Grace Fellowship    06/08/08    Rewards and Punishments    Proverbs Ch 11

When I was very young, I had a little trophy on the shelf in my bedroom.  The word “little” should not be confused with cute.  It was not cute.  It was a little trophy.  It was a baseball trophy.  Believe it or not, it actually belonged to me.  It was actually awarded to me.  In fact, every kid on my team got one of these little trophies.  I can’t think of any other reason why I would have gotten one.  They gave me one because we all were supposed to get one.  It was only fair.

It had a guy in his baseball uniform, presumably standing at the plate, with the bat raised back over his shoulder as though he were ready to slap one out of the park.  If the truth were told, my trophy was a mockery.  I didn’t deserve a trophy, especially one with a batter posed to hit yet another homer.  But neither did anybody else on the team.  We didn’t win a single game that year.

The reasoning behind such gestures is purely psychological.  Everybody is worthy of a trophy.  No one wants to give a kid the impression that he’s a worthless human being just because his batting average was zero or he couldn’t catch a ball.  “Here’s a trophy, kid!  You’re great!  You’re a winner!”  No, I was not great.  We definitely weren’t winners.  We were terrible, at least as far as baseball was concerned.  Lousy.  Crummy.  We stunk.  Those are more accurate terms.  Nobody gets a trophy for their stench in baseball.  That kind of thinking goes against reality.

However, life does have its rewards.  Sometimes we get those rewards in spite of what we clearly deserve.  That is called grace.  God allows all people everywhere to enjoy blessings they do not deserve because sinners don’t deserve any blessings from God at all.  

But from the perspective of the book of Proverbs, people reap what they sow.  That is what Proverbs is about.  The wise, the righteous, those who genuinely fear God and shun evil, will reap the blessings of living life according to God’s ways.  I read somewhere that the world is rigged for obedience.  Those who obey God and live holy lives are the benefactors of their own wisdom.  Wisdom rewards the wise.

On the other hand, life also has its punishments.  The foolish, the ungodly, those who do not concern themselves with God or His Laws, will reap the woes that accompany such behavior.  If the world is ultimately rigged in favor of those who follow after God, the opposite is also true.  Foolishness punishes the foolish.  Let’s look at our text today, in Proverbs 11.

1 Dishonest scales are an abomination to the LORD, But a just weight is His delight.

2 When pride comes, then comes shame; But with the humble is wisdom.

3 The integrity of the upright will guide them, But the perversity of the unfaithful will destroy them. 4 Riches do not profit in the day of wrath, But righteousness delivers from death. 5 The righteousness of the blameless will direct his way aright, But the wicked will fall by his own wickedness. 6 The righteousness of the upright will deliver them, But the unfaithful will be caught by their lust.

7 When a wicked man dies, his expectation will perish, And the hope of the unjust perishes. 8 The righteous is delivered from trouble, And it comes to the wicked instead. 9 The hypocrite with his mouth destroys his neighbor, But through knowledge the righteous will be delivered. 10 When it goes well with the righteous, the city rejoices; And when the wicked perish, there is jubilation. 11 By the blessing of the upright the city is exalted, But it is overthrown by the mouth of the wicked.

12 He who is devoid of wisdom despises his neighbor, But a man of understanding holds his peace.

13 A talebearer reveals secrets, But he who is of a faithful spirit conceals a matter.
14 Where there is no counsel, the people fall; But in the multitude of counselors there is safety.
15 He who is surety for a stranger will suffer, But one who hates being surety is secure.
16 A gracious woman retains honor, But ruthless men retain riches. 17 The merciful man does good for his own soul, But he who is cruel troubles his own flesh. 18 The wicked man does deceptive work, But he who sows righteousness will have a sure reward. 19 As righteousness leads to life, So he who pursues evil pursues it to his own death. 20 Those who are of a perverse heart are an abomination to the LORD, But the blameless in their ways are His delight. 21 Though they join forces, the wicked will not go unpunished; But the posterity of the righteous will be delivered.

22 As a ring of gold in a swine's snout, So is a lovely woman who lacks discretion.

23 The desire of the righteous is only good, But the expectation of the wicked is wrath. 24 There is one who scatters, yet increases more; And there is one who withholds more than is right, But it leads to poverty. 25 The generous soul will be made rich, And he who waters will also be watered himself. 26 The people will curse him who withholds grain, But blessing will be on the head of him who sells it.

27 He who earnestly seeks good finds favor, But trouble will come to him who seeks evil.

28 He who trusts in his riches will fall, But the righteous will flourish like foliage.

29 He who troubles his own house will inherit the wind, And the fool will be servant to the wise of heart.

30 The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, And he who wins souls is wise.

31 If the righteous will be recompensed on the earth, How much more the ungodly and the sinner. (Proverbs 11:1-31, NKJV).

In these verses, and on every page of the Bible, there is clear teaching regarding right and wrong.  There are righteous and wicked people, good and bad people.  There is sinfulness and righteousness.  There are moral standards which all people everywhere are subject to, regardless of whether they acknowledge them or not.  And there are consequences, both good and bad consequences, depending upon how one lives, and according to the choices one makes.

This is not the way the world thinks.  According to the world’s standards, almost no one should ever suffer punishment, particularly children.  Every child is to be praised always.  According to modern psychology, a child will become what we adults say they are.  So we should never say that a child is being stubborn or rebellious.  He is “strong-willed.“  He is just being tenacious.  Children should never be told they are deserving of punishment, because we’re all inherently good.  Just sometimes misguided, or faulty, or mistaken, or challenged, or something.  But almost never wrong.  And absolutely NEVER sinful. ¹

Proverbs teaches us that the first person to suffer from foolishness is the fool himself.  Those who are referred to as perverse, wicked, foolish, etc. are the first victims of their own actions.  Let’s look at some verses that spell that out:

    2 When pride comes, then comes shame; But with the humble is wisdom.  Shame accompanies pride like the caboose on the train.  And what is striking about it is that they are opposites.  The proud WILL be humbled.  And not just humbled, but shamed, disgraced, dishonored.  It is the exact thing which the proud hate most.  Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before a fall. (Proverbs 16:18, NKJV).

I recall seeing clips of Saddam Hussein as he ruled over Iraq and defiantly fired weapons into the air as his armies were on parade and his subjects cheered him on.  He built palaces for himself all over the country.  On his coins he minted, “2500 years of glory: From Nebuchadnezzar to Saddam Hussein”.  He declared himself to be the reincarnation of Nebuchadnezzar.  But the US military found him hiding in a hole in the ground.  Just like Nebuchadnezzar, his pride was accompanied by shame and humility.  The antidote for pride always accompanies the sin.

3 The integrity of the upright will guide them, But the perversity of the unfaithful will destroy them.
The unfaithful will be destroyed by their own perversity.  The Hebrew word “destroyed” carries with it a sense of violent destruction.  It means to be devastated.  The unfaithful are unfaithful because they are perverse, twisted, the opposite of upright.  That lack of integrity and uprightness will eventually result in destruction.

The integrity of building materials determines the strength of a structure.  If you build with rotten wood, and use shingles that are torn or have holes in them, it won’t be long before the damage begins to be seen and the entire structure is compromised.  Then the building inspector shows up and puts a sign on the front door that says “CONDEMNED.”  The building is not safe.  It is declared uninhabitable.

A person’s perversity, his lack of integrity, his twisting of everything that is good and right will eventually lead to his downfall.  We see that happening in church denominations where evil is being accepted as good, and good is condemned as intolerant.  It is a picture of perversity.  However, Evil pursues sinners, But to the righteous, good shall be repaid. (Proverbs 13:21, NKJV).

5 The righteousness of the blameless will direct his way aright, But the wicked will fall by his own wickedness. 6 The righteousness of the upright will deliver them, But the unfaithful will be caught by their lust.

Here it is in very simple terms: Righteousness delivers the righteous; but wickedness is the downfall of the wicked.  We reap what we sow.  “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.  For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.” (Galatians 6:7-8, NKJV).

The cure for wickedness in the world is sin.  Why do I say that?  Because God will judge the wicked, all of the enemies of the cross will be taken out of the way, and righteousness will eventually prevail.  Sin will bring upon itself its own destruction.  The wicked will be recompensed and the righteous will be rewarded.

“. . . It is a righteous thing with God to repay with tribulation those who trouble you, and to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.  These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, when He comes, in that Day, to be glorified in His saints and to be admired among all those who believe, because our testimony among you was believed.” (2 Thessalonians 1:6-10, NKJV).

17 The merciful man does good for his own soul, But he who is cruel troubles his own flesh.
19 As righteousness leads to life, So he who pursues evil pursues it to his own death.

Have you ever noticed on TV how in all the cop shows they are always chasing the bad guys?  There are some exceptions to that rule, and on occasion, the innocent are wrongfully accused and when that happens we become indignant, and rightfully so.  But on all of these shows you have the bad guys.  They are called “bad guys” because they are bad!  

But if there is no such thing as righteousness and evil, then there is no basis for half of what we see on TV.  There are no bad guys, there is no basis for a police force, we have no context in which to hold court, there are never any grounds for a law suit, we have no real need for jails or prisons, and therefore we have eliminated 90% of all television programming!  Which may be a good thing.

He who is cruel troubles himself!  He who pursues evil is killing himself!  There are bad guys, and they are actually bad to themselves!  They are the cause of their own troubles!  The bad guys are chased by the good guys because they are bad.  Living an evil life doesn’t even make sense because it is self-destructive.  What is worse, they can’t see it!

But Solomon is not talking to the bad guys.  He is instructing the young in how to be wise, how to make good choices, how to avoid evil and its consequences.  That’s why we talk to our children, we warn them about other people, we point out the foolishness of others, we inform them of the dangers of lawlessness.  

But we also teach them that the merciful man does his own soul good!  So be merciful!  Be kind.  Show love and pity towards those who suffer.  Care for those who are sick, in prison, naked, hungry, and all those other things Jesus mentioned.  Do unto others as you would have them do unto you!  Your own soul profits by these things.

How will our children learn this?  Primarily from their parents.  How are we teaching them?  What examples of mercy are we showing them?  Do they know what mercy looks like?  Do they know what righteousness looks like?  Are they being regularly taught how to do their own souls good by doing good to others?  

31 If the righteous will be recompensed on the earth, How much more the ungodly and the sinner.  There is a day coming on the earth, when all the righteous will be repaid for their righteousness.  If that is true (and it is), then how could a righteous and holy God possibly overlook what is owed to the ungodly?  If grace will be extended to the righteous, how much more will justice be given to the wicked!  And that is the force of it!  This is a stern warning for those who are being instructed.  In essence, Solomon is saying, “The righteous are going to be rewarded, but the ungodly are REALLY going to get it!”  

This wraps up the chapter on a very somber note.  As if it weren’t bad enough that the evil suffer from their own wickedness, God will also bring His wrath to bear against them.  They are responsible for their own destruction, and God will bring it to pass.  On the one hand, God rewards even a glass of cold water given in his name, but on the other hand, He will be sure to fully repay the ungodly according as their deeds deserve.  

I don’t know why my baseball team got trophies.  I guess someone felt sorry for us and they just wanted to make us feel better about ourselves.  We certainly didn’t deserve them.  But winning baseball games isn’t really a moral issue, a struggle between good and evil.  Real life is.  The choices we make regarding what we know to be good and evil have immediate consequences for our souls.  Our choices in this life have eternal consequences.  In that final day, the righteous will experience the grace of God, and the wicked will receive what we all deserve, the justice of God.  The Apostle Paul warned the Jews in Romans 2:

5 But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, 6 who "will render to each one according to his deeds": 7 eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality; 8 but to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness--indignation and wrath, 9 tribulation and anguish, on every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek; 10 but glory, honor, and peace to everyone who works what is good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. (Romans 2:5-10, NKJV).

¹ According to a brief article in the August 2007 issue of Parents Magazine (p.127), children are what we call them.  “The labels we give our children may stick with them forever, says Dr. Harvey Karp.  So make sure that you’re accentuating the positive!  These simple substitutes can go a long way toward making your child feel he’s great.”  (Emphasis mine).  Then there is a list of old and new labels for our children to help them feel better about themselves.  Much of this is the exact opposite of the Proverbs:

OLD LABEL            NEW LABEL                    WHY IT WORKS

    Shy                            Careful                A shy child hides from the world, but a careful one just takes smarter steps when he goes out into it.

    Wild                         Energetic              Wild implies out-of-control, while energetic describes a child who’s enthusiastic about life.

   Fussy                        Selective              Fussy connotes crabbiness and pickiness, while selective means he won’t settle for anything less than the best.

 Stubborn                  Tenacious             A stubborn child refuses to give in without knowing why, while a tenacious one is a fighter who won’t quit.

Slowpoke                  Thoughtful            Slowpoke sends the signal that the child is lazy, while thoughtful indicates he’s taking the time to consider his options.

  Defiant                    Courageous          A defiant child refuses to do anything that’s asked of him, while a courageous one sticks up for what he believes in.