Posted on 02/19/2022 10:04:52 PM PST by Pilgrim's Progress
“The fear of a king is as the roaring of a lion: whoso provoketh him to anger sinneth against his own soul. It is an honour for a man to cease from strife: but every fool will be meddling” (Proverbs 20:2 KJV).
This is like Shimei that provoked king Solomon. It cost him his life. The Old Testament equates the body with the soul, so Shimei sinned “against his own soul.” He was his own destruction.
If a man realized that the leader of your country, whether a king or a president, was using all the power and authority available to bring him to justice because he had done wrong, it would be a very scary predicament. One must wonder what goes through the heart of a man designated as Public Enemy #1 for the Federal Bureau of Investigations.
“Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same” (Romans 13:1-3).
This is the passage where God gives to governments the power of life and death, and if a man sins against the government, then the government has the power to take his life: “For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil” (Romans 13:4).
It is not useless, what the government does. Well, it might be useless to a law-abiding citizen—except that he can sleep peaceably in his bed at night knowing that crime is under control—but it isn’t useless to someone else if they learn a lesson that keeps them out of trouble. And it certainly isn’t useless to the government, because God will bless them for doing right.
There is two different ways that you can look at it, but if you put the first part of the verse with the second part, that is, when you see strife, don’t meddle in it. When two people are having a disagreement, do you know what a fool will do? He’ll meddle in it. He’ll stick his nose into the problem and throw in his two cents even though it is totally unsolicited. Sometimes this can even apply to someone trying to step in and break up a fight. What ends up happening is that the two that were fighting join forces and beat the tar out of the meddler. We just want to be careful messing around in other people’s strifes. Referees and umpires get paid to meddle, but that is not our calling.
A good man will not get involved with strife unless it is right to do it, unless God leads them to do it. Sometimes when the strife is between right and wrong, and we are led into the fight against the Devil. We are to “strive lawfully,” the Bible tells us. If it is just a personal strife between, say, a husband and a wife—we are best to stay out of them and let them handle their own affairs.
If someone tries to pick a fight with a Christian, it is to the Christian’s honor to avoid that sort of situation. A lot of men just kind of thrives on arguments, griping, and complaining. That is not honorable; that is shameful.
“It is an honour for a man to cease from strife,” don’t let yourself get caught in the middle of strifes between men, you can stay out of trouble if you really work at it.
“. . . but every fool will be meddling,” some folks just want to get into it—they want to mix it up—and start trouble.
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