But to those who rebuke the wicked will be delight, And a good blessing will come upon them.  He kisses the lips Who gives a right answer. Proverbs 24:25-26

We continue with Solomon's comments on partiality and favoritism.  There is a blessing that comes to those who do what is right in these situations.  We are told of those who "rebuke" the wicked.  These are the men who give a right answer when faced with issues of justice and righteousness.  Let's take a couple of minutes to learn what they do - and how they are rewarded.

To "rebuke" here means more than just speaking a simple word of correction.  The Hebrew word is "yakah" which means to argue, convince, convict, judge, or reprove.  This word usually has the meaning of clarifying where someone stands morally.  This involves making arguments to establish the ground upon which a moral judgment is made.  The word is used of God's reproof and rebuke of the wicked and sinful.  When He rebukes, there is no doubt the right-ness of His Words - and the biblical reason behind them. 

When we rebuke the wicked - it is not just a simple statement that we make.  This blessed man comes to the wicked with wisdom, with understanding, and with arguments to help the wicked grasp why their actions are wrong.  Christians need to embrace this kind of rebuke and reproof as they seek to convince those who stand in biblically unjust positions of the truth.  It is not enough just to say, "I rebuke you for your stand!"  The wise man comes with ordered and convincing arguments.  He does not come just to state that a position is wrong and ungodly - he makes a case that convinces and convicts the one holding it. 

We are told to this kind of man there will be delight and blessing.  These will come as he experiences first the blessing of God who delights in wisdom and justice.  Knowing the smile of God - and His approval of our works and words is more to us than the favor of all the nations.  Please understand that when a godly man takes a stand worldlings will hate him - and some will mock his views.  But many will see his arguments and rejoice that righteousness is being upheld.  If the "wicked" are in positions of power - this man may face problems - even imprisonment - but the blessing from God - and the joy of the people will abound in what he has said.  They may not be able to rescue him from imprisonment, but his words will be embraced by those who love what is just and righteous - and that includes Almighty God Himself.  Remember if your stand for truth, righteousness, and justice costs you in this life - that you will be richly rewarded in the life to come - in eternity. 

We are told at the close of these statements that, "He kisses the lips who gives a right answer."  The right answer here is the honest and true answer.  It is the person who does not let the world, or any kind of personal favoritism enter into their thinking and judgment.  The proper judgment in this matter is God's judgment.  And the "kiss" that is spoken of here is the kiss one gives in approval.  The idea expressed here may seem strange to us in the United States, even forward and weird.  But in the middle east it was common to express approval with a kiss.  Thus the idea here is that when we speak what is right - approving the righteous and rebuking the wicked - there will be favor for us.  Those who love what is right will hear - and it will be as one receiving loving favor to hear it. 

Wise men speak what is right.  They do not allow favoritism and partiality to cloud and darken their judgment.  They are instructed by the Word of God as to what is proper and true.  They open their mouths to speak this truth to others - not just in a denunciation - but with convincing arguments that help to instruct men as to what is good and right.  To have such men around you is a blessing that cannot be measured.  Such men are rare and hard to find, so if God gives you one - thank Him for the favor He has shown you - and treasure this blessing always.

He who says to the wicked, "You are righteous," Peoples will curse him, nations will abhor him; Proverbs 24:24

As we face the issue of partiality in judgment, we are shown the danger of it - and the anger that ensues when it happens.  We are told of someone who says to the wicked, "You are righteous."  It is important to see that this is not a case of religious judgment, but one that is happening in a court system - and also can happen in life as well.  The idea is not of religious righteousness on the par of justification.  This is simply a wicked man being told that he is in the right - he is without fault in a matter that clearly is the opposite.  We see this too often in our society and even in our court systems.  Gone are the days when what we truly desire in our courts is justice and righteousness.  When a criminal who is clearly guilty of a crime is acquitted because of a minor technicality - we groan and shake our heads in disgust.

We are told that when this happens, peoples will curse this man - and nations will abhor him.  Justice is something that goes far outside our homes - and even our cities.  When injustice happens, entire people groups will see - and nations will join in the condemnation of partiality and favoritism.  Wars have been fought because of errors in judgment - and favoritism toward those who should be convicted of crimes. 

I'm going to step into a danger zone here and comment on convoluted foreign policy.  I do so realizing that often the choices put before our state department are never between pure right and wrong.  They are usually choices between bad and horrible.  Regardless of the dilemmas that are faced, we too often support brutal dictators who are guilty of gross injustice toward their people.  We wring our hands wondering why in parts of the world people hate our country.  One reason is because our power is used to support oppressive, murderous men in positions of power.  We may consider them to be the lesser of two evils - and I understand that.  But we also need to grasp that when we put someone like that in power and say to the populace of that nation - this wicked man is righteous - at least righteous enough to be your leader, they are going to hate us. 

Honestly, I am glad I do not have to make decisions like the ones our state department makes, and I pray for them to have wisdom.  They have very difficult decisions to make.  But when we do call the wicked righteous - we need to know that the peoples and nations will curse and hate us.  It is just a fact of the Bible - and of life on this earth.

Since we are talking about "a little bit of wisdom" in these articles, some may ask, "Then what should we do?"  What would the "wise" thing be to do in these situations?  That is a difficult thing to answer.  But my thoughts are that we should first tend to issues of justice in our own nation.  First of all, we are horrific oppressors of the first order in our practices toward the unborn.  Our sins and crimes in that area match anything ever seen in the world - and since we export this barbaric practice all over the world for the so-called purpose of population control - we have serious problems of our own.  We too often paint ourselves as the great hope - while we are not even living up to the heritage handed to us by our forefathers.  My advice would be first to reclaim wise judgment in our own land - before we go off telling others how they should administer justice in theirs.  We need to remove the proverbial log from our own eye - before we try to go all over the world removing the speck from the eye of other nations.

"How can we do something so huge!?" would be the next statement made.  It actually begins by starting personally - with our own hearts.  We repent of the injustices in our own lives - and cry out for God's wisdom in rectifying our own wrongs.  Then we fall to our knees and pray for our country.  We pray for a revival that will break hearts and turn our churches back to biblical justice and righteousness.  Once biblical righteousness has been restored to our lives and the lives of God's church - then we can begin to address our public officials.  We can demand something other than base politics govern their thinking - and elect true men of character to our public offices.  They can then address the policies that promote ungodliness and gross injustice in our land - by the standard of God's Word.  Then and only then can we begin to hope to address the world about matters of justice.  We do it now - but only by the use of power and money.  May God so work in us, our churches, and our nation that one day we can speak from a vantage of moral clarity - and not just national self-interest.  

These also are sayings of the wise. To show partiality in judgment is not good. Proverbs 24:23

Solomon now gives us the sayings of the wise through the end of this chapter.  These are things we should definitely keep in mind as we walk in this life.  They are over a number of different topics which will be faced as we walk through our lives.  The first of these topics is the problem of partiality in judgment. 

The statement, "to show partiality" is literally "to regard the face."  This is when someone who is to render judgment sees a face they know - and suddenly their judgment is clouded due to a favorable reaction to this one they see.  Once they see their friend or aquaintence, they look upon them no longer with wise judgment, but with an attitude of personal preference.  This is one reason why our legal system has within it the practice of recusing ourselves from a case because our relationship with someone might skew our thinking and affect our judgment unfairly.  This is the case at the level of the judge, the prosecutor, and the jury.  To have justice be fair is of the utmost importance. 

I remember the first time I saw the statue that represents justice - and realized that she has a blindfold over her eyes.  She stands their blind to who is before her - with a set of scales in her hands.  The statue represents how we should enter into judgment with others.  We should be blind to who they are - not recognizing or regarding the face of the one before us.  Without this kind of blindness to who is before us - we cannot render fair and just decisions.  When we start recognizing "faces" that come before us in the justice system, we face the danger of favoritism. 

A wise man learns to administer justice blindly, without recognizing a face and without the favoritism that comes with it.  He learns to act according to the wisdom of God's Word in rendering judgment and decisions on matters of right and wrong