In Psalm 76, Asaph raises our “fear” of the LORD to a new level. Some claim the “fear” of the LORD is merely respect, or perhaps awe. It is those things, but here in this psalm, Asaph reminds us the fear of the LORD is fear and ought to be terror, because He can and does take on the armies of the earth. He is greater than any person and any group of people. He rules over Judah and Israel, and He alone is worthy of all worship and praise.
In Psalm 77, Asaph was going through a time of crying out to the LORD during a season of despair. Again, Asaph raises the question, “Why was the LORD with us in previous times, but not now?” Then He recalled the power of the LORD in Israel’s past, and calls on the LORD to show up in the same way again. Then he closes with the trust and assurance that the LORD will be with us now, as He was then. This is such a crucial reminder, and we read it time and again in the psalms. As the old saying goes, “When you’re up to your neck in alligators, it’s hard to remember your goal was to drain the swamp.” Even in moments such as that, the LORD is with us!
Psalm 78 is one of the longer psalms, and in it Asaph calls on the people of Judah to look back over their history. The purpose of that stroll through memory lane, all the way back to the time when the LORD delivered His people from slavery in Egypt through the time when David became king is so they would remain faithful. As Asaph pointed out: The LORD showed the people of Israel amazing miracles time after time, yet they didn’t follow Him. They rebelled against Him over and over again. The fickle nature of human beings and the unchangeable nature of the LORD show us how important it is to trust in the LORD instead of in ourselves.
As we turn to Luke 16, we find Jesus telling one of the more challenging parables for us to understand. It is frequently called the Parable of the Dishonest Steward. As the parable unfolds, the main character is a steward who has misused his master’s funds. The master calls him to account. The steward realizes he is going to be out on the street, so he calls all those who owe his master money, and cut deals with them to settle the debts for far less than they owed. Because the steward represented the master, the deals were legally binding. We would think the master would be incredibly upset, but he affirmed the “shrewdness” of the steward. By ingratiating himself to all his master’s debtors, the steward was ensuring himself of a future job. Jesus was not affirming dishonesty. He was affirming using “unrighteous wealth” to advance the Kingdom of God. In another place, He told us to be as wise as serpents and as gentle as doves. Jesus’ followers must not be naive, because we live in an evil world.
Next, Jesus underlined the reality that we cannot serve two masters, and the chief rival to God in our lives will be money. This reality is also presented in Matthew 6:19 and following. Luke tells us the Pharisees were lovers of money, so they ridiculed Jesus for these sayings, but Jesus turned the matter on them and pointed out in the end His teaching was consistent with the Law, while theirs was not.
Jesus moved on to talk briefly about marriage and divorce. As in Matthew and Mark’s gospels Jesus condemned divorce, but here He does it categorically and swiftly and moves on to other matters.
Luke 16 closes with the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus. The parable focuses once again on how we steward the blessings God entrusts to us. The rich man in the parable lived a life of ease, while Lazarus was a poor beggar who begged outside the gates of the rich man’s house. When both died, the beggar went to heaven, while the rich man went to hell. Realizing the situation, the rich man attempted to get permission from Abraham (who was “holding” the poor man in his bosom), for Lazarus to bring him some water. Abraham pointed out this was impossible, because the chasm between heaven and hell is fixed and no one can cross. Then the rich man asked Abraham to send Lazarus back to his brothers who were still alive so they would repent. Abraham responded that they had Moses and the Prophets, and if that wasn’t enough to change their hearts, neither would a man coming back from the dead. That last statement may or may not be referring to Jesus who was going to be coming back from the dead. It certainly makes clear the weight God’s written word is to have in convincing us of His salvation in our lives. The “punchline” of this parable is to be rich toward God and others with the resources God entrusts to us, and not to use them only for ourselves.