Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

Better to live on a corner of the roof
    than share a house with a quarrelsome wife.
The wicked crave evil;
    their neighbors get no mercy from them.
When a mocker is punished, the simple gain wisdom;
    by paying attention to the wise they get knowledge.
The Righteous One takes note of the house of the wicked
    and brings the wicked to ruin.
Whoever shuts their ears to the cry of the poor
    will also cry out and not be answered.
A gift given in secret soothes anger,
    and a bribe concealed in the cloak pacifies great wrath.
When justice is done, it brings joy to the righteous
    but terror to evildoers.
Whoever strays from the path of prudence
    comes to rest in the company of the dead.

• Proverbs 21:9-16

Proverbs 21:14 ”I am afraid there are a great many favors done so ungraciously as to be no favors at all but actual injuries to the persons receiving them. Most of us at some time have had the painful experience of being made to feel small by a favor done with a superior air or a tolerant smile. We Christians should study and pray for the grace of casualness when helping a friend. I have known a few persons who have been able to do a favor in such a way as to create the feeling that they themselves were being favored. Such an art is as rare as it is beautiful. We should cultivate it more carefully.
“It is scarcely necessary to point out that a contribution made grudgingly will not be accepted by the Lord. A sour gift is no gift at all even if it is given to the poor or to foreign missions. Religious work done under protest might as well be left undone. It is not good in fact, however excellent it may seem to be.
The sum of the matter is that our works, to be good, must have our hearts in them. They must be the works of the Spirit, done in the Spirit. Short of this they are but wood, hay, and stubble.”

• A.W. Tozer, The Price of Neglect

The Message

In Proverbs 21:9 we are back to the topic of a quarrelsome wife.  The wisdom here is that we need to know the person we are going to marry before we marry them.  They will be on their best behavior, but they can slip up.

Mercy, the act (or non-act) of not giving a punishment that was deserved, is something done by those who are righteous, good, and loving.  God can give mercy, but you will not find it at the hands of the wicked, unless you have something that they really need and even then, you have to be carefully away by the time they get it.

Proverbs 21:11 is a rephrasing of Proverbs 19:25.  A scoffer cuts off any hope of learning anything, but the simple minded person can learn when they see the scoffer punished.  This does not stop or train the scoffer, only the simple who see the results of bad behavior.  In such a way, the simple become a bit wise.

Proverbs 21:12 is noting that regardless of how we perceive the wicked prospering in the life, God has taken note of their deeds, and justice will be served.

If you ignore the poor in their time of need, can you expect God to listen to you when you are in need?  God has a special place in His heart for the poor.

And with the gift giving season approaching, we should consider giving good gifts, and if at all possible, make those gifts anonymously.  When we give grandiose gifts, we gain more praise than the gift receiver gets utility out of the gift.

In a way, Proverbs 21:15 says that justice begets justice.  With a strong justice system from enforcement through the judicial system to the penal system, evil doers find somewhere else to do their mischief.

And if mischief is on your mind, you are resting with the dead.  It will get you nowhere.

And now let us sing.

The following song is May the Mind of Christ my Savior.  This is sung by Hymns of Grace, in a worship service at Grace Community Church, Los Angeles, CA, USA.

Closing Prayer

Dear Lord,
We need Your wisdom.  We ask You for mercy so often; help us to show mercy to others.  May we never be scoffers, those that cannot learn because they think they know it all already.  Help us to learn from our mistakes and not repeat them.  Better yet, help us to be wise in our decisions, and not make those mistakes.  And, Lord, may we never forget nor ignore the poor.
In thy Name we pray.
Amen

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.