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

A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast: But the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel (KJV).

A righteous man regards the life of his animal, but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel (NKJV).

Proverbs 12:10

This proverb is telling that that kindness of a righteous man extends into everything, including his treatment of his animals. On the flip side, the cruelty of a wicked man extends into everything, even into those things that he would call merciful. 

A man is what he is in all of his relationships, in other words. He reveals who he is in all of his dealings, whether great or small. 

When we are living in a delusional state, we like to believe that we can turn our behavior on and off, like it was on a switch. Kindness is called for “here,” and so I will leave the switch on. It is not so necessary over there, because I am just alone at home with my dog, so I don’t have to worry about it. But life doesn’t work in that way. Wherever you go, there you are.

You may treat someone cruelly, and call it something else—“necessary firmness,” for example—but Scripture speaks to us with necessary firmness. The tender mercies of the wicked are cruel. And a righteous man may do something thoughtful for his cattle, and not think anything of it.

This is the basic difference between the righteous and the wicked. The righteous do good things that they don’t even notice. ““Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink?” (Matthew 25:37, NKJV). Their righteousness was displayed in their kindness to the “least of these.” And the wicked will try to justify themselves because they did not recognize that their “tender mercies” to the downtrodden, which were actually cruelties, were reckoned by Christ as having been done to Him.

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

When it goeth well with the righteous, the city rejoiceth: And when the wicked perish, there is shouting. By the blessing of the upright the city is exalted: But it is overthrown by the mouth of the wicked.

Proverbs 11:10–11

Most of the time, individual proverbs take up one verse. There are others that are more extended, but most of the time it is one verse to a proverb. Then there are other times, like perhaps this one, when two individual proverbs address the same basic theme, such that they can be addressed together, which is what I am going to do here.

Poor governance is a trial to the people, and when the rulers are righteous, it is a cause for rejoicing in the city. When the righteous are doing well, the city rejoices. In the next verse, when the upright are in a position to bless, the city is exalted as a result. 

When wicked rulers are thrown down, there are shouts of jubilation. There is, as our saying would have it, dancing in the streets. But when a city is under the chastisement of God, He permits them to be overthrown through the lies of the wicked. 

If we put all this together, we see that when the people listen to liars, it goes ill with them. But when the people listen to the righteous, and heed the upright, the city is prosperous. It is unfortunate, but this is a lesson that must usually be learned in the school of hard knocks. When the people vote in scoundrels, miscreants, charlatans, and socialists, they soon enough begin to feel the hurt. Then when these arrogant rulers are toppled from their places, the people breathe a sigh of relief, and go out into the public square to celebrate.

But prior to the shouts of jubilation, and after the groaning that comes with oppression, the people need to learn the foundational lesson in all of this. Heed and heed carefully those who will tell you the truth. Turn a deaf ear to the blandishments of liars.

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

A continual dropping in a very rainy day and a contentious woman are alike. Whosoever hideth her hideth the wind, and the ointment of his right hand, which betrayeth itself (KJV).

A continual dripping on a very rainy day and a contentious woman are alike; Whoever restrains her restrains the wind, and grasps oil with his right hand (NKJV).

Proverbs 27:15–16

A problem wife is a chronic problem, not an acute one. Like a dull toothache, it throbs all the time, but life staggers on nonetheless. She is described here as an annoyance, or an on-going irrigation—and not as a definitive calamity. Some might take this as the irrigation of a dripping faucet, the irritation coming from drip drip drip of the sound. But it appears to me that the annoyance is caused by a very rainy day, and the continual dropping is the problem of a house that leaks. What should be kept outside is intent on coming inside, and the difficulty that is caused is constant. 

This is the kind of observation that causes some to complain about misogyny, as though this common sense take is somehow rooted in a complaint against women in general. But a virtuous wife is to be prized above rubies (Prov. 31:10), she is the crown of her husband (Prov. 12:4), and her children praise her in the gates (Prov. 31:31). Arguing that to say that “nagging wives are a pain” is misogyny is like saying that “men who pick pockets are a nuisance” is to play the role of a misanthrope. We do not object to men, we object to men who steal. In the same way, we do not object to wives, we object to wives who nag.

But it is a safe bet to say that women who think that an objection to nagging wives is an objection to wives in general are likely to be the kind of women who cannot tell the difference, and so it is best to steer clear. 

This relates to the other thing to note about this proverb—it appears to say that the best defense against this is preventative. In other words, restraining her after the fact is like to be futile, like holding oil in your hand. The best advice is to take care who you marry. Seek a wife from the Lord (Prov. 18:22). Do not lean on your own understanding (Prov. 3:5). Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain (Prov. 31:30), which is not way of saying that you cannot tell if the house is going to leak if the day is bright and sunny.    

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

Open rebuke is better than secret love.

Proverbs 27:5

The problem with secret love is that, well, it is not very loving. When someone is in trouble or difficulty, that is the time when they need to know that they have friends. And if their trouble is with other people, as it frequently is, then the world needs to know that they have friends.

If a friend has done something worthy of rebuke, then the honest and forthright thing to do is take it to him directly. This is in distinction from a dishonest rebuke—whether others have commenced an attack, and you join the dog pile. That is not the open rebuke this proverb has in mind. That is not what we are looking for. If your friend has done wrong, then he should have every confidence that he will hear from you directly. He shouldn’t have to guess at your feelings. 

But those who love secretly are the people you are never sure about. The apostle Paul was betrayed a number of times by people in his entourage, whether it was as serious as Demas leaving him for the world (2 Tim. 4:10), or a number of unnamed people flaking on him (2 Tim. 1:15). But if we know anything about human nature, it was no doubt the case that a few of these people who put distance between themselves and Paul had a secret affection for him. And furthermore, they no doubt would be willing to express that affection, once it was safe to do so again.

When someone is willing to rebuke you openly, even if you don’t like it, or differ with it honestly, you still know where you are with that person. When someone loves you in secret, there is nothing you can count on.

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

The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord: But the prayer of the upright is his delight.

Proverbs 15:8

Scripture teaches us from beginning to end that there is a type of formal worship of the true God that is unacceptable to Him. It began with Cain, when his offering to the Lord was not received (Gen. 4:3-4), and it resulted in the first murder. But ungodly men will always seek out a way that seems to put God in their debt somehow. The New Testament calls this will worship (Col. 2:23), and it is the result of men wanting to worship God according their own will, instead of offering worship that is in accordance with His revealed will.

The central reason we want to do this is that we want a religion that somehow leaves room for our sin. But this is worship that is simply two inches of snow on top of a dung hill. It can be quite striking and beautiful . . . from a distance. When a wicked man offers a sacrifice to God, even if it is an unblemished lamb, God receives it as though the man had sacrificed a lizard. And when an upright man prays, without any access to a physical sacrifice at all, God delights to receive it. 

Sacrifice and burnt offerings God does not require, but a humble and contrite heart (Ps. 40:6). God desires mercy, and not sacrifice (Hos. 6:6). To obey is better than sacrifice (1 Sam. 15:22). End to end, Scripture teaches us that acceptable worship is acceptable and unacceptable worship isn’t.

“Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe,” (Hebrews 12:28, ESV).

And the heart of what makes worship unacceptable is our sinful tendency to budget elbow room for our continued sinning. And in case you were wondering, that is not good.  

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