“The light of the righteous”
[Proverbs 13]
Do you have joy in your heart enough to make your face shine? In Proverbs 15:13, the Bible says: “A joyful heart makes a cheerful face, But when the heart is sad, the spirit is broken.” If your heart is sad, then your spirits will be broken. Then of course, your face won’t shine. But if there is joy in your heart, your face will shine. If we look at Proverbs 13:9, the Bible says “The light of the righteous rejoices, But the lamp of the wicked goes out.” What does it mean? It means that because the righteous do good things (Mt. 5:16), their faces shine because their hearts are filled with joy. For example, the face of the Holy Spirit-filled deacon Stephen was like the face of an angel because his heart was happy even he was persecuted as a result of preaching the gospel by laying his life for others (Acts 6:15) (Park). So today, I would like to receive two lessons God gives us while thinking of the whole of Proverbs 13, under the heading “The light of the righteous” based on Proverbs 13:9.
The first thing I want to think about is the wicked lamp that goes out in three ways:
First, the wicked's lamp that goes out is pride.
Look at Proverbs 13:10 – “Pride only breeds quarrels, but wisdom is found in those who take advice.” What is pride? Pride is the opposite concept of humility and is a state of mind that is not satisfied unless the proud self holds the sense of superiority in the heart and is always at the center (internet). But the core lesson of the Bible is that the fear of God is the greatest virtue, and pride is the greatest sin (Prov. 1:7, 6:16, 17; 1 Pet 5:5). Pride is often divided into pride of power, pride of knowledge, and pride of righteousness. Pride in the Bible arises when attention is focused on oneself without God. And it is the Bible's lesson that the proud man will be destroyed (Prov. 16:18). In Proverbs 13:10, the Bible says that pride only breeds quarrels. One of the reasons is because the proud wicked man doesn’t have the wisdom to listen to advice (v. 10). And because of lack of wisdom, the proud wicked man doesn’t enjoy listening to his father's instruction or rebuke (v. 1). And the reason why the wicked man doesn’t listen to the instruction or rebuke is because he despises the word (v. 13). In other words, because the wicked man has no respect or fear of God's commandments, he is disrespectful of instruction or rebuke. Also, the wicked man pretends to be rich (v. 7). In Proverbs 12:9, the Bible says that the wicked man pretends to be somebody and has no food. And in Proverbs 13:7, the Bible says that the proud wicked man pretends to be rich, but has nothing. Pretending to be somebody or pretending to be rich is trying to show people and it isn’t a true self, but a lie. We must live truthfully, giving thanks to God in the position or situation given to us, poor if we are poor, rich if we are rich, low if we are low, high if we are high.
Second, the wicked's lamp that goes out is unfaithful.
Look at Proverbs 13:2 – “From the fruit of his lips a man enjoys good things, but the unfaithful have a craving for violence.” To say that the wicked man’s heart is unfaithful here means that his heart is unfaithful and craves for violence. And because the wicked man who craves for violence in his heart does a brutal thing and he himself is subjected to brutal things (Park). However, the wicked man not only is unfaithful in his heart, his lips is also unfaithful. So, in the end, the wicked man indulges himself with shame and disgrace because of his unfaithful lips (v. 5). Furthermore, in verse 15, the Bible says “the way of the unfaithful is hard.” What does it mean? It means that the wicked man who habitually lies not only hardens his own heart like a stone, but also has a rough path. Then, in the end, the wicked man comes to ruin because he has spoken rashly (v. 3).
Third, the wicked's lamp that goes out is lazy.
Look at Proverbs 13:4 – “The sluggard craves and gets nothing, but the desires of the diligent are fully satisfied.” A lazy wicked man wants wealth only with his heart and doesn’t actually work diligently. Rather, the lazy wicked man dishonestly seeks to obtain wealth (v. 11). In Proverbs 12, the Bible says that the wicked lazy man desires the plunder of evil men (12:12) and pillages the other person’s possessions even through all unrighteous methods. Although the Bible says, “Do not trust in extortion or take pride in stolen goods; though your riches increase, do not set your heart on them” (Ps. 62:10), the wicked man trusts in extortion or takes pride in stolen goods. The reason is because the heart of the wicked man chases fantasies (Prov. 12:11). In other words, because the wicked man pursues vain things of no value, he accumulates his own wealth by plundering other people's possessions even by using all unrighteous means. However, according to Proverbs 13:22, the Bible says that such a sinner's wealth is stored up for the righteous. Look at Job 27:16-17: “Though he heaps up silver like dust and clothes like piles of clay, what he lays up the righteous will wear, and the innocent will divide his silver.” Also, look at Ecclesiastes 2:26 – “For to a person who is good in His sight He has given wisdom and knowledge and joy, while to the sinner He has given the task of gathering and collecting so that he may give to one who is good in God's sight This too is vanity and striving after wind.” In the end, not only does the wicked man craves but gets nothing because of his own laziness (Prov. 13:4), but also even if he obtains wealth through unrighteous methods, in the end God gives the wicked man’s wealth to the righteous.
Finally, what I want to think about is the shining the light of the righteous in three ways:
First, the righteous man shines the light in this world with his mouth.
How does the righteous man shine the light in this world with is mouth?
(1) The righteous man shines the light in this world by hating what is false (v. 5) and loving the truth. In other words, the righteous man shines the light by speaking the truth.
God hates false lips (12:22). But God loves those who do truthfully, that is, those who are truthful. The true Christian knows that false lips only exist in the blink of an eye (12:19, 22). And he knows that true lips are preserved forever (v. 19). Therefore, the righteous speaks the truth. And by speaking the truth, he shines the light of the righteous in this false world.
(2) The righteous man enjoys good things by the fruit of his lips.
Look at Proverbs 13:2 – “From the fruit of his lips a man enjoys good things, but the unfaithful have a craving for violence.” What does it mean? It means that by receiving the wisdom of God and teaching others the word of life, he himself receives God's reward (Gal. 6:6). In other words, the wise righteous man benefits others with his wisdom, while at the same time receiving the blessing of God (Park). In Proverbs 12, the Bible says that the true lips of the righteous brings healing (Prov. 12:18). His kind word cheers others up (v. 25) and is a guide to them (v. 26). Furthermore, the righteous man even delivers man with his upright lips (v. 6). In the end, the wise righteous man teaches the word of God's life to others, giving them spiritual benefits, and saving their souls and receiving the blessings of God because he is the guide to their souls.
(3) The righteous guards his life by guarding his lips.
Look at Proverbs 13:3 – “He who guards his lips guards his life, but he who speaks rashly will come to ruin.” The righteous man guards his mouth. In other words, the righteous man is careful with words. He speaks the truth and teaches the word of life, benefiting others, delivering their souls, and doing things that will be blessed by God. And like the wicked man, he doesn’t open his mouth widely and show his own transgression with his crooked lips (12:23). Proverbs 10:19 says, “When there are many words, transgression is unavoidable, But he who restrains his lips is wise.” The wise righteous man controls his lips. This is what Dr. Yoon-sun Park said: ‘If a person isn’t careful with words, it is easy to habitually say evil words. Then he first defiles and destroys his soul with his many evil words (Mt. 15:11). Therefore, above all, we must especially guard our mouths’ (Park).
Second, the righteous man shines the light in this world with his life.
(1) Here, the brightly shining life of the righteous refers to his diligence. In other words, the light of the righteous man that shines the world is diligence.
Look at Proverbs 13:4 – “The sluggard craves and gets nothing, but the desires of the diligent are fully satisfied.” The righteous are diligent and work hard with their hands. He cultivates the fields, so his field produces abundant food (v. 23). That is why he diligently collects (saves) the wealth he has gained in return for his work (v. 11). So, in some cases, the diligent righteous man receives the blessing of material things from God and becomes rich and escapes danger because of his wealth (v. 8) (Park). And he leaves an inheritance for his children’s children (v. 22). In other words, the good man (the righteous man) who truly fears God passes on his own property to his descendants. Of course, the premise here is that the descendants of the righteous are also righteous people. So Dr. Park Yun-seon said, ‘No matter how good a person may pass on property to his descendants, if his children are unrighteous, they will not enjoy the legacy and go bankrupt’ (Park). Of course, that doesn't mean that all the righteous work diligently to get rich. Rather, even though many righteous people work diligently, there may be more cases in the poor. In that case, if we look at verse 8, the Bible says, “The poor hears no rebuke.” In other words, the poor righteous will not be threatened by thieves. The important thing here is not whether the righteous man who believes in Jesus becomes rich or poor, but whether he is diligent or lazy. And the Bible says that the righteous shines brightly in this world through diligence.
(2) Because the righteous man acts blamelessly he lights up the world. In other words, the light of the righteous man that shines in this world is blamelessness.
Look at Proverbs 13:6 – “Righteousness guards the one whose way is blameless, But wickedness subverts the sinner.” The righteous hates falsehood (v. 5). And he abandons false conduct and pursues true conduct. The reason is because the upright fears God (14:2). Therefore, the righteous fear and respect God's commandments (13:13). And he obeys the upright word of God, and He is faithful in all He does (Ps. 33:4). Isaiah 26:7 says, “The way of the righteous is smooth; O Upright One, make the path of the righteous level.” What does it mean? The upright Lord not only protects the righteous man (Prov. 13:6) but also smooths the way of the righteous.
(3) The light of the righteous man that shines this world is wisdom.
The wise man acts out of knowledge (v. 16). Therefore, the wise righteous man doesn’t forsake correction (v. 18). And the righteous man has wisdom to take advice (v. 10). Especially, the wise righteous man gains even more wisdom because they walk with the wise (v. 20). And because he has good wisdom, he produces favor (v. 15). How does he produce favor? Look at verse 14: “The teaching of the wise is a fountain of life, To turn aside from the snares of death.” The wise righteous man shows grace by teaching others a lesson that is the fountain of life, and thus brings others out of the snares of death (v. 14). In particular, the righteous man who has good wisdom shows favor to his children by disciplining them diligently because he loves them. Look at verse 24: “He who withholds his rod hates his son, But he who loves him disciplines him diligently.” Therefore, good reward will come to the righteous man who has good wisdom (v. 21). In other words, God rewards the good wise righteous man who shows grace to others with good. Of course, when it comes to the goodness that God gives us here, we will often think about the reward that God will give us when we go to heaven. However, I think that the reward God gives to the righteous man isn’t necessarily only in Heaven. I think that God gives the righteous man the reward even on earth such as prosperity (v. 21) so that he can taste God's goodness (Ps. 34:8).
Third and last, the righteous man shines the light in this world by his desire being fulfilled. In other words, the light of the righteous man who shines this world is desire fulfillment.
Look at Proverbs 13:12 – “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, But desire fulfilled is a tree of life.” In Proverbs 10:28, both the righteous and the wicked have hope. However, the Bible says, “The hope of the righteous is gladness, But the expectation of the wicked perishes.” In addition, Proverbs 11:7 says, “When a wicked man dies, his expectation will perish.” The reason is because the expectation of the wicked will perish because it is the hope of unrighteousness. However, the Bible says that the hope of the righteous will not be cut off (23:18). Rather, the Bible says that the righteous man has hope in his death (14:32). We, who are justified by believing in Jesus, have a future (23:18). And our future desire is only good (11:23). But the problem is that there are times when this future desire isn’t fulfilled. Then, as Proverbs 13:12 says, our hearts are sick. In other words, if the fulfillment of our future desire is slow, we can be heartbroken. However, if we pray in faith, expect and wait in the faithful covenant God, surely God will fulfill the hope that God has given us in His time, and will fulfill our desire. Today's text verse 12 says that it is a great comfort to us like the tree of life (Walvoord). Therefore, God makes the righteous man to shine the light in this world by fulfilling the desire of the righteous. Therefore, the righteous man will rejoice (v. 9).
The lamp of the proud, unfaithful, and lazy wicked will surely be extinguished. However, the light of the righteous man clearly shines brightly. We are the righteous people. We who believe in Jesus Christ by God's grace are the righteous. As righteous, we must shine the light of Jesus Christ in this dark world. We must shine the light on this dark world with our lips. True lips that hate lies and love the truth, good lips that benefit the other people’s souls by preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ to them and by teaching the word of God, and wise lips that preserve our souls by guarding our mouths. With our lips we should shine the light in this dark world. Also, we must shine the light in this dark world with our lives. We shouldn’t be lazy but we should be diligent. We should be upright and act wisely. In the end, God will make our heart's desire to come true and shine brightly in this dark world. What is our desire? What is our future hope? Isn’t it to go to heaven in a glorious spiritual body when Jesus' return and live there with Him forever? The Lord will fulfill this desire and will make us shine the light of Jesus Christ in this dark world.