Words and Politics
Notes
Transcript
Scripture Reading
Scripture Reading
The words of a wise man’s mouth are gracious, But the lips of a fool shall swallow him up;
The words of his mouth begin with foolishness, And the end of his talk is raving madness.
A fool also multiplies words. No man knows what is to be; Who can tell him what will be after him?
The labor of fools wearies them, For they do not even know how to go to the city!
Woe to you, O land, when your king is a child, And your princes feast in the morning!
Blessed are you, O land, when your king is the son of nobles, And your princes feast at the proper time— For strength and not for drunkenness!
Because of laziness the building decays, And through idleness of hands the house leaks.
A feast is made for laughter, And wine makes merry; But money answers everything.
Do not curse the king, even in your thought; Do not curse the rich, even in your bedroom; For a bird of the air may carry your voice, And a bird in flight may tell the matter.
Words and Politics go together like syrup and pancakes. Politicians are usually known for their great ability with words; less so their ability to actually do things. But more than that, both words and politics are spheres of great power. Words can destroy or heal; the political system is intended to preserve morality and prosperity in a nation. How well it does that depends on the character of the politicians who run the country. Since this is the case, it behooves you to be careful when speaking to powerful people - this only makes sense. In fact not only should you be careful when directly speaking to them, you’ll need to watch your attitude so that your words don’t betray you in a careless moment. Solomon brings together to different subjects with the common point - if words have great power to build up or ruin; if political leaders have great power to ruin or to create the environment where prosperity is possible, then where those two things intersect ought to be especially important.
I. The Power of Words
I. The Power of Words
Solomon clearly implies that words have great power, though he doesn’t say that specifically. A wise man’s words are gracious; a fool’s words swallow him up. So even in normal life, your words can either destroy or build up. You may be familiar with James 3:2-5, where he provides illustrations of the enormous power of the tongue. He points out that the man who can control his tongue, can control his entire being.
The Power of the Tongue
A Bit in a Horse’s Mouth
A Rudder on a big Ship
A Fire kindled by a little flame.
How much can the tongue destroy or heal?
Words obviously can heal or destroy relationships
Words can have present-day effects
They can destroy lives
They can kill
They can encourage people, enabling them to rebuild their lives
They can heal
Words can have eternal consequences
The Devil caused all mankind and creation to fall with only words. The destruction wrought continues to the present day.
The preaching of the Gospel is only words, but it is the channel God uses to bring people to Eternal Life. 1 Cor 1:21
A. What Makes a Wise Man’s Words Gracious?
A. What Makes a Wise Man’s Words Gracious?
Solomon declares that a wise man’s words are Gracious. This means that they are inherently favorable. It’s more than just being nice. Smooth words that don’t help aren’t gracious, but deceptive. So gracious words are more than words that make people like you. They are words that move people toward receiving favor from God - that’s not only spiritual edification, but practical advice when it is consistent with godly wisdom. It’s both encouragement and godly rebuke. It’s words that heal relationships, or put people on a path toward a better life. So you can see that “gracious words” are a wide range of things.
It is what God wants for every Christian Col 4:6.
Wise Words are true words. No amount of nice talk can overcome bad advice. In fact, if it is bad advice, the better articulated it is the more dangerous and foolish it becomes. Prov 22:11
Wise Words are spoken appropriately Prov 25:11-12
It has to be at the right time after the fact doesn’t help anyway.
It recognizes the right level of importance. You could be technically correct, and be delivering the words at the right time, but if you make a mountain out of a molehill, it isn’t fitly spoken. It’s also, of course, possible to not make something really big important enough; however, in that case you usually won’t bother to say anything at all. After all, it isn’t important so why bother anyone with it?
Wise Words are careful about motives. If you’re right about what to do, and even right about how important it is, but you accuse the other person of having motivations that they don’t have, you won’t get a thank you. Instead, you’ll likely get anger. It’s notoriously difficult to discern motives, so you are on much safer ground to assume the best motives you can imagine. If you suggest to the other person that their motives are more pure than they in fact were, you will probably not get an angry reply, you might even get that person thinking about what the right motives should have been. If you impune their character for something they did not mean, you will probably not like the result. And since we can only guess at other’s motives, it’s very difficult to do correctly.
B. A Fool’s Words Destroy him
B. A Fool’s Words Destroy him
The reverse problem is the one Solomon spends the most time on. The words of a fool destroy him.
foolish words destroy James 3:6-8
And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell.
For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and creature of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by mankind.
But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.
Foolish Words breed more foolishness until they spin off into wicked craziness.
Fools tend to talk way too much, especially about the future. Prov 10:19; James 4:13-16
In the multitude of words sin is not lacking, But he who restrains his lips is wise.
Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”;
whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.
Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.”
But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.
Foolishness wastes effort.
II. The Power of Morality in Politics
II. The Power of Morality in Politics
This subject is quite different than wise/foolish words, but Solomon is making a point that ends in v.20. Here though, he makes the case that any country that wants to prosper must have righteous rulers.
The land that has “a child” for a king is doomed to suffering (“woe”). Notice, however, that the opposite of child is not adult, but “son of nobles”. Last time I checked, the one year old son of a noble is pretty much as capable as the one-year-old son of a commoner. However, the assumption that Solomon is making is that a nobleman is going to be more capable as a ruler, because he grew up in that environment and knows how it works. So the “child-king” isn’t a king who is young in years, but a king who is immature and undisciplined. Solomon is thinking of a childish king, not a literal child.
An example where the King was a literal child 2 Kings 11:1-3; 12:1-2
When Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the royal heirs.
But Jehosheba, the daughter of King Joram, sister of Ahaziah, took Joash the son of Ahaziah, and stole him away from among the king’s sons who were being murdered; and they hid him and his nurse in the bedroom, from Athaliah, so that he was not killed.
So he was hidden with her in the house of the Lord for six years, while Athaliah reigned over the land.
In the seventh year of Jehu, Jehoash became king, and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Zibiah of Beersheba.
Jehoash did what was right in the sight of the Lord all the days in which Jehoiada the priest instructed him.
Joash’s Grandfather, King Jehoshaphat had made an alliance with the Northern Kingdom of Judah, an alliance that very nearly ended the Davidic Line. For when Jehu ended the line of Ahab, he also killed Joash’s father, King Jehoram, since Jehoram’s mother was a descendant of Ahab. The only legitimate King left, was the infant Joash.
For six years Joash was hidden away by the godly priest Jehoida; in the meantime the queen mother Athalia killed all the other sons in the royal line, leaving only Joash. In the seventh year, Jehoida arranged a coup that restored the Davidic line to the throne; however, Joash was only seven years old. Well, it couldn’t be helped. Only the line of David was authorized by God to be King, and Joash was the only one left.
So how did the kingdom do? not great but not that bad, actually. Why? because the real power behind the throne during those early years - Jehoida - was a godly, wise, and elderly man. Furthermore, he ended up guiding Joash so that the kingdom actually followed the Lord, at least on the surface. the people still sacrificed on the high places, which meant that the people’s worship was still partly idolatrous, even if the King and the elite worshipped the Lord alone.
Once he got old enough to actually rule, Joash worked quite hard to restore the now dilapidated temple, and successfully organized donations so that the temple could be restored to a useful and beautiful place of worship.
However, Joash ended up a rather weak king; he did not trust the Lord when confronted by the army of Hazael, King of Syria, and instead sent a huge tribute to get him to go away, a tribute that included the valuables in the house of the Lord. Furthermore, once Jehoida died at the rather incredible age of 130, Joash leaned on other advisors who directed him to abandon the Lord. 2 Chron 24:15-18.
But Jehoiada grew old and was full of days, and he died; he was one hundred and thirty years old when he died.
And they buried him in the City of David among the kings, because he had done good in Israel, both toward God and His house.
Now after the death of Jehoiada the leaders of Judah came and bowed down to the king. And the king listened to them.
Therefore they left the house of the Lord God of their fathers, and served wooden images and idols; and wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem because of their trespass.
An example where the King was childish. 1 Kings 12:12-17
So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam the third day, as the king had directed, saying, “Come back to me the third day.”
Then the king answered the people roughly, and rejected the advice which the elders had given him;
and he spoke to them according to the advice of the young men, saying, “My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke; my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scourges!”
So the king did not listen to the people; for the turn of events was from the Lord, that He might fulfill His word, which the Lord had spoken by Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.
Now when all Israel saw that the king did not listen to them, the people answered the king, saying: “What share have we in David? We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse. To your tents, O Israel! Now, see to your own house, O David!” So Israel departed to their tents.
But Rehoboam reigned over the children of Israel who dwelt in the cities of Judah.
The parallel is that the princes “feast in the morning.” Again, Solomon isn’t attacking breakfast. Ancients didn’t eat breakfast usually, so if they were feasting in the morning, they were being lazy. It’s similar to saying that an employee takes too many coffee breaks. Notice that the opposite of “feast in the morning” is “feast at the proper time.” and the purpose is for strength - i.e. the princes eat normally, not just to party and get drunk.
The opposite example is, of course, Solomon himself. 1 Kings 3:7-13.
Now, O Lord my God, You have made Your servant king instead of my father David, but I am a little child; I do not know how to go out or come in.
And Your servant is in the midst of Your people whom You have chosen, a great people, too numerous to be numbered or counted.
Therefore give to Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people, that I may discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of Yours?”
The speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing.
Then God said to him: “Because you have asked this thing, and have not asked long life for yourself, nor have asked riches for yourself, nor have asked the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern justice,
behold, I have done according to your words; see, I have given you a wise and understanding heart, so that there has not been anyone like you before you, nor shall any like you arise after you.
And I have also given you what you have not asked: both riches and honor, so that there shall not be anyone like you among the kings all your days.
Any country that has childish rulers that don’t do their jobs, that has government officials who are in it to party and benefit themselves is a country that is destined for suffering and poverty. But why is this?
Again at first, what does fixing your house have to do with rulers? well, Solomon is making a wider point. Any house that isn’t maintained will gradually become unlivable. Homes require fixing to continue functioning. Countries are the same way. They require regular effort to maintain order, to foster effective foreign relations. If the ones charged with doing this aren’t doing their job, then the country will fall apart just as surely as the home. Companies are the same way - they require regular management or the company will fail. Churches are the same way - they require regular management or the church will cease to function.
Thus, a country whose government officials aren’t doing their jobs will gradually start to fall apart, to the precise extent that the officials neglect what they ought to be doing.
The other reason why rulers have to do their jobs is about feasting and money. Feasting etc. is fun, it makes people feel good. By itself that isn’t always a bad thing; however, the reality is that “money answers everything.” That is, everything costs money, so if the rulers are spending all their resources on parties and fun, they won’t have the money to do what the country really needs.
I should add that it doesn’t matter why the rulers aren’t doing their job. The king could be a child because he is literally a kid - in which case it isn’t his fault, but nevertheless he isn’t doing his job. The king could be immature despite being an adult; he also isn’t doing his job. In the latter case you’ll be in a much bigger pickle, since time probably won’t fix the problem. In both cases the same result happens regardless of why it was done. It doesn’t matter what form of government this condition is found, either. Regardless of whether its a democracy, a constitutional republic, a monarchy, a dictatorship, etc. If those responsible for running the country aren’t doing their job, the country will suffer; if those responsible for running the country are responsibly trying to rule effectively, the country will prosper.
An example
It also isn’t about honest mistakes, but about whether the job is getting done, whether they are trying to do what they ought to do, or whether they are milking the system for personal gain. Similarly, however, Solomon does not here provide solutions. That’s because the proper solution is going to be much more complicated, for it depends on the reason for the problem. If the king is a child because he got landed with the job before he is ready, the solution is to pray that those who guide him, those that really run the country, are doing the job for him until he is able to do it himself. If the king is childish, then I’m afraid you’re just stuck. There no elections, so you’ll just have to trust God and be patient. If it’s not a king, but a CEO or other manager at a company, you might have more options. Convincing them might work, though you’ll need patience and wisdom to do that.
III. The Importance of Respect
III. The Importance of Respect
It’s because of the power of Words and the power of the ruler that we ought to be respectful to authority. That’s what Solomon is saying. He’s not saying you blind yourself to the problems, or pretend those problems don’t exist. He’s saying that you ought to be respectful, even when you don’t think anyone will know, when it doesn’t seem to matter. Because you’ll find your words carry a lot farther than you think they will; because you’ll not like it if words you intended to remain secret ends up with people who can act on them.
Paul exemplified this idea Acts 23:1-5. He was clearly correct when criticizing the Sanhedrin, the very people who had crucified Jesus, and who clearly were abusing him and didn’t care about justice. However, when he realized who the High Priest was, he apologized - not because he was wrong, but because the High Priest demands respect. Now a good leader will listen to criticism; however, don’t abuse the privilege.
Then Paul, looking earnestly at the council, said, “Men and brethren, I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day.”
And the high priest Ananias commanded those who stood by him to strike him on the mouth.
Then Paul said to him, “God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! For you sit to judge me according to the law, and do you command me to be struck contrary to the law?”
And those who stood by said, “Do you revile God’s high priest?”
Then Paul said, “I did not know, brethren, that he was the high priest; for it is written, ‘You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people.’ ”
Jesus, as we might expect, had the exact same thing happen to him, and unlike Paul, didn’t slip up John 18:22-23
And when He had said these things, one of the officers who stood by struck Jesus with the palm of his hand, saying, “Do You answer the high priest like that?”
Jesus answered him, “If I have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil; but if well, why do you strike Me?”
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