Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

What a person desires is unfailing love;
    better to be poor than a liar.
The fear of the Lord leads to life;
    then one rests content, untouched by trouble.
A sluggard buries his hand in the dish;
    he will not even bring it back to his mouth!
Flog a mocker, and the simple will learn prudence;
    rebuke the discerning, and they will gain knowledge.
Whoever robs their father and drives out their mother
    is a child who brings shame and disgrace.
Stop listening to instruction, my son,
    and you will stray from the words of knowledge.
A corrupt witness mocks at justice,
    and the mouth of the wicked gulps down evil.
Penalties are prepared for mockers,
    and beatings for the backs of fools.

• Proverbs 19:22-29

Proverbs 19:25”Three classes of people are noted: (1) scoffers are rebuked for learning nothing; (2) simpletons are warned by observing the rebuke of the scoffer; and (3) the understanding deepen their wisdom from any reproof.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

You cannot have true love unless you can trust the person that you love.  A liar can never be trusted, but God never lies.

Psalm 34, which was part of a Bible study a few days ago, speaks of the wisdom of the fear of God.  We lurk in shadows to do naughty things, or even evil things.  We do not understand how powerful, how all-knowing, and how holy God is.  We might hide from the neighbor, but that hidden sin is not hidden from God.  Fear of the Lord is not a fear of the unknown or fear of fear itself.  It is not irrational fear, but an awe of how infinite God is in every aspect of who God is.  If we really understood God, we would not do the naughty things that we do.  I do not know how many times I have stopped when I thought about how God would not be happy with me right now.  That is the start of wisdom.

Proverbs 19:24 reminds me of working with customers from India.  If we went to an Indian restaurant here in the USA, they would order plenty of naan.  They would tear off a bit of the bread and they would plunge the bread into their plate of saucy hot food.  Then they would twist the torn piece of bread a few times and then lift it to their mouths.  They never used utensils at such meals.  But if they did all that just to get so tired, due to their laziness, that they could not lift the food to their mouths, they would not live much longer.  I thought that cultural context might explain what Solomon was saying.

Rev. MacArthur’s point is made here although his translation uses different terms.  The wise person accepts rebuke and learns from it.  I have mentioned a few times lately that we do not enjoy the rebuke, but a rebuke that also carries correction gives us something to build upon.  When we are wise to learn by the rebuke, we avoid further rebuke in the future.  And verse 29 follows with the punishment for mockers and fools.

Proverbs 26 and 27 can go together, but they could stand alone.  The teacher is stating that the person who does ill to his parents brings shame and disgrace on his parents, but also himself.  And if the son does not follow instructions, he will not obtain wisdom.  Maybe he will obtain wisdom if he survives the mess he is about to make.  But learning by constant failures will lead to the odds being against survival.

The corrupt witness mocks the court.  This leads to injustice.  The ninth commandment speaks of a false testimony.  It says later in the miscellaneous laws that we must not lie.  But leaving the ninth commandment in the proper context, our entire justice system becomes unjust when dealing with false testimony.  It is hard enough to decipher when there are conflicting eyewitness accounts.  As in the Gospels, one gospel saw one blind man, but another gospel saw two blind men.  Eyewitness accounts are based on what is seen and one person’s view could be obscured and they do not see that there were two blind men there, as an example.  So, when you have those differences and then the third person is lying, justice often does not get served.

And now let us sing.

The following song is Sound of Justice.  This is sung by Brad Ellis. With the logo prominently displayed, this comes from the Salvation Army.

Closing Prayer

Dear Lord,
We need Your wisdom.  Let us honor our parents and teachers by passing on the wisdom they taught us to the next generation.  Let us be just in our dealings with others, even though we may beg for mercy when we fall short.  Help us to know You more.  The more we keep our eyes on You the more we will not stray from the narrow path, and the more about You will know.  And knowledge becomes wisdom when we act upon it.
In thy Name we pray.
Amen

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.