He that has pity on the poor lends to the LORD; and that which he has given will He pay him again.
God is very interested in the poor and the helpless. So when somebody else takes a special interest in the poor, naturally, God takes note of it. In fact, this connection between Yahweh and the poor is so intimate that any kind of charity is taken as a loan to God Himself!
God always pays His loans. But do we infer from this that God will return every dollar we give in charity? Is this a one-for-one exchange? Actually, God is far more gracious than we are. Every day, He proves His grace to us by watering the earth and putting the food on our tables. He bestows mercy on the merciful (Matt. 5:6). Of course, mercy is not something that can be quantified or valued by a monetary metric.
This verse is a tremendous encouragement to the fellow who gives up his last one hundred dollars to help a poor brother pay his rent. It might be easy to worry about the future while doing good in the present. On the other hand, this verse is not intended to feed our greed. One who reads a verse like this might be tempted to think that he will grow rich if he gives generously to charitable causes. That is not the intent of the verse.
Chasten your son while there is hope, and let not your soul spare for his crying.
Generally, people are not saved from their sins without being exposed to the preaching of the Word; it’s for the same reason that seeds do not germinate and grow into plants without being planted in the ground. This is not to say that every seed planted will germinate and yield fruit. But planting seeds is foundationally important if you are interested in producing crops. Thus, planting seeds is a means by which germination and growing take place. Likewise, sharing of the Word of God, preaching of the Word of God, and the correcting and chastising through God’s Word are means of grace by which germination and growing happen in the life of a child. Just as planting seeds is God’s assigned means for getting crops, training a child according to the principles of God’s Word is God’s assigned means of salvation for a child. Faithful, consistent, loving, and patient discipline is how we bring our children to God for salvation from their sins.
God has also ordained a window of opportunity in which parents may reach their children’s hearts with a message about sin and the grace of God that saves from these sins. It is incumbent on parents to take advantage of this opportunity. We ought not to treat sin as “no big deal” by ignoring it or by failing to correct it when we see it. If that is the message our children receive, then they will have zero motivation to cry out to God for His salvation from their sins. The pain of sin corrected and the pain of conviction that comes by direct preaching and rebuke is nothing in comparison to the punishment God has instituted for sin. Godly discipline should lead to repentance unto life because godly discipline points to the transcendent law of God that was broken. When a child understands the severity of his sins, he will begin to understand the severity of the death of Jesus Christ on the cross.
What is presented here is not the father who strikes a child in impatient and self-centered anger for violating his own rules. This is rather the parent who, out of concern for the child’s soul, and concern for the sanctity of God’s holy law, is willing to patiently and consistently remind his child of these things.
1. What part should God’s promised rewards play in our minds when we make the decision to give something to the poor?
2. How do we view sin in our home? Is it a big deal? How do we view our own sins in comparison with the sins of others? How does a parent convey the seriousness of sin when he or she disciplines a child?