TRUNEWS with Rick Wiles - Morning Manna - Nov 6, 2025 - Proverbs 16:10-15 - Righteous Throne: Power, Justice, and Divine Favor

Episode Date: November 6, 2025

Proverbs 16:10–15 reveals God’s design for authority and leadership. A divine sentence rests on the lips of the king; his rule is to mirror heaven’s justice. Honest scales belong to the Lord, for righteousness, not strength, establishes the throne. Righteous lips bring delight, while wisdom pacifies wrath and turns death away. Yet above all, the light of the king’s countenance—his favor—is life itself, like the refreshing “cloud of the latter rain.” In this Morning Manna study, Rick Wiles and Doc Burkhart uncover the pattern of righteous rule, the danger of corrupted power, and the life-giving radiance of divine favor.Teachers: Rick Wiles and Doc BurkhartYou can partner with us by visiting FaithandValues.com, calling 1-800-576-2116, or by mail at PO Box 399 Vero Beach, FL 32961.MEGA FIRE reveals the ancient recurring cycles of war and economic collapse that have shaped history for 600 years. These patterns predict America is now entering its most dangerous period since World War II. Get your copy today!www.megafire.worldGet high-quality emergency preparedness food today from American Reserves!www.AmericanReserves.comIt’s the Final Day! The day Jesus Christ bursts into our dimension of time, space, and matter. Now available in eBook and audio formats! Order Final Day from Amazon today!www.Amazon.com/Final-DayApple users, you can download the audio version on Apple Books!www.books.apple.com/final-dayPurchase the 4-part DVD set or start streaming Sacrificing Liberty today.www.Sacrificingliberty.com

Good morning, everybody. Welcome to Morning Mata. It's Thursday. And this has been a good week of lessons. I don't know how it's impacting you, but it is definitely having an effect on me as I study. And as I'm teaching, that's the part I love. As I'm teaching the word God's speaking to me. and I'm learning with you as he's as we're going through the class.

So today we're going to be looking at Proverbs chapter 16 versus 10 through 15. That's the cluster of Proverbs for today's study, 10 through 15. And let's pray. I've got a good report to tell you after we pray, Doc. All right. So let's pray. Almighty God, our Father in heaven. Father, we love you. We praise you. We glorify you. Father, let your light shine upon us and through us, Father. Let us radiate your light, Father. Let us radiate your joy and your peace and your calmness in a world that is trouble, Father. our hope and our confidence is in you in you we are complete we lack nothing father you instruct us to seek wisdom and understanding and we have dedicated many months of this year to studying the book of Proverbs the book of wisdom and so

Father we ask again today that your Holy Spirit would direct this Bible study class and bring forth knowledge and wisdom and insight for us to understand your word, to apply it, and to teach it to others. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen. Amen. Let me get a good report. Before we read the word, okay? All right. Here's the good report. my longtime friend Nathan, and he's an old buddy from decades ago. I haven't seen him eye to eye for several decades, but we stay in touch. We talk by phone and email and texts. And several weeks ago, I want to remind you that it was Nathan who called me that night in

2020 when I was near death with COVID and I'm not exaggerating when I say near death my my breathing was becoming fainer and fainer and I actually thought I am I sleep I'm I'm just going to take my last breath that's it and I was so weak and sick beyond description. Susan had COVID. It was a bad scene. What was it, Doc, seven people on our staff had COVID at the same time? Seven people.

I think I was the only one in the office. You were the only one. You were the only one that didn't have COVID at that time. So Nathan lives in all, in in in Colorado and he had no idea of a sick but he called me that night and he said what's wrong I go what do you know I was barely talking oh what are you asking he goes something's wrong with you and I told him I said I'm really sick I guess I have COVID I had not even been diagnosed with it yet and the first words out of his mouth were you shall not die

And he kept repeating it. Rick, listen to me, you shall not die. After that call, I opened up my Bible, and it fell open to the Psalm that has those words. I shall not die, but live. And testify of the glories of God. and so all night long I kept repeating those words I shall not die

I shall live I shall testify of the glory of God the next day is when my son took me to the hospital and they admitted me right away and I had COVID and pneumonia okay now fast forward several weeks ago

Nathan contacted me and said hey I'm in I'm in a lot of trouble I go what what's going on he said I have a hole under my tongue and what are you talking about he goes and told me the story he said that several weeks prior to that he woke up one morning and he felt something wrong in his mouth he looked in the mirror and he said there were two white dots under his tongue and each day the dots got bigger until they formed a mass and he said it became a white mass under his tongue and he went to a doctor and a doctor's you know it's like ah you know it's it's a mouth sore gave him some antibiotics didn't touch it okay another week goes by it's it's getting bigger okay then it's It started drilling down in his throat and opened up a large hole in his throat. That's when he got very concerned, went to another doctor, that doctor said, you've got

to go to a specialist in Colorado Springs right away, right away. And so they did a biopsy. And that's when the doctor there said, look, all I can tell you is you better hope it's fast-moving mouth cancer because if it's not mouth cancer i had no idea what this is now think about a doctor saying your best hope is it's mouth cancer so they did the biopsy and he he he said the the biopies it's not cancer it looks like cancer but it's viral and it was a virus unknown in the united states okay and samples were sent to government labs okay i'm not going to say anything else things that he disclosed to me okay

they started to become extremely concerned because there was an unknown virus that was eating his flesh. So, Doc, I called him last night, and he sounded, he sounded chipper. I go, mate, what's going on? He goes, it's gone. I go, what's gone? He goes, the mass. He says, I got up Sunday morning.

looked in the mirror and it's gone praise God and he said the hole is about 75% closed he said he's completely gone see I said to Nate on the night that he told me about this I said

Nate you told me I shall not die I'm going to tell you you shall not die amen and he was saying Rick the doctor's telling me my best hope is it's fast moving throat cancer I said it doesn't matter you shall not die

you and I are going to stand on it that's what you told me when I was near death and I didn't die and I'm telling you right now Nate you shall not die and I came I came to the morning manna class and I told you and many of you have prayed and I'm telling you today

that the mysterious mass under his tongue disappeared this past Sunday Saturday night Sunday morning he said it was there when he went to bed Saturday night it was gone on Sunday morning praise God so I had nothing do with any kind of radioactivity

or poison but no they said it's viral interesting All right, I'll just leave it at that, Doc, a virus that's never been seen in the United States. Wow. That eats your flesh. Okay. So now, obviously, there are government agencies trying to find the source of where he contracted this virus.

Okay. so but the main thing i i don't want to focus on the virus i want to focus on the virus killer the lord jesus christ the word of god is the antibiotic faith faith you have faith Nate had faith he had faith he had faith when i told him you shall not die he goes well I'm just going to agree with you I'm not going to die I said good we got something to work with now

you got a hole in your tongue going down your throat and you've got faith you're not going to die that's good praise God all right and then people started praying so

listen there's nothing that you're going to face that's bigger than God that's why we devote Fridays to Faith Friday to build up your faith to build up my faith to build up Doc's faith we don't know what we're going to encounter tomorrow

we're going to need faith supernatural healing faith the Christ touched him in his sleep and remove the virus. So that's the Jesus we serve. Praise God. That's the Jesus who's coming back. Okay.

I hope that's a word of encouragement for someone out there today. If he'll do it for Nathan, he'll do it for you too. Amen. Amen. But Nathan didn't allow fear to overtake him. That was the key thing. He did not allow fear.

He said the pain was beyond anything he's ever suffered in his life. And he said there was no level of medication that they could give him. That was numbing the pain. But he didn't allow fear to overtake him. And he stood on the word. he would not die, okay, that Christ would heal him.

So keep this in mind, whatever you face in the days ahead. You be the one to say to somebody, you shall not die, but you shall live. You shall glorify God. Okay, our study today, verses 10 through 15, Proverbs chapter 16, Doc, would you? Let me read. Did I pray? Not yet. I didn't pray. Okay. Father, my father, our father in heaven. Father, we just thank you for the miracle you did in Nathan's body. And thank you, Father, for the miracle that you did in his being, Father. He'll never be the same. He'll never be the same after what he went through.

Father, you are magnificent. You are mighty. You are beyond our comprehension. And our faith and devotion is to your son, our king, Jesus Christ. Holy Spirit, please take charge of this Bible study and teach us our Father's Word in the name of Jesus. Amen. Amen. And welcome to morning man.

no matter where you are in the world, and we are all over the world, from Russia to Australia to Japan, to Malaysia, Brazil, and all points in between welcome across the U.S. and Canada as well. We are continuing our study in Proverd Chapter 16. We're going to pick back up on verse 10. So if you'll follow along with me here, I'm reading from the King James this morning, verses 10 through 15. A divine sentence is in the lips of the king. His mouth transgresseth, not in judgment. A just weight and balance are the Lord's. All the weights of the bag are his work. Verse 12 is an abomination to kings to commit wickedness, for the throne is established by righteousness.

Righteous lips are a delight of kings, and they love him that speaketh right. The wrath of a king is as messengers of death, but a wise man will pacify it. In verse 15, in the light of the king's countenance is life and his favor is as a cloud of the latter rain so if I were to give a title today

Rick it would be how to live like a king yes and the responsibility that comes with being a king amen okay so keep in mind that we are sons and

daughters of a king. So we are royal. Yes. Apostle Peter said that we are a royal priesthood. Right. And Paul said we're seated in heavenly places in Christ

Jesus. We're seated with Christ. Right now. Right now. Yes. So verse 10. By the way, I've got six verses in this chapter. So I'm going to go much faster today because I've already spent time talking about Nathan's healing.

So verse 10, a divine sentence is in the lips of the king. His mouth transgresseth not in judgment. The subtoagint says there is an oracle upon the lips of a king, and his mouth shall not err in judgment. Well, look at the first half. A divine sentence is in the lips of the king, okay? The divine sentence, the same as Oracle. The Septuagin says an Oracle, okay?

The Hebrew word is translated here as Oracle or divine sentence means a sacred pronouncement. sacred pronouncement an inspired decision a sacred pronouncement is in the lips of the king now this verse is the and this whole cluster this is talking about the ideal king not the way the way the earthly rulers are expected to rule and it's not just a king a monarch in modern times this would include presidents and prime ministers governors they are they hold delegated authority they are not many gods they're not little gods but whether they recognize it or not they are gods they are gods representatives of justice on earth.

This is where a lot of them get themselves in trouble. They actually think they got themselves to the political office that they're holding, all by themselves. Not realizing Almighty God elevated them to that position and then holds them responsible on Judgment Day for how they ruled their nation. the king's role is to render judgments consistent with divine truth yes when's the last time you've heard any world leader say my decision is based on what I perceived after studying the Holy Scriptures.

I can't recall anyone ever saying that. Not in my lifetime. And what would be the reaction if he or she said it? Oh, the world would say, oh, you're holding the superstitious values or whatever it might be instead of, you know, ruling for humanity. Yeah, I could see a high level of

criticisms of a leader if they did that but it doesn't matter this is what god says right and just to be clear it doesn't mean that everything a king says uh is from the lord this is the ideal picture of a just king under god's leadership that exactly that's something to consider this is what god expects of a ruler right god expects the ruler's lips to speak sacred pronouncements. Yes. What do we have with most of the political leaders of recent times, foul-mouth vulgar cursing,

even in public now? It used to be the only did it, you know, like Richard Nixon cussed behind the scenes, but now President Trump cusses out in the public. Right. You know, in front of Christian class, crowds and so and they clap for him oh yeah why not see he's he's um I'll just read what the word says okay yes so the proverb is assuming that rulers rule under divine guidance

that they carry out justice that is in alignment with God's will. Once again, that's the ideal situation. Now, you go back into ancient Israel in the law of Moses, Deuteronomy, Chapter 17, verses 18 through 20. Doc, can you open that up? Deuteronomy.

17 versus 18, 19, 20. So what this teaches us is that Israel's monarchs were required by God to consult the law of God daily. That was a requirement. If you were going to be the king of Israel, if you were going to have any leadership role in Israel, you were required by God to study his law daily. You have the scripture? I'm ready. So once again, this is Deuteronomy, chapter 17, verses 18, 19, and 20.

And this is what the Word of God says. This is the command to kings and leaders. And it shall be when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book out of that which is, before the priest, the Levites, and it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes and do them, that his heart be not lifted up above his brethren, and that he turned not aside from the commandment to the right hand or to the left, to the end that he may

prolong his days in the kingdom, and he and his children in the men. of Israel. There was an expectation for divine order to be implemented by kings, but kings influenced by the divine word. Yes. They were to study the word of God every day of their life, that God would prolong the king's days in his kingdom, including his children. so political authority is never autonomous it is the stewardship of divine justice and when when human rulers act in alignment

see we get back to this alignment concept again being in alignment with god's will when human rulers make decisions in alignment with God's will, their decisions carry heavenly authority. Correct. Some of them may do it by accident. They just stumble upon it and guys says, okay, that's close enough. We're going to go with it. so every word of judgment or counsel by a political leader is to be weighed as if God himself were listening right doctor do any of these political these evangelical counselors that have access to the

white house do any of them ever say to the president sir speak with the knowledge that Almighty God is listening to every word no that's we you and I both know that's not happening we know from personal experience that's not right it's not happening

they they but the evangelical right here in the country has been enraptured by a mistranslation of Romans 13 you can't you can't read Romans 13 and then come back to this. You have to weigh this passage today out against Romans 13.

This is the ideal government. Right. It describes what should be true, not what is true. Right. Let me rephrase that. It describes what should be true, not what always is. as what always is isn't true

this is telling us how God expects government to be run it's a portrait of righteous political leadership that a faithful godly ruler doesn't twist

judgments and decisions for personal gain or political favor or to harm his enemies but all always to honor God and to do what's right for the people. It says, His mouth transgresseth, not in judgment.

Transgress in judgment means to pervert truth or to compromise justice. So the king's words must be anchored in. integrity so what happens when a ruler speaks unjustly there's reverberation throughout the society that he governs right so what sort of symptoms would you see you would see corruption you would see injustice you would see abuse of the poor rebellion abuse of the innocent or even taking the lives of the innocent right so those are the symptoms that's those aren't the cause those are the symptoms of a society that has abandoned god and leadership that has abandoned god that's right so jesus christ king jesus

he is the king of kings right the ultimate ruler he is our king now this is showing us how he rules Psalm 452 speaks of Christ grace is poured into thy lips Jesus's

judgments are pure his words never err His reign is righteousness personified. Do you desire to see the perfect king, then look upon Jesus? It's why we should be his people right now on earth, as messed up as this planet is, as perverted and twisted and violent and corrupt as the world system is. His people should be begging. King Jesus, please come and establish your kingdom now.

You start with me. Yes. His kingdom is already in effect. But what I'm saying is come and eliminate these world. Come and reign, eliminate these worldly governments and you reign. what the the

the Solomon is he was pointing forward to the son of David yes now Solomon was a son a son of David but not the son of David

yes he was pointing to the day that there would be a savior the son of David, whose lips never transgressed in judgment. Yes.

Doc, Jesus described himself in John 5, verse 30. He said, I can of mine own self do nothing. As I hear, I judge. and my judgment is just because I seek not my own will,

but the will of a father which has sent me. So in Christ, the divine sacred statement, the divine sacred oracle, and the divine king are one. they're one and the same Jesus Christ King Jesus can't speak anything else but truth

Charles Bridges said every magistrate is but a shadow of the great king his lips must speak as one conscious of holding God's balance in his hand Amen Albert Barnes the proverb sets forth the ideal of monarchy, divine truth and human lips, divine justice, and human rule. Alexander McLaren, the best rulers are those who remember they are not kings of men merely,

but servants of God. And Charles Spurgeon, happy the nation whose king speaks as in God's presence, whose judgments are weighed in heaven's scales before uttered on earth. verse 11 adjust weight and balance are the lords all the weights of the bag are his work so we went from the king of the nation

down to the street level here down the shop owner yeah where the where the trade is taking place yeah you down at the meat market the fish market the vegetable market so what does the word have to say to the guy that's selling falafel down in the market, Rick? You better weigh it accurately and charge fairly.

So just as there's a divine order for the king, there's also a divine order for the common person living their life day to day. You got it. That's it right there. We could move on to the next verse. That's it. it means all true standards of honesty and fairness originate from god we we know what this means the weight and the balance okay adjust weight and balance are the lords okay they represent weight and balance

they represent fairness God is claiming ownership of honest business dealings he's saying to cheat is not just to wrong a person but it is to

offend the God of truth yes and what God is really saying is that business affairs business ethics are a sacred duty and you've shared that story the guy that you worked with in the past and said well that's just business isn't that the attitude the cutthroat business person everything that's just business well listen God's in the business of business that's right And he expects a divine approach to just weights.

Yeah, and I shared a story about when I was a child, the little country marketplace near my house, I'd walk to it, get whatever my grandmother wanted me to get. And she'd always say, now you keep an eye on old Bob that he doesn't put his thumb on that scale. okay i go what she goes he he cheats all right now i don't know whether he did or not doc but she he was convinced she was convinced okay well what was if he did what was he doing just slightly touching this scale right so that you're you're getting less produce than what you're paying for okay if he did that god watched every time

so here's here's the message god watches over the marketplace as closely as he watches over the church or the king or the king he's watching remember in in the gospel where um the widow gave her two mites her tiny little coins the rich were tossing in hey here's here's a couple bucks you know they were tossing it in as they went in but the widow she tossed in what was called mites very small coins but it was all she had right where was jesus when he made that comment when he said but the widow has given all that she has go read to scripture he was standing off to the side watching people give their offerings right see the king is watching today people give or not give their offerings He's watching transactions. He's at every cash register.

He's watching. So, fairness in business is worship in action. Amen. and deceit and trade is atheism because you're saying there is no God that can see or you're saying yeah there's a God but his eyes aren't that good

he can't see all the way down here to what I just did but says the Lord's it means This is, the weights and the balances are the Lord's. Yes. The next time you see a set of scales, you just remember, God owns them. Did you ever think of scales in a business that is the property of the Lord? See, the shop owner would say, no, I bought those scales. They're mine.

No, God says they're mine. They're mine. Read what the scripture says. A just weight and balance are the lords. Okay. So if the weight and balance are not just, they're not his. So who you doing business for? Could that be the devil?

Certainly for yourself, that's for sure. So, all right, all the weights, all the weights of the bag are his works, are his work. All the weights of the bag. Doc, what is this talking about, the weights of the bag? Well, it used to be that whenever, you know, you'd have different merchants, they would be traveling between different towns and everything. would carry their own personal weight stones, right? Yes.

And so they would use their personal stones to measure against the stone of a particular merchant they might encounter. They've never met before. How do you know that his weight is accurate? Well, you have a weight that is accurate. And so God has an accurate weight. And so God has a standard. God has a standard, a system of justice.

and if you tried to substitute everything it was like a theft it was like stealing so what is basically saying is that honest weights are God's territory and anytime you mess with that it's sort of like moving a landmark too you know you were you were interfering with the divine order there it is you got it's practical atheism it's divine order yes his works all the weights in the bag are his work yes so imagine a merchant that travels from let's say india and he's he has his own personal weights that he carries with him well imagine that god has his own personal weights and he measures every transaction against uh his word there you go you got it he his work means he is the designer of the order he is the inspector to make sure that his his justice his fairness his standards are being applied right and isn't it interesting we went from in verse 10 the justice in a king's purview and now justice in the

marketplace. It's talking about justice across all of society, really. Yeah. So this proverb is linking the marketplace and the sanctuary. And God is saying both of them are altars. Doc, he's saying the cash register, the checkout line, including the online, including the online. stores

are as sacred as a church altar it is sacred it is taking it to another level. It is taking it to another level. So. God's justice is not limited to the king, the president, the governor, the prime minister.

It's not limited to judges and courts. It gets all the way down to the nitty gritty to weights and scales and words and hearts and intentions and motives. Right. And we're not just talking about the merchant side of things here too. We're also talking about the person who deals with the transaction. Have you ever seen someone, they are at the grocery store and they slip something into their cart that doesn't get rung up or, you know, they forget about something or they try to, you know, finagle a discount that they don't deserve or something like it. It's the same thing. It's the very same thing. It works, it cuts both ways there. Susan told me a couple weeks ago She was at a yard sale

And she watched a man Removing price tags At it At a yard sale I mean it don't get any cheaper than a yard sale Okay But that's theft That's God

That's an abomination to God Yes See this This applies all the way down to yard sales. John Gill, honest weights and measures are of the Lord's appointing. Deceitful ones are the devil's invention and the sinner's shame. Charles Bridges, religion is not confined to the temple. The balance and the bag are under God's inspection as truly as the altar.

Charles Simeon, all weights are his work not only ordained by him but examined by him he is witness to every bargain and guardian of every truth Alexander McLaren the world divides life into sacred and secular scripture unites them the scales of the merchant

and the prayers of the saint are weighed in the same hand. Amen. Charles Spurgeon, the weights of the bag are God's concern. The Lord presides over the market as surely as over the pulpit. A lie in trade

is a sin before his throne. Verse 12. It is an abomination to kings to commit wickedness. for the throne is established by righteousness. Septuagint translation, an unjust deed is an abomination to kings, for the throne is established by righteousness.

We know what the word abomination. Okay, is an abomination to kings to commit wickedness. Abomination is the strongest Hebrew word for disgust. to be utterly repulsive to god gagging it doesn't get any worse than this abomination so for a ruler wickedness is not merely a sin it's a betrayal of the divine trust a distortion of sacred authority to rule the people in fairness and justice so evil in political leaders is treason against the divine order they are meant to uphold boy it puts corruption at another level done the doc we see these politicians they get away with their crimes and we go there's another one

who got away with it no they didn't get away with it and the deception that goes along a lot evangelicals is romans 13 it doesn't matter what they do god's placed them in authority well there's an expectation among those in authority to deal justly yes and on judgment day their corruption their wickedness is going to be used against them right unless they have repentant. And by the way, we're under no obligation to follow a wicked king in his wickedness.

No. No, you're under obligation. But that's taught today, isn't it? Isn't that taught today? Yes. The people who teach that would have criticized John the Baptist. Yes. Well, John, you got your head

chopped off because You didn't talk about Herod. You ran your mouth. You should have read Romans 13, John. Oh, we haven't written it yet. We haven't even gotten there yet. So the higher of the office, the greater the offense when the office is abused. Yes.

For the throne is established. by righteousness established means to make firm to be secure to be enduring to have stability built upon what divine order right i hope by the time we're done proverbs divine order in your sleep you just think about divine order god's will divine order he is a god of order yes not your order not mine his order right and we are required to be in alignment with his order and when it does it pleases him and things go well for us yes now once again this the ideal situation and only christ had the throne of righteousness that's the only true throne of righteousness. But that doesn't mean that those in positions of leadership

can't strive to be like Christ in their leadership to deal justly. There's an expectation from God. That's why we take politics as entertainment here in America, but when God looks at those in authority and leadership, he is giving them a divine calling to deal justly. to deal out his divine justice yes um doc i don't know my history of england enough um who was the who was the queen of england of england in the in the late 1800s probably Victoria Victoria Yes

Yes Victoria Victoria I don't know a lot about her but I do know this that she

openly confessed her faith in Christ Right And Alexander McLaren see she died in 1901 he died in 1905 Alexander McLaren often spoke

and wrote about Queen Victoria's righteous rule how she was a godly queen again I don't know the details and we have people in the class from England I'm sure you can help me with this I'm trying to give an example okay have we seen men and women on

thrones in modern times and modern being you know the last three 400 years that ruled attempted to rule in righteousness so righteousness is the architecture of a peaceful kingdom corruption and injustice are termites who they eat away the foundation of the kingdom i was chatting very early this morning with a friend of this ministry he texts me very early and We were talking about, you know, America is crumbling. And the church doesn't seem to be aware of it. It's like, oh, we lost that last election Tuesday. We've got another election coming.

And next year, forget the elections. Yes. you need to cry out for mercy corrupt empires crumble just nations endure and the lifespan of an empire is approximately 300 years

and America has reached its expiration date and people can say all they want about make America great again you better make the Americans holy again because there's nothing you're going to do that's going to change the country unless people change so when when a righteous ruler upholds God's truth God upholds the ruler.

All right, I got to keep moving, okay. As you point out, Doc, Christ, Christ a king. He is, this proverb points to him, whose reign is established forever in holiness and truth. Christ's throne is unshakable because it's built on perfect righteousness. Earthly rulers are expected to imitate Jesus's moral pattern.

Right. That's the message here. Charles Bridges, a throne supported by righteousness, stands firm. One propped up by injustice totters by its own weight. The scepter of the wicked is brittle in the hand. Albert Barnes, the strength of government lies not in armies but injustice. Moral decay is the ruin of political stability. Charles Simeon, the ruler's virtue is the people's security. His sin becomes a nation's snare. Charles Spurgeon, no kingdom is so well

established as that whose king is holy sin is the worm that eats the root of royal trees sin is the root hey is the worm that eats the root that eats the root of royal trees oh i got 13 14 15 to do yet i got to go faster 13. Righteous lips are the delight of kings, and they love him that speak right. So righteous lips describe the words that are spoken in truth and fairness and integrity and alignment with God's moral order. Those are righteous lips. so this proverb is portraying the ideal political leader who rejoices in honesty rather than flattery right and isn't flattery the the current currency of political influence today

of course righteous lips are accepted acceptable to a king and he loves right words okay so righteous speech is to a king what correct guidance is to a pilot to a ship's captain it keeps the ship of state of state from running a ground and hitting rocks and splitting apart the king needs to hear

righteous speech delight it conveys pleasure approval satisfaction the joy the happiness the rulers experience

when justice is reinforced by truth so truth is the soul of sound government and deceit is the poison look at the level of deceit of deception that's in governments today yes what do we say about political leaders we don't trust them

we don't believe anything they say why deception they love him that speaketh right words that are straight sincere, fearless they're upright it's praising

the courage of honest counsel and advice even when it contradicts the comfort of the king right what it's saying here is it it says the word love implies respect trust affection that the ruler values the one who tells him the truth yes not not the one who tells him what he wants to hear so this is the the antidote to flattery i want you down to the uh charles bridges flatteries is the bane of kings faithfulness is their blessing he that speaks right preserves the throne by keeping it near to righteousness charles simeon

the king's truest friend is not he who sues his passion, but he who speaks the truth of God without fear. Amen. Charles Spurgeon, better the faithful wound of a wise friend than the kiss of a flatterer. Righteous lips win royal hearts and divine favor. Two more, verse 14. The wrath of a king is as messengers of death,

but a wise man will pacify it. the wrath of a king is as messengers of death so in ancient times and and there are parts of the world today it still holds true a king's anger literally can result in execution right life and death or in his hand right if the stories were true about Saddam Hussein there were stories that in cabinet meetings he'd take his revolver out of his gun and shoot a member of his cabinet

that would be a time to adjourn the meeting wouldn't it you might sit very quiet one of the two I'd like to make a motion we we adjourn for the day I wouldn't be making any motion at all if that was happening Well, the Secretary of Defense is bleeding all over me, sir. Well, here, I'll help you bleed over him. No, some of these guys, they would just kill people. You make them mad, the wrath of the king, that he could send out orders for swift retribution, for capital, punishment for execution.

President Trump argued before the Supreme Court, his lawyers did in 2024, that the president should have the authority to do anything and not be held accountable for it, even if it meant murder. Not exaggerating. That's exactly right. And the Supreme Court gave that authority. Right. which is scary

so the proverb is teaching us that the gravity of authority and the danger of anger are closely tied together wrath in a ruler unrestrained

becomes a destructive force right anger magnified by power multiplies injustice so the message to rulers is this the greater your authority the greater your need for self-control true but what do you do if you live in a society where you have an angry king or have an angry leader

well this proverb gives us an answer to that too doesn't it yes but a wise man will pacify it the word pacify here means uh the hebrew word cap cap cap cap cap cap cap meant to appease to atone to cover uh suggesting an an act of reconciliation to persuade a powerful person, not to carry out the actions that they just spoke. It's teaching us that a wise man or woman can calm the wrath of a powerful person, not through flattery, not through appeasement. but by gentle reasoning, respectful speech, gracious conduct.

What does that look like? If you are, let's say Daniel. Daniel was a wise man who served in his lifetime for, ungodly kings that's right and some were out of their head and some were very angry too yes so let's say one of them was in a rage and said to his um the leader of his military go find that guy and behead him and heard it. I'm just making this as an example, you know, hypothetical example. How would Daniel have, how would he have handled the situation, gentle reasoning, respectful speech,

gracious conduct, gracious conduct. Perhaps he would have bowed before the king, Your Majesty, may I speak, that's respectful speech. The gracious, his conduct is he bowed before the king with his head down he said may i speak the king's angry the king's furious he's hoffin and puffin he's he just ordered the execution of a human and daniel or whoever this wise person is waits he's got his head down he's showing respect he's being gracious may I speak sir yes you may speak your majesty you have every right to execute this man nobody would hold you nobody would accuse you being unjust in carrying out this action see what he's doing he's he's you agree with an angry person

You agree. I understand the purpose. I understand why you're angry. I understand why you're furious. So what does the king say? You do? You understand? Yes, sir.

I understand. I consider this. Yeah, because then the kings, well, then I'm going to do it. Sir, may I say this? Yes, say it. There may be negative repercussions on, your kingdom in the aftermath like what and now you're explaining see gentle reasoning he you're bringing down the level of tension and hostility this is what police officers do when they are called

in to to disarm a person and and to you know talk them down and walk them out they got they have to find a place to agree with them i understand why you have a gun at that person's head but you know you really don't want to do this here i'm going to tell you why okay and you got to bring them down proverbs 15 one what did we just a week or so ago a soft answer turneth away wrath yes so the wise people do not meet fury with fury or defiance they meet fury with gentleness with discernment and they diffuse the tension yes so to to pacify somebody's anger and wrath is a sign of spiritual maturity Right. So if we take this all the way out, and once again, this whole passage reflects Jesus Christ.

The same thing here. Jesus is our mediator between the Father and us. He's our mediator. There is no other. Why do we even need a mediator? Because from the Father's perspective, God's justice, we all deserve death. But instead, Christ is our mediator, pleading our case before the Father. Father, consider this. The price has been paid. Yes. So Christ is the ultimate wise mediator. Yes.

He's there when we sin, Father, before you carry out judgment. May I share with you something I know. I experienced when I was in a human body on earth see he Jesus knows everything we go through

and he's able to pacify God's wrath and mediate and bring peace and reconciliation and so we are to imitate the redemptive work of Christ who is the Prince of Peace

I'll move on Matthew Henry said princes are men and their passions like other men's but their wrath is as much their wrath is as much more dangerous as the power is greater a wise subject will be gentle to turn it away Albert Barnes a wise man man calms anger by righteous reasoning, not flattery, his wisdom becomes a shield between power and destruction.

Alexander McLaren, the power to pacify anger is one of the noblest proofs of wisdom, for only the meek truly understands strength. Charles Spurgeon, you're like this one, doc. A soft tongue breaks hard bones. And wisdom walks unarmed into the presence of wrath and comes forth a conquer. Wow. That tells me Spurgeon intervened in some tense situations.

You can't write something like that and not have experienced it. Yeah, I remember one time I walked in unarmed. right um last verse verse 15 in in the light of the king's countenance is life and his favor is as a cloud of the latter rain hallelujah well what makes you excited about this one doc because it it just sums up the ultimate completion that justice will prevail in the end in that final day that's right in the light of the king's countenance is life the light represents approval god's presence benevolence the the radiant expression of god's goodwill so this is talking about an earthly king in the light of the king's countenance is life but as doc has told us

This is ultimately Jesus Christ. Right. So to be in the light of the king's face is to enjoy his protection, his security, his honor. There's a transforming power of favor. How one word or look of grace from authority can bring renewed hope. there's a transformation that takes place when a person in authority looks upon you with favor when the king of heaven shines his face upon his people spiritual vitality returns when i pray for you this class i pray every day

God shine your face upon this morning manna class that's part of the prayer shine your face let your favor be upon the members of the morning manna Bible study what am I praying that God smiles upon you I'm just saying hey Lord just take a moment right now look down at the class and smile at them.

Because one smile from the Lord changes your day. Favor restores what wrath destroyed. Light revives what darkness threatens. Yes.

His favor is as a cloud of the latter rain. It doesn't mean much to people in the West. But it did, and it still does, in the Middle East and Palestine in many places of the world. It's the spring rainfall that ripens crops before the harvest. the rain comes after a long dry season so the cloud of the latter rain means abundance yes not a drizzle

this is downpour not a flood not not something's going to wipe out the crops no a soaking rain farmers and gardeners know what I'm talking about the kind of rain that you're just like oh that's this is wonderful rain it's it's abundant it's falling it's been for hours and hours it's not you know

it's not flooding the land it's not washing away the topsoil it's just soaking down deep inside the ground it's to bring forth an abundance of prosperity of refreshment of fruit in your life so this royal favor is what comes brings forth the prosperity

the health the goodness in our life so it's saying that a wise ruler's kindness is as essential to his subjects as the reins are to the field. Yes. So again,

ultimately, this is Jesus Christ, our king, the perfect king. And his blessings come upon the obedient, the people who are keeping his ways, walking in alignment with his divine order.

And his favor descends as rain, and their barren, dry lives, soak in the heavenly rain and become fruitful. Doc, Joel, prophet Joel talked about the latter rain. Yes. Joel 2, verse 23. That's right. he was prophesying about a time of a outpouring of blessing before the harvest the outpouring of the holy spirit that's right okay and peter said on the day of pentecost

this is that this is that yes this is that and if you receive the holy spirit then you got that that's right which also implies the authority of the kingship of christ think about that based on this first today the light of the king's countenance is life we are in a kingdom ladies and gentlemen a kingdom of the latter reign just keep this in mind wrath burns like a fire in favor rains like mercy okay we want to avoid the fire we need the latter rain that saturates our soul until there's no dryness until there's green shoots of life coming up out of our soul how do you get it by being in the presence of God and being in the presence of God and being in alignment with his perfect will, his divine order.

Amen. So let's see. I'll wrap this up here. Charles Bridges. The throne that glows with mercy wins more hearts than that which flashes with terror. The cloud of favor waters the field of loyalty. Alexander McLaren. every ray of a king's favor is borrowed light from God

yes every drop of his mercy is due from heaven Charles Spurgeon when the king's face is towards thee thou liveest indeed his smile is heaven his favor a shower that makes thy soul to blossom all right we did it we got through six of them Amen. And if you listen real closely, ladies and gentlemen, you can hear the sound of the abundance of rain. Amen. Praise God.

A great passage today, Rick, and had a couple different themes there. It's amazing that we can look in the book of Proverbs and see Jesus the king, isn't it? Yes. He's all through the Old Testament scriptures. Because he wrote them. that's right because he is the word in the beginning was the word and the word was made flesh and one greater than Solomon is here yes glory to God thank you everybody I know many of you have you got to go thank you so much yes we've got to go to yes and tomorrow's faith

Friday so I remind you of that we also will be having the Lord's supper at the end of the lesson tomorrow so be prepared for that with either bread or bread and either red wine or grape juice. Join us for that for the Lord's Table. We invite you to participate with that. Rick, any last words today? Yes, sir.

Other than Doc and I have a flight on Saturday. If you didn't hear yesterday, you know, we're going to replay from a year or two ago our lessons on

the parable of the sewer. Right. I would appreciate your prayers because the transportation department today is ordering airlines to cancel I think 10% of flights. 10% I think they said 40,000 flights are going to be canceled.

Our flight is Saturday. Right. And it's absolutely essential, folks. It is essential. I take this trip. It is. I have to go on this trip. Okay. But I'll rest in the Lord's...

I'll rest in his plan. Okay. I'll rest. I'll accept what his plan is. Okay? Amen. All right. No, I can't go by car

because my car doesn't have any pontoons on it and there's not a bridge praise got to go all right love you remember tomorrow's faith friday join us for that we love you very much god bless you have a great day in jesus