A Bribe Against the Innocent

"[He who] does not put out his money for interest [to one of his own people] and who will not take a bribe against the innocent." Psalm 15:5

This verse refers to lending money to someone and not charging them interest. Can you imagine? Admittedly, right now, my family is almost drowning in a sea of debt...which is why I work full time and am not able to give myself 100% to ministry. If you are in that boat (or ever have been), then you identify with the frustration of being caught in the cycle of seeing how almost all of your payments just go to interest, and you never have the ability to really pay off the debt.

We have often had a medical practice here or there that doesn't charge interest and accepts $20 a month. At times we've had family loan us money with the request to just pay it back when we can. Do you know which ones we are the most motivated to pay? You guessed it! Those that have shown faith in us and are taking a personal risk to help us.

It was actually against Old Testament law for a Jew to charge another Jew interest. God knew the problem it would cause. Can you imagine a world that functioned like this? How much more motivated would you be to stay out of debt and pay it back if you had to personally ask someone to take a risk for you?  I can bet I'd only ask if it were a dire emergency. You know what I mean?

Have you ever seen charging interest as "taking a bribe against the innocent"?

Now don't get me wrong. I'm very well aware that many people get into debt out of irresponsibility and stupidity. I will also be the first to admit that we have some debt that falls into that category.

However, I have also had my eyes opened to why "the rich get richer and the poor get poorer." The world as we know it has made it possible for us to easily imprison ourselves and be taken advantage of.

Not many of us own a bank or credit card corporation, though. So how does this really apply to what we can do? Well, for starters, we can avoid being taken prisoner. We can shred the cards and learn to pray for our needs. We can expect God to do what He says when He says He will provide for our needs, even if things don't make not make sense in the moment.

We can also evaluate the payback we hope to get by helping someone else...not just financially, but in any other way. What strings do we attach to our gifts or help? What do we hope to get in return? Do we do it out of love for the Lord? or as a negotiating tactic for personal desires?

With the kids: Our kids get a small allowance each week, and also occasionally earn money from other sources or have birthday/Christmas money in their pockets. Can you guess, however, how often they are just "a little bit short" of what they need for a purchase? Can you guess how many times they ask to borrow just a little bit? Now, sometimes it is a penny or two to cover tax when they did their math wrong, and if I have it, it makes sense to give it. I've had to learn the hard way, however, not to loan money to my kids. First of all, I was realizing that I was teaching them to go into debt (just like me). I was teaching them to spend above their means and not wait to save up for something like they should. I cannot tell you how many times we've left the store with a parade of crying children because they just needed "one more dollar!!" But I'm learning to not be afraid of teaching my children financial responsibility. Know what I mean?

Memorizing:

Psalm 15

 ¹LORD, WHO shall dwell [temporarily] in Your tabernacle? Who shall dwell [permanently] on Your holy hill?

    ²He who walks and lives uprightly and blamelessly, who works rightness and justice and speaks and thinks the truth in his heart,

    ³He who does not slander with his tongue, nor does evil to his friend, nor takes up a reproach against his neighbor;

    ⁴In whose eyes a vile person is despised, but he who honors those who fear the Lord (who revere and worship Him); who swears to his own hurt and does not change;

    ⁵[He who] does not put out his money for ^[a]interest [to one of his own people] and who will not take a bribe against the innocent.