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

Children’s children are the crown of old men; And the glory of children are their fathers.

Proverbs 17:6

The crown of old men is a good bit downstream, while the crown and glory of children is immediately upstream. The crown of old men is the future, while the glory of children is the past.

Notice also that these terms—crown and glory—have to do with honor, and the right kind of pride. There is a sort of pride that goes before destruction, and it is the kind of pride that is swathed in a haughty spirit. But there is another kind of pride or pleasure, and it is exhibited here in this proverb. We also saw the ultimate expression of this kind of thing at the baptism of Jesus, where the Father said, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.”

Ignorant fathers might want to say that they would take pleasure in their children and grandchildren if they would only be a bit more like Jesus. But perhaps it is because somebody else doesn’t want to be more like the Father.

This proverb is talking about family lines in a fallen world, and is talking about what it looks like when they are functioning properly. Children should think the world of their dad, and dads should live his life in such a way as to not interfere with that most natural impulse. Children want to be proud of their parents, particularly their fathers. And old men want to wear the crown of their grandchildren.

When and where this is not happening, it is because something else (something bad) has happened. That something else probably has something to do with the acids of modern life, eating away at the relationships that God has set to function in this way. Something is wrong, in other words.

The solution is to find a church community that understands the proper role and position of the family, and honors it, not as a rival, but as a constituent part of the congregation. And teaches from the Scriptures accordingly.

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

The hoary head is a crown of glory, If it be found in the way of righteousness.

Proverbs 16:31

In this fallen world, there is no such thing as automatic holiness. Salvation is a process that begins in time, and it grows to maturity over time. But time is only a part of the process.

The Scriptures here describe a gray head as a crown of glory, but there is a very important qualifier added. Provided . . . That proviso is that the gray head must be found in the way of righteousness. Righteousness over an extended period of time is glorious, and the more time there is, the better it is. But if that is missing, then something else happens.

Everyone ages at the same rate of speed, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Time is one precious resource that everyone has the same amount of—but some use it to destroy themselves, while others, by following the path of righteousness, forge themselves a crown of glory.

Wisdom is fruit, and fruit can be good and wholesome, or fruit can go bad. When it ripens, it ripens over time. When it goes rotten, it goes rotten over time.

When the godly age, they must deal with what all the elderly have to deal with—aches, pains, afflictions, and more (Ecc. 12). But they should never forget that God describes their faithfulness, even in this time of diminished ability, as a season of glory. Time does not erase God’s faithfulness, and it does not abrogate our ability to pray to Him on the basis of His promises.

“The days of our years are threescore years and ten; And if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, Yet is their strength labour and sorrow; For it is soon cut off, and we fly away . . . And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us: And establish thou the work of our hands upon us; Yea, the work of our hands establish thou it” (Psalm 90:10, 17).

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

The Lord hath made all things for himself: Yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.

Proverbs 16:4

We do live in clownworld times, and it is precisely during such times that we need a regular bracing dose of what might be called yellow cake Calvinism.

Of course, we thank the Lord for all the good things He bestows on us. We are not ungrateful for the pleasant things. When the lines fall for us in pleasant places, we thank the Lord (Ps. 16:6). When He grants us life and breath and good things, and we are supposed to be grateful (Acts 17:25). He gives wine to gladden the heart of man, and this is entirely a good thing (Ps. 104:15).

But what are Christians supposed to do in times of disintegration? What should our response be when all the wheels are apparently coming off? We need to remind ourselves that when things are apparently out of our control, this does not at all mean that God is losing His grip. And the worse things get, the more we need to be reminded. If disaster befalls a city, has not the Lord done it (Amos 3:6).

And this is the truth that this proverb reminds us of. The Lord did not just make some things for Himself. He made all things for Himself. God is determined to obtain glory from absolutely everything, even from the impudence of Pharaoh. God has made all things for Himself, even the wicked for the day of evil.

So as we find ourselves surrounded by days of evil, incompetence, spiritual stupidity, insolence, pride, malice, and hatred of God’s people, we should know that God has made all things for Himself—even this, and especially this.

When the kings of the earth appeared to have things all going their way, and they had the Christ arrested, within their power, and they could do absolutely anything they wanted to Him, they decided to put Him to death. And by doing that, they brought the reign of Satan down into shambles, and unwittingly arranged for your salvation and mine. If God can do something that marvelous with a deed as wicked as that, do you really think He is going to be stumped by our particular carnival of folly?

God’s people need simply to wait patiently, in order to see what the Lord is up to. Because He is up to something.

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

A false witness shall not be unpunished, and he that speaketh lies shall perish.

Proverbs 19:9

The doctrine of the final judgment teaches us that every last person will be judged according to their works (Matt. 16:27; 2 Cor. 11:15; 2 Tim. 4:14). This even includes Christians, as the apostle Paul plainly teaches. Now there is a sense in which the ultimate judgment for Christians (with regard to Heaven and Hell) was paid by Christ on the cross, and so we are not judged in that way according to our works (2 Tim. 1:9). Christians are therefore not judged at the last in order to determine what their ultimate destiny will be. There is no condemnation for those who are Christ (Rom. 8:1).

At the same time, God will evaluate our lives, and we will render an accounting to Him.

“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad” (2 Corinthians 5:10).

But this ultimate judgment is not just something that happens there, outside of history. There are also all kinds of foreshadowings. Coming back to the theme of this proverb, which is the destiny of liars, we know that liars are thrown into the lake of fire (Rev. 21:8). In this life, God is not mocked, and a man reaps what he sows (Gal. 6:7). In many cases, the crops start to be gathered into the barns of sorry consequences in this life.

“If thou sayest, Behold, we knew it not; Doth not he that pondereth the heart consider it? And he that keepeth thy soul, doth not he know it? And shall not he render to every man according to his works?” (Proverbs 24:12)

There is absolutely no reason why God needs to wait until the last day in order to direct the consequences of our actions to return to us. In this proverb, the action is that of bearing false witness, which would be perjury, and speaking lies, which would be free lance work out in the general public. Sometimes liars are bribed to lie in a courtroom setting, and other times they just do their work on discernment blogs pro bono.

I have lost track of all the times that individuals, professing Christians, would tell the most shameless lies about me, and who would, in the same breath, call me to repentance in the name of Jesus. I was apparently supposed to repent of whatever it was they were lying about. It has been at times quite the breathtaking display. One comfort has been that God is just, and God notes all of it. Taking all this into account, we must remember that it is far better to be lied about than to lie. Comparatively, to be lied about and slandered is by far the more privileged position.

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

A fool hath no delight in understanding, But that his heart may discover itself (KJV).

A fool has no delight in understanding, But in expressing his own heart (NKJV).

Proverbs 18:2

We are told here that the fool has no delight in understanding. From the contents and placement of the second part of this proverb, we may piece a few things together. The understanding that he does not delight in is an understanding of the world outside him, and we can determine this from what does delight him—and that is expressing his own heart.

A wise person wants to take in from outside. A foolish person wants to vent whatever it is that arises from within. Outside is not subject to our whims and distempers. We might feel peevish or out of sorts, but the earth keeps going around the sun. The world remains just as it was. Reality, as it turns out, is not optional. And this is what the fool hates about it.

A fool wants the objective world to behave in exactly the same way that his daydreams do. He can just wish it to be some other way, and the daydream obeys instantly. The world, as in, the real world, is extremely disobedient in this regard.

A wise man delights in understanding because if he learns the way the world is, he can learn how to walk in step with that reality. When he does this, he is blessed. Moreover, if he is really wise, he understands that if the world were a product he bought at the store, the Scriptures are the owners’ manual. If there is something you don’t understand about the world, you can look it up.

The fool detests anything rigid and immoveable outside of his wishes, desires, crochets, and lusts. He wants to express his own heart. This is the creed of the fool, and, as it turns out, it is also the creed of this senseless generation that we are all part of.

Believing Christians can and should reject this approach with loathing, but we should also remember that it is possible to get more of this gunk on our shoes than we thought we did, and then to track it into the assembly of the saints. Indeed, there are some parts of the church that are as bad as the world in this regard.

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