Daily Manna, Year Two · Day 322 · November 18
It May Be
“Seek ye the LORD, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the LORD’s anger.”
What do you do with an offer that says "it may be"? Zephaniah makes one, and its last clause is where the difficulty lies: "it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the LORD's anger." Everything before that clause is a command, and the commands are certain. Only the clause at the end is a maybe.
Look at who is being told this, because it is not the crowd you would expect. "Seek ye the LORD, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment." These are the meek, humble people who have already done what God calls just. They are the obedient ones, with a good record behind them. Yet they are told to "seek righteousness, seek meekness," as though doing right had not already made them safe. And they are the ones handed the maybe. Nobody in the sentence is offered a better deal for good behaviour.
The chapter before it explains the hurry. Zephaniah has spent it describing "a day of wrath," a day "of darkness and gloominess," a day of the trumpet "against the high towers." He also says, "Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD's wrath." Money is the thing that has always worked, and here it is named and ruled out. Then comes this verse, spoken to the people least likely to need the warning, with no guarantee attached. The verse is not made better by changing "it may be" into "certainly." The prophet had that word available, and he chose not to use it, because nobody can strike a bargain with God.
So this week, do one of the two things he names, in a place where it will cost you and earn you nothing. It might be the apology that will not mend the friendship, or the honest number on a form that nobody was going to check. Do it because it is right, and leave the outcome with God. Zephaniah does not leave the meek with only a maybe. Before his book ends, God speaks of them again: "I will also leave in the midst of thee an afflicted and poor people, and they shall trust in the name of the LORD." The humble who seek Him are the very people He keeps.
Daily Manna runs on a two-year cycle. The year one reading for day 322 is God Meant It for Good (Genesis 50:20).