Year 8, Day 320: Proverbs 29

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Reading through this chapter, it is easy to pick up on the theme of community.  It is especially easily to look at the governance of community.  God cares about how communities are managed – or mismanaged.  Leadership is always important to God.

For example, look at verse 7.  A righteous man knows the rights of the poor, but the wicked has no such knowledge.  This proverb is clearly telling those who are righteous to look out for those who will have a harder time defending themselves.  In fact, those who are righteous will stand up for the rights of others because it is the right thing to do.  The wicked, however, only think of themselves. They won’t think of the rights of others.  They won’t think about how their actions impact the others.  They simply lack the knowledge needed to care.

Take a look at verse 14.  If a king judges faithfully over the poor, his throne will be established forever.  I find it interesting that the Bible doesn’t tell us that the king will have his throne established by flattering the powerful and the rich.  After all, the powerful and the rich are looking for their own gain.  They won’t be won by faithfulness, they will take advantage of things like faithfulness and loyalty.  On the other hand, the poor will absolutely respect faithfulness and loyalty.  The poor will support those who look out for them.

The way that this chapter ends is also a great verse.  An unjust man is an abomination to the righteous, but one whose way is straight is an abomination to the wicked. I love this thought.  The Bible is telling us that un-justice and righteousness are diametrically opposed.  One cannot be unjust and still be righteous.  Someone who is unjust makes the life of the righteous harder because the example of the righteous is hidden.  When someone acts unjustly, we are tempted to respond in like kind instead of continuing righteous!  In the same way, the righteous are an abomination to the wicked.  When a righteous person comes by, the actions of the wicked are challenged and put to shame.  It is more difficult to continue in one’s wickedness if an example of righteousness is also around.  The wicked and the righteous truly are an abomination to one another!

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