Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

Evildoers will bow down in the presence of the good,
    and the wicked at the gates of the righteous.
The poor are shunned even by their neighbors,
    but the rich have many friends.
It is a sin to despise one’s neighbor,
    but blessed is the one who is kind to the needy.
Do not those who plot evil go astray?
    But those who plan what is good find love and faithfulness.
All hard work brings a profit,
    but mere talk leads only to poverty.
The wealth of the wise is their crown,
    but the folly of fools yields folly.
A truthful witness saves lives,
    but a false witness is deceitful.
Whoever fears the Lord has a secure fortress,
    and for their children it will be a refuge.
The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life,
    turning a person from the snares of death.

• Proverbs 14:19-27

Proverbs 14:26 ”Just think for a minute, what is a child’s fear of his father? I do not mean an evil child, a child that is obstinate, but a young man who loves his father—who is his father’s friend, his father’s most familiar acquaintance. What is the fear that a well-ordered, well-disciplined, beloved child has of his own father? Well, first, he has an awe of him, which arises out of admiration of his character. If his father is what he should be, he is to that son a real model. The youth looks upon what his father does as exactly what he would like to do, and what he aims to copy. His judgment is to his son almost infallible. At any rate, if he sees reason to differ from his father, he is a long while before he brings himself to prefer his own judgment. He has seen his father’s wisdom in other matters so often that he mistrusts his own apprehension, and would rather trust to what his father tells him. He has a profound conviction that his father is good, kind, wise, and could not do anything, or ask him to do anything which would not promote his own good. So he feels a sort of awe of him—-a fear of him–which prevents his questioning what his father does as he would have questioned anybody else. He is prone to conjecture that his father may have got some reason behind him that would explain what he does not understand. He would not give another person credit for having that concealed virtue, but he has such an esteem for his father—his dear father—that he fears to raise any questions about his father’s character, his conduct, or his conclusions. In fact, that character so rules his admiration, and commands his respect that he does not think of questioning it.”

• Charles H. Spurgeon, from his sermon illustrations

This grouping of proverbs starts with a warning that evildoers may bow down to those who do good, but the wicked are at the gate.

It is a sad truth that the poor are shunned while the rich have plenty of friends.  Of course, those friends are wanting some of the money that the rich may carelessly let slip through their fingers or they want the influence that often comes with being rich.  If the poor man had one friend, that friend would be more reliable.

To follow up on helping the poor, the next proverb speaks of the ones who are kind to the needy are blessed.  And we also get a flipped commandment.  We are to love our neighbors, and here it says not loving them is a sin.  Same thing, just from the negative instead of the positive, but there are two ways to sin against our neighbor.  Not loving them could mean neglect, a sin of omission.  Doing bad things to a neighbor would be a sin of commission.

There are two four-letter words that begin with “pl” in the English language.  When we are up to no good, it is a plot to do evil, but we plan to do good.  I am reminded of a series of “P” words.  Proper planning prevents pitifully poor performance.  Let us plan well when planning from the heart and with faithfulness.

I might argue a bit with Proverbs 14:23 for it says all hard work.  Proverbs are wise sayings that are not always true, or not always true in the short term.  Sometimes evil does provide wealth, but never a secure wealth, and maybe not for long.  But I have worked hard for others so that they make a nice profit and I remain in danger of losing my job.  Not now; God is a good boss who will not let me down.  But the second half is true in this proverb.  Mere talk leads to poverty, unless you are talking to an elected official that wants to garner votes.  You may have a few dollars in your pocket, but you are still in poverty, but the politician just made a lot of money.

I am into hats.  I have a lot of them.  But I have little wealth, so maybe my “crown” of the wise is a bit tarnished.  The second half of Proverbs 14:24 is semantically null, but it conveys a spiraling of folly like water flushed down the toilet.

A recurring theme in the proverbs is the value (giving life) of true witness, while false witness produces deceit.

This group of proverbs ends with two concepts regarding fear of the Lord.  I love Rev. Spurgeon’s illustration.  My father was not perfect, but I feared and had awe of him.  But in these two verses, fear of the Lord provides a fortress and is a fountain of life.

And now let us sing.

The following song is A Mighty Fortress is Our God.  It is sung by people all around the world, courtesy of a David Wesley Virtual Choir, his fourth, while he is now in the teens.

“A mighty Fortress is our God
A Bulwark never failing
Our Helper He amid the flood
Of mortal ills prevailing

For still our ancient foe
Doth seek to work us woe
His craft and power are great
And armed with cruel and hate
On earth is not his equal

Did we in our own strength confide
Our striving would be losing
We’re not the right Man on our side
The Man of God’s own choosing
Dost ask who that may be?
Christ Jesus, it is He
Lord Sabaoth His Name
From age to age, the same
And He must win the battle

That word above all earthly powers
No, thanks to them, abideth
The Spirit and the gifts are ours
Through Him who with us sideth
Let goods and kindred go
This mortal life also
The body they may kill
God’s truth abideth still
His Kingdom is forever”

• Martin Luther, A Mighty Fortress is Our God

Closing Prayer

Dear Lord,
We need Your wisdom.  The wicked are indeed at the gate, but the fear of the Lord provides us with a great fortress.  And although some of our neighbors may be among those evildoers, we must actively love our neighbors.  The poor among us have few friends, but we can be their friends with Your strength within us.
In thy Name we pray.
Amen

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.