Dishonest Gain

Today, the New York Post reports that Lindsay Lohan - famous child star turned infamous Hollywood gossip starlett - allegedly stole a fur coat from someone with whom she attended a private birthday party.

You can read the details on your own here, but this story made me consider what the psalmist meant when he said, in Psalm 119:35-37, "Incline my heart to Your testimonies and not to dishonest gain."

What is "dishonest gain"? It seems like just a fancy phrase for "stealing". In a sense, that is what it means, but it's more than that. The King James version uses the word, "covetousness"; the New Living Translation says, "love of money"; and the NIV says, "selfish gain". The original Hebrew word, "betsa" has a suggestion of violence in that dishonest gain - almost like the way a raider would plunder a village for spoils.

I'm not sure Lindsay Lohan was exactly "plundering" the coat room when she found someone else's mink coat to take home as hers, but certainly there is a malice present in such an act.
Consider this: You're driving along on a byway and the three lanes begin to merge into two. You follow along with everyone else; courteously allowing every other car to merge systematically, just as is expected of you. Suddenly, a guy speeds down the shoulder and bypasses thirty or so cars and swoops in front of you. Without discussing what our reaction would/should be - that's a topic for another post - isn't it clear that there is dishonest gain with a touch of malice going on here?

Not only did that theoretical guy disregard 30 or so other motorists and their urgency to get where they're going but he broke laws - legally stated laws as well as socially unstated ones - and he endangered other drivers with recklessness. For him to take what clearly did not belong to him was an act of malice. It's an active afront to the other drivers, it's not at all a passive act. When Lindsay took that coat, it wasn't because of an honest mistake. It was because she wanted it and thought she could get away with taking it.

Stealing comes in many forms. From the obvious stealing of a $11,000 coat that doesn't belong to you, to the less obvious avoidance of due process or taking your place in line. But in all cases of stealing, you harm someone else when you take what doesn't belong to you. So, let us echo the Psalmist's plea: incline our hearts to Your testimonies and not to dishonest gain!