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Say ye of the righteous that it shall be well with him; For they shall eat of the fruit of their doings. (Isaiah 3:10-11) | |
Woe unto the wicked! It shall be ill with him; for the work of his hands shall be done to him. For they sow the wind and they shall reap the whirlwind. (Hosea 8:7) | |
The mind stayed on Thee, Thou keepest in perfect peace, because it trusteth in Thee. Trust ye in the Lord for ever, for the Lord is God, an everlasting Rock. (Isaiah 26:3-4) | |
The day is short, the work is great, the laborers are slothful, but the reward is great and the Master is urgent. It is not incumbent upon you to complete the work, but neither are you free to desist from it altogether. Trustworthy is your Employer to give you the reward of your labors. (Pirqei Avot 2.20) | |
Be as careful with what may seem to be a minor duty, as with a grave one, as you can never know the measure of reward allotted for duties performed. (Pirqei Avot 2.21) | |
Be not like servants who serve their master for the sake of receiving a reward; be rather like servants who serve their master without thinking of the reward. (Pirqei Avot 4.8) | |
The law of compensation is based on God’s justice. “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do justly?” “Far be it from Thee to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be as the wicked.” We cannot believe that God, who is just, will not distinguish in some way between those who have wilfully yielded to their lower instincts, and those who have disciplined their souls to live in toil and in righteousness. While we cannot know the manner and the time of God’s compensation, yet the prophet’s words: ‘Woe unto the wicked,’ and ‘It shall be well with the righteous,’ must be true. God is surely aware of all our wilful rebelliousness, nor does He forget our faithful strivings to do His will. | |
Although the principle of compensation is fundamental to our faith, yet we can never calculate or predict the punishment or the reward of any man, for there are innumerable factors beyond our ken. How can we be sure that this man will receive punishment, when we can never estimate the abundance of God’s mercy? How can we be confident that another will be granted great reward, when we can never know how much his merit is dependent upon others, for what hidden faults he has still to atone? | |
The mystery of reward and punishment remains hidden with God; but to us are revealed the duties of our life. He has given us many tasks, as difficult as they are exalted. We may never complete even one of them, but we cannot neglect them. Our reward is sure, although we cannot calculate it. Let us cease thinking of the wages of virtue, and devote ourselves to our work. Let us serve the Master without the constant dread of His punishment, and without endlessly estimating what reward we may receive for each act of righteousness. Let us trust in His mercy, and leave the reward to His beneficence. Let us never murmur at the prosperity of the apparently wicked; we cannot know all of their merits. Let us not despair at our own suffering; God has reasons beyond our finding out. It is for us to serve our Father, to trust in His justice and to hope for His mercy. | |
All-Knowing Father, Ever-true, Thine omniscience and Thy justice are one! No human deed or thought is ever hidden from Thy sight. The labor of each of Thy creatures receives its reward. We trust in Thee at all times. Judge Thou the worth of our toil. | |
Heavenly Father, purify our hearts. Inspire us to labor out of love for Thee, rather than for the gift of Thy blessings. Teach us to realize that while our reward will surely come, our duties are always before us. Urgent are the tasks Thou hast assigned us, O Master; to do justice, causing hatred and persecution to cease; to love mercy, teaching forgiveness and benevolence; to walk humbly with Thee, reverently aware of Thy holy Presence. Forgive us, we pray Thee, when we stray from Thee; and when we toil in Thy name, O establish Thou the works of our hands. Amen. |
“Compensation” is the twenty-fifth prayer found in ברכה ותהלה Blessing and Praise: A Book of Meditations and Prayers for Individual and Home Devotion (CCAR 1923), pp. 87-89. Unfortunately, we do not yet know of a resource providing clear attribution of authorship for any of the prayers in this volume.
Source(s)
“Compensation, a prayer for integrity in fulfilling mitsvot (CCAR 1923)” is shared through the Open Siddur Project under the Creative Commons Zero (CC 0) Universal license a Public Domain dedication.
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