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

“The name of the Lord is a strong tower: The righteous runneth into it, and is safe”

Proverbs 18:10

In times of trouble, people naturally and instinctively resort to their god. If their God is the God of the Bible, they cry out to Him and are delivered. But if there is a natural disaster, say, and they cry out for FEMA to arrive, this shows that their faith is in the power of the state, in the power of government. In times of trial, people turn to their gods, and this is why times of trial are truly revelatory. Times of trial reveal the names of the gods. 

Only Jehovah is capable of providing the kind of protection that we most certainly need in a world like this one. As this proverb puts it, His name is strong tower. Notice that it is His name that is a strong tower. Remember that when the difficulty erupts into our lives, it is His name that we call out. His name is a strong tower.

The promise comes next. When the righteous are revealed by which name they call, the next thing they do is that they run to the name. This running is conducted by means of prayer, and ongoing praying. The danger comes, and the righteous run into the walled fortress and tower that is the name of God. Prayer is how we come to that place of safety. Prayer is what we are summoned to, and a refuge in prayer is what we are promised. This is how the proverb ends—the righteous run to the righteous name, and there they are safe. 

False gods offer false security, and on lying terms. But even though they lie (about the ultimate safety they might provide), they can nevertheless urge other advantages. Perhaps you don’t need to run as far. Perhaps the names of their gods are easier to pronounce. Perhaps it is not necessary to leave any sin behind in order to take refuge—this is an ever popular one. 

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

“The wicked is snared by the transgression of his lips: But the just shall come out of trouble”

Proverbs 12:13

There is a line we are all familiar with that certainly sounds like Shakespeare, but it is actually from a poem by Sir Walter Scott:

“Oh, what a tangled web we weave
When first we practice to deceive . . .”

And the spirit of this is right in line with our proverb. The wicked are tangled up by their verbal sinning, meaning that we are talking about slander, lies, accusations, and so forth. The pattern is this. The wicked go for the path of least resistance first, and it consistently trips them up later. The just embrace the trouble first, and find that their path is made smooth later. They come out of trouble.

Another way of saying this is that the wicked are short-term thinkers, while the godly take a longer view. Lies are easy, short term. There are times when they seem like the only possible solution. So the wicked lie, but then they have to tell another one, and it soon gets to the point where you have to keep track of every strand of that “tangled weave.” Liars need to have good memories, and even then it is not sufficient. Lies can run faster than we can, and they always catch up.

The just person here is described as being in some sort of trouble because his way of life brings him out of it. His pattern is trouble > peace. The wicked, by way of contrast experience things in the other direction—peace > trouble.

God is not mocked. A man will always reap what he sows. The reason the wicked are willing to plant darnel (the biblical “tares”) instead of wheat is because they think it “buys them time.” A field planted with darnel looks exactly the same as a field planted with wheat. Even when the plants start to grow they look an awful lot alike early on.  

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

“The merciful man doeth good to his own soul: But he that is cruel troubleth his own flesh”

Proverbs 11:17

In this proverb, the merciful man is contrasted with the cruel man. The cruel man is the one who inflicts pain on others, and takes pleasure from the fact that he has the opportunity to do so. The merciful man does the opposite. He does not inflict pain on others, even when it could be just and right to do so. 

Mercy is not giving someone something that they deserve. Grace is giving someone something they don’t deserve. Mercy operates in the context of something that has been demerited. Grace operates in the context of something that has not been merited. If one of your children was standing around waiting for dinner, and you slipped them a twenty, that would be grace. They had not earned it, but they hadn’t demerited anything either. But if that same child had carelessly broken something that cost twenty dollars, and agreed to pay to replace it, but then you intervened and said that you would take care of it, that would be mercy. 

Now it is obvious that the merciful man is doing good to the one to whom he shows mercy. And it is also obvious that the cruel man is doing harm to the one upon whom he is visiting his cruelty. But that is not the point of this parable. 

The merciful man is doing something good for his own soul. Extending mercy is a grace that offers kindness kickbacks. And in an analogous fashion, cruelty boomerangs. Kindness to others is nourishing to the one who is kind. Cruelty to others is destructive to the one who is being cruel.

When someone is cruel to others, one of his punishments is found in the fact that he has to be . . .  him. 

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

“The crown of the wise is their riches: But the foolishness of fools is folly”

Proverbs 14:24

We are all aware of the warnings that Scripture gives, in multiple places, about the dangers of mammon. Rich men and the eye of the needle. The Pharisees loved their money. Solomon was led astray by his great blessings. Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. Those who want to get rich are frequently drowned in “destruction and perdition.” If we don’t have the practical side of this down yet, we are certainly aware of the teaching. We remember the warnings.  

We are less aware of the many places in Scripture where we are taught about the goodness of affluence. It is a sin to forget God, who gives us so many rich gifts, but the sin is in forgetting, not in the getting. “Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy” (1 Timothy 6:17).

In this proverb we are flat out told that wealth is one of the contrasting points between the wise man and the fool. The crown of the wise man would be found in his riches. When a wise man is wealthy, as Abraham was, it is not unbecoming. It is a complete incongruity when a fool comes into riches. His proper crown would be his foolishness and folly. It is striking that in this parallel, Solomon has foolishness in place of the crown. The crown of the wise, the foolishness of the fool. The crown of the wise is made up of wealth, and the “crown” of the fool is made up of tin foil. It is his folly. 

The practical application is that the wealthy should certainly remember the warnings. This is why we would call a wise man wise . . . he remembers the warnings. And, having remembered them, he can sit comfortably with the blessings given to him by God.

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

“He that rebuketh a man afterwards shall find more favour than he that flattereth with the tongue.”

Proverbs 28:23

There is an advantage that straight talk has over fawning and flattering talk, but it is a slow-growth advantage. There is a great temptation we face in conversation, which is the idea that immediate offense is to be avoided at all costs. We have made “politeness” the be-all and end-all of all conversation.

But when this tendency has become enshrined in a culture’s verbal habits and customs, the downside should be obvious. All the conversations are pleasant enough, but nobody knows whether or not anything is sincerely said. Everybody is nice, but are they really? The chatter at the party was great, in that no fights broke out, because why did everything seem so superficial? It seemed superficial because it was superficial.

This proverb tells us that a straightforward rebuke can be the way to a man’s heart. He knows that this person at least is saying what he believes to be true. This is particularly true of people of great influence—the kind of people that attract flatterers. I am talking about politicians, celebrities, millionaires, and so forth. Can you imagine how tedious it would be to have everyone in your life telling you lies all day?

The point is obviously not to go out of your way to say something thoughtless and rude. Rather the point is that we should not glibly assume that to bring a rebuke to someone will automatically cost us that relationship. Obviously, there are some people who won’t accept a rebuke from anybody, but there are others who are hungry for an honest word. 

This is another way of saying that honesty is the best policy, and that flattery is a strategy that undermines its own stated purposes.

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