Wisdom superior to wealth

For Friday, March 24, 2006
Proverbs 16:16

How much better to get wisdom than gold!
To get understanding is to be chosen rather than silver.

Yet, so often, we go for the money first.

We fall for get-rich-quick schemes and have only loss to show.

We trust in the money we have to get us out of trouble, but forget that even money can lose its value.

We forget that the value of gold and silver are human creations, but God's wisdom is eternal.

If money is what we want, there are ways of getting it that ruin our societies, imperil our lives and more importantly imperil our souls.

We are assured by God of finding wisdom if we seek it, though no such assurance is offered to those who seek wealth.

James 1:5:

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.

He is God's servant for your good

For Thursday, March 23, 2006
Proverbs 16:15

In the light of a king's face there is life,
and his favor is like the clouds that bring the spring rain.

The counterpart to the previous verse (16:14) is that a King's favor opens up new vistas of growth, opportunity, and blessing. Thus, the citizen should act in ways that meet with the king's approval.

The king judges justly granting new life to those oppressed by others.

The king orders the kingdom, providing structure and infrastructure to the benefit of the citizens.

The king rewards and praises those who serve him faithfully and diligently.

The Apostle Paul tells us not just to avoid the wrath of the rulers, but to "do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God's servant for your good" (Romans 13:3b-4a).

One way in which we can do good for our rulers is to pray for them.

One pastor of my acquaintance spends a large portion of his time meeting with various officials in his local government. He doesn't come to protest their decisions, or to beg for favors, but he asks them how can he pray for them. This has opened many a door. These leaders feel the burden of their task, and the offer of help in sharing that burden has lead to many opportunities for better understanding.

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior (1 Tim 2:1-3)

The Wrath of the King

For Wednesday, March 22, 2006
Proverbs 16:14

A king's wrath is a messenger of death,
and a wise man will appease it.

Its easy to think of oneself more highly than one ought. Those who actually are in higher stations of life are distant from us, and seem remote. That very remoteness can be a source of envy and resentment, leading to bitterness and a temptation towards acts that seek to undermine or ridicule those whom God has set in authority.

Ecclesiastes warns

Even in your thought, do not curse the king,
nor in your bedroom curse the rich,
for a bird of the air will carry your voice,
or some winged creature tell the matter.

A wise king will be long-suffering, and make allowances for the folly of man. I think of the end of C.S. Lewis's The Horse and his Boy, where Rabadash has been captured by the Archenlanders, and King Lune gently offers him peaceful terms, which he spurns. Aslan himself appears, and warns Rabadash that his doom is very near. Rabadash's continued refusal to repent leads to his folly being made concrete: he is transformed into a braying donkey.

This is in keeping with Psalm 2, where the Lord begins by laughing at the petty antics of his enemies, but their continued rebellion unleashes his full fury (the fury of his Son). Even in announcing the wrath to come, the Lord is calling wise men to repent, and appease the coming wrath by trusting, rather than rebelling, against the good rule of a good God.

Now therefore, O kings, be wise;
be warned, O rulers of the earth.
Serve the LORD with fear,
and rejoice with trembling.
Kiss the Son,
lest he be angry, and you perish in the way,
for his wrath is quickly kindled.
Blessed are all who take refuge in him.

A King's Delight

For Tuesday, March 21, 2006
Proverbs 16:13

Righteous lips are the delight of a king,
and he loves him who speaks what is right.

In Shakespeare's Pericles, King of Troy, the king's loyal advisor, Helicanus, says to him (Act I, scene ii):

They do abuse the king that flatter him:
For flattery is the bellows blows up sin;
The thing which is flatter'd, but a spark,
To which that blast gives heat and stronger glowing;
Whereas reproof, obedient and in order,
Fits kings, as they are men, for they may err.

Where yesterday's proverb promised that the throne of a righteous ruler would be established, today's proverb specifies one of the ways in which righteous ruling is manifest: a love for words spoken in wisdom, truth, and charity.

We are all tempted to listen to the words of a flatterer and to gather around us those who will say what pleases our ears. How much more is this true of those who find themselves in positions of leadership or power. But as the proverb shows, the words of Helicanus aptly express the readiness with which we should hear godly reproof.

And Shakespeare's Pericles is wise to keep such a trusted advisor, for such a man will evidently speak with discretion and good purpose in the king's service. Likewise, a wise leader will entrust plans only to those who speak what is best and right.

As those in service to the King of kings, let us always take care to speak the truth in love, in ways that will advance his kingdom, will not shy away from godly rebuke, and will make our King's delight and love our highest joy.

Throne of Righteousness

For Monday, March 20, 2006
Proverbs 16:12

It is an abomination to kings to do evil,
for the throne is established by righteousness.

In his infamous political treatise, The Prince, the Florentine official and humanist, Machiavelli wrote,

A wise lord cannot and ought not keep faith when such observance may be turned against him, and when the reasons that led him to pledge faith no longer exist...But it is necessary to know well how to disguise this characteristic and to be a great pretender and dissembler.

For Machiavelli, a ruler must always calculate carefully, preferring his subjects' fear over their love, and acting only in those ways that will sustain and shore up his power.

The biblical picture of government, however, is different, refusing any continual maneuvering that seeks power apart from the constraints of righteousness and simply for power's sake. And though we ourselves may not hold political office, as a royal priesthood in Jesus Christ, we are seated with him in heavenly places and are stewards of his kingdom on earth.

Jesus himself teaches us the pattern of godly governance, cruciform love lived upon the throne of the cross: "He who wishes to rule, must become the servant of all." The biblical paradox is that the truly human dominion for which Adam was created (and which he lost in asserting his own will over against God's), is one that loses itself in love for others. That is the kind of righteousness by which God establishes thrones, whereas power schemes like those of Machiavelli are doomed from the start.

Let us, then, abominate doing evil in order that good might come of it and let us seek to serve one another in love. Even though, humanly speaking, we may see little progress or fruit from our loving labors, today's proverb nonetheless promises us that in such service God reigns through his people.