Proverbs 24:23-27--More Sayings of the Wise

Proverbs 24:23-27
English Standard Version

More Sayings of the Wise
23 These also are sayings of the wise.

Partiality in judging is not good.
24 Whoever says to the wicked, “You are in the right,”
    will be cursed by peoples, abhorred by nations,
25 but those who rebuke the wicked will have delight,
    and a good blessing will come upon them.
26 Whoever gives an honest answer
    kisses the lips.

​27 Prepare your work outside;
    get everything ready for yourself in the field,
    and after that build your house.

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"The Wise" here may still be Solomon, or they may be others that the LORD granted wisdom to like those that wrote the final few chapters of Proverbs.  I am going to assume that Solomon is still writing here as we often assume David is the author of a Psalm that we do not know the author for, I assume that Solomon is the author here--not simply because he wrote a majority of the Proverbs, but because he is named in the sections before and after this.  It is possible that Solomon is using this phrase "Sayings of the Wise" to deflect attention away from himself (either he possibly learned these things from other wise people growing up, or maybe "the Wise" is God Himself who taught Solomon this wisdom).  Let's dive in and examine the wisdom that has been given to us from the LORD for today.

Judges are supposed to make righteous judgments that are not based on any kind of favoritism or based on a bribe they have taken from either party.  They are expected to act in a way that is impartial and above reproach so that no one will question the integrity of them or their judgments.  Those who pervert justice and let the guilty go free will be turned over to the people and nations for punishment, just as they have turned the people and nations over to the wickedness of the evil man by their perversion of justice.

If, however, the judges rebuke the wicked and punish them for the evil that they do, then blessings will come to them, the people they serve and all the other nations that will be blessed by their obedience and observance of the Law of the LORD.  Things are better for everyone when we obey, even when it means making hard choices to banish someone or to execute capital punishment.  We should be honest and true not only in our words, but also in our conduct--that is, the way we live should tell the truth about what is in our hearts and who we worship and what we value.

The author tells the one he is writing this to that he should take care of his animals and the food that he is raising before worrying about building a house for himself.  The house will do no good if he doesn't have food for his belly and he won't have money to keep building the house to completion if he doesn't have some kind of income.  Even the homeless are expected to work to make enough money to feed themselves and their families.  Once you have worked enough to take care of your daily needs, then you can spend the rest of your time and money building a place of shelter for yourself and your family (often times we will not have enough hours in the day to do this by ourselves, and we will need to depend on others to help us and bring the LORD's blessing to us in our time of greatest need).  More on this tomorrow as we'll talk about what the field of a sluggard (a lazy man) looks like as opposed to the field that the wise man is being told to work and tend to here.