Daily Manna, Year Two · Day 278 · October 5
Let Him Glory
“But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the LORD.”
The verse opens with But, so the sentence it turns is the one in front of it. Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches. Three real assets, named without sneering. Jeremiah does not call them worthless. He says they will not hold the weight of a boast.
What is permitted instead is stated with unusual care. But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me. Then, so that nobody floats off on the word knoweth, the content is given: that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight. Three things God does, all of them located in the earth.
Look where this sits, because the chapter is a funeral. Death is come up into our windows, he has just said. Call for the mourning women. Teach your daughters wailing, and every one her neighbour lamentation. He says this to a country going down, to people whose wisdom and might and riches are being taken off them by force in front of their children. Paul liked the line enough to quote it twice, boiled to nine words: He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. Which of the three would you be sorriest to lose, and how long could you keep talking about him if nobody let you talk about yourself, on what he delights in and where you have watched him do it in the earth?
Daily Manna runs on a two-year cycle. The year one reading for day 278 is His Workmanship (Ephesians 2:10).