Rejoicing Over Godly Rulers - and - Shouting when Evil Ones Perish - Proverbs 11:10

When it goes well with the righteous, the city rejoices, And when the wicked perish, there is joyful shouting. Proverbs 11:10

What 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.