When a country is rebellious, it has many rulers, but a person of understanding and knowledge maintains order. A ruler who oppresses the poor is like a driving rain that leaves no crops. Those who forsake the law praise the wicked, but those who keep the law resist them. Evil people do not understand justice, but those who seek the Lord understand it fully. ~Proverbs 28:2-5
If anyone turns a deaf ear to the law, even his prayers are detestable. He who leads the upright along an evil path will fall into his own trap, But the blameless will receive a good inheritance. ~Proverbs 28:9-10
When the righteous triumph, there is great elation. But when the wicked rise to power, men go into hiding. ~Proverbs 28:12
Like a roaring lion or a charging bear is a wicked man ruling over a helpless people. A tyrannical ruler lacks judgment, but the one who hates ill-gotten gain will enjoy long life. ~Proverbs 28:15-16
When the wicked rise to power, people go into hiding. But when the wicked perish, the righteous thrive. ~Proverbs 28:28
Surely you place them on slippery ground; you cast them down to ruin. How suddenly are they destroyed, completely swept away by terrors! As a dream when one awakes, so when You arise, O Lord, You will despise them as fantasies. ~Psalm 73:18-20
I know, we’ve visited this theme so many times before and, because of that, it was tempting to just move along, but I believe that, especially at this time, with so much uncertainty and confusion, we need to be saturated with the knowledge that God is in control. The wicked will not survive forever. They may win temporary skirmishes, but that is only in the seen world. Child of God, believe, it’s going to be alright!
Have you ever read a series of books by a particular author that you know you can trust? No matter how bad it gets for the characters in the story, you are pretty confident that this author that you really enjoy will make everything turn out okay in the end. To harken back to the message from yesterday, that is God for us. He is writing a story with immense detail. The plot is very thick in places, you could say “a real nail biter.” But God is the author. He is in control of the details. The writer of Hebrews even refers to Him as the “author and perfecter of our faith,” (Hebrews 12:2), who is telling the story of all stories for His glory.
Many of our proverbs listed today focus on leadership for nations more than individuals, but the truth still holds. God is writing and directing the story of nations as much as individuals. When evil is in charge, subjects suffer and there is much chaos, but only from our perspective in the seen world. God is very aware. We have to trust that somehow, in the end, this is for His good.
Remember, these are the observations of a king. Solomon is in charge of the nation of Israel and he is advising those who will follow him. He lays out the consequences of their rule in either case, whether they choose to rule wisely or with evil intent. Perhaps we would do well to examine some of these statements individually and by doing so, gain more hope and strength for our present situation.
“When a country is rebellious, it has many rulers, but a person of understanding and knowledge maintains order.” Certainly, it would appear that there are many rulers today. If you voted on Tuesday, you couldn’t help but notice how many were on the ballot for so many positions. They often disagree with each other on policy and it’s easy to feel caught in the middle.
However, we are still responsible to maintain our own personal disciplines, especially the spiritual ones. Those over us cannot stop us from doing so or take what we gain through spiritual discipline away. They may be able to control our bodies somewhat, but it is our job to maintain our personal order.
“A ruler who oppresses the poor is like a driving rain that leaves no crops.” “Like a roaring lion or a charging bear is a wicked man ruling over a helpless people.” As the author of our story, God’s principles remain in place. Eventually, an evil ruler’s excesses will be His undoing. We may suffer from it for a time, but God keeps His eye on His own to restore.
“Those who forsake the law praise the wicked, but those who keep the law resist them. Evil people do not understand justice, but those who seek the Lord understand it fully.” We must remain the characters in the story who do not give up hope even when it appears that all is lost. When it looks like the mob will win, our author is up to something grand. That is where our hope and faith lie.
“A tyrannical ruler lacks judgment, but the one who hates ill-gotten gain will enjoy long life.” “When the wicked rise to power, people go into hiding. But when the wicked perish, the righteous thrive.” When one king ruled all, if he was evil it was tyranny! The evil tried to join in and capitalize on the opportunity. The righteous lay low and wait for a better king. In our Democracy, this is not as clear as that. Our news media make it sound like that, but the conservatives and liberals disagree with each other over whether the Republicans are the evil ones or the Democrats. We get opinionated and try to figure out which of our leaders are good and which are evil and sometimes we think we know. But we must remember that there are well intentioned, good hearted people in all parties, even believers! And there is no king with absolute authority to wipe out the people they don’t like, so it seems that chaos ensues!
That is why, in God’s telling, the righteous endure. Their feet are on a solid rock that gives sure footing even while the wicked are doing their worst. The righteous continue to order their lives on God’s principles while others pursue lawlessness, fulfilling their own passions and depending upon their sandy foundation to hold them firm. Then, at just the right moment, God, our author allows the sand to shift, the wicked slip and the righteous are there to prevail, rebuild and promote God’s righteousness for the survivors.
You know, most stories that we read have a theme similar to the story that God is now telling and of which we are temporarily a part. The story begins in harmony, something disrupts it and then the hero uses wisdom and courage to restore. The restoration includes the gaps and scars from the disruption, so that there is a new normal, but there is some sort of harmony achieved again in the end.
God began with creation where there was harmony. Satan created the disruption. Jesus, the hero, set things right and we have the promise of harmony in eternity with Him, with His scars visible, and our lessons through suffering, that bring understanding.
Solomon can make these statements and observations because they are based on the godly principles from which God operates and from which He is telling His story. They are observations, yes, to us, but they are facts to God because they are the foundation on which this story is based. Wickedness and evil do bring suffering to the good, but it will not succeed in the end. Just like we know that the story will end well because we trust the author of our book, we know that the story of humanity will end well because we are characters in a story that is being written by the most trustworthy author of them all.
Prayer: Father thanks again for being a fount of wisdom and for taking us deeper in our own understanding of the times and for the ability to keep our heads up and full of courage as we pray for better days and for revival of your Church because that usually brings in a better government too. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Song: God is in Control
If anyone turns a deaf ear to the law, even his prayers are detestable. He who leads the upright along an evil path will fall into his own trap, But the blameless will receive a good inheritance. ~Proverbs 28:9-10
When the righteous triumph, there is great elation. But when the wicked rise to power, men go into hiding. ~Proverbs 28:12
Like a roaring lion or a charging bear is a wicked man ruling over a helpless people. A tyrannical ruler lacks judgment, but the one who hates ill-gotten gain will enjoy long life. ~Proverbs 28:15-16
When the wicked rise to power, people go into hiding. But when the wicked perish, the righteous thrive. ~Proverbs 28:28
Surely you place them on slippery ground; you cast them down to ruin. How suddenly are they destroyed, completely swept away by terrors! As a dream when one awakes, so when You arise, O Lord, You will despise them as fantasies. ~Psalm 73:18-20
I know, we’ve visited this theme so many times before and, because of that, it was tempting to just move along, but I believe that, especially at this time, with so much uncertainty and confusion, we need to be saturated with the knowledge that God is in control. The wicked will not survive forever. They may win temporary skirmishes, but that is only in the seen world. Child of God, believe, it’s going to be alright!
Have you ever read a series of books by a particular author that you know you can trust? No matter how bad it gets for the characters in the story, you are pretty confident that this author that you really enjoy will make everything turn out okay in the end. To harken back to the message from yesterday, that is God for us. He is writing a story with immense detail. The plot is very thick in places, you could say “a real nail biter.” But God is the author. He is in control of the details. The writer of Hebrews even refers to Him as the “author and perfecter of our faith,” (Hebrews 12:2), who is telling the story of all stories for His glory.
Many of our proverbs listed today focus on leadership for nations more than individuals, but the truth still holds. God is writing and directing the story of nations as much as individuals. When evil is in charge, subjects suffer and there is much chaos, but only from our perspective in the seen world. God is very aware. We have to trust that somehow, in the end, this is for His good.
Remember, these are the observations of a king. Solomon is in charge of the nation of Israel and he is advising those who will follow him. He lays out the consequences of their rule in either case, whether they choose to rule wisely or with evil intent. Perhaps we would do well to examine some of these statements individually and by doing so, gain more hope and strength for our present situation.
“When a country is rebellious, it has many rulers, but a person of understanding and knowledge maintains order.” Certainly, it would appear that there are many rulers today. If you voted on Tuesday, you couldn’t help but notice how many were on the ballot for so many positions. They often disagree with each other on policy and it’s easy to feel caught in the middle.
However, we are still responsible to maintain our own personal disciplines, especially the spiritual ones. Those over us cannot stop us from doing so or take what we gain through spiritual discipline away. They may be able to control our bodies somewhat, but it is our job to maintain our personal order.
“A ruler who oppresses the poor is like a driving rain that leaves no crops.” “Like a roaring lion or a charging bear is a wicked man ruling over a helpless people.” As the author of our story, God’s principles remain in place. Eventually, an evil ruler’s excesses will be His undoing. We may suffer from it for a time, but God keeps His eye on His own to restore.
“Those who forsake the law praise the wicked, but those who keep the law resist them. Evil people do not understand justice, but those who seek the Lord understand it fully.” We must remain the characters in the story who do not give up hope even when it appears that all is lost. When it looks like the mob will win, our author is up to something grand. That is where our hope and faith lie.
“A tyrannical ruler lacks judgment, but the one who hates ill-gotten gain will enjoy long life.” “When the wicked rise to power, people go into hiding. But when the wicked perish, the righteous thrive.” When one king ruled all, if he was evil it was tyranny! The evil tried to join in and capitalize on the opportunity. The righteous lay low and wait for a better king. In our Democracy, this is not as clear as that. Our news media make it sound like that, but the conservatives and liberals disagree with each other over whether the Republicans are the evil ones or the Democrats. We get opinionated and try to figure out which of our leaders are good and which are evil and sometimes we think we know. But we must remember that there are well intentioned, good hearted people in all parties, even believers! And there is no king with absolute authority to wipe out the people they don’t like, so it seems that chaos ensues!
That is why, in God’s telling, the righteous endure. Their feet are on a solid rock that gives sure footing even while the wicked are doing their worst. The righteous continue to order their lives on God’s principles while others pursue lawlessness, fulfilling their own passions and depending upon their sandy foundation to hold them firm. Then, at just the right moment, God, our author allows the sand to shift, the wicked slip and the righteous are there to prevail, rebuild and promote God’s righteousness for the survivors.
You know, most stories that we read have a theme similar to the story that God is now telling and of which we are temporarily a part. The story begins in harmony, something disrupts it and then the hero uses wisdom and courage to restore. The restoration includes the gaps and scars from the disruption, so that there is a new normal, but there is some sort of harmony achieved again in the end.
God began with creation where there was harmony. Satan created the disruption. Jesus, the hero, set things right and we have the promise of harmony in eternity with Him, with His scars visible, and our lessons through suffering, that bring understanding.
Solomon can make these statements and observations because they are based on the godly principles from which God operates and from which He is telling His story. They are observations, yes, to us, but they are facts to God because they are the foundation on which this story is based. Wickedness and evil do bring suffering to the good, but it will not succeed in the end. Just like we know that the story will end well because we trust the author of our book, we know that the story of humanity will end well because we are characters in a story that is being written by the most trustworthy author of them all.
Prayer: Father thanks again for being a fount of wisdom and for taking us deeper in our own understanding of the times and for the ability to keep our heads up and full of courage as we pray for better days and for revival of your Church because that usually brings in a better government too. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Song: God is in Control
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