“If a king faithfully judges the poor, his throne will be established forever.” Proverbs 29:14
Devotional Thought For The Day
One commentator sums up the compulsion of this proverb succinctly: “The duty of magistrates is to judge faithfully between man and man, and to determine all causes brought before them, according to truth and equity, particularly to take care of the poor, not to countenance them in an unjust cause for the sake of their poverty [Ex. 23:3], but to see that their poverty does not turn to their prejudice if they have a just cause. The rich will look to themselves, but the poor and needy the prince must defend [Ps. 82:3] and plead for [Prov. 31:9].” I will have to say that this is an extremely difficult task – for all who have authority and influence in matters that pertain to those who are poor. There is temptation to marginalize the poor, to judge them essentially as worthless, and to leave them to fend for themselves [leave them at the mercy of others]. This flows from inherent selfishness – helping the poor will not pay any temporal dividends, and also from self-righteous justification and pride, the view that poverty must be the consequence of some moral failure [thus making my “success” a sure sign of my righteousness and moral superiority]. From this latter consideration we might even conclude that persecuting the poor is just, and is a good way to motivate them to greater ambition, frugality, and common sense.
The other end of the continuum is to “countenance them [the poor] in an unjust cause for the sake of their poverty.” We hear this referred to as “bleeding heart liberalism.” One is supposedly concerned for the plight of the poor, but rather than utilizing one’s own resources to provide for their need, people tend to look for other ways to “help” the poor, funding their lack at the expense of others – and this regardless of the “justness” of the complaint of the poor. There is a great deal of this in the “socialism” promoted by many in this country – particularly the very wealthy liberals. Those who are quite wealthy call for greater government provision for the needs of the poor – by means of greater taxation of all citizens, including those much less capable of affording such taxes. In this way the wealthy retain their ultra-privileged socioeconomic position while having comforted and cleansed their consciences by their advocacy for the poor. They keep their own privileged status and position, and keep others from joining them by balancing out everyone else in a more desperate economic circumstance. They are for “redistribution of wealth,” so long as they can insure that their wealth is kept intact – and then sanctimoniously promote themselves as great philanthropists. Sadly, they are able to pull the wool on many softhearted and soft-minded people and get away with this charade and injustice. It would be refreshing to see a few billionaires just give a billion dollars [and some multimillionaires give a million each] directly to the poor to improve and empower their lives. They could surely afford it – but I have never heard of this happening.
The promise in this proverb, given to those who judge faithfully, is that their throne, or position of power and influence, will be “established forever.” This is not a promise for this current aeon or age, but rather in regard to the life which is to come. Only those of faith have the insight and compulsion to judge “faithfully,” and those of faith are promised eternal life, and those who are faithful are promised even greater blessing and responsibility in the life which is to come. You remember the parable of Jesus regarding the “talents.” [Matt. 25:10-19] So we are not encouraged to judge faithfully for the sake of selfish gain, out of self-interest, but rather because of the gracious mercy and love that we have received from God – His justice through the cross of Jesus Christ. Those who live in the recognition of God’s goodness, kindness, and love, are renewed and compelled to the same compassion, love, and kindness toward others. They actually give of themselves. These fruits – produced by the gracious love of God in those who believe – last forever, and are rewarded to those who are not motivated by selfishness, greed, pride, and lust for power, but rather by God’s love. The earthly reward for those who follow Christ is often persecution, loss, and even martyrdom for their faithfulness – but such loss is an eternal investment in the kingdom of God, in the will of God for humanity, for God’s eternal rule and reign.
We may not often be in a position to make such judgments in cases involving the poor, but we are in a position to give to the poor, and to advocate for faithful and proper policies in regard to socioeconomic health and justice for all people. This is one aspect of politics – economics, and impartiality in regard to the interests of all people. We must take care in this – not to give just to salve our consciences for having and retaining wealth, or to require that those with less should shoulder the responsibility to do away with all poverty. Likewise, that we not harden our hearts against the poor or make hypocritical judgments in regard to their poverty. It is difficult, given our sinful nature, so we must repent and live poignantly in God’s gracious mercy and love, so that we may learn to be more faithful in our judging and our living.
Prayer For The Day
Dear Lord Jesus, You alone judge with faithfulness and equity among all people – whom you love and will to bring to salvation and newness of life. Help us to learn faithfulness and justice from You, along with mercy, humility, kindness, goodness, and love. We pray for increased justice in this world, and look forward to the coming age when all things will be governed with perfect justice and equity. Heal our hearts and minds so that we yearn even more for that time. Amen.