Proverbs 24:15-25

But I'm on the road to Presbyterian this week. Let me jump on the computer here and make sure that everybody's online. Okay, there we go. Well, good evening. Good evening. Welcome to Coffee and Devotions. This is where every day we get together. We get into God's Word and we grow in our love for the Lord together. And this year, 2021, we'll make it through all the wisdom literature.
Again, I'm on the road for Presbyterian this week, so Out of town for a couple days excited next week to be in my own bed for a full week hasn't happened I don't think that's happened for the last eight weeks. So excited to be home Why don't we go ahead and have some I got tea for me tonight. Why don't we have something to drink?
We'll pray and we'll get into God's Word Let's pray. Oh Father we thank you so much for this day and we thank you for your word. We pray now that as we read your word that you would bless us. Father we pray that we would hear from you. We pray that you would watch over us and that you would just lead us and direct us. In Jesus's name we pray. Amen. Here we go. We're at Proverbs chapter 24 verses 14 to 20. I think it's 14 to 23. Let's read. I'm sorry, we did 14 yesterday. We'll do verse 15. What is the Proverbist saying here?
You know, there's eventually going to come a day when the righteous stop falling. There's eventually going to come a day in which the Lord is going to do everything where the righteous are vindicated, where we stand before Him and we're no longer thrown down. And so, hey, evil man, you got your day. You got your day here and now, but one day, the day of judgment's going to come, so be ready for that day.
Verses 17 and 18. Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and do not let your heart be glad when he stumbles, lest the Lord see it and it displease him, and he may turn away his wrath from him. Isn't this exactly what the book of Jonah is teaching us about? When the prophet Jonah, he goes out and he preaches this, you know, repent for your doing evil things, and they do, and then he goes up on a hill, and there he sits clumsily and all with pleasure, and he thinks, oh, God's just gonna pour down his wrath at any point upon them. And here the proverb is saying, hold on, hold on, don't rejoice so quick. The Lord may turn away his anger, because you want him to.
Isn't this what two of the apostles, well at this time disciples, thought about Jesus when the people of Samaria rejected him and they said, do you want us to pray to hellfire and brimstone might fall on them? And Jesus says, hey, hold on here, buddies. Indeed, God was going to send them. When they would be sent out as apostles, Jesus would look them in the eyes and say, you need to take this gospel to Jerusalem to Judea, to Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.
God might turn away his wrath. Verses 19 and 20. Do not fret because of evildoers, nor be envious of the wicked, for there will be no prospect for the evil man. The lamp of the wicked will be put out. Let me say that again. Do not fret because of evildoers, nor be envious of the wicked.
This is the opposite of what we heard in the psalmist. In the psalms, the psalmist is crying out, Lord, why do the wicked prosper and the righteous thirst? Why is it that it seems like those who hate you get the good things and those who love you are put in the valley of the shadow of death? I don't get this, Lord. And here, the writer of Proverbs is saying, hold on, the wicked are gonna get their own in their own day.
Don't be envious of what they have now. Christian, do not be envious of this world now, for you were not called for the things of this world, but you were called to a kingdom that was not made with human hands, and for a joy that is far greater than all the enjoyments of this world.
Verses 21 and 22, my son, fear the Lord and the King. Do not associate with those given to change, for their calamity will rise suddenly, and who knows the ruin those two can bring. Fear the Lord, fear the King. Son, fear the Lord, and revere yourself on magistrates. Boy, fear God, reverence God, Show honor to those who are in authority over you.
Don't go with people who are going to think, oh, we're going to overthrow the government, oh, we're going to overthrow this, oh, we're going to do all this stuff. Hold on, all that stuff's going to come to calamity. Don't go with those who are always seeking change and always wanting stuff. There have been a lot of good men who have been sucked up into conspiracy theories and militias and stuff like this, have shipwrecked their faith and ruined their families.
Verse 23, these things also belong to the wise. It is not good to show partiality in judgment. Don't show partiality with judgment. This is one of those beautiful pictures of Lady Liberty with her eyes covered with some type of bandana or wrap, I don't know what it is, and she's holding the scales in her hand and the scales are balanced. She has blind justice. not showing preference or honor, not perverting justice, but doing what is right, doing what is righteous.
This should be the prayer that we have for our judges, the prayer we have for our lawmakers, that they would love true justice. Let's round this out in verse 24 and 25. He who says to the wicked, you are righteous, him people will curse. Nations will abhor him, but those who rebuke the wicked will have delight, and a good blessing will come upon them." So don't just pervert justice, that's what it is here, but people who, judges who love justice and do it rightly, they'll be praised. I love these videos coming out in different places right now where there's this judge, I think he's in New Jersey or New York, maybe he's in Boston, one of those Northeastern accents, and he's just able to cut right to the chase. He's just able to point out, hey, this guy's here unjustly.
You're dismissed. Or the judge who, there was a woman brought into her courthouse who didn't have any pants. The GO had kept this poor woman from even having pants. And she said, hold on, you're going to treat this woman like this? And you're going to do this in my courtroom? I don't think so. She was charged with shoplifting. She was, this isn't a murder or something. Give this woman a piece of dignity and respect and sent her out.
Fair judges, righteous judges, judges who love what is true and right and follow after the things of God. are those who we allaud and appraise. But thank the Lord we have a perfect judge. We have a perfect king. We have a perfect ruler. His name is Jesus Christ. He is the king of kings. He is the judge of judges and he is perfectly righteous.
You can rejoice and we can be those who seek to follow after him. Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for this day and we thank you for your word. We pray that you might press these words in our hearts. We pray that we would love you, our perfect judge. We pray that you would keep us from perverting justice, and that we might follow in your ways. In Jesus' name, amen. Well, may the Lord bless you. I'll catch you tomorrow morning. Have a great day, bye.