Wisdom of Solomon 1:16-2:1, 12-22
Life as the Ungodly See It
16 But the ungodly by their words and deeds summoned death;
considering him a friend, they pined away
and made a covenant with him,
because they are fit to belong to his company.
2 For they reasoned unsoundly, saying to themselves,
“Short and sorrowful is our life,
and there is no remedy when a life comes to its end,
and no one has been known to return from Hades.
12 “Let us lie in wait for the righteous man,
because he is inconvenient to us and opposes our actions;
he reproaches us for sins against the law
and accuses us of sins against our training.
13 He professes to have knowledge of God
and calls himself a child of the Lord.
14 He became to us a reproof of our thoughts;
the very sight of him is a burden to us,
15 because his manner of life is unlike that of others,
and his ways are strange.
16 We are considered by him as something base,
and he avoids our ways as unclean;
he calls the last end of the righteous happy
and boasts that God is his father.
17 Let us see if his words are true,
and let us test what will happen at the end of his life,
18 for if the righteous man is God’s child, he will help him
and will deliver him from the hand of his adversaries.
19 Let us test him with insult and torture,
so that we may find out how reasonable he is
and make trial of his forbearance.
20 Let us condemn him to a shameful death,
for, according to what he says, he will be protected.”
Error of the Wicked
21 Thus they reasoned, but they were led astray,
for their wickedness blinded them,
22 and they did not know the secret purposes of God,
nor hoped for the wages of holiness,
nor discerned the prize for blameless souls,
Devotion
The ungodly plot is against a righteous person. Their plans include insults and torture and will end with a shameful death. As part of their planning and preparations for their heinous actions, they make a covenant with death.
They must not know enough about covenants. As mere humans we can make a covenant with anyone and we can hope both parties will keep their side of the arrangement, while knowing what is likely to happen. I can make a covenant with my spouse to eat no chocolate for Lent and really mean to keep it this year. The ungodly will soon find out about the realities of making a covenant with death. The only fully kept covenant is God’s side of a covenant. It is not possible for God to break God’s side of a covenant. The righteous human being may never know what enemies are planning, but will always know that God is trustworthy.
Prayer
Covenanting God, help me to learn to trust in your love and care for me more each day. Amen.
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