In a multitude of people is a king's glory, But in the dearth of people is a prince's ruin. Proverbs 14:28 A king is not a king unless he has a kingdom over which to rule. A kingdom will not exist where the people are not fruitful and multiply. Therefore it is wise for kings to encourage their people to grow in number. Today's proverb handles this situation - but the implications of this proverb are fascinating, especially when applied to what is happening in both the United States and Europe. The simple meaning of this proverb is obvious - a king needs people to have his kingdom flourish. When there is a multitude of people under his rule - he is blessed, but when there is a declining population within the kingdom - it points to the ruin of his son. The son will have a far smaller kingdom over which to rule - or possibly none at all. As I stated at the beginning of this post, this has amazing ramifications for both our nation and the nations of Europe. Both places have declining populations when it comes to the original population of the countries. As a result of this both of these regions are trying their best to maintain population growth by immigration. The problem is that as the numbers of immigrants grow, they are having more and more influence in the policies and direction of the nation. Give this direction a few more years - and soon Europe will be different - completely different than their forefathers. The United States is not that far from this development either. Why is this happening to these once great nations? For a king to continue to rule over his own people, he has to encourge his own people to multiply in their families. If they do not, the indigenous people of the land will begin to dwindle in numbers. The result of this will be that a different group of people will begin to rise up and rule the land. All this happens because the people do not have children. Or, in our case, they only want 2.4 children or less. That is what has happened in our nation. We have become a people who do not believe that having multiple children is a blessing. This all began with people espousing a worldview that did not value children. We became a people so interested in our own comforot and our own pleasure that we decidd that children were no longer a blessing of the Lord. We came to the conclusion that the man whose quiver if full of children is not blessed at all. In fact, we decided children were a burden - an unnecessary burden - and within a couple of generations - an unwanted burden. According to the humanistic worldview - this was a wonderful development. We were supposedly choking the world to death with our overpopulation - our poluting - and our urban sprawl. So when people bought this unbiblical view, they stopped having childen, or they did what was necessary to reduce the number of children they have. Everything seemed wonderful and the planet would be saved. But over time, the dearth of children began to weigh heavy on our society. Now we face problems as our system is imploding. It is doing so because we no longer have far more families coming up, because we do not like or enjoy the thought of having multiple children. Programs like Social Security require a larger generation of younger people than in the older generation. Even our national character - is shifting from being European and western to being either Mexican or Islamic. A wise set of leaders would have had a biblical worldview. That worldview remembers that God said to be fruitful and multiply. The whole concept of overpopulation is foreign to God. He promises to supply our needs if we will live for His glory and obey His Word. But since those things have been jettisoned just as we have done with His view of children and family - we are facing the "dearth of a people." An interesting thing about this passage is that it says that the prince is ruined by this. The king is to rule not just with an eye toward himself - but toward his sons - and his grandsons. That is a fascinating thing to see here. It is fascinating because one of the curses of our current political fabric is that we only see the immediate future as important. Most of our elected officials actually only see the next election cycle as important - therefore they plan only to keep people fat and happy til past the next election. All the while as we are doing this - the princes of our future (our children) are having their future ruined by the selfishness of the current generation. Wisdom means that rulers think ahead - they think long-term - and honestly, they should think biblically. To do otherwise is to think in a way that God will not bless. This, more than the economy or any other factor, is what will bring about the blessing or the dearth of our society and its people. We should always remember the verse, "Blessed are the people who are so situated. Blessed is the nation who's God is the Lord."
When the righteous triumph, there is great glory, But when the wicked rise, men hide themselves. Proverbs 28:12 The Bible does not know anything about a political environment where issues of godliness and righteousness are not considered. Since God is sovereign over all things - He is also sovereign over all political entities. So, even though our worldly wisdom counsels us never to mix politics and religion - God knows no such artificial division. Our proverb today tells us that when the righteous triumph, there is great glory. When godly men rule a nation according to God's ways and laws - that nation will be blessed. We read in the psalms that the nation is truly blessed whose God is the Lord. Too many consider the righteous ruling to be an oppressive thing. Yet we see that it is not godly men who oppress but sinful ones. Sin brings bondage and injustice to a society - whereas godliness brings justice and truth to bear on all that happens there. Solomon gave a godly judgment when the two women were fighting over whether the child was there child or not. But in the end, it was not pure justice that let Solomon know the truth - it was which woman was willing to show mercy. Godly rulers will know both how to administer justice and how to show great mercy. But when the wicked rise in power - men hide themselves. Consider the history of the despots who have ruled over the affairs of men. Godless men make the populace fear for their lives. They are terrified of a man who knows nothing except his own immediate self-interest. They cringe when his mode of justice knows little beyond swift and terrifying judgment. Very seldom is there mercy manifest. Consider Daniel and his judgment for praying to God rather than to the king. For his supposed crime he was thrown into a lion's den. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego were cast into a firey furnace because they refused to worship the image of the king. These men were not shown mercy - but were judged swiftly without it. Over time who segments of the population hide from the king - terrified not just of his justice, but of his anger. There were wicked kings who killed men for being sad in their presence. Others were murdered because the king either did not like them - or thought that they might be an adversary in the future - whether it was true or not. They hide themselves because a wicked king or ruler is untrustworthy in his judgment. They don't know what might come next - or who might be killed for just looking a little suspicious. The wise man desires a righteous man to triumph. Such a man is far easier to understand - because his decisions will be made on the basis of justice and righteousness. He will judge based upon truth - and it is truth that does not change. You see it again and again in the books of Kings and Chronicles. It is far better to have a righteous king who speaks, lives, and judges according to the truth - than it is to have a wicked king who will ultimately rule on his own authority alone.
By the blessing of the upright a city is exalted, But by the mouth of the wicked it is torn down. Proverbs 11:11 The upright and the wicked have a way of affecting the cities in which they live. The upright are said to exalt a city by the way they speak. They bless the city. The word for bless here is "berakah" and it means to bestow favor upon something or speak well of it. What is interesting about this word is that its root form has the idea of kneeling and blessing. What I see here is that the upright may doesn't just speak blessings over his city - he primarily blesses it when he falls to his knees and prays for it. The blessing here is when a city has many praying, godly men within it. I know a story of a small town in Alabama where three precious grandmothers began to have great concern for their city. Their concern was that the spiritual climate in the city was going down year after year. They watched with broken hearts as the children of the city grew up and no longer were concerned about spiritual things. Their response to this was to ask a local Methodist minister if they could pray at the altar of their church each night. The ladies began praying at 10 o'clock each evening and ended at 11. Soon, though, they could not finish their prayers at 11 so they prayed longer. Before long the ladies were praying through the night - night after night - crying out for the youth of the city - and for God to bring revival. God answered these prayers when an outpouring of the Holy Spirit came upon the city - first in that little Methodist church - then moving the meeting to the Baptist church because it could seat more people - and eventually to the local High School football field because only it could hold the people who began coming. They watched the entire atmosphere of that city radically changed because hundreds of children and youth came to Christ. Truly these little ladies - "the upright" - had blessed the city with their words of prayer and intercession. The wicked though, have no such blessing. They only tear a city down with their actions and words. It is telling what this passage calls these people. They are called, "the wicked" which is the Hebrew word "rasha." This term refers to the wicked - and one of the ways they are described is as the "criminally wicked." These men not only do not bless the city - they are taking from it - and promoting a criminal and lawless lifestyle. No wonder that the city is torn down by their actions. Their actions promote people disobeying the law and living a selfish and self-centered lifestyle. Our nation is in the midst of this very proverb today. For too many years we have had elected officials that disregard the laws they are elected to uphold and establish. Congress actually has the gall to exempt themselves from the laws they pass. If that were not bad enough, we seem to have an endless parade of Congressmen and Senators who are thrown into jail for breaking the law. What have these leaders given to us over the years? They have torn down the very country that was given to them. Instead of protecting and defending it - they are tearing it down with their very hands. It is absolutely essential for the future of our nation that we see this - and correct it immediately. It is essential that we learn about our leaders and hold them accountable to be men and women of character and integrity. If they prove to be other than this - we need to boot them out of office at the next election possible. We need men and women in office who will bless our land once again by their godly, praying leadership. Until we see this happen - we can only expect our nation to continue to spiral downward toward destruction.
It is not for kings, O Lemuel, It is not for kings to drink wine, Or for rulers to desire strong drink, for they will drink and forget what is decreed, And pervert the rights of all the afflicted. Proverbs 31:4-5 Mixing authority and alcohol is a very bad thing to do. As Bathsheba gave her counsel to Solomon her son, she made clear to him that this was the case. She said clearly to him that is was not for kings to drink wine or to desire strong drink. These two terms, wine and strong drink both describe alcoholic drinks. Wine refers to the fruit of the vine - grapes - but in the form of them squeezed and made into wine of a lower alcohol level. Strong drink refers to drinks that are much stronger - probably something akin to whiskey or some type of grain alcohol. It was usually used to get drunk quickly - and in some cases was used medicinally to act as a type of pain killer. Solomon is told that it is not right for a king to drink these things. The reason that she gives to him for this prohibition is that if he does, there is a chance that he will drink and forget "what is decreed." This is a reference to the Word of God. For Israel, the Word of God was also the place where their civil law was found. But either way the concern was that while in a drunken state, he might forget the civil law - or the law of God. When he did, he would then forget the rights of the afflicted. These are the less fortunate, the poor, and those who look to the king to defend their rights. Drunkenness causes us to function apart from wisdom. When a man is drunk he does not think normally. The alcohol leads him to excess in regard to his emotions. It can also have a deadening effect when it comes to his normal moral restraints. This is why it is not wise to mix drink and authority. When you do, the person in authority is more likely to abuse it - because he will not be thinking properly so as to make godly judgments.
"By me kings reign, And rulers decree justice. "By me princes rule, and nobles, All who judge rightly. Proverbs 8:15-16
Wisdom is the thing that rulers need more than anything else. That is what we get when we read today's proverb of the day. In the midst of speaking of all the things that wisdom does for us - God includes that it is by wisdom that kings reign and rulers do what is right. What is interesting about this passage is that it assumes that a king or ruler will do what is right. That is not exactly an assumption that we share today.
Any authority that a king, ruler, prince, or noble has is what is called "derived" authority. They do not get their authority inherently, but receive it from God when they become a leader. This is something that is so important for us to remember. In years gone by kings would speak of how they rule by divine right. This was because the Scriptures teach us that there is no authority except from God - and all the authorities in this world are where they are only because God allows it. Unfortunately, the kings who said this said it because they wanted an absolute authority by which they could command their subjects to be submissive to them. They could have cared less about their people - what was important to them was their power.
God, though, sees things differently. It is by God's wisdom that kings and rulers should decide issues of justice. It it by God's wisdom that princes and nobles decree justice. Thus, in the end, the authority that God gives to a ruler is to be used to ensure that justice and righteousness reign in that society. In the end, God makes it clear that all the authority that these rulers have - is to be used to decree justice - and to judge rightly. what a different way of thinking - and yet it is not foreign to those of us who study the Scriptures. All throughout the Bible we see that ever since the fall of man the world has been turned upside down. Mankind thinks all things are about man - but the reality is that all things are about God and His glory. When we turn from that - and have rulers who do not decree justice and do not live for God's righteousness - we have a mess.
God desires to have all human leaders filled with His wisdom and understanding. He desires for them to make just and righteous decisions. That means He desires for them to rule according to His righteousness - and to establish His law in the hearts of men. He calls them to "judge rightly," and when He says this, He means that they judge according to His ways and according to His Word.
Wisdom tells us that when a king rules as he ought to, he does so according to wisdom. When a ruler or a prince does what he should in governmental affairs - he is doing it God's way. I realize that if we were to say that today - many would have a stroke and would cry out that this is contrary to the separation of church and state that is in the constitution. But then again that would just reveal their ignorance first, because no such separation exists in the actual constitution, and it would reveal their spiritual ignorance second, because THE ONE THING that we must have as a nation is God's favor. A ruler who wants to rule by his own thinking and his own wisdom is not going to have the favor of God on his life - and by that fact - we won't have the favor of God upon our nation. That is why for me - one thing I look for in a leader is whether he is willing to speak positively about the Bible - and whether he looks to it for wisdom in leading our city, state, or nation.
Luxury is not fitting for a fool; Much less for a slave to rule over princes. Proverbs 19:10
There are certain people who do not need to serve as a ruler over a people. We might think that it is a good thing for the "everyman" to rise to power, but if the "everyman" that does this is a fool - it will end badly.
The fool who begins to enjoy luxury - will wind up being very difficult to live with in the end. He will view his luxury as what is due him - rather than a blessing and a priviledge that has been given to him either by others or through hard work and application of himself to a task. That is why such luxury is not fitting for him. It isn't right for him to have it - because he does not appreciate it. It does more harm to him than good in the end because he will begin to think he deserves it - everyone owes him what is necessary to live a life of luxury.
I'm going to take the risk of offending some at this point in this proverb. This passage illustrates why a welfare state is harmful to a populace. I know there are cries made at this statement that we do not provide a life of luxury to those on welfare. True - their standard of living is not that of kings - but we are fundamentally harming them by not having them work or do something to get it. In order for us to develop properly in a moral sense, we need to work - we need to DO something. When we don't, we do not appreciate what is given to us. Then we begin building a mindset that people owe us something - and that will become toxic in the end. In time we will think they owe us more and more - and gratefulness for what we do have will be all but extinct in our thinking. When that way of thinking grows in our minds - we are quickly descending in wisdom and in any kind of spiritual growth.
Just as luxury is not fitting for a fool - so also is it for a slave to rule over princes. We in America are not used to the whole idea of nobility. We fought an entire war to make sure that we did not have a king who could rule over us without the consent of the governed. But, there is a wisdom to having the wiser in society rule over us. To have a person rule who does not know wisdom - who does not know the matters of state - who does not understand the necessity for good economic policy - and most of all justice - is to invite serious problems in that land. It is also a historical reality that when a slave or a commoner comes into power - the problem is too often that they want revenge for the wrongs they suffered - rather than to govern all the people with wisdom and integrity. I do not support the ascendency of a king in our land - but I do fully support not electing fools to office. It is wisdom to elect the wise to rule over us.
When it goes well with the righteous, the city rejoices, And when the wicked perish, there is joyful shouting. Proverbs 11:10What kind of leader do people love having rule over them? According to this proverb they love a righteous leader. They rejoice when it goes well with this kind of man - but when the wicked rule, it is a completely different matter. A godly leader is a blessing to a nation. If you have one, rejoice - because the reality is that due to sin and the fall - there are very few of them that come in the course of human history. When they do exist - the whole city rejoices over them. They are just because God's sense of justice rules in their hearts. They are not prone to abuse their power, because they know that ultimately they are ruled by heaven. They are wise and they bless a city by using the wisdom of God Himself to govern their actions and their choices. In the end, their godly ways are a blessing to the entire area - and makes way for God's prosperity to reign in a town. The Lord loves to bless His Ones who lead - and who hold positions of authority. He loves it because they desire to honor Him in how they give leadership to others. The wicked are a curse upon a city. When you look at the history of Israel and Judah - you see this time and time again. Kings rose up whose hearts were given to themselves and to their own desires. As they rule they abuse the people. Their desire is for their power - and they can use it ruthlessly to put out any kind of complaint or lack of support among the people. Many godless kings and leaders have brought destruction and devastation to their land because of wickedness and sin. In the end, when these wicked leaders die, the people break forth into rejoicing and praise. They shout for joy in knowing that their land will be no longer ruled by a fool. All throughout history horrible leaders have come and have gone - and every time they died or were killed - the people of their land wanted to dance in the streets. They did so because a wicked man would not longer rule over them. They would have the opportunity for a righteous and godly man to rise up and bring blessing to them by a much more godly rule. Here is a little tidbit of wisdom since at the time I write this - we are only a month away from a major election. Choose your leaders according to wisdom - God's wisdom. If you do not - you might choose someone who is a tyrant. Voting for those who will lead you is a precious and awesome responsibility. We need to choose righteous men who will lead us in God's way - and who will see the need for God to do a work in our land. May He gives us men of wisdom and character. May He gives us men who will stand up and be counted for our Lord Jesus Christ. This is what God desires for us to enjoy - a life ruled by men whose greatest desire is to please God. Oh, that we would look closely at each candidate and base our decision on a close examination of his character, choices, and whether or not he is a godly man. If we begin doing this - we will find great reason for rejoicing - because God will bless us once again with citizen legislators whose desire is for the longterm best that God can give our nation.
A king who sits on the throne of justice disperses all evil with his eyes. Proverbs 20:8What place does a ruler or leader have in making sure that the country he rules is not overrun by evil? In recent years we have had fools who have tried to tell us that leaders don't need to have character. We should only be concerned with their political decisions. To expect actual moral character from them is too much. Their personal lives are their own business. If they decide to commit adultery on their wives with an intern in their office (while working for us) - that is their own business. Nothing could be further from the truth! The king, ruler, president, or any other person who has a high position of power and influence, needs to be a man of godliness and godly character. Here we read that he needs to be a man who sits "on the throne of justice." The word for justice here is very instructive. It means judgment, condemnation, cause or plea - and it refers to the legal realm. The king needs to sit on a throne that grasps and understands justice. He needs to make judgments so that justice will prevail in the land. Some say this refers simply to the legal seat he takes in a courtroom. They say it has little to do with what kind of judgment he has - rather that he just make decisions while seated there. But if that were the case - why does the second half of this proverb speak of how this action lead to evil being dispersed by this man's eyes? That contradicts itself. The king - at least the ones that God commended - were godly men who sat on a throne that stood for the justice of God. This was an interesting justice because it held both to a strong standard of what is right and wrong, but it also exhibited mercy to those who sought it. God's call for righteousness was absolute - and it was and is based on absolute truth. This has not changed - and will not change. But God also states that mercy triumphs over judgment. Those who see God as being too judgmental should consider seriously how God dealt with the ultimate judgment - by having His perfect justice satisfied by judging His own Son, Who paid the ultimate price for sin. God told the king to write out a copy of the Law for himself so that he would not forget to judge righteously. The king was instructed by his mother in Proverbs 31 that it is not for him to drink and get drunk because his judgment would be clouded - and he would not stand up for the rights of the poor and innocent. God warns His kings that they should not err in judgment - but that their judgment should be righteous judgment. To have a godly leader who understands and who seeks to administer righteous, biblically-based judgment is a blessing that unfortunately is rare in our day - honestly - it is rare in history. When the king sits on a throne of justice - he will "disperse all evil with his eyes." The word used here for disperse is wonderful. It is the Hebrew word for sifting - and it spoke of how one would sift wheat by separating the good wheat from the chaff. As one would sift like this - they would keep what is good, while breaking off the worthless chaff so that it could be discarded. The king has discernment and sees what God considers good and wise - as well as what God identifies as useless and worthless. In the end, the sifting allows him to get rid of evil. This, the proverb tells us, he does with his eyes. When a king has evil pass before his eyes and he does not judge it or deal with it - wickedness will abound in his nation. But when a king makes it clear that he disapproves evil, there will be great blessing in the nation. Too often a bribe closes the eyes of the king. An official who is important and who has influence will cause him to blind his own eyes - or cast them down instead of staring wickedness in the face and condemning it. The godly king knows that if he does not deal with ALL EVIL alike - disapproving it and looking with disdain upon it - evil will grow and bring great problems to his kingdom. One of the things that is destroying our nation is a lack of this kind of leader in our government. We have these odd things called "ethics panels" in our government. They were originally put into place to bring a proper disapproval to those who act outside godly, law-abiding ethics. But now they are used to wink at fellow party-members who disregard the law - and to crucify those of opposite parties who don't. There is no righteous standard any longer - just a flaunting of the law - and a vigilante status toward destroying opponents who make their mistakes while out of power. Both parties do it - and it is an affront to the laws of our land. What we truly need are men and women of integrity who will once again sit in seats of justice. They will help disperse and sift out evil in our land. May God raise them up soon - before justice in our land is just an afterthought.
A divine decision is in the lips of the king; His mouth should not err in judgment. Proverbs 16:10
Here is a verse that was greatly misused by kings and rulers throughout the middle or dark ages. They would slightly misquote this passage and state that they had what is called, "the divine right of kings." This they then used to rule over people in a way that was totally contrary to what Scripture stated. Let's look at this issue - but also look at a balanced view of rulers and how God uses them in a nation to accomplish His purposes.
The misquote here was due to how the King James version rendered this verse. The KJV reads, "A divine sentence is in the lips of the king; his mouth transgresseth not in judgment." This was taken as meaning that the king cannot make an error in judgment - and that since a divine decision was in his mouth - he could not make mistakes. This bad doctrinal view was then used to state that no matter how wicked or ungodly a king was - his was a divine rite from God. The king was not to be questioned in any decision he made therefore, because it was God's decision when he said it. One can see how this bad exigesis led to horrific abuses by leaders. One can also see why so much resentment brewed toward the Roman Catholic Church because they supported this view. Part of their reasoning behind this was because if the king's decisions were divine, then that gave them the right to say that the church then would have to approve every king - and could depose them if excommunicated. Oh the power that was enjoyed unscripturally by so many who purported to be God's messenger. It was not until the reformation that this began to be corrected - and the divine rite of kings was reigned in by the proper understanding of this verse - as well as the whole counsel of the Word of God.
In order to understand this verse, we first need to grasp that Solomon is writing to kings here. The Word of God clearly states that no authority exists except that which is from God. Yet, this does not guarantee that all rulers will be godly or Christian. If that were the case we would have to wonder why God couldn't even get that to happen in Israel and Judah. God is not interested in an earthly kingdom (Jesus said as much in the gospels) but in saving a people for Himself - and for His coming kingdom in heaven. Thus the natural flow of sin and rebellion will even affect the social institutions of this world and the governments that rule over the affairs of men.
When Israel rejected God from being king over them - and cried out for a king, "like all the other nations," God warned them what this would bring. He warned them of the excesses and the danger of having one "man" over them. As a man, this king was just as affected by sin as anyone else. This is why God also instructed the king to write out a copy of the Law by hand - so that he would be reminded to obey the Lord and do according to everything that was written in God's Law. We read about all this in 1 Samuel 8 and Deuteronomy 17. The reason this is important for us to understand is that God knew they would ask for a king - and therefore he gave command before it ever happened how the king was to live - what was allowed and what was forbidden. When you read through Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles, you see clearly where the kings veered off God's course and subsequently turned evil. At this point the king was still in authority - but his actions were clearly outside of God's will. Thus for someone to quote this proverb and say that a king could never err in judgment or in what he says is patently outside the scope of Scripture.
What is actually said here is that a divine decision is in the lips of the king and that he SHOULD NOT ERR in judgment. Solomon knew that great power came with the title of king. That power had tremendous consequences for individuals - but much more than that - for the future of an entire nation.
He may have remembered the case of the two harlots who came before him. They argued over which of their babies had died, and which was alive. God gave Solomon great wisdom as he commanded that the living baby should be cut in half and a half given to each women. One agreed, while the other who was the real mother, had compassion on her child and said to give it to the other woman rather than killing it. Solomon, filled with the wisdom of God, knew that the compassion of the one woman showed that it was her child. He then gave the command to give it to her - for it was her child. Everyone was amazed at this decision and knew God's wisdom was in him. In many ways this strengthened his power and authority among the people. They knew God was with him - and that he ruled with great caution to make the right decisions.
But Solomon also knew of his sins - how his heart was drawn away by foreign women. God commanded that His people not do this - because these women would turn them away from God to their false gods. Solomon ignored this command and did his own thing. He erred in judgment. The end of this was the eventual destruction of Israel. The more they turned from God the greater the judgment fell upon the nation. Truly as king he should not have erred in judgment.
Every leader on this earth should have this verse etched into his psyche. We have those today who say that there should be a separation of church and state. I agree with them if they mean that Congress should not establish a national denomination - or a national church run according to the dictates of the government. But what they have done is enforce the establishment clause of the first ammendment, but have completely ignored the fact that there is also a protection clause. They are never to prohibit the free exercise of religion - and our founders meant the Christian religion in particular. They said that a man was not fit to run for office if he was not a Christian. Our founders said that this nation was predicated on our ability to obey the 10 commandments. They knew that if God's Law reigned in our hearts (realizing it needed to rein in our hearts) that a plethora of human laws would not be necessary. We've rejected such things - and as a result - our leaders have rejected God's ways and Word. It really should be no great shock to us that the nation has and is declining. The worst aspect of this is that our president and Congress no longer look to God's Word for leadership. They think that they know what to do from their own thoughts and ways. This can lead no where except to disaster in the end.
Our President and Congress need to recapture what is said in this proverb. They have great power - and God tells His people to honor the power of their governing officials. But that power is not absolute. They are under the same Word of God as we are. They should not err in judgment as they rule over the people. When they do, they need to realize that their power is NOT absolute. God, who said we should obey them, is also the One who said that He raises up kings and overthrows them as well. In his divine providence He has seen nations rise up - and others destroyed and humbled. In the end we all will answer to Him. For some He may not do it as quickly as they want, but the fact remains that He ultimately rules over all the affairs of men. If only our current rulers would recognize this - our nation would turn around to a place of blessing under their leadership. But as long as they think they cannot err in their own judgment - we are probably not going anywhere good in our future as a nation.
The plans of the diligent lead surely to advantage, But everyone who is hasty comes surely to poverty. Proverbs 21:5 Planning, to some this word is a blessing - to others (and honestly, I have to say I'm among this number) it is a difficult area of their lives. Yet the Lord has some very pointed things to say here to us about the blessing that comes from diligent planning rather than hastily put together things that happen at the last minute. We read first here that the plans of the diligent surely lead to advantage. The word "plans" will help us to see what is meant here. The word means a thought, purpose, or intention. The idea is that we are thinking through things - considering their purpose and intention - and therefore laying plans that will not only plan an event - but also plan it with a sense of purpose in what it is to accomplish. Here is something which every believer should seriously consider. God has given us the few years we have on this earth as a gift - but also as a responsibility and a trust. How we use these years are important. Do we have a purpose behind the things we are doing? Are they working for us an eternal destiny and an eternal reward - or are we just committing "chonicide" (just killing time). Too many times our lives are just being lived with no real purpose or intention behind what we are doing. That leads to a wasted life. Solomon is telling us that the plans laid with a sense of purpose and intention to live for God's glory and purposes - are beneficial to us. But they are not just haphazard plans - these are plans that are set in place with "diligence." This word means something sharp and industrious. It refers to those people who are living industrious lives that are sharp in their focus and intent. The root word for this referred to a sharp threshing sledge. This was used to cut the harvest - and was sharpened to make the job easier and more effective. One might complain of the time spend with a wetstone or file sharpening the metal. This is hard work after all - and it takes time to sharpen something well. But if you are having to cut entire fields of grain - you know that the few moments spent sharpening your tool can save hours of time and much additional effort. So plans laid by someone who thinks through purpose and intent can make living life much easier and more focused. These kind of plans lead surely to advantage. Here is one of the times when I prefer the King James translation to the NASB. The word here means an abundance. It refers to an abundance of profit, materials, harvest, or whatever the word refers to and modifies. It can also mean advantage or a more favorable position - a superior one to someone who has not planned and thought through their actions. When you plan - you will have abundance and advantage over those who have not thought these things through well. Planning does not negate labor and faithful effort at a task. But it does halp ensure that the labor and effort invested is leading to a desired end. This way of living is compared to someone who is hasty. The hasty man is the one who prefers reacting to life - than planning it. The problem is that reacting to our circumstances can have us being led, not by our purpose and intent, but rather by whatever happens. Circumstances begin being our leader - rather than us seeking to control many of our circumstances by moving in a planned direction and way. When you live this way, the result is poverty. Just as the plans of the diligent man will surely lead to an abundance and advantage - the lack of planning and diligent effort doing something well - will eventually lead us to poverty. God wants us to live on purpose. He does not want us to spend our lives just reacting to whatever happens. We can do much to guide our lives according to His principles if we will just spend time learning them and directing our lives according to them. We will find that God's Word gives us a path - gives us counsel on how to live and how to plan to do things that God desires. This will ensure that we live a life God blesses - not just one that He tries to guide through whatever emergency happens next. To do this - with diligence and purpose . . . is wisdom indeed.
|
RSS Feed