Deuteronomy 15:1-16: a reflection

1At the end of every seven years, you shall cancel debts. 2This is the way it shall be done: every creditor shall release that which he has lent to his neighbor. He shall not require payment from his neighbor and his brother, because the LORD’s release has been proclaimed. 3Of a foreigner you may require it; but whatever of yours is with your brother, your hand shall release. 4However there will be no poor with you (for the LORD will surely bless you in the land which the LORD your God gives you for an inheritance to possess) 5if only you diligently listen to the LORD your God’s voice, to observe to do all this commandment which I command you today. 6For the LORD your God will bless you, as he promised you. You will lend to many nations, but you will not borrow. You will rule over many nations, but they will not rule over you. 7If a poor man, one of your brothers, is with you within any of your gates in your land which the LORD your God gives you, you shall not harden your heart, nor shut your hand from your poor brother; 8but you shall surely open your hand to him, and shall surely lend him sufficient for his need, which he lacks. 9Beware that there not be a wicked thought in your heart, saying, “The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand,” and your eye be evil against your poor brother and you give him nothing; and he cry to the LORD against you, and it be sin to you. 10You shall surely give, and your heart shall not be grieved when you give to him, because it is for this thing the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in all that you put your hand to. 11For the poor will never cease out of the land. Therefore I command you to surely open your hand to your brother, to your needy, and to your poor, in your land. 12If your brother, a Hebrew man, or a Hebrew woman, is sold to you and serves you six years, then in the seventh year you shall let him go free from you. 13When you let him go free from you, you shall not let him go empty. 14You shall furnish him liberally out of your flock, out of your threshing floor, and out of your wine press. As the LORD your God has blessed you, you shall give to him. 15You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God redeemed you. Therefore I command you this thing today. 16It shall be, if he tells you, “I will not go out from you,” because he loves you and your house, because he is well with you,

In commanding generosity toward the poor, God warns against a particular attitude of the heart: Beware that there not be a wicked thought in your heart, and your eye be evil against your poor brother and you give him nothing. God knew the heart's tendency to calculate reasons not to give, to find excuses to withhold, to give grudgingly if at all. Against this he commands: You shall surely open your hand; you shall surely give, and your heart shall not be grieved when you give. God calls for open-handed, ungrudging generosity, not the calculating heart that withholds.

Notice the two hearts God contrasts: the calculating, grudging heart that withholds, and the open hand that gives freely. God knew that the heart could find reasons not to give, could calculate excuses to withhold, could give grudgingly and with a grieved heart if it gave at all. Against this he commanded open-handed giving, with an ungrudging heart: give surely, open your hand, and let your heart not be grieved in the giving. The generosity God calls for is free and glad, not calculating and grudging; the open hand, not the closed and reluctant one.

That is worth taking to heart, for our hearts too can calculate reasons to withhold rather than giving freely. When we face a need, our hearts can find excuses not to give, calculate reasons to withhold, give grudgingly and with a grieved heart if we give at all; but God calls for open-handed, ungrudging generosity. Do not let your heart calculate reasons to withhold from the needy, giving grudgingly or not at all; open your hand freely, and give with an ungrudging heart, as God commanded. Give to the needy with an open hand and a glad, ungrudging heart, rather than the calculating heart that finds excuses to withhold, as God warned against the wicked thought that gives nothing and commanded, you shall surely open your hand, and your heart shall not be grieved when you give; for God calls for free and glad generosity, not the grudging, calculating heart that withholds from the poor.

Lord, in commanding generosity toward the poor, you warn against a particular attitude of the heart: beware that there not be a wicked thought in your heart, and your eye be evil against your poor brother and you give him nothing. You knew the heart's tendency to calculate reasons not to give, to find excuses to withhold, to give grudgingly if at all. Against this you command: you shall surely open your hand; you shall surely give, and your heart shall not be grieved when you give. You call for open-handed, ungrudging generosity, not the calculating heart that withholds. Show me the two hearts you contrast: the calculating, grudging heart that withholds, and the open hand that gives freely. You knew that the heart could find reasons not to give, could give grudgingly and with a grieved heart if it gave at all. Against this you commanded open-handed giving, with an ungrudging heart. The generosity you call for is free and glad, not calculating and grudging. Take that to my heart, for my heart too can calculate reasons to withhold rather than giving freely. When I face a need, my heart can find excuses not to give, calculate reasons to withhold, give grudgingly if I give at all; but you call for open-handed, ungrudging generosity. Keep me from letting my heart calculate reasons to withhold from the needy, giving grudgingly or not at all; help me open my hand freely, Lord, and give with an ungrudging heart, as you commanded. Help me give to the needy with an open hand and a glad heart.