"He that by usury and unjust gain increaseth his substance, he shall gather it for him that will pity the poor.
He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination."
Proverbs 28:8-9
The first verse here seems to be telling us that if we gain our wealth in inappropriate ways, then we are just gathering it together for someone else, implying I think that God will redistribute that wealth to others.
The second verse seems to be saying one of two things. If we don't listen to God, either we will be really bad at praying (perhaps because we didn't learn anything from God's law, so we will be praying for inappropriate things?), or our prayers will be abominable to God (presumably because we are just asking for things, and aren't willing to listen to or or work towards our own perfection). Unfortunately, different footnotes support different interpretations (Moroni 7:6-7 and Psalms 109:7). And perhaps it isn't either-or, but both.
I like the overall idea here that God is going to make things right (for the poor and just overall), whether or not our individual choices are in line with his will. He will just redistribute our wealth, or skip over inappropriate prayers as needed. If God can't work with us to accomplish his goals, then he will find someone else that is doing things right, and that person will get resources and answered prayers appropriate to his or her needs. This is not to imply that God will ignore us or give up on us. He won't. He will work with us in whatever way he can, but he won't support us in iniquity.
I think our challenge here is to listen to and live God's law... to seek wealth only with the intent to help others (and follow through on that intention), and to pray well, with love and service in mind, making sure to put God's will before our own. Then we won't end up on the wrong end of these verses, and we'll be (with God) making the world better rather than worse, which I think is a good overall goal. :)
He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination."
Proverbs 28:8-9
The first verse here seems to be telling us that if we gain our wealth in inappropriate ways, then we are just gathering it together for someone else, implying I think that God will redistribute that wealth to others.
The second verse seems to be saying one of two things. If we don't listen to God, either we will be really bad at praying (perhaps because we didn't learn anything from God's law, so we will be praying for inappropriate things?), or our prayers will be abominable to God (presumably because we are just asking for things, and aren't willing to listen to or or work towards our own perfection). Unfortunately, different footnotes support different interpretations (Moroni 7:6-7 and Psalms 109:7). And perhaps it isn't either-or, but both.
I like the overall idea here that God is going to make things right (for the poor and just overall), whether or not our individual choices are in line with his will. He will just redistribute our wealth, or skip over inappropriate prayers as needed. If God can't work with us to accomplish his goals, then he will find someone else that is doing things right, and that person will get resources and answered prayers appropriate to his or her needs. This is not to imply that God will ignore us or give up on us. He won't. He will work with us in whatever way he can, but he won't support us in iniquity.
I think our challenge here is to listen to and live God's law... to seek wealth only with the intent to help others (and follow through on that intention), and to pray well, with love and service in mind, making sure to put God's will before our own. Then we won't end up on the wrong end of these verses, and we'll be (with God) making the world better rather than worse, which I think is a good overall goal. :)
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