A good king who pleases God
[Proverbs 16:10-15]
On Monday, May 14th, 2012, when I looked at the Korean Hankook Ilbo Internet Newspaper, there was an article under the heading ‘Obama is the first gay president’ (Internet). As I read it, it was the article written mainly about controversy that President Barack Obama recently declared support for same-sex marriage by Newsweek in the US. In the end, President Obama became the first incumbent president to support same-sex marriage, and there are interpretations of why he supported same-sex marriage ahead of the presidential election. One of the interpretations suggests that President Obama's remarks include ‘President Obama's political gambling aiming for re-election’ and ‘Remarks at risk of headwind’ and so on. It is said that he has had a chance to catch the attention of the progressive supporters who had been disappointed with Obama's administration of the state so far. Some voices said that Obama, who was confronted by economic problems, turned his attention to the hot issue of homosexuality (Internet). What do you think when you see this eventually happening in our day? I remembered Deuteronomy 17:18-20: “Now it shall come about when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself a copy of this law on a scroll in the presence of the Levitical priests. It shall be with him and he shall read it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the LORD his God, by carefully observing all the words of this law and these statutes, that his heart may not be lifted up above his countrymen and that he may not turn aside from the commandment, to the right or the left, so that he and his sons may continue long in his kingdom in the midst of Israel.” If our US President was learning to fear God by reading the Bible or the rest of his life, I wonder if the President made this kind of statement in public support for same-sex marriage. I am regretful that if he were a God-fearing president, he would not have been proud and left God's command and would not turn aside to the right or the left. I think that a leader of a country should try to please God who weights his motives rather than try to please people (1 Thess. 2:4).
In Proverbs 16:10-15, King Solomon talks about “the king”. He's talking about the good king. So, under the title of “A good king who pleases God,” I would like to learn the lessons God gives us by thinking about what the king or the president, the leader of a country, should do in three ways.
First, the good king who pleases God makes right decisions with God's wisdom.
Look at Proverbs 16:10 – “A divine decision is in the lips of the king; His mouth should not err in judgment.” The Bible says that decisions from divine wisdom are on the lips of the king. Then, how can the good king who pleases God have divine wisdom? The answer can be found in Deuteronomy 17:18-20. In other words, the reason that divine wisdom is on the lips of the king is because the king has read God's word all his life. That means that God gave wisdom to the king through His word. Of course, in the case of King Solomon, he asked God for wisdom when God appeared in a dream at night and asked what he wanted after he offered thousand burnt offerings to Him. But when we look at Psalms 1 or Psalms 119, I think King Solomon also became wiser because he meditated on the book of God's law day and night.
My personal opinion is that when we talk about divine wisdom, it's better to take his father, King David, than King Solomon as an example. The reason is that in 2 Samuel 14:20, the Bible says that King David's wisdom is “like the wisdom of the angel of God, to know all that is in the earth.” David is saying that he had the same wisdom as that of God's messenger. In other words, he had the same wisdom as that of an angel. Is this wisdom not divine wisdom? David, who had this divine wisdom, knew (v. 19) that Joab the son of Zeruiah (v. 1) brought a wise woman from Tekoa (v. 2) and put the words in her mouth (v. 3). Therefore, the wise woman of Tekoa, who was caught by King David, said to King David, “But my lord is wise, like the wisdom of the angel of God, to know all that is in the earth” (v. 20). But more importantly, David, who had angelic and divine wisdom, was able to discern good and evil like the angel of God (v. 17). Therefore, no one could turn to the right or to the left from anything that David had spoken (v. 19).
Looking back at the second half of Proverbs 16:10, King Solomon says that the mouth of the king who has divine wisdom should not betray justice. What does it mean? This means that the wise king with divine wisdom, discerns between good and evil, and doesn’t make mistakes because he makes a right (just) judgment. Who is saying this verse 10 now? Isn't it King Solomon? Then what does King Solomon's judgment come to mind? Doesn’t the story of “two women who were harlots came to the king” Solomon (1 Kgs. 3:16) and debated whose one living son belongs (v. 22), and the wise King Solomon said, “Get me a sword” (v. 24), “Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one and half to the other” (v. 25), and thus discerned the true mother of the child come to your mind? This is what the Bible says: “When all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had handed down, they feared the king, for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him to administer justice” (v. 28). The Bible records that all the Israelites saw King Solomon's judgment and saw that “the wisdom of God” was in him.
Shouldn't our president have this wisdom of God? If he had this wisdom, would he have supported same-sex marriage? This time I saw an article on CNN's Internet News, and read that President Obama's thoughts evolved and made this decision. Indeed, it is difficult to understand how the president who claims to be a Christian has evolved and officially made a remark that is contrary to God's Word. I can't find the word of God on his lips. I cannot find divine wisdom in him. In the end, it is inevitable to make a right judgment from the blurred discernment because he doesn’t fear God. He cannot be wise if he leaves the word of God. Therefore, we must not only pray for the Korean President, our home country, but also for the President of the United States where we live. We must pray that God will give them divine wisdom, the wisdom that God gave to Kings David and Solomon. We must pray to God that they may become presidents who meditate the word of God day and night as they put the Bible next to them, and become leaders who can make the right decisions because they fear God with the wisdom that God gives them. Therefore, I hope and pray that the President of our country to become the President who pleases God.
Second, the good king who pleases God detests wrongdoing.
Look at Proverbs 16:12 – “Kings detest wrongdoing, for a throne is established through righteousness.” The wise king hates evil because he fears God (8:13). Therefore, he is wary of his own doing evil. He listens to and obeys God's word without departing from it. How different is this from the previous Korean presidents in Korea? At the end of the presidential term, aren't there presidents who are called to the prosecutor's office due to corruption and even go into jail? Why does this happen over and over again? I find the answer in Deuteronomy 17:18-20. In other words, it is because they don’t keep God's word in their entire lives and don’t read His word. Therefore, he didn’t learn to fear God. As a result, they are proud and turn away rom God's commandments and commit sins against God. What sin do they commit? Like the words of Deuteronomy 17:16-17, we commit the sin of multiplying this or that and storing them, especially a lot of money and wealth. However, the wise king who fears God obeys the God’s good, perfect and pleasing will (Rom. 12:2). That will of God is to rule the kingdom with righteousness (Prov. 16:12). Look at Proverbs 16:11 – “A just balance and scales belong to the LORD; All the weights of the bag are His concern.” Here, “balance”, “scales”, and “weights” all refer to “measures”. It refers to the scale that accurately measures (Park). In other words, this scale is a “just” scale. In other words, it refers to ‘unchanging or constant scales’. King Solomon says in Proverbs 20:10 and 23: “Differing weights and differing measures, Both of them are abominable to the LORD. … Differing weights are an abomination to the LORD, And a false scale is not good.” The wise king who fears God hates the differing and false scales that God hates. Therefore, his throne stands firm by righteousness. To say that the king's throne stands firm by justice means that the wise king who fears God rules the kingdom rightly.
The Bible Proverbs 16:13 says that the king who governs a country well with righteousness and justice makes the country stand firm. When I think about what and how the king should do, I look for three principles in the book of Proverb:
(1) The king who rules the country rightly and well with righteousness preserves himself with loyalty and truth.
Look at Proverbs 20:28 – “Loyalty and truth preserve the king, And he upholds his throne by righteousness.” Whenever the presidential election approaches, all the presidential candidates travel all over the country and ask people to vote for them. In the meantime, they make many promises to citizens that if they are elected, they will become president and do these and that for them. Do they really keep the promises they made before becoming president as president? Have you ever seen a just president with that kind of integrity? Especially when you watch the Korean presidential election on TV, there is times when the presidential candidates travel all over the country to meet the citizens and make promises, especially to the common people. There are times when I wonder if they really love the common people and have compassion on them. This is what Dr. Yoon-sun Park said: ‘If the king has only the kindness (compassion) and there is no truth (the truthfulness that is righteousness that keeps the promise), the people become promiscuous. Therefore, the King is absolutely necessary for maintaining the regime, both loyalty and truth (Park). I think this makes sense. However, when I think about what kind of president can rule the country well with loyalty and truth, I think that only the wise king who fears God will rule the country well with loyalty and truth.
(2) The king who rules the country rightly and well with righteousness take away the wicked.
Look at Proverbs 25:5 – “Take away the wicked before the king, And his throne will be established in righteousness.” The meaning of this word is that the king who rules the country rightly and well with righteousness will get rid of the evil wicked men. Just imagine. No matter how well the king rules the kingdom well with kindness (compassion) and truth (righteousness), and thus preserves himself, what will happen to his country if his servants who work close together with him are evil wicked men? If the king doesn’t take away those wicked servants, he himself will receive the consequences of their sins. Therefore, trusting those wicked servants is a foolishly chosen suicidal act as a king (Park).
(3) The king who rules the country rightly and well with righteousness judges the poor with truth.
Look at Proverbs 29:14 – “If a king judges the poor with truth, His throne will be established forever.” The meaning of this word is that when the king is humbled and merciful with the difficulties of the poor, he immediately grasps their circumstances and judges their case well, and his throne will be forever strong (Park). In other words, the king who rules the country well with righteousness listens to the voices of the poor and understands their circumstances and judges them truthfully. How would good citizens react if the president of our country is governing the country properly and well with righteousness? I looked for the answer in Romans 13:1-5. The answer is that good citizens are subjected to the governing authorities (v. 1). The reason is because they know that those governing authorities are established by God (v. 1). If the president of our country is governing us well with righteousness, then good citizens will not go against the authorities of the government. The reason is because they know it is against God's command (v. 2). And good citizens will do what is good (v. 3). But the citizens who do evil will not only yield to the powers above them, but they will also be against them. If we are, the apostle Paul says in Romans 13:4 – “… But if you do what is evil, be afraid ….” What is the reason? The reason is because a God's minister will bring wrath on the one who practices evil (v. 4). That is, since God who hates doing evil will repay those who do evil with wrath, the citizens who do evil should be afraid.
Third and last, the good king who pleases God is well advised by loyalists (Park).
Look at Proverbs 16:13 – “Righteous lips are the delight of kings, And he who speaks right is loved.” I think it is precious and important that the wise king who fears God rules the kingdom well with kindness and truth, especially just the case of the poor well, understanding their circumstances with kindness and truth. In the midst of this, the wise king who fears God hates those who do evil so that he takes away the wicked servants. The reason he does so is because they will hurt him. And since what is harmful to the king will harm the country, the king must decisively root out the wicked men. As I meditated on this word, I remembered King Solomon. The reason is because when Solomon became king, he was commanded by his father David to remove the wicked men around him. For example, when Solomon became king, he killed Adonijah, the son of Haggit, who had conspired to become king (1 Kgs. 2:25), expelled Abiathar’s priesthood , a priest who was the leading force in the royal crown Adonijah's rebellion conspiracy (2:26-27), killed Shimei, who cursed his father David (vv. 39-46), and killed Joab who killed the two commanders of the armies of Israel, Abner and Amasa (v. 5) and later followed Adonijah (v. 25). Of these, the killing of General Joab was significant. The reason is because General Joab was a military commander who commanded the armies of Israel, even to Solomon's monarchy, when David fled from King Saul before becoming king. There would have been no generals who have fought so many wars in Israel's history. He was a great general at the time of the most war in Israel's history (Internet). Why was such a man killed by King Solomon? The reason is because he caused great confusion in Israel by having the murder of Abner and of Amasa, and the Adonia rebellion in the historical transitional period where public sentiment and political stability were desperately required due to excessive attachment to power (Park).
In this way, the wise king who fears God puts loyalists next to him and receives advice from them, even while removing the evildoers. What is the reason? The reason is because the lips of the righteous are ‘righteous lips,’ and they speak what is right (Prov. 16:13). What precious lips of the righteous? Their righteous words are of great help to the wise king. However, the cunning servants obscure the king's judgment because they abhor the king with false lips, and further lead to false judgments in governing the country. If the king is foolish, he will refuse to listen to his loyal servants’ reproof. And on the contrary, he will hate the loyal servants. But if the king is a wise king, he will the loyal servants, even their direct rebuke. Rather, he will welcome their advice and rebuke. It is a great blessing to have loyalists to such wise king. The reason is because the wise king knows that the reason they advise the king is because they love the country and the king. Therefore, they advise the king even at the risk of life. Also, the loyalists are wise, so that they appease the king’s fury. Look at Proverbs 16:14 – “The fury of a king is like messengers of death, But a wise man will appease it.” What does it mean? It means that when the king tries to engage in fierce politics in the midst of his fury, the wise loyalists appease the king's fury so that he can do good politics (Park). At that time, the king who heard the advice of the loyalists turns back from fierce politics (v. 14) and becomes a good politics, so that the people of that country benefit publicly [(v. 15a) “In the light of a king’s face is life”]. The benefits are like the late rain that falls on Palestine for the maturation of grains (Park). When we think of these words, we are reminded that we must not only pray for the president of our country, but also pray for the surrounding leaders who help the president. When we pray for the President, we must pray to God that he will be wise and become a president who can humbly hear the advice of his faithful aids. And when we pray for his aides, we should pray that they are wise aides who can assist the President well.
It is said that the 18th presidential election in Korea, where we were born, will be held on Wednesday, December 19th. And the presidential election here in the United States, where we live, is scheduled to take place on Tuesday, November 6th this year. In particular, in the 2012 US presidential election, 33 out of 100 federal senators and 435 members of the federal congress will be elected (internet). What should we do? We should pray for elections, US and Korea, which people will elect their presidents and other leaders. Let’s pray that God will give our presidents divine wisdom so that they can make good judgments and good decisions. Let’s pray for our new presidents who fear God and hate evil. Also, let’s pray that they may listen to the advice of loyalists humbly and become a president who governs the country well.