At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore (Ps. 16: 11)

The king by judgment establisheth the land: But he that receiveth gifts overthroweth it” (KJV).

“The king establishes the land by justice, But he who receives bribes overthrows it.” (NKJV).

Proverbs 29:4

The Western legal tradition understood the first part of this parable very well, and has been overthrown by our neglect of the second part of it.

Justice should be the first concern of the magistrate. And by justice, we do not mean acceding to the demands of a complaining envy—as though it were somehow “unjust” for one man to have more privileges than another. No, by justice we have to mean two things. 

The first is that the definition of justice must be settled by sober exegesis of the law/word of God. The painting of Justice at Lausanne illustrates this well, when it shows Lady Justice, eyes open, pointing down at an open Bible with her sword. That means that justice must not be blind when it comes to the teaching of the Word of God. But this leads to the second crucial thing, which is that Justice must be blind when it comes to certain details of particular cases that come before her. It must be a matter of complete indifference whether the accused is male, or black, or poor, or white, or rich. It must not matter. What matters is the truth, and not whether the defendant is a member of a victimized class. 

One of the central reasons for our legal apostasy from this understanding of true justice is that men in authority began taking bribes secretly. Now that we have come to the point of the land being overthrown completely by their corruption, we have gotten to the point where they take the bribes openly. What once was a beautiful crystal lake has become a brown cesspool. 

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At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore (Ps. 16: 11)

For whoso findeth me findeth life, and shall obtain favour of the Lord. But he that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul: All they that hate me love death.

Proverbs 8:35–36

Most of the book of Proverbs is made up of stand-alone proverbs, most of which are not even arranged thematically. But this is not the case in the first portion of the book, where the grand theme is the contest between Lady Wisdom and Dame Folly. 

These two verses provide us with a wonderful summary of the first part of the book of Proverbs, as well as a solid background to the wisdom found throughout the rest of the book, not to mention Scripture.

The speaker here is Lady Wisdom, and she is the one who says “he that sinneth against me . . .” To sin against her is to prefer the company of that woman Foolishness. To find wisdom is to find “life,” which means that wisdom is our life. To find wisdom is to find life, and is also to obtain favor from the Lord. The person who sins against Lady Wisdom by consorting with Dame Folly is doing nothing but hurting himself. He is wronging his own soul. It comports with what Paul says about sexual sin being a sin that is aimed against one’s own body (1 Cor. 6:18). To sin this way is to sin against God, against Lady Wisdom, and against yourself.

And the last comment here puts the lie to the idea that secularism can be anything other than a death wish. In order to have wisdom, you must have the Lord. And those who turn the other direction, despite whatever Lady Folly might have promised, engage in a love affair with death.

This is why our secular culture has disintegrated in the way it has. We have become obsessed with death, and we deal out death as though it were our dearest treasure. This is why some think that unlimited abortion is a constitutional right. Wisdom says that that all who hate her love death. Whether or not they say they love death, Scripture says that they do. 

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At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore (Ps. 16: 11)

My son, be wise, and make my heart glad, that I may answer him that reproacheth me.

Proverbs 27:11

The nervous system that transmits signals of shame, dishonor, kvelling pride, and so on, is a system that extends throughout the organism of the family. The Scriptures teach that there really is such a thing as family honor.

When a son does something shameful, his mother feels it deeply. When the rod is not applied judiciously, a child left to himself brings shame to his mother (Prov. 29:15). A son is fully capable of bringing shame and reproach to both his parents (Prov. 19:26).

So in this proverb, the father is rightly exhorting his son. Do right, be wise, and gladden my heart. Otherwise I might not have anything to say when my adversary comes up to me and throws the stupid behavior of a stupid son in my face.

A man is greatly blessed in his sons, but not in the raw number of them. Samuel would not have been more greatly blessed with five sons who took bribes instead of two. Aaron would not have been more greatly blessed with four sons who perished in fire from the Lord instead of two. David would not have been more greatly blessed if he had three sons rebel against his rule instead of just one. 

A man is blessed in his sons, when his quiver is full of them. A quiver holds arrows, and the quiver needs to be in the possession of and under the control of the warrior.

“Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: They shall not be ashamed, But they shall speak with the enemies in the gate” (Psalm 127:5). 

He is contending with his adversaries in the city council, and his sons are there, and most importantly, his sons are on his side. They are standing behind him, shoulder to shoulder. On top of that, in line with our proverb here, they have not discredited their father’s cause through foolish and unwise behavior.  

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At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore (Ps. 16: 11)

As a mad man who casteth firebrands, arrows, and death, so is the man that deceiveth his neighbour, and saith, am not I in sport?

Proverbs 26:18–19

The plain meaning of this proverb is that there is a clear boundary when it comes to practical jokes. It is one thing to “deceive your neighbor” in order to arrange for that surprise retirement party at the office, and which everyone appreciates as soon as the surprise is sprung. It is quite another to make him believe that his car was stolen, only to discover that it is mounted on cinder blocks in his front yard, and filled with packing peanuts. When the victim of the joke is brought abreast of the situation (and victim is the right word to use), the perpetrators cannot defend themselves by saying, “Can’t you take a joke?”

But there are other applications as well. There are many situations where people indulge in what might be called kidding/not kidding comments. They say something that appears to have a clear subtext, one with a bit of malice or resentment in it, and then when called on it, appeal to the joke value. Say that a husband says that tubby wives are the best, and when this gives offense, he says that he was “only joking, sheesh.” This is not quite as much on the nose as the proverb describes because the nature of “deceiving your neighbor” varies. In a practical joke, the deception is part of the set-up to the joke, and here the deception lies in maintaining that the punch line was the joke, when actually the punch line was a thin veneer covering over a mean comment. 

However, the principle that the proverb points to is the same in both instances. Do not create some mayhem, and then try to clean up the damage with an appeal to humor.   

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At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore (Ps. 16: 11)

A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: But the simple pass on, and are punished.

Proverbs 22:3

This is one of those proverbs that requires us to say, after we have submitted to it, something like “yes, but on the other hand.” What do I mean?

First, let us consider the common sense wisdom that this proverb expresses. A thoughtful and prudent man thinks about the road ahead, and takes appropriate precautions. He watches his step. In the words of the proverb, he “hides himself.” He protect himself. He buffers for the future. The simpleton on the other hand, goes down the road whistling, hands in his pockets, and gets what is coming to him, good and hard. Thus far the proverb. 

Where does the yes but come in? Well, didn’t Jesus teach us that each day has enough trouble of its own? “Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof” (Matthew 6:34).

Take no thought for tomorrow, you prudent guy in Proverbs! And isn’t Jesus telling us to walk the path of the simpleton and fool, trusting God for the morrow?

Well, no. Jesus is talking about the man who, in the name of prudence, has all of the anxieties and worries of next week wrapped tight around his axle. And Proverbs is talking about the man who can’t be bothered with simple preparations because he is lazy. 

Take this another way. It is fine to make no preparations for tomorrow, provided you know what you are doing. It is fine to make preparations for tomorrow, provided you are doing it in obedience to the wisdom of Solomon, and not in obedience to your own carking worries. 

It is sinful to make no preparations for what everyone can see coming. It is sinful to make preparations for your tiny idol of anxiety, with triple bolts on the door. It all depends, in other words.

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