The hall of mirrors at the Linderhof, a Mad King Ludwig II palace in Bavaria. The Linderhof was the only palace in which King Ludwig II resided. Herrenchiemsee and Neuschwanstein were under construction at the time of his death. Yet, heaven shall be greater than this.

June 25, 2025 / 0 comments

Vespers – Proverbs 29:8-14

Mockers stir up a city,
    but the wise turn away anger.
If a wise person goes to court with a fool,
    the fool rages and scoffs, and there is no peace.
The bloodthirsty hate a person of integrity
    and seek to kill the upright.
Fools give full vent to their rage,
    but the wise bring calm in the end.
If a ruler listens to lies,
    all his officials become wicked.
The poor and the oppressor have this in common:
    The Lord gives sight to the eyes of both.
If a king judges the poor with fairness,
    his throne will be established forever.

  • Proverbs 29:8-14

Proverbs 29:13 ”This phrase means to sustain life. God gives life to both the poor and the rich oppressor, and He holds each responsible for His truth. Cf. 22:2.”

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

The Message

Mockers stirring up the city is a testament of the culture today.  We may think of a mocker being someone on the sidelines that mocks the person in the spotlight, a heckler.  But this type of mocker that Solomon speaks of is someone who mocks the very foundation of our faith.  They mock God’s Law, even those laws that are imprinted in our soul at birth.  This type of mocker is trying to tear down the fabric of our society, making polite society look like the enemy.  But a wise response is to not return anger with anger.

Proverbs 29:9 is part of why Paul counseled Timothy (2 Timothy 2:23) to not get into foolish arguments.  Without a firm foundation of reason and absolute truth, you end up arguing with someone that will get angry or someone that will make statements of pure nonsense and then laugh when you have no response.  How can you respond to pure nonsense and insanity?

I have learned, at times the hard way, that an angry response begets more anger.  I have never gotten into a fight, not since the bullies in elementary school and especially middle school, but a war of words got me into enough trouble.  First, I argued with fools quite often, which made me equally look like a fool.  But then, the road to integrity is a road above fist fights and wars of words.  Reason reins with integrity, and those who cannot comprehend reason should not be verbal sparring partners.  The proverb mentions bloodthirsty, but we need not go that far.  And Proverb 29:11 follows the same theme, with the wise bringing calm in the end.

Proverbs 29:12, 14 speak of two different rulers.  The wicked ruler listens to lies.  Why?  Because he wants to, usually because he sees benefit for himself in it.  The net benefit may be in the other direction, but the wicked ruler considers gain at the moment.  The wicked ruler gathers wicked officials like an insect flies toward the light.  But a righteous ruler judges with fairness, and he will reign forever.  This last line mirrors the condition applied to the Davidic covenant in that if the ruler worships other gods, his reign will be taken away.

Sandwiched between the two proverbs about rulers is a statement that the poor and the oppressor have one thing in common.  God sees into the eyes of both.  For the wicked ruler who listens to lies to get personal gain, the poor are usually the ones who suffer the most.  God sees the needs of the poor and he sees the reason for that need, the oppressor.  We do nothing outside God’s presence, and God does not just see what we do; He searches our hearts to see our motives.

And now let us sing.

The following song is Whom Shall I Fear (the God of Angel Armies).  This is sung by Chris Tomlin.  We may be oppressed, but God hears the cries of the faithful

Closing Prayer

Dear Lord,
We need Your wisdom.  Help us to value wisdom.  Help us to focus on You, Your Word, and the innate understanding within us that there is objective truth, and that truth is found in You.  We need to be prepared, Lord, to defend Your truth, and know when to back away when facing foolish notions that go against basic knowledge, understanding, and logic.  We need to discern the truth so that we can see the lies being used by our rulers before their wickedness grows into oppression.  And may we always have the comfort that You keep Your eyes on us.  In thy Name we pray.
Amen

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.

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