The truth and the logic of God's word

Proverbs 24 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Do not be envious of evil men, Nor desire to be with them;
² For their minds devise violence, And their lips talk of trouble.

³ By wisdom a house is built, And by understanding it is established;
⁴ And by knowledge the rooms are filled With all precious and pleasant riches.

⁵ A wise man is strong, And a man of knowledge increases power.
⁶ For by wise guidance you will wage war, And in abundance of counselors there is victory.

⁷ Wisdom is too exalted for a fool, He does not open his mouth in the gate.

⁸ One who plans to do evil, Men will call a schemer.
⁹ The devising of folly is sin, And the scoffer is an abomination to men.

¹⁰ If you are slack in the day of distress, Your strength is limited.

¹¹ Deliver those who are being taken away to death, And those who are staggering to slaughter, Oh hold them back. ¹² If you say, “See, we did not know this,” Does He not consider it who weighs the hearts? And does He not know it who keeps your soul? And will He not ^]render to man according to his work?

¹³ My son, eat honey, for it is good, Yes, the honey from the comb is sweet to your taste; ¹⁴ Know that wisdom is thus for your soul; If you find it, then there will be a future, And your hope will not be cut off.

¹⁵ Do not lie in wait, O wicked man, against the dwelling of the righteous;
Do not destroy his resting place; ¹⁶ For a righteous man falls seven times, and rises again, But the wicked stumble in time of calamity.

¹⁷ Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, And do not let your heart be glad when he stumbles; ¹⁸ Or the Lord will see it and be displeased, And turn His anger away from him.

¹⁹ Do not fret because of evildoers Or be envious of the wicked; ²⁰ For there will be no future for the evil man; The lamp of the wicked will be put out.

²¹ My son, fear the Lord and the king; Do not associate with those who are given to change, ²² For their calamity will rise suddenly, And who knows the ruin that comes from both of them?

²³ These also are sayings of the wise. To show partiality in judgment is not good. ²⁴ He who says to the wicked, “You are righteous,” Peoples will curse him, nations will abhor him; ²⁵ But to those who rebuke the wicked will be delight, And a good blessing will come upon them. ²⁶ He kisses the lips Who gives a right answer.

²⁷ Prepare your work outside And make it ready for yourself in the field;
Afterwards, then, build your house.

²⁸ Do not be a witness against your neighbor without cause, And do not deceive with your lips. ²⁹ Do not say, “Thus I shall do to him as he has done to me; I will render to the man according to his work.”

³⁰ I passed by the field of the sluggard And by the vineyard of the man lacking sense, ³¹ And behold, it was completely overgrown with thistles;
Its surface was covered with nettles, And its stone wall was broken down.
³² When I saw, I reflected upon it; I looked, and received instruction.
³³ “A little sleep, a little slumber, A little folding of the hands to rest,”
³⁴ Then your poverty will come as a robber And your want like an armed man.

Even those who disregard and disagree with the Bible, have a difficult time arguing with the wisdom and logic of Proverbs. In today’s text it says:   Do not be envious of evil men, Nor desire to be with them; For their minds devise violence, And their lips talk of trouble… One who plans to do evil, Men will call a schemer.  The devising of folly is sin, And the scoffer is an abomination to men.   Because it makes no sense to dispute that it is not good to associate with evil people, our culture and society has instead determined to redefine what is evil and what is good. In Isaiah 5:20, God says:  Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.  The schemes of people to redefine evil is folly and so both the scheme and the action are sin.

The logic of Proverbs continues saying:  Do not lie in wait, O wicked man, against the dwelling of the righteous; Do not destroy his resting place;  For a righteous man falls seven times, and rises again, But the wicked stumble in time of calamity.  Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, And do not let your heart be glad when he stumbles; Or the Lord will see it and be displeased, And turn His anger away from him.  Do not fret because of evildoers Or be envious of the wicked;  For there will be no future for the evil man; The lamp of the wicked will be put out.  In Psalm 23:4-6 the psalmist says:  Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You have anointed my head with oil; My cup overflows. Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.   For those who follow God and walk in His righteousness, there is the promise of His protection and the blessings of His goodness, love and kindness in this life and the security of eternal life; that we will dwell with Him forever.   

Continuing, Proverbs says:   These also are sayings of the wise. To show partiality in judgment is not good. He who says to the wicked, “You are righteous,” Peoples will curse him, nations will abhor him;  But to those who rebuke the wicked will be delight, And a good blessing will come upon them…  Do not be a witness against your neighbor without cause, And do not deceive with your lips. Do not say, “Thus I shall do to him as he has done to me; I will render to the man according to his work.”  Certainly in our culture and society today we see partiality in judgment. We see and hear the wicked being called good. We see those who are guilty accusing others. We see witnesses rising up against others; not without cause, but for the purpose of deceit and for the cause injustice. God says: “I will render to the man according to his work.”   In Matthew 7:1-2 Jesus says:  “Do not judge so that you will not be judged. For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you.”   The world tries to use this against those who follow Jesus, calling them hypocrites for judging the actions of others. In truth though they are caught in their own hypocrisy, because what Jesus says is more than just instruction to those who believe. It is a principle that applies to everyone. The world might call it by a different name; they may say what goes around comes around; they might call it karma, but the truth is, they too will be judged by their own standard of measure. They will be judged by and for their own actions rather than being judged by the sacrifice of Christ, through whom those who believe are judged as righteous in Him.  

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ; precious Holy Spirit; thank You for Your unchanging word of truth. Your truth is beyond what the world determines truth to be. Thank You for the righteousness we have in Christ, through the cross; that with Him and trough Him we have Your blessings and promises now and forever.   Amen.