Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

In their hearts humans plan their course,
    but the Lord establishes their steps.
The lips of a king speak as an oracle,
    and his mouth does not betray justice.
Honest scales and balances belong to the Lord;
    all the weights in the bag are of his making.
Kings detest wrongdoing,
    for a throne is established through righteousness.
Kings take pleasure in honest lips;
    they value the one who speaks what is right.
A king’s wrath is a messenger of death,
    but the wise will appease it.
When a king’s face brightens, it means life;
    his favor is like a rain cloud in spring.
How much better to get wisdom than gold,
    to get insight rather than silver!

• Proverbs 16:9-16

Proverbs 16:9 ”Our life is not a simple straight line that our will and reason draw. Rather, life is something that is formed from two different lines, two different elements, two different powers. Life is composed of human ideas and God’s ways, and in truth there is no human way at all, for ‘the human mind plans the way’ (Prov. 16:9)—meaning that it’s only a sketch of a way, an idea of a way, a way in theory, in illusion. But there is only one real way that we inevitably have to go, and that is God’s way. The difference between the two lives is that human beings would like to foresee the whole of their life at one time, but God’s way goes just step-by-step. ‘The human mind plans the way, but the LORD directs the steps.’ … God would like for people to go step-by-step, led not by their own ideas about life but by God’s word, which comes to them at each step, whenever they ask. There is no word from God for the whole of our life. God’s word is new and open today and tomorrow, and it can only be related to the moment in which we hear it.”

• Dietrich Bonhoeffer, I Want to Live These Days with You (Devotion for 27 December, entitled Only One Real Way)

About all I could add to what Dietrich Bonhoeffer said is that we have free will.  We can step out of line.  For some that leads to destruction, but to those who know the Lord and love Him, it leads to correction and guidance back on the proper path.

Then most of the remaining proverbs in this set all revolve around a good king.  Proverbs 16:10 speaks of the wise king saying something, and it is as if it is an Oracle from God, and his mouth speaks justice.  Although the next verse says nothing about the king, his justice would find the dishonest scales and destroy them.  Whenever dishonest scales are mentioned in the Bible, it is in reference to those things that God detests.  And even an honest scale with the butcher’s thumb pressing down, or the checkout person who twice accused me of shoplifting, who turned one pound of apples into three pounds (pressing down to keep them from rolling off the scale) – those are examples of dishonest scales.

For the king who establishes his throne in righteousness, he would naturally detest wrongdoing.  The wise and righteous king surrounds himself with people who tell the truth.  The dishonest king surrounds himself with people who tell the king what he wants to hear.

Proverbs 16:14-15 go together.  The king’s wrath is a messenger of death (whether a good or bad king), but when the king’s face brightens, it is like a welcome rain in Springtime.  Note: Too much rain at the wrong time in Spring means you do not have a crop to sell or use that year.

Then, the selection of proverbs ends by making wisdom and insight to be virtues to seek.  Remember that these are Solomon’s wise sayings to his sons, and their sons.  Rehoboam seemed to have not understood any of it, but this last proverb applies to all of us.

As for the bad kings, they live by the adage that “Might makes right.”  That attitude is not wise, nor is it just.  It also leads to false prophets who tell you what you want to hear, or the wrath of the king brings death to the honest prophet.  Most of these proverbs have a negative side, but for a few verses, the author only shows the positive.

And now let us sing.

The following song is Seek Ye First.  It is sung by the Malibu Presbyterian Church.  While earthly kings might be despots, our Heavenly King is wise, just, and righteous.  The second verse is different from what I could find, but I have provided the words to the first verse.

“Seek ye first the kingdom of God
And His righteousness,
And all these things shall be added unto you –
Allelu, alleluia”

• Karen Lafferty, Seek Ye First (based on Matthew 6:33; 7:7

Closing Prayer

Dear Lord,
We need Your wisdom.  Show us the way.  Guide our voting rights to the candidate that will be wise, just, and righteous.  May we not think of personal gain, but what is right in Your eyes, for You will grant us all we need and in some cases the extra.
In thy Name we pray.
Amen

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.