Proverbs 20:26-30

Proverbs 20:26-30
English Standard Version
26 A wise king winnows the wicked
    and drives the wheel over them.
27 The spirit of man is the lamp of the LORD,
    searching all his innermost parts.
28 Steadfast love and faithfulness preserve the king,
    and by steadfast love his throne is upheld.
29 The glory of young men is their strength,
    but the splendor of old men is their gray hair.
30 Blows that wound cleanse away evil;
    strokes make clean the innermost parts.

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The winnowing fork was used to help separate the kernels of wheat that were good from the chaff that would blow away and was worthless.  Typically, the wicked are referred to as the chaff that the wind drives away and that the fire burns up (the worthless part), but, here, it seems like Solomon is talking about looking for the wicked so that they can be ground up as the kernels of wheat are ground into flour.  This is a picture of judgment that hopefully transforms the heart of the wicked, but even if it doesn't, it warns them of the coming judgment for them if they do not repent.

The next verse is a little hard for me to put my finger on exactly, but there are a couple of different ways I've seen it translated.  The first is that the Spirit of the LORD lights up even the dark places of our innermost thoughts and feelings and nothing is hidden from Him.  Another is that the LORD has given us a conscience that helps reveal the truth about our thoughts and feelings to us (that part of us that is made in His image and from breathing His Spirit into us).  The difference is if He is the one doing the searching or we are the ones doing the searching.  I prefer to think that Solomon is saying that the LORD searches our hearts and knows the things we think are deep, dark corners that no one can see as well as if were outside in the open on a cloudless, sunny day.  This goes along with what Solomon was just saying about winnowing and sorting and sifting.  The LORD has perfect vision and knowledge.

A good king loves his people with the same kind of covenant love that the LORD has for His covenant people.  In fact, the king is to be an image (not a perfect image) of the LORD to His people.  

God has gifted young men with strength and old men with grey hair which is a sign of the wisdom that they have from years of experience.  Both are gifts from the LORD, but I think Solomon would make the point that both are to help each other.  The young that are strong and ambitious need the wisdom of the older generation and the older generation need the strength and vigor of the younger generation when their bodies will no longer do the things that they know need done.

God can use correction, even in the form of a beating given by the king or other authorities to purge the evil from a man and make him clean.  The goal of such punishment should always be the hope that the person repents and is transformed by the gospel--that he is changed and will "go and sin no more."  When criminals continue to harden and there is no repentance (they only try to learn how to be better criminals and not get caught the next time), then there is a time and a place for the death penalty (according to the Bible).  God has entrusted this power to the civil authorities for punishing the wicked and protecting the innocent.  Not all governments will agree on when and how this power should be executed, but God has given the power and the responsibility to use it to all civil governing authorities (see Romans 13:4)