I searched out. And I brake the jaws of the wicked, and plucked the spoil out of his teeth”. (Job 29:16-17). It is a painful thing to be misunderstood and to have either peers or those over you in authority come to the wrong conclusion; those who are in a position to judge must make sure they understand from an earthly and heavenly position what is going on before passing sentence. We are all held accountable for our decisions and it is a bitter thing indeed to misjudge someone, and so, the one who is just is good in Gods eyes!
- To love mercy – I like this description; it does not say to “be merciful” but rather to “love mercy”. This little nuance of being versus loving can separate one who is good in Gods sight from one who is not. Let me explain the difference this way; one may be wronged by another and because they know God is watching them and they are obligated to be merciful they may say, “well…I will be merciful this time” (although they are not very pleases to have to do so). This obligatory mercy does not appear before God as goodness. Now take another man or woman who loves mercy, who is truly satisfied in their heart with the fruits of mercy, when they say “I will be merciful” it brings them such joy to so, why? It is because they love mercy, it truly satisfies their heart to be merciful. This man or woman is good in Gods eyes, they delight His heart indeed. Being good in the eyes of the Lord is the difference between obligatory mercy and loving to be merciful.
- Walk humbly with thy God – humility is the exact opposite of pride. I would like to define pride in order for us to appreciate humility. The secret to understanding pride (and those who are proud) is found in the book of Job as God describes this creature leviathan. Job 41:34 – “…he is a king over all the children of pride”. God says a few things about this creature leviathan that actually instructs us (and warns us) about pride. Job 41:15-16 “His scales are his pride, shut up together as with a close seal. One is so near to another, that no air can come between them”. How does this relate to pride? It speaks to us of one whose flaws cannot be addressed; they have protected themselves from correction “shut together as with a closed seal”. You meet people (especially believers) who cannot be corrected; they huff and puff themselves and consider others to be unworthy of correcting them. They need correction from their leaders, from their brethren, from their family and even from their boss and co-workers and yet the will not receive it. It is pride that prevents them from receiving any correction. Remember the basic point we are highlighting, who is good in the eyes of the Lord, it is those who walk humbly that impresses Him (in this case those who receive correction). One who through pride cannot be corrected will not be permitted close to the Lord because the proud He knows afar off. How do the proud respond to correction? We are also instructed here so we can see vividly what we are to avoid: Job 41:19-20 “Out of his mouth go burning lamps, and sparks of fire leap out. Out of his nostrils goeth smoke, as out of a seething pot or caldron”. This, almost comical, description of this creature gives us insight into the proud of heart, the Lord speaking about this creature says: “None is so fierce that dare stir him up…” (Job 41:10). The chief hallmark of the proud is their tongue, it is like a fire breathing dragon and none dare stir them up lest their wrath is kindled. Recently while talking with someone in authority who had to deal with another under their authority; they said that after they spoke with them privately that it went so badly that after the confrontation her hands were shaking. Is that the effect God wants us to have on those who are sent by Him to help correct us? He hath shown thee O man what is good and what doth the Lord require of thee…do justly, love mercy and walk humbly with thy God!
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