The sermon 'The Joy of the Just Doing Justice' by Peter Allison explores Proverbs 21, highlighting God's sovereignty over human actions and the joy derived from doing justice. It emphasizes that righteousness and justice are more acceptable to God than mere outward sacrifice. The sermon discusses the contrast between diligent and lazy individuals, the significance of the heart's intent, and the dangers of seeking treasures through unrighteous means. It underscores that God's law teaches us to love Him and follow His ways, reflecting His character in our actions. The sermon also touches on the chiastic structure of Proverbs 21, illustrating the theme of joy in doing justice. Key points include God’s control over outcomes, the importance of prayer and preparation, and the necessity of aligning actions with the heart's intent. The sermon concludes by affirming that joy in justice stems from imitating God’s ways.

Proverbs 21, beginning at verse 1. The King's heart is in the hand of the Lord like the rivers of water. He turns it wherever he wishes. Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the heart. To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice.

A haughty look, a proud heart, and the plowing of the wicked are sin. The plans of the diligent lead surely to plenty, but those of everyone who is hasty surely to poverty. Getting treasures by a lying tongue is the fleeting fantasy of those who seek death. The violence of the wicked will destroy them because they refuse to do justice. The way of a guilty man is perverse, but as for the pure, his work is right.

Better to dwell in a corner of a house-top than in a house shared with a contentious woman. The soul of the wicked desires evil, his neighbor finds no favor in his eyes. When the scoffer is punished, the simple is made wise, but when the wise is instructed, he receives knowledge. The righteous God wisely considers the house of the wicked, overthrowing the wicked for their wickedness. Whoever shuts his ears to the cry of the poor will also cry himself and not be heard.

A gift in secret pacifies anger and a bribe behind the back strong wrath. It is a joy for the just to do justice but destruction will come to the workers of iniquity. A man who wanders from the way of understanding will rest in the assembly of the dead. He who loves pleasure will be a poor man, he who loves wine and oil will not be rich. The wicked shall be a ransom for the righteous and unfaithful for the upright.

Better to dwell in the wilderness than with a contentious and angry woman. There is desirable treasure and oil in the dwelling of the wise, but a foolish man squanders it. He who follows righteousness and mercy finds life, righteousness, and honor. A wise man scales the city of the mighty and brings down the trusted stronghold. Whoever guards his mouth and tongue keeps his soul from troubles.

A proud and haughty man, Scoffer is his name, He acts with arrogant pride. The desire of the lazy man kills him, for his hands refuse to labor. He covet greedily all day long, but the righteous gives, and does not spare. The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination, how much more when he brings it with a wicked intent. A false witness shall perish, but the man who hears him will speak endlessly.

A wicked man hardens his face, but as for the upright he establishes his way. There is no wisdom or understanding or counsel against the Lord The horse is prepared for the day of battle, but deliverance is of the Lord May the Lord add his blessing to the reading and the hearing of his word. Almighty Heavenly Father, your word is true. It is everlasting. It will never pass away.

Lord may you teach us, may we delight in it this morning, May it be our joy to discover the truth that you have put in it, but also even more, to discover you. For in these words, you have revealed yourself. We ask that you give us eyes to see and ears to hear what your Spirit says to your church through Jesus Christ. Amen. Well, last week we looked at verse 1 which proclaims very strongly, very clearly the sovereignty of God over the actions of even the mightiest of men.

And that is, as I looked at this chapter, I realized that the whole chapter is a chiasm that is built upon this foundation, but it is pointing toward this central truth that it is a joy for the just to do justice. So the theme of this chapter, I think, is in the fifteenth verse concerning the joy of the just in doing justice. The joy of the just in doing justice. Not that the just do justice, but that is true, but it's the joy that the just have in doing justice. It's their delight.

It's what their heart yearns to do. And so this whole chapter is really an amazing chiasm. There were certain things that jumped out and so the more I looked at it then there were other things that I saw as well. But very clearly the beginning, verse 1, is a statement of God's sovereignty. The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord, like the rivers of water he turns it whithersoever he wishes.

And that is the sense also of the last verse The horse is prepared for the day of battle, but deliverance is of the Lord. The Lord is, as we read this morning, we cast the lot, but the lot is determined by God. And so both of these then, these two statements, the sovereignty of God, are the bookends of this whole section. So keep that in mind as we go through today. We're not going to obviously be able to go through in any great depth.

We have 31 verses here, so If we even spend just a minute on each verse, we've spent quite a bit of time. But this theme, this idea that God is sovereign over the actions of men, that we plan and we gather equipment and we do things, but it's God who determines the outcome. It's God, as David saw there, he took his army and he set out, but it was the Lord who provided those things that he needed. The horse is prepared for the day of battle, but deliverance is of the Lord, is a statement also of God's sovereignty over everything that comes to pass. Verse 1 is the actions of men.

And verse 31 is speaking of all the things that we do, of all the means, all the secondary causes that we do. Because God has ordained, and those are important, we can't say that those, we can't ignore the horse being prepared for the day of battle. It would be very wrong to say, well, God is sovereign. We don't need to prepare the horse for the battle. We don't need to make preparations.

We don't need to have a plan for our life and how we're going to spend our money and how we're going to educate our children. We don't need a plan for any of these things the Lord will just provide That's not what this is saying saying we have to do these things because the Lord is ordained to Deliver us the Lord is ordained to whatever he's come to pass He's also ordained the means through which he will bring these things to pass. David prayed to the Lord. He sought the Lord's counsel before he set out after the Amalekites. So that prayer was very much a part of God's deliverance.

That was a means that God had ordained, and David availed himself of that means. The sovereignty of God, far from meaning that we can ignore the means, means we need to pay attention to them because it's through them that God works, especially prayer. And so that's the foundation. As we look at each of these verses, just keep that in your mind, that God is sovereign over the actions of men and the events of the world. And so as we go through, just to highlight, there's some obvious in verse 9 and 19 are very obvious similar themes.

And in verse 25 and 26, that's D, that's part D is talking about lazy laziness and and Right and diligence right verse 5 It's talking about the Diligent and those who are hasty lead to poverty. So there there we have very clear Contrast as well Well, even part B there verse 2 and 3 every man's weighs right in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the heart there is no wisdom or understanding or counsel against the Lord. Man can think whatever he wants to think, but there is no wisdom or counsel or understanding against the Lord. It's not what we think is right, but what God says. So there's a contrast there.

There is, so we saw the diligent and the lazy contrasted in D. In G is another very clear, unmistakable contrast. Verse 9, sorry, G, 9, and verse 19 are both dealing with are very similar in their content. They both speak about angry contentious woman or in verse 9 well contentious woman and it's better to Do not be it's better to have a poor house than to dwell with a contentious or angry woman. And So I think you can see how these, it was very clear, very strong chiasm structure in this chapter.

Now, there are some there with H and J that the boundaries are a little bit flexible. There are a couple of verses there I thought could go either way, but there are definitely similarities in those and we'll get to those. This chiastic structure was so clear in this chapter. And the central theme then, remember that's the point of a chiasm, it's a literary device, it's a symmetry, And in the middle is the point of emphasis, and that is that it is a joy, verse 15, for the just to do justice. And there's a lot of other little chiasms in here.

There's a lot of, in the Hebrew language, assonance and alliteration where words are chosen because they sound, they rhyme, they have a similar sound. Unfortunately, We lose that in English, but in many cases, I think that's driving some of the words that are selected, because there are some unique words that are used here in Hebrew, but those words happen to sound the same as other words. And if I knew Hebrew better, I could maybe try to demonstrate, but I don't think I'll dare. I don't know it well enough to make it a meaningful experience for us this morning. But let's look then at what the Holy Spirit has through Solomon and those who gathered these Proverbs and set them in order.

Because remember that's how Proverbs were constructed. They were gathered together and they were set in order by the leading of the Holy Spirit. We know that scriptures come as the Holy Spirit moved those who wrote them. No scripture says it originates privately, it's a private origination. But rather, holy men wrote as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.

And so there is an order here then to these Proverbs as they're put together. And I think that helps us to understand what the focus of the proverb is when we can see how it fits into the bigger picture. Because otherwise we say, well, the proverb has already said that three or four times. Why is it saying it again? Well, oftentimes when we see it in the greater context, then we understand, ah, it's focusing on a little different aspect of this truth in this context than it was in this other context.

And sometimes it's just because as humans we need to have things repeated to us because we forget. And when something is important, we have to hear it again and again and again. And so God's Word also takes that into account as God infallibly brings His infallible Word to us. So God is sovereign, we've seen that. The second part B is that God writes the laws and weighs the heart.

God writes the law and God weighs the heart in his judgment. Every way of a man is right in his own eyes but the Lord weighs the heart. It doesn't matter what our own eyes think. We think a lot of things. And especially as sinners we tend to justify ourselves to ourselves.

Paul says those who do that are not wise, And we commend ourselves to ourselves. We find ways to rationalize what we think is right, and convince ourselves that what we are doing is right. Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but God weighs the heart. B in verse 30, there is no wisdom or understanding or counsel against the Lord. We might think we are wise, we might think we are right, but we have to first weigh things against the Word of God.

What does God say? And secondly, we need to remember that God weighs the hearts. That will become important here as we look at the next section. God weighs the hearts. And God has said that to do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice.

No, it's not saying that sacrifice is unimportant. So what it means by sacrifice, These are the outward actions of our worship. This is coming to the service this morning. This is taking that meal to somebody who needs a little assistance. These are the sacrifice of praise even, the Bible talks about.

This is the words that we say, we stand and we sing praise to God. We make and give our tithes and our offerings of our heart, we give to the Lord. So these are all these outward things that we would call sacrifice. But to do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice. Because the Lord is weighing the heart.

He's looking at what our motive is and You know if a little child brings you a drawing and the drawing is like a little child's drawing not very not very Skillful, you know the people are the faces are all crooked and the arms are unbalanced and they're just stick figures and so on. We look at, as parents and as adults, we Look at the intent of that child. We say, they were wanting to please us. We are delighted in that. We are not concerned that the hair is purple and that the feet are way too big, because we recognize the intent of their heart.

And the Lord is the same as He looks at our heart. And why are we saying the words that we're saying? What is the intent of our heart in singing the praise? And so I would challenge each of us to think about why we are saying the things that we are saying. When we're about to say something or have said something, to ask yourself, Why do we say that?

What was the intent of our heart in saying that? We post something on Facebook that sounds very good. What was the intent of our heart in that? And to just examine ourselves in that way, Because that's what the Lord is doing, the Lord is weighing the heart. And He's looking for hearts that are doing righteousness and justice.

That's more acceptable than sacrifice. When there were some Israelites who partook of the Passover and had not been properly cleansed, They did so with a good intent, but they had failed to do the outward sacrifice. And so I believe it was Hezekiah prayed to the Lord for them to be healed, and they were, Because God weighed their heart and he saw that what they were doing was what they were seeking in their heart to please the Lord. And yes, they didn't color within the lines, they didn't obey him in the details, and those are important. But it was not with ill intent, and so the Lord healed them.

The Lord established an alternative. The next month, those who weren't able to celebrate the first month, who wanted to celebrate the Passover, they could do so the next month if there was some providential hindrance. Say somebody had died, so you're therefore unclean. You don't just ignore the dead body and say, well, I want to be able to celebrate the Passover. No, the Lord, it's more acceptable to do what's right and just than the sacrifice.

There is no wisdom or understanding or counsel against the Lord. The third C is that the law is about loving God and following in his footsteps. And this is a very related concept to God writing the laws and weighing the hearts. The law is about loving God and following in his footsteps. You want to know what the law is about.

It should be about loving God and walking in His ways. Did you ever want to know how somebody does something? Maybe somebody that you respect? And you want to know how do they do this? Because you like what you see and you want to follow that.

You want to do it the way they do it. Because you see the beauty of it or you see the success of it. And this is what the law is about. The law is about us loving God, delighting ourselves in Him, and wanting to be like Him, wanting to follow in His footsteps. A haughty look, a proud heart, and the plowing of the wicked are sin.

In verse 27 is the counterpoint C. The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination. The plowing of the wicked is sin. The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination. How much more when he brings it with a wicked intent?

Now how, a sacrifice is not wrong. In fact, God commands sacrifices. And plowing, that's not wrong. God commands us to work the ground. In fact, Isaiah says it's God that teaches us, it gives us the wisdom to know when to stop plowing and start planting, and these details, this comes from God.

And yet, The plowing of the wicked is a sin and the sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination See even how much more when he brings it with wicked intent saying even even with even if his intent is Is good or it's honorable as far as it's able Outward These outward acts of worship, these outwardly obedient acts, are an abomination to the Lord because they don't flow from a heart that loves the Lord. Those that are outside of Christ do not have as their goal to glorify God. It's not their purpose. They are serving themselves, even when they're doing things that are outwardly good. And so the plowing of the wicked is a sin.

It doesn't come from the right motive. It doesn't have the right goal, even though it looks outwardly to be in accordance with the Word of God, or certainly not contrary to the Word of God. But God weighs the hearts. He's looking at the heart. He's looking at what our intent is.

And if our intent and our purpose are not holy to serve the Lord, are not coming out of the fact that we love the Lord, then that's not pleasing. We're to love the Lord with all of our mind. That's an academic knowledge of the truth. Study, Paul told Timothy, study to show yourself approved unto God. There is a body of truth that is revealed in the Word of God and we are to study that, to know that.

But that's just one piece. That's just one piece of loving the Lord and following in His footsteps. We're to love him with all of our strength. This is speaking about what we do, our actions, our service, our achievements. This is the work that we do.

So we can't just say, oh I know all the truth of the Word of God. There has to be loving the Lord with all of our strength. There has to be a doing. Not just hearing, but hearing and a doing. We have to love the Lord with all of our heart.

You've heard somebody say, well, he's doing it, but his heart isn't in it. We have to serve the Lord with all, with our emotions. Not, not just doing something outwardly, not just knowing the truth academically. The demons know the truth of the Word academically, and they tremble. The wicked can plow, But it's a sin.

That's their doing something. We have to love the Lord with all of our heart, all of our emotions. Our sense, our enjoyment of the presence of God. Do we delight in prayer? Do we long for the Holy Spirit to come as we pray, and to bear witness with our spirit to lift us up to heaven?

Does our heart delight in the Lord? Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart. So we serve the Lord with all of our mind, all of our strength, all of our heart and all of our soul. All of our soul is our life. It's us as a person.

We are actually called a soul, a living soul. It's us as we relate to other people, as we have fellowship with them. You see that the dead body that lies in the grave or in the morgue, you can't have any fellowship with it. It's when God breathes into that person life that we become a living soul. And so this soul then relates to us as we can relate to others and as also we can relate to the Lord and have a relationship.

These are missing in the plowing of the wicked. There isn't this relationship with the Lord. There isn't this emotional delight in the Lord. There isn't this dedication of our strengths to Him. And all that we have, recognizing that it comes from the Lord, and we are willing to offer it to Him.

God created man to labor and the law is about loving God and following in his footsteps. And that's why the plowing of the wicked is sin. That's why the sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination. Even how much more when he brings it with wicked intent. A false witness shall perish, but the man who hears him will speak endlessly.

A wicked man hardens his face, but as for the upright he establishes his way." A wicked man becomes hardened in his way, But the upright is stable, is established by God. He establishes his way. D then, the next point, God created man to labor and blesses his labor. Verse 5, the plans of the diligent lead surely to plenty, but those of everyone who is hasty surely to poverty. The desire of the lazy man, verse 25, kills him.

It's a contrast there with the plans of the diligent. The desire of the lazy man kills him. He refuses to labor in contrast to the diligent who is willing to labor, who plans even. He covet greedily, that's the lazy person, verse 26. He covets greedily all day, but the righteous gives and does not spare.

So this lazy man wants the fruit of labor, but he's refusing to labor. And so what's left then is a coveting, a desire for what he was unwilling to labor for. He still wants it, but it's a wrong desire because he's not willing to work for what he desires. It's fine to desire something and be willing to work for it, be willing to plan, be willing to use the means that God has provided for acquiring these things whatever that might be Whether it's a house whether it's land or whether it's tools and equipment whether it's whatever it might be. It's not wrong to want these things.

The Lord does provide them. He does provide us our clothes. He does provide us our shelter, our house. He promises to do that. It's not wrong to want that.

But The lazy person is unwilling to work, and so they end up desiring these things without being willing to use the means that God has given. So the lazy man then wants to covet or defraud. In Mark 10, Jesus gives a recitation of the Ten Commandments, those that were in the class on Wednesday, remember. And he goes through all the Commandments in the second table, but he doesn't use the word covet for the tenth commandment. He uses the word defraud To summarize the tenth commandment and that's the sense here this this greedy Covets greedily all day long.

He wants to have what other people have and he's willing to defraud them to get it. The righteous though, because he is willing to labor, because he is planned and diligent, he has to be able to give. That's what Paul told the Ephesians, that him who stole, stop stealing and work with your hands, that you may be able to give to those in need. So not only does the Lord here promise to provide for our needs, but through our labor He says that we will be able to give to others who are in need. And all of us probably at some time or other have been in need.

And the Lord provides that, provides for it. The godly here are future oriented. The plans of the diligent lead surely to plenty. Right, it's the, it's the Angadhi who are just thinking about the next hour, they're just thinking about the pleasure of the next hour and what they can do in the next hour And so they get to the end of their life and it's a life of regrets. They might get to the end of the week and it's a week of regrets and a month of regrets and a year of regrets.

Whereas the diligent plan, they're thinking ahead And they're ordering their actions with a view to the future. And you see that's the means that God uses to provide for us, so that we are able to provide for, help others. Section D. Well, we did that. Section E, I mean.

God is truth and God is righteous. Those who practice otherwise, it means injustice and unrighteousness, Hate God and love death. God is truth and God is righteous. Those who practice otherwise hate God and love death. Verse 6, getting treasures by a lying tongue is the fleeting fantasy of those who seek death.

The violence of the death. The violence of the wicked will destroy them because they refuse to do justice. The violence of the wicked will destroy them because they refuse to do justice. And then E on the bottom, E prime, whoever guards his mouth and tongue keeps his soul from trouble. So that's in Contrast to the lying tongue that becomes a fantasy of those who seek death, or the violence of the wicked that will destroy them, he who guards his mouth and tongue keeps his soul from troubles.

A proud and haughty man, Scaffer is his name, he acts with arrogant pride. God is truth and God is righteous. Those who seek God's blessings in ways that he has not ordained may get what they are seeking, but it then turns to sawdust and sorrow in their hands. Turns to sawdust and sorrow. Getting treasures by a lying tongue is the fleeting fantasy of those who seek death.

Think of Haman. He wanted something. He wanted the life of Mordecai. You know the story, don't you? It's a story of God's sovereignty.

Here he is, this great and mighty prince in the land of Persia. He's second, right up there next to the king. He's one of the king's closest counselors. I shouldn't say he's second, but he's one of the king's closest counselors. He's being elevated and everything seems to be going for him until he meets Mordecai.

That is the one thorn in his flesh, Mordecai. He devises in his fury against Mordecai, in his inner rage, he plots against to destroy all the Israelites. And God through Esther preserves all the Israelites and instead Haman is hung on the gallows that he built for Mordecai. Or Judas hated the Lord. He went out to the Pharisees to conspire with them as to how to betray the Lord.

They paid him handsomely for it. He did it, but he wasn't happy was he? He regretted it. He went and threw the money away. Went out and hung himself.

He got what he wanted, but it turned to sadist and sorrow in his hands once he had it. See, this order, this moral order is upheld and enforced by the sovereign God. Why is this so? Why does what people seek apart from the means that God has ordained, Why does what they seek turn to sorrow and sawdust? Because God is sovereign.

And that's what God works. This is what God does. This is the way God governs his world. F. Guilty people go in a crooked way.

Repentance brings honor. Guilty people go in a crooked way. Getting the way of a guilty man is perverse. That means crooked. It just means it's not reliable or dependable.

But as for the pure, his work is right. Or F prime, verse 21, he who follows righteousness and mercy finds life, righteousness and honor. A wise man scales the city of the mighty and brings down the trusted stronghold. There's stability there. So the way of a guilty man, this is unconfessed sin.

Guilty people have unconfessed sin and this guilt eats away It eats away at us and it leads to very erratic and bizarre behavior Jay Adams who for many years counseled many people and and has blazed the path of bringing this area of counseling back under the scriptures and back under the domain of those who can apply God's Word to the problems of our life, as opposed to saying God's Word doesn't speak to these problems in our life. It's not capable of answering, it's not capable of dealing with mental problems. J. Adams said, no, God's Word is sufficient so that we can be thoroughly equipped to every good work. It is the answer, it is the truth, even for mental issues.

He has found that many times people that are in mental institutions, and not exclusively, there are certainly physical and physiological reasons why people's minds don't work right. But many times, probably the majority of people in mental institutions are there because of unconfessed sin. And he has some incredible stories, accounts of his cases, where people who were in mental institutions, who were exhibiting very bizarre behavior, were completely changed When they were brought under the counsel of the Word of God and brought to repentance and brought to confessing their sin and forsaking it, there is healing. There is healing in confession. God has promised to forgive those who confess their sin, but those who do not, the way of a guilty man, those who have this unconfessed sin, it leads to a crooked path, a crooked life, erratic behavior.

Those who have experienced and received the Lord's mercy, on the other hand, delight in mercy. He who follows righteousness and mercy finds life, righteousness, and honor. See a clear conscience that has confessed our sin to the Lord is a foundation for life and for honor. Section G, God's blessing. Here God's blessing are a peaceful wife, oil and wine.

Now they are not all equally important, I don't mean to say that, but they are classed here. Verse 9 and verse 19 both say that better to dwell in the corner of a housetop than in a house shared with a contentious woman. Better to dwell in the wilderness without a house than with a contentious and angry woman. Verse 20, there is a desirable treasure, an oil in the dwelling of the wise, but the foolish man squanders it. You see, God gives the very best gifts.

God gives the very best gifts. He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the Lord, the Bible says. Wives, virtuous women, are a great, great, great blessing. Unspeakable joy through in that marriage. God gives also, God gives oil to make our face shine and wine to make our heart glad.

That's what the Bible says. Oil to make our face shine, wine to make our heart glad. These are God's blessings, and God knows how to give wonderful blessings. Good food, a feast, is a blessing from God that he gives. Those outside of Christ see the desirability of God's good gifts, and they want it.

They want that. In fact, wine, woman, and song is the catchphrase for profligate profligate and dissipated living That that kind of life is attempting to have the good things that God gives to His children without knowing or loving the God who is the giver of those things. You see those three things are right here. There is desirable treasure and oil in the dwelling of the wise. God gives these things.

But more important to these good gifts is the good God who has given them. So those who try to have these good things without knowing the good God, without loving the good God who is the giver of every good and perfect gift, they end up with nothing but regrets and sorrow. They lose the very things that they most grasp for. God says those who seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, God richly supplies all these other things. Those who seek first God's kingdom and His righteousness, God supplies these other things.

And when He supplies them, He gives His blessing with them, so that they don't become a sorrow and a regret, but we're able to enjoy them under our enjoyment of God Himself. H. The wicked are unwilling to help their neighbor, and God sees and avenges them. Verse 10, the soul of the wicked desires evil, his neighbor finds no favor in his eyes. When the scoffer is punished, the simple is made wise, but when the wicked is instructed he receives knowledge.

The righteous God wisely considers the house of the wicked, overthrowing the wicked for their wickedness. And H' is the wicked will be a ransom for the righteous and the unfaithful for the upright. See the connection. The soul of the wicked desires evil, his neighbor finds no favor in his eyes. The wicked are unwilling to help their neighbors when they see him in need.

He finds no favor in their, they have a calloused and a hard heart. And H' says that they will be the ransom for the righteous and the unfaithful for the upright. In 1 John says, whoever has this world's goods and sees his brother in need and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him? How does the love of God abide in him? Whoever has this world's goods and sees his brother in need and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?" You see the soul, it's the wicked who in his eyes, his neighbor has no favor.

There's no giving, there's no blessing there. J. Putting pleasure over justice brings poverty and abandonment upon oneself. Whoever shuts his ears to the cry of the poor will also cry himself and not be heard. Putting pleasure over justice brings poverty and abandonment upon oneself.

A gift in secret pacifies anger and a bribe behind the back strong wrath. Now he who loves pleasure, J prime, verse 17, He who loves pleasure will be a poor man. He who loves wine and oil will not be rich. There is the mention of wine. What's the connection here?

Well, a bribe is most effective for somebody who loves oil and wine, for somebody who loves pleasure. Because that's the means of the bribes. People that are offering bribes are offering pleasures. They're offering, in fact we even have the phrase today, right? What is it?

You're going to wine and dine somebody. The lobbyists, as they bribe Our legislators, they wine them and they dine them. They're offering them these pleasures. He who loves pleasure will be a poor man. He who loves wine and oil will not be rich.

But these gifts, these offers of these pleasures that verse 14 talks about, that pacify anger. This bribe is effective because the person it's offered to desires the pleasure. Where there is a God ordained or God created resistance or view of pleasure, where we recognize that we are seeking God's kingdom first and leaving it to the Lord to add these things to us, then there's a resistance, a resistance to receiving these pleasures from people who are trying to pervert justice. When you see somebody who ought to be outraged at wickedness being pacified, because wrath, remember, is a good thing when it's directed against the right object. There is a time for anger.

The civil magistrate is the one who is God's minister of wrath, who brings God's wrath on those who do evil. When we see that man pacified, his anger against evil pacified, it's often because he loved pleasure and he's received a bribe in secret. That's the connection here. Those who ought to be outraged at the murder of innocent people, those who are outraged at the murder, the Holocaust in other countries, They're not angry at what's going on all around us. Many times, many times.

Because they have received a bribe. And their anger has been pacified. They've received a gift in secret. They've been offered pleasure. They've been wined and dined.

And they love that. The Bible says, your love's pleasure will be a poor man. Whoever shuts his ears to the cry of the poor will cry himself and not be heard. That's God's word. That's His promise.

You see, we can turn these great injustices over to the Lord and leave ourselves free to love the Lord and serve Him, knowing that He will bring justice and He is the righteous Judge. And so the theme of this, The message of this text then is that it is a joy for the just to do justice. It's a joy. It's a joy to do justice because it is a joy to serve the Lord. It is a joy to imitate the Lord.

It's a joy to walk in his ways, and God is just. So it is a joy for us to walk in his ways. But destruction will come on the workers of iniquity. A man who wanders from the way of understanding will rest in the assembly of the dead." You see, this is the strongest language. It's talked about the wicked being overthrown, it's talked about them being poor, it's talked about them being abandoned and not heard, but here at the apex a man who wanders from the way of understanding will rest in the assembly of the dead.

It's a joy for those to do justice. David said in Psalm 119, great peace, great peace have those who love your law and nothing causes them to stumble. The law is a transcript of the character of God. When David speaks about loving the law, he's talking about loving those characters and attributes of God Himself, loving God. His law is the revelation of His character and the great peace of those who love God and His Word.

Let us pray. Heavenly Father, we have seen from a very high level this Word that you have given us and We ask that your Holy Spirit might apply it to us, that you might enable us to remember these words. We pray that you would bring a fruit from them in our lives today and tomorrow, this week, this month, this year. Lord may we be transformed by your word, may we be sanctified by it. We ask Lord for this year's work, in Jesus' name, amen.