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

Where there is no vision, the people perish: But he that keepeth the law, happy is he.

Proverbs 29:18

This is a proverb that is referred to frequently, but unfortunately it is often found in the mouths of assorted vision-casters for various disparate visions. Unless the people catch a vision for “our new sanctuary,” or for “our ministry team objectives,” or for “paying down our debt on the fellowship hall,” then the people will perish.

Now however worthy some of these tasks may be, such things are not what this proverb is about.

The word for vision (hazon) refers to a word of revelation. Unless the people have a Word from the living God, they are sunk. We were not created to function as autonomous beings imagining “there’s no heaven . . . above us only sky.” If we do not serve and worship the true God, then we will try to get by with makeshift gods. There has never been a consistently atheistic society. Those that have seriously attempted it have found their public square has way more over-sized icons of Chairman Mao than ancient Athens had of Zeus, and that is saying something. Athens was riddled with idols (Acts 17:16).

This understanding is reinforced by the Hebraic parallelism. We have a contrast set up here. In the first half of the verse, the people perish, and in the second half we have a man who is described as happy. This tells us that we need to contrast the two halves of the verse with regard to the condition that is given. There is the condition of having “no vision,” and this is contrasted with the one who keeps the law.

Put another way, having no vision is defined here as turning away from God’s revelation of Himself in Scripture. The man who keeps the law is happy, and one of the reasons he is happy is that he is not among those who have no vision. The vision we are supposed to have is assigned to us in Scripture.

If we want to know what it means for a people to perish because they have no such vision, all we need to do is look around. Our chaotic society has come unstuck. This is what it looks and feels like when the center no longer holds. How can the center hold when there is no center? This is why Jesus instructed us to disciple the nations, baptizing them, and teaching them the vision.

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

If a ruler hearken to lies, all his servants are wicked.

Proverbs 29:12

In this short proverb, we have a pretty shrewd summary of a great deal of modern politics. Ancient politics too, for that matter.

When sellers flood the market with something, this is usually because there are buyers around. When the fish are biting, the fishermen are usually baiting.

You will get more of what you subsidize, and less of what you penalize. The reason the ruler is important here in this proverb is because a ruler is one who is in a position to subsidize things. There is largesse somewhere around here that he can pass out. And if he rewards mendacity, then no one should be surprised when his cabinet fills up with mendacious men. And because lies are the front men for even greater evils, it is not long before the ruler is surrounded by all kinds of wickedness.

And so this principle applies anywhere any person has favors to bestow—financial, inheritance, sexual, honors, etc.

A corollary to this is the fact that it is not just a sin to lie—it is also frequently a sin to believe lies. Adam and Eve fell into sin through listening to a lie (“you shall not surely die”), and the ruler in this proverb is clearly under God’s judgment, and he is the one listening to lies, not the one telling them.

Think about it for a minute. When someone lies to you, and you catch them dead to rights, and the fact that they are a liar is now indisputable, what light does this shed on prior incidents? What are the odds that this lie that you caught them in was the very first lie they ever told you? The odds are slim, right? Unless you are dealing with your toddler who is venturing into deceit for the very first time, the chances are good that you were being lied to prior to this time in ways that catered to things that you wanted to hear. You were being lied to in ways that you ought to have seen. And then, when everything comes crashing down, you reflect on those earlier incidents and kick yourself. How was possible not to have “seen that”? You see it all now.

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

Whoso robbeth his father or his mother, and saith, It is no transgression; The same is the companion of a destroyer.

Proverbs 28:24

When people sin, they rationalize. Their sin makes them unrighteous, but because we were created in the image of God, we have a deep need to be righteous. Because our sin makes that impossible, we have to settle for second best, which is the appearance of righteousness. This appearance that is second best is the appearance of righteousness to ourselves. When that proves a failure, we settle for third best, which is the appearance of righteousness to others.

And that brings us to the question of theft within the family. When it happens it is really bad—so bad that the person who has done it needs to deny how bad it is to himself. The proverb envisions a situation where a child has stolen from his father or mother. Not only so, but the thief has then compounded the evil by denying that it even is an evil. He may say any number of things about it. “It is all in the family.” “I am going to inherit it anyway. This is just an advance.” “They should have paid me more in my allowance as a child.”

These, and anything like them, are simply rationalizations. It is moralistic daydreaming—wouldn’t it be nice if I were not such an awful son?

Despite all the rationalization, this is not a victimless crime. The person who does this, we are told, is the companion of a destroyer. This would indicate the parents are harmed in two ways. The first is that they are the parents of a person who is playing the fool. And the second is that they are running the risk of real financial harm. When someone first takes to skimming money, the results are often in the category of reaping the whirlwind when they thought they were simply sowing the wind. This is something that has been discovered by many an embezzler, not to mention Judas Iscariot. Helping yourself to something that is not yours is a set up for far greater disasters.

For those Christians who have in the past stolen from parents, the response should be the same as it is with all forms of theft. Regeneration, baptism, and forgiveness does not transfer ownership or title to anything. Restitution remains necessary. Whether it was twenty bucks you snagged from your mother’s purse when you were in high school, or thousands of dollars skimmed from the family business while you worked there, the fact that it was all in the family does not make restitution unnecessary. If you would not be companion to the destroyer, it is all the more necessary.

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

The wicked flee when no man pursueth:
But the righteous are bold as a lion.

Proverbs 28:1

Scripture teaches that courage is an aspect of righteousness, and that cowardice is an aspect of wickedness.

The most terrible thing about death is not that it happens. It is that we deserve to have it happen. “The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law” (1 Cor. 15:56). “When a wicked man [same word as in 28:1] dieth, his expectation shall perish: And the hope of unjust men perisheth” (Prov. 11:7). In other words, when wicked men come to the point of death, the thing that is frightful is the fact that they have a load of guilt on their backs. When he comes to the point of death, all his hopes and expectations for good are on the brink of death as well. There is no such thing as good news on the lip of damnation.

And this is why the proverb says that the wicked turn tail and run even when no one is chasing them. No man pursues. This is something God promises the disobedient.

“And upon them that are left alive of you I will send a faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies; and the sound of a shaken leaf shall chase them; and they shall flee, as fleeing from a sword; and they shall fall when none pursueth” (Lev. 26:36).

Sinners of course will be judged. But it will be the very worst for cowards.

 “But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death”” (Rev. 21:8, NKJV).

The righteous are as bold as a lion. This is easy to say until we come to the realization that only one man has ever been righteous all the way through. Christ was in fact as bold as a lion. But since He took our guilt, this liberates us from our fear of death, which in turn means that we can become, like Him, as bold as a lion.

“Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; And deliver them all who through fear of death were their lifetime subject to bondage” (Heb. 2:14–15).

To be liberated from true terrors is the reason why the righteous are also liberated from false terrors. If like Samson and David, we don’t run from a lion, we certainly don’t need to run from a skittering leaf.

“There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love” (1 John 4:18).

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

He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination.

Proverbs 28:9

The carnal mind thinks of the externals of religion as somehow “better than nothing.” He knows that he is not the real deal, he knows that he is not “all in,” he knows that other people are a different kind of Christian than he is. But surely . . . surely he can contribute something?

Maybe he could give a big gift or something. Maybe he could go to church on Christmas and Easter. The tendency is to think of such gestures as things that somehow reach “part of the way.” In reality, they usually make things far worse.

If a man turns away his ear from hearing the law, the problem is that he is lawless. He has broken whatever law it was, and as a consequence has becomes a lawbreaker in every respect (Jas. 2:10). That is bad enough. But this proverb then says that to layer over the whole thing with a prayer is an abomination, like putting powdered sugar on a pig’s breakfast. This means that such behavior is loathsome to God. What the man has actually accomplished is to have become disobedient and loathsome.

The exception to this is, of course, any prayer of repentance. God commands all men everywhere to repent (Acts 17:30), and so He is of course pleased if they do. But what He cannot abide is for someone to walk into His presence as though nothing were amiss, as though God were so in need of someone to pray to Him that He would take whatever He could get.

But this kind of prayer is a detestable thing. It is repulsive, loathsome, and abhorrent. It is not helping anyone out with anything. God is holy, and so He cannot be gamed. “Bring no more futile sacrifices; Incense is an abomination to Me. The New Moons, the Sabbaths, and the calling of assemblies—I cannot endure iniquity and the sacred meeting” (Isaiah 1:13, NKJV).

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