The Righteous King – Proverbs 16:10-15

One day, Jesus will reign as king over the earth from the city of Jerusalem (Revelation 20).  He will be the absolute monarch and the description given below of what the king should be like, will fit him to a T.

¹⁰ An oracle is on the lips of a king; his mouth does not sin in judgment.

¹¹ A just balance and scales are the LORD’s; all the weights in the bag are his work.

¹² It is an abomination to kings to do evil, for the throne is established by righteousness.

¹³ Righteous lips are the delight of a king, and he loves him who speaks what is right.

¹⁴ A king’s wrath is a messenger of death, and a wise man will appease it.

¹⁵ In the light of a king’s face there is life, and his favor is like the clouds that bring the spring rain. (Proverbs 16:10–15, ESV)

When a king speaks it is like an oracle from God to which people look for divine guidance.  He speaks with authority and so his mouth should not sin in judgment.  If this proverb were taken as absolute fact it would be a lie, hence the emphatic “should” that must be supplied.  Verses 12-15 give confirmation of this, as does, strangely, verse 11.

It is a theme of Proverbs that those who use scales and balances to do business should not use unjust weights.  The standards must be consistent throughout commerce as a reflection of Yahweh’s justice.  Correctly standardized weights and balances in one’s bag are evidence of Yahweh’s influence in the one using them.  It would be so easy to fudge, but the Yahweh-influenced person will not do so.

The same is true of a king.  It is so easy to misuse his power (David had Uriah killed) for his own purposes.  But that is an abomination and a throne that makes kingship viable must be established by righteousness.  And such a king will reward righteous lips and love them and surround himself with them, even to hold himself accountable to remain true to justice.  His wrath should only be expressed against unrighteousness because it holds the power of death and his favor should only be expressed for righteousness because it is life-giving rain.

How does this translate toward democracies like ours?  We should only elect officials who stand for righteousness.  It has become the unfortunate policy of recent days to subordinate character to political position as the basis for voter support, and it has resulted in our electing men and women of abominable character.  We have brought judgment down upon ourselves and so have found ourselves with only immoral candidates to choose from.