Fret not yourself because of evil men, neither be envious at the wicked;
for there shall be no reward to the evil man; the candle of the wicked shall be put out.
You can laugh when the wicked fall, or you can fret over their success in the acquisition of power. Either way, you give way to faithlessness. Wicked men assume that God is disconnected with His world (Ps. 94:6–7). For you to doubt God’s existence or His justice is to give into the same unbelief! He is the Judge over all things and we can rest assured that He will reward evil reprobates according to their works.
What applies to the evil tyrant applies just as much to an evil neighbor, co-worker, or businessman who has defrauded you in some way or another. How many hours are consumed with worrying about a co-worker setting you up for failure, or some neighbor who insists on cutting down your trees and poisoning your animals? What is this but doubting the administrative capability of God over His universe and every individual person in it? Unless these evil persons humble themselves and seek forgiveness of God and their neighbors, they will suffer great deprivation in this life and the life to come. Instead of fretting over their sins, we would better use our time by pitying their souls and crying out for mercy for these hardened hearts that will fuel the fires of hell forever if they never repent.
For related commentary, reference Proverbs 23:17 and 24:1.
My son, fear the LORD and the king; and meddle not with them that are given to change;
for their calamity shall rise suddenly; and who knows the ruin of them both?
This passage speaks with tremendous force to the present revolutionary states that have governed much of the world since the French Revolution. In the 2008 presidential elections, the most powerful man in the world was elected on the campaign promise of one word: “Change!” Nobody cared what sort of change Barack Obama would bring, but the word meant everything to people indoctrinated in revolutionary democracy. Typically, a “conservative” party will try to retain some respect for written constitutions and systems of law encoded by previous generations, moderating the “change.” But once the revolutionaries capture the schools and universities, the possibility of retaining stable, prosperous nations dissolves into revolutionary chaos. Thus, while economies break down by a rejection of the sound economic principles contained in the book of Proverbs, the political states also break down because they reject the all-important lesson contained in this verse.
For a time in the 1980s, Marxists would kidnap young sons of African chiefs and take them to China for indoctrination in revolutionary governance. Upon returning to Africa, they were tasked first with killing their own fathers. This was intended to cut off all ties to the “old ways of life” and replace them with the new revolutionary systems.
Thus, man tries to save himself by “change.” If he can bring about constant revolutionary change to his society, perhaps this will save him from his predicament (as he defines it on his own terms). Of course, this is futile and only takes a society into a cyclone of repeated bloody revolutions—a frightening prospect! Every country that has adopted this revolutionary culture has come to a quick end.
As this proverb asserts in no uncertain terms, nobody is safe in such a revolutionary environment. The head of the French Revolution, Maximilien Robespierre, eventually lost his own head at the guillotine. The great Marxist revolutionary, Leon Trotsky, was assassinated in his home in Mexico at the hands of a Russian secret agent.
This does not obviate all change. It is just that we do not support change solely for the sake of change. What we are after in all of our efforts is better conformance to the laws of God. But one of those laws involves an honor for our fathers and the systems they have given to us. It is not for us to throw away all that our fathers have given to us. Even in politics, righteous men will respect the constitutions laid down by the founding fathers of the country. While there are some wild-eyed “Christian” revolutionaries who would like to throw out the nation’s Constitution and replace it with the “Bible,” this would negate the honor that is due to those who went before us and constitute revolutionary change. We have to work from the established structures of governments and culture that we have inherited from our forefathers; and then we must work to bring them into better conformance with the laws of God. In the words of the inspired text, we are to fear Yahweh and the King (which might include the king’s constitutions and systems of law).
As we have opportunity, we ought to bring our political systems (and our theological systems) into better alignment with the truth of God’s Word. But we do so in a careful and lawful manner. Oftentimes, the spirit of dishonor is strong in the youthful generation, and this clouds their interpretation and application of God’s Word. This particularly marks the present generation, as the youth prefer revolution to reformation in theology and culture. These are men who are constantly given to “reinventing the wheel.” They cut themselves off from all theological and cultural roots, and in the end they destroy sound theology and good, solid cultural systems. Usually, these revolutionaries have revolted against their own fathers first, rejecting everything good their fathers stood for in music, dress, culture, morals, and theology. In our current culture, young men everywhere are moving rapidly from one theological perspective to another. There may or may not be anything credible and good in their new-found theology, but that is not what draws these men to these positions. Their fundamental basis for change is a hatred for their own fathers, and you can be sure this will never produce any good.
1. Have you ever fretted over a neighbor who has done you wrong, or a coworker who was out to get you fired? Why did you fret over those circumstances? In retrospect, what should you have done?
2. What is the difference between somebody given to revolutionary change and somebody who looks to make positive changes?
3. What happens to countries that embrace a revolutionary approach to society?