Proverbs 14:19 The evil bow before the good; and the wicked at the gates of the righteous.
20 The poor is hated even of his own neighbour: but the rich hath many friends.
21 He that despiseth his neighbour sinneth: but he that hath mercy on the poor, happy is he.
22 Do they not err that devise evil? but mercy and truth shall be to them that devise good.
In Daniel 3, God tells us of one of the several foolish decisions Nebuchadnezzar made. He made an image of gold that was 90’ high and 9’ wide. He demanded that all his citizens bow to that image when he commanded the musicians to play their junk music. We read that the majority of the people bowed to that image when the music was played. That proved who those people were. They were evil people. We read of three men who did not bow to that image. Those three men were captives from Judah. They knew the true God and they refused to bow to a false god.
Today, we have thousands of Canadians who bow to the wicked plans of a government that hates God and hates true Christians and Jews. They are also evil people. However, as our text tells us the wicked bow at the gates of the righteous. We do not see that right now, but it will happen. The wicked have nothing over the godly. They assume they have the power now, but they fail to realize that God is keeping an accurate record of what is going on. The wicked will tremble before the Lord in the end. During the Millennium, the wicked will bow before the righteous. Jesus Christ will rule and He will recruit godly men to rule on His behalf.
In verse 20 we see another fact that is very true. The poor are not appreciated. The wealthy fear they may need to help the poor, so they want to keep a distance from them. The rich has many friends. People like to hang around with rich people. Rich people can be an asset to society when they respect their wealth. There are rich people who were cheats and that is how they got rich. The former head of Microsoft is a cheat who stole the ideas for Microsoft and built an empire with that. He then used his money to manipulate poor countries. He has done much to destroy the well being of thousands of people. He has been able to hide this fact with corrupt publicity. The saying “money talks” is very true. Men like him and our P.M. buy power with other people’s money. Gullible people are happy to give money to corrupt people who manipulate things for their own benefit.
Verse 21 speaks to the need to respect ones neighbours. It is important to show respect for the neighbour. If the neighbour needs a hand with something, it is good to be a good neighbour. The person who does not want to have a good relationship with his neighbour is sinning against God.
The person who shows mercy to the poor, will find satisfaction within himself. It gives a good feeling to treat others with respect and fairness. God designed man to be friendly to others. That does not mean we become enablers of those who do not want to work. It means that we all need help at times, and a good neighbour is good to have.
Verse 22 warns of the person who is busy devising evil. That is what our government is doing. They have evil plans regarding the sodomites, and the murder of the unborn. They also have evil plans regarding the freedom of mankind. They used a heavy hand to try to bring the citizens of this country to their knees. The majority of the people gave in to that oppressive system. Some of those people are now regretting their foolish choices. Finally after a number of years people are speaking up and some news sources are broadcasting the problems the government created. Of course the mainstream media is protecting the evil government. The Bible warns of these things. Most people do not believe in God and reject His Word.
When a person thinks they are wiser than God, they fail. We are reaping the results of a nation that has chosen defiance against God, rather than submission to God. People can scoff at that fact if they want to. If they would wake up, they would see how our country is falling apart due to foolish decisions by the majority of the citizens and the government.
The good person wants to help others. That is what a true pastor does. He shows mercy to people. He is willing to be slandered. He is still willing to help those people to see the truth.
Today is the Lord’s day. It is the day when every person should be going to a true, Bible believing church. Most of those who go to any church will choose a social club that will lie to them but they love being lied to. A few people will choose to go to a good church where they can find hope and help.
We are praying that many will wake up in these last days and listen to the work of the Holy Spirit as He seeks to help them to come to the truth.
Pastor Bartel