"The Lord maketh poor, and maketh rich: he bringeth low, and lifteth up.
He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory: for the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s, and he hath set the world upon them.
He will keep the feet of his saints, and the wicked shall be silent in darkness; for by strength shall no man prevail."
1 Samuel 2:7-9
This is an interesting idea, and one hard to understand sometimes, that the Lord is in charge, even of economic realities, and doesn't allow people to win through strength. In a general sense I don't think it is hard for us to understand the idea that God is in charge, but when it is applied to us personally I think sometimes we want to think that we did it ourselves, somewhat like the king that we read of in Isaiah 10 that claimed "By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom; for I am prudent" (verse 13). However, the Lord responds to him (and likely us) by saying "Shall the axe boast itself against him that heweth therewith?" (verse 15).
The Lord isn't trying to teach us that nothing matters or that all of our work is pointless. He wants us to learn to work and to accomplish things. I think the real lesson here is about pride, and thinking that we can do things without the Lord's help, for crazy circumstances lead us all to quick success and quick failures throughout our lives. ... Also I think part of the point here is to ask the question that is asked in Alma 5:54: "Will ye persist in supposing that ye are better one than another"? The world teaches us that we *are* better than each other on a lot of different levels, and God is trying to help us see that we aren't--that we are all dependent on God, and that we all have a lot to offer, no matter what kind of education we have, or our gender or race or nationality or citizenship or fame or wealth level, or whatever else. Even the gospel and religious adherence that God asks don't make us better than our brothers and sisters--they make us more able and more responsible to help those people who don't have what we have.
In these verses God lifts up the poor rather than telling them that they are lazy and shiftless and that they brought it on themselves through lack of effort. And perhaps that is a good hint to us about how we should treat each other, and especially those that are struggling economically. Part of building the city of Zion was ensuring that there were no poor among them... not because the poor were kicked out of the city, but because people helped each other so much that no one was left poor.
Today, let's remember that we are in the hands of God, and let's not think that we are better or worse than anyone else because of our external circumstances. Let's do good with what the Lord has given us, and let's lift and help the people around us, remembering that God is the purpose of all of this, and that we need to build a Zion society where we are caring for each other, rather than a mountain of profit that we try to push each other off of. The only way to win in life is God's way. In the end, God's pure, selfless love will prevail over strength. So maybe instead of trying to be better and stronger, we should learn better how to love.
He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory: for the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s, and he hath set the world upon them.
He will keep the feet of his saints, and the wicked shall be silent in darkness; for by strength shall no man prevail."
1 Samuel 2:7-9
This is an interesting idea, and one hard to understand sometimes, that the Lord is in charge, even of economic realities, and doesn't allow people to win through strength. In a general sense I don't think it is hard for us to understand the idea that God is in charge, but when it is applied to us personally I think sometimes we want to think that we did it ourselves, somewhat like the king that we read of in Isaiah 10 that claimed "By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom; for I am prudent" (verse 13). However, the Lord responds to him (and likely us) by saying "Shall the axe boast itself against him that heweth therewith?" (verse 15).
The Lord isn't trying to teach us that nothing matters or that all of our work is pointless. He wants us to learn to work and to accomplish things. I think the real lesson here is about pride, and thinking that we can do things without the Lord's help, for crazy circumstances lead us all to quick success and quick failures throughout our lives. ... Also I think part of the point here is to ask the question that is asked in Alma 5:54: "Will ye persist in supposing that ye are better one than another"? The world teaches us that we *are* better than each other on a lot of different levels, and God is trying to help us see that we aren't--that we are all dependent on God, and that we all have a lot to offer, no matter what kind of education we have, or our gender or race or nationality or citizenship or fame or wealth level, or whatever else. Even the gospel and religious adherence that God asks don't make us better than our brothers and sisters--they make us more able and more responsible to help those people who don't have what we have.
In these verses God lifts up the poor rather than telling them that they are lazy and shiftless and that they brought it on themselves through lack of effort. And perhaps that is a good hint to us about how we should treat each other, and especially those that are struggling economically. Part of building the city of Zion was ensuring that there were no poor among them... not because the poor were kicked out of the city, but because people helped each other so much that no one was left poor.
Today, let's remember that we are in the hands of God, and let's not think that we are better or worse than anyone else because of our external circumstances. Let's do good with what the Lord has given us, and let's lift and help the people around us, remembering that God is the purpose of all of this, and that we need to build a Zion society where we are caring for each other, rather than a mountain of profit that we try to push each other off of. The only way to win in life is God's way. In the end, God's pure, selfless love will prevail over strength. So maybe instead of trying to be better and stronger, we should learn better how to love.
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