If corruption comes from the bottom of a society, those in power might with difficulty root it out. But if it comes from the top (29:12), it becomes endemic and impossible to change. “One form of this top-down corruption . . . is the ruler who is soothed by lies, who surrounds himself or herself with underlings who will say only what he wants to hear.”224 Be thankful that at the pinnacle of the true kingdom is the incorruptible one. Jesus endured three powerful bribes from Satan (Matthew 4:1–11) and resisted them for his Father’s sake and ours. Now we should resist bribes for his sake.
In what forms have you seen bribes extended and taken? Have you been offered a bribe? What did you do?
Prayer: Father, there are so many forms that a bribe can take! Don’t let me defer to those with wealth and power, even in subtle ways. Let me remember your Son, who left the wealthiest neighborhood in the universe, to live with us, the powerless and poor. Amen.
November 17
Many seek an audience with a ruler, but it is from the LORD that one gets justice. (29:26)
LEADERS ARE HUMAN. The Bible calls for respect of authority (Romans 13:1–9). Fools and mockers bristle at any exertion of authority over them. Nevertheless, this text warns of the opposite error. We may pin all our expectations for justice on an audience with a ruler, when it is only from the Lord that we can be sure it will come. Put another way, we must never forget that leaders are still limited human beings, often subject to appetites and pressures (Acts 24:25–27), irrationality (1 Corinthians 2:6, 8), and instability (Psalm 146:3–4).225 They are always imperfect, and we must refrain from looking to them more than God.
That means, practically, that we should not be overly shocked and disillusioned when our leaders are revealed as having clay feet. Nor should we be blasé and shrug. If we are to trust God as our only true hope for social order and peace, we must avoid either adulatory naïveté or bitter cynicism about human leaders. Not only are both attitudes deadly for political and civic life, but they also dishonor the God behind all human authority.
Have you been disillusioned by leaders? How? And how have you responded?
Prayer: Lord, I confess to being shaken when some of my most admired leaders were revealed to have feet of clay. The result was I became too cynical and unwilling to trust and follow anyone. But save me from each form of sin, remembering that both are failures to trust you, my Rock and my Refuge. Amen.
November 18
Fear the LORD and the king, my son, and do not join with rebellious officials, for those two will send sudden destruction on them, and who knows what calamities they can bring? (24:21–22)
CITIZENSHIP. These verses could look like mere pragmatism, a warning against being part of a rebellion that could get quashed. But 1 Peter 2:17 (“fear God, honor the emperor”) and Romans 13:1 (“Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities”) show that good citizenship is not merely pragmatic but part of a wise and godly life.
The Bible’s view of government is uniquely balanced. In Romans 13 and 1 Peter 2, Christians were called to respect the authority of emperors whose government was idolatrous. Jeremiah 27:1–7 called believers to participate supportively in the affairs of a pagan culture. Yet we see the civil disobedience of the Hebrew midwives (Exodus 1:17), who remind us of those who hid Jews from the Nazis in World War II. So Christians respect and love their country, but never uncritically. Christians are slaves of God alone (1 Corinthians 7:22) and therefore of no human being (1 Corinthians 7:23), and this undermines the impulses of our heart toward racism and nationalism. It is because we were purchased with Christ’s precious blood (Acts 20:28; 1 Corinthians 6:19–20) and so we are not our own.
Do you see Christians today showing respect and love for country and avoiding political extremes?
Prayer: Lord, let me rejoice in my country, in its geographical places, and in its people. But let me remember that the glories I see and joys I feel are but foretastes of my true home and people (Philippians 3:20). Then I can take proper pride and true comfort in my country, neither idolizing nor disdaining it. Amen.
November 19
It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings. As the heavens are high and the earth is deep, so the hearts of kings are unsearchable. (25:2–3)
INTELLIGENCE. 25:2 tells us it is the glory of kings—it is both a means and a mark of leadership greatness—to search out a matter. Leaders’ intelligence should be both formal and informal. They should make moves based on extensive research, and informally they should always have their ear to the ground. Good leaders should be like David, who had “wisdom like that of an angel” because he knew “everything that happens in the land” (2 Samuel 14:20).
At the same time, a wise king should not be too easy to read himself; he should not run at the mouth. Until the right time he should play his cards close to his chest (25:3). Kenneth T. Aiken notes that this vision of leadership teaches that the government that wins public respect is one that shows that its decisions are based on careful consideration of the evidence, “with the interests of truth and the people uppermost,” rather than on “partisan interests, narrow political ideology or short-term political expediency.”226
Do we have a government today that puts the interests of truth over partisan ideology and short-term expediency?
Prayer: Lord, we long for leaders who put the people’s good ahead of personal political gain, and who put truth ahead of ideology. We ask that you would raise up such leaders, and meanwhile prevent us from thinking we would do a far better job, and thereby to despise the leaders we have. Amen.
November 20
Like a roaring lion or a charging bear is a wicked ruler over a helpless people. A tyrannical ruler practices extortion, but one who hates ill-gotten gain will enjoy a long reign. (28:15–16)
GOD HATES TYRANNY. Here again we see Proverbs castigating leaders who are not, at heart, servants to their people. This foreshadows the more extensive teaching of the New Testament on leaders as “stewards.” Stewards were household managers—with complete authority over all members of the household—but they were not the owners. They managed the assets for the benefit of the owner. A steward, then, was both a ruler “in charge” and a servant (Luke 12:44–45). Paul considered authoritative leadership in the church to be a “stewardship” (1 Corinthians 9:17; Titus 1:7).
Steward-leaders can fall into two opposite errors. They can be too weak and unassertive (Matthew 25:14ff.). But they can also become oppressive, tyrannical, using their power over a helpless people and forgetting their servant status under the Lord, the owner of all things. In Luke 12:45 Jesus speaks of a steward who beats the other servants. He says that when the true owner returns, the unjust steward will be “cut . . . to pieces” (Luke 12:46). Jesus’ denunciation of an oppressive leader is every bit as devastating as his denunciation of a weak one. Jesus is no ideologue. He does not fear strong leadership on principle nor countenance tyrants or oppression.
As a leader, which of the two steward-leader errors are you most likely to fall into?
Prayer: Lord, I say I only want to witness to the truth but it is often just a way to exert power. I express grief and outrage but it too is sometimes a way to exert power. Let all I do be fueled by a desire for love and service rather than power and control. Amen.
November 21
Do not spend your strength on women, your vigor on those who ruin kings. It is not for kings, Lemuel—it is not for kings to drink wine, not for rulers to crave beer, lest they drink and forget what has been decreed, and deprive all the oppressed of their rights. Let beer be for those who are perishing, wine for those who are in anguish! Let them drink and forget their poverty and remember their misery no more. (31:3–7)
LEADERS ARE ALONE. This is the advice of a royal mother to her son, the young King Lemuel (31:1–2). Proverbs is filled with warnings against sexual immorality and abuse of alcohol, but leaders have even more
need for self-control, because of their power to do good or ill. When Lemuel’s mother proposes that those without power drink till they are drunk, she is actually making a rhetorical point. Others might have a drinking binge or a wild affair, but leaders must not do this, for it could destabilize a whole nation.
Leadership, then, is lonely. Leaders cannot allow themselves many of the indulgences others have. Because of the peculiar stresses and sacrifices leaders make, they can be prone to self-pity, to engage in a secret affair or addiction, because they say to themselves, “After all I’ve done, I deserve this.” But they must not do this. After all, the rights of all the oppressed are on their shoulders. John the Baptist was unjustly executed by a sovereign whose pride and fears were out of control (Mark 6:21–29). Don’t be a leader, or in ministry, unless you accept the high standards for self-control and dependence on God.
Have you been in positions in which you sensed the loneliness of leadership? Can that help you imagine what it is like higher up?
Prayer: Lord, I have come to see that doing right, telling the truth, going against the evil tide—can be so lonely. When I’m tempted to give in, help me to remember your loneliness. In order to save me, you bore rejection not only of enemies and of friends, but of your Father—and all for me. Amen.
November 22
A king’s rage is like the roar of a lion, but his favor is like dew on the grass. . . . A king’s wrath strikes terror like the roar of a lion; those who anger him forfeit their lives. (19:12, 20:2)
TACT, NOT PANDERING. These two proverbs give advice to those who engage powerful people. When formidable people get angry, their wrath understandably strikes terror. These texts do not tell us if the anger is justified or unjustified. Rather, they warn us to show due respect, realizing the enormous good powerful people can do if persuaded. Their favor is like dew on the grass, and the morning dew in those arid lands was life-giving.
Yet in the end, Proverbs’ insistence on integrity and truth telling means we are called not to pander to those in power. We must never sell our souls to get favor with them. Jesus, though he was meek before them (Isaiah 53:7), did not tell the powerful people what they wanted to hear, and they slew him. When believers speak truth to power, they must do so with respect but without compromise (Daniel 3:16–18). Many people are either too disdainful or too servile to engage powerful people well. But the wise can do it.
Have you seen examples of people who were too tactless or too pandering to power? Which of these errors are you most prone to?
Prayer: Lord, when Daniel spoke to the king, he was genuinely distressed for him (Daniel 4:19), yet called him to repent and stop oppressing the poor (Daniel 4:27). How rare to see genuine love for an oppressor—and bold truth telling, all at once. Be pleased, Lord, to reproduce this in me. Amen.
November 23
In the LORD’s hand the king’s heart is a stream of water that he channels toward all who please him. (21:1)
KING OF KINGS. Farmers could dig irrigation canals and channel streams of water where they could do the most good. This proverb tells us that no matter how powerful and proud persons become, they cannot escape the supervision of God. In some cases this means that God may take a person with great power and wealth and actually convert her or him. That is one way the king’s heart can be changed.
But the text indicates that the Lord has every ruler’s heart in his hand. Each powerful person will be only an instrument for the accomplishment of God’s plans (Isaiah 10:6–7, 41:2–4). The civil rulers thought they were conspiring against the Christian movement, but ultimately they did only what God’s “power and will had decided beforehand should happen” (Acts 4:28). What, then, is practical wisdom regarding intimidating power brokers? On the one hand, don’t be intimidated yourself. Christians can call those in power to honor justice and truth as Daniel did (Daniel 4:27). On the other hand, never be in despair. There is a King of kings.
Do you get discouraged about the state of leadership in our country? How does this reflection help you?
Prayer: Lord, you warn us against showing too little respect, even for tyrants (Romans 13:4), or too much (Acts 5:29). Even so, help me to show both a godly courtesy and a godly frankness in all my dealings with powerful people. Amen.
Justice
November 24
When the righteous prosper, the city rejoices; when the wicked perish, there are shouts of joy. (11:10)
THE PUBLIC GOOD: PART 1. These two proverbs talk about the righteous. The Hebrew word is tsaddiqim, literally, those who are “just.” We have seen that this term means those who believe in God and who therefore disadvantage themselves to advantage those around them. Here we are told that this group of people, the righteous, prosper. That is, they grow in numbers, they thrive economically, they rise to the top of their respective fields. They are successful in every way. Yet in response the rest of the city does not resent it or shrug, they rejoice, a word describing a shout of triumph when a battle is won.
What is going on here? The verse means that if a group of people in a city are truly living “righteously,” as Proverbs defines it, they will be such a benefit to the public good of the whole city that the entire populace will exult, feeling that their prosperity is a victory for everyone.
Are you the kind of person, and is your church the kind of church, about which others in your community might say, “I don’t share their beliefs, but I shudder to think about what this city would be like without them”?
Prayer: Lord, if I live a godly life I will be persecuted (2 Timothy 3:12) and yet I will also lead people to glorify God (Matthew 5:16; 1 Peter 2:12). I confess that neither of these things is happening to me! And so, Lord, make me more godly until I am both more offensive and attractive to the world. Amen.
November 25
Through the blessing of the upright a city is exalted, but by the mouth of the wicked it is destroyed. (11:11)
THE PUBLIC GOOD: PART 2. 11:10 gives us a startling standard. If believers were simply living life as they should, it would create such public good that those around them would rejoice in their prosperity and success. 11:11 tells us that believers should be blessing the city.227 How?
We can infer how they would be doing that from the rest of Proverbs. Their relationships would be marked by justice and fair dealing. In business they would be known to be smart but not ruthless, and people of high integrity. In civic life they would be the most generous and philanthropic with their assets, the most concerned that the poor and immigrants be lifted up out of poverty. The neighborhoods in which they lived would thrive, be great places to live, and not only for those who had the same faith. In politics they would never be vicious. If their community were attacked, they would never retaliate but would respond with forgiveness. They would also be known as peacemakers, doing everything they could to broker relationships and maintain peace among various communities and groups within the city. Finally, the strength of their family lives would be evident to all.
Is this how your city sees your Christian community?
Prayer: Father, your Son said that the church’s love relationships should be so powerful that they lead the church to see the truth of the gospel (John 17:20–23). Yet it is the rare church that is seen by its community in this way. Do whatever it takes to raise up churches that glorify you through their good deeds. Amen.
November 26
The violence of the wicked will drag them away, for they refuse to do what is right. . . . The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is slave to the lender. Whoever sows injustice reaps calamity, and the rod they wield in fury will be broken. (21:7, 22:7–8)
DOING JUSTICE. In 22:8 the word for justice is tzadeqah. Tzadeqah means “primary justice”: giving people fair, equal treatment regardless of their racial, social, or economic status. In 21:7 the word for justice (what is right) is mishpat. Mishpat means “rectifying justice”: putting things right for those being e
xploited.
If everyone was living a life of primary justice and generosity, there would be no need for rectifying or reparative justice—but there is. So God constantly calls us to “do justice” (mishpat) to widows, orphans, immigrants, and the poor (cf. Zechariah 7:9–10; Psalm 82:2–4). That entails defending them before the law (Deuteronomy 10:18–19) and sharing our goods with them so they have enough (Isaiah 58:6–7). Any mistreatment or even neglect of the needs of the members of these groups is called not just a lack of charity but sowing injustice. All believers, as citizens, should be deeply concerned for the poor and doing both primary and rectifying justice in their societies, because God is (14:31; Psalm 146:7–9). It should also be noted that if we exploit others, the violence unleashed in society will rebound on us in some way. The violence of the wicked will drag them away.
Have you seen examples recently of people showing primary justice? Rectifying justice?
Prayer: Lord, the word “charity” strengthens my desire to see care for the poor as merely optional, something I can do if I am having a very good year. However, it is unjust not to share what I have with those who have less. Help me to truly live a righteous life toward those in need. Amen.
God's Wisdom for Navigating Life Page 31
