Proverbs 16:1-9 -- Better is a little with righteousness
To humans belong the plans of the heart, but from the Lord comes the proper answer of the tongue.
We see this all the time in sports. You have a strategy, a plan for the game, but then something happens to disrupt those plans, how do you respond. In game six of the NBA finals between Chicago and Utah Scottie Pippen, a key player was seriously hurt at the start of the game. Nobody plans for this but now, how do you respond? The other players rose to the challenge and Chicago win’s the game and the series in the final seconds of the game. First there was a jump ball which if Utah wins they could go up by 5 and all but put away the game, but Chicago wins the jump, goes down and ties the game. Then Utah has the ball which if they score they either win or send it into overtime, but Michael Jordan steals the ball from Moses Malone. Finally, Jordan takes the ball down and scores on the last shot of the game. With Pippen getting hurt from the start Jordan had to work twice as hard the whole game and still had something left at the end for those three key plays. That was a proper response, from God. Mike Tyson said everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.
2 All a person’s ways seem pure to them, but motives are weighed by the Lord.
Isn’t it incredible how people can justify anything they do because “their motive is right”? During the 2020 campaign the news was outraged that a “Trump caravan” that was armed surrounded a Biden bus and escorted it out of Texas. During this time it was claimed that Trump supporters tried to run Biden staffers off the road. When you actually saw the whole video it is possible that these trucks did have shotguns in them, that is typical in Texas, but guns were never part of the story in any way. Second, it is true that one car tried to side swipe another and run it off the road, but it was the Biden staffer trying to run the Trump supporter off and not the other way around. I heard about this from someone who was outraged at how terrible these Trump supporters were so we watched the video and they could see the media had completely lied to them. But even then they tried to defend the car sideswiping the truck because “why does that pickup truck have to drive right behind the bus”? What’s next, ‘why do those people have the right to breathe’?
3 Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans. 4 The Lord works out everything to its proper end— even the wicked for a day of disaster.
So let’s focus on what Jesus is doing. I think it is clear that the Lord has committed to God all of His plans. It is also clear that God is going to establish those plans, He will work out everything to its proper end, even the wicked for a day of disaster. What is the proper end? They need to separate out the wheat from the tares. The wheat is for the barn, the tares are for the fire. They need to separate out the fish from the net, the good fish go to the wedding banquet, the rest get thrown out. This needs to be done in a way that is not only clear to God, clear to the angels, but even clear to us. If someone is raptured and someone else isn’t it needs to be clear why. The rapture is our "day of redemption", but for the wicked it is the "day of disaster". Why? When the Israeli's left Egypt it was Egypt's day of disaster, they lost all their slaves! The people who were despised and treated as the lowest of the low were actually the foundation of the economy. Without them the whole economy collapses into a heap.
5 The Lord detests all the proud of heart. Be sure of this: They will not go unpunished.
In this election we see the proud of heart on full display. To censor news about Biden but not about Trump demonstrates your pride. Their polls were shown to be atrocious if the purpose was to reflect the electorate. However, if the purpose was to affect the election it shows how proud they are to think they can ignore the will of the people and manipulate them as though they were that gullible. Why was it that 44 states can get their results in quickly, but the 6 key states for Trump with Democratic governors couldn't? Why is it so hard for them to count votes? It is one thing to be incompetent, it is another to think that you can simply steal an election. Then we get a repeat of this in 2022, just brazen. The woman running for governor of Arizona is also the person responsible to count the votes and the whole process has turned into a giant sham. That is pride and arrogance. I have been watching a documentary on Hitler and he epitomizes the proud of heart. He only got 2.6% of the vote yet refused to be anything but Chancellor. He rolls into Austria and Czechoslovakia to the adulation of crowds throwing flowers. He takes over Poland in six weeks with the help of Russia. Then he conquers France in even less time than that. People were calling him the greatest military genius in history. They were calling him the bloodless general. These things made him proud in heart. He refused to listen to anyone else's advice. The former military chief of staff had said that if he pursued this course he might win the battle but he would lose the war. It would become a world war. He had to leave in disgrace, but we now know he was right. Because of Hitler's naivety he allowed the British to escape at Dunkirk, instead of being "the greatest military genius" he was actually the reason they didn't conquer Europe. But because of pride he had to top himself, so he turned his army towards Russia and his downfall began.
6 Through love and faithfulness sin is atoned for; through the fear of the Lord evil is avoided.
There is a lot of sin that needs to be atoned for in this country. What we are lacking is love and faithfulness, that is why we are seeing so much evil. We could have avoided this if we had feared the Lord but for the last 50 years or more you can see no fear of the Lord.
7 When the Lord takes pleasure in anyone’s way, he causes their enemies to make peace with them.
Let’s get to the heart of the matter. Why is there no peace in this country? It is because the Lord does not take pleasure in these ways. He doesn’t take pleasure in the way the Supreme court usurped the constitution to force abortion to be legalized in every state. He doesn’t take pleasure in the things that are being taught to children in schools. He doesn’t take pleasure in the things that are not being taught to children, like the fear of God.
8 Better a little with righteousness than much gain with injustice.
Some people saw the lockdown as God’s judgement on the schools. The things that are being force fed to kids in the schools was abhorrent so God intervened. It is better to be homeschooled, even if in many ways it is less than what we had with the schools if we have this education with righteousness. Classes on Zoom allowed parents to see what was going on. I can definitely see a future where schools can be run by the church. The public school teachers can still provide online lessons in various topics, but instead of each kid staying at home, they can go to the church with twenty other kids. Parents can go to work while also controlling the curriculum and their kids can be taught in a humble school but with righteousness.
9 In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps.
This is a repeat from verse 1. How does the Lord establish your steps? How was Michael Jordan able to rise to the challenge when Pippen got hurt? You train twice as hard as you think you have to. You don’t cede authority to evil worldly authorities, rather better is a little with righteousness. Through love and faithfulness you atone for sins. You commit your ways to the Lord, you fear God. You purge your heart of pride. And you believe that the Lord will work everything to its proper end, including the day of disaster for the wicked. That game that I mentioned was the last championship game that Jordan won, his sixth. It crowned an already spectacular career. It was a proper end.