2  Because of the transgression of a land, many are its princes; but by a man of understanding and knowledge
right will be prolonged.

To explain this scripture best, let me start out by using a corporation as an example.   

• As a small business grows, more employees will need to added to the staff.
• As more staff is added, more leaders or managers will be needed as departments grow.
• Then when it expands even more, a larger building is necessary.  Maybe even other plants added.

It keeps multiplying over time as the business prospers. 

• The more it grow, the more bylaws, policy and procedures need to be added to accommodate the growing needs of the company.
• Everytime something negative happened within the corporation, another policy or procedues (law) will need to be put in place to keep everything above board for the company and for the employees.

Will everyone follow all the policies given out to the employees?  No, there will always be those who will push things to the edge or even violate the policies (laws) in place.

• Will they get away with it? 
• Or will they be punished for their actions.
• If not....Well, this is how corruption in a corporation begins

Now we can use these same principles in a church - a large growing church.  You can use it with our government.

• The more people - the more rules need to be in place.
• The more rules, only shows the necessity of needing to have them.
• People are people, and there will always be those who violate those rules.

I learned this first hand when I ran the college.

• Even though we were small, we were part of a large church. 
• Many rules had to be put in place because we were a growing mega-church, and the college was simply a department of the church....and there was most definitely those who would abuse the rules - not only in the church but in the college - a Christian college.
• I set up bylaws, policies and procedures, obviously, to run a smooth college, but it, like any place else, was a fluctuation place because people were involved in it.
• It seemed like I was writing additional policies and procedures continuously.  And then no sooner were these policies in places, then there would be those who would violate those new policies.
• And it always seemed to be done by the same few people.
• In the ten years that I ran the college, the names of the violators may have changed, but there was always a certain breed of people who would violate the laws and peace within the college.
• While not recognizable at first, it didn't take long before their character began to show.
• Remember, people are people, and in Christian settings it is no different.
• If I had allowed these students the liberty of abusing our policies and procedures, they could have destroyed the college.

Now imagine this scenario with the government of our country.

• We are huge - massive amounts of people.
• We have a department for everything
• We have rules or laws for every department - and people put in place to run those department.
• But then there are always dishonest people who will abuse the laws in place...because people are people, and the devil is busy at work.
• The bigger you get, the worse the problem.

Corruption begins, and before long the corruption grows, because the  leaders have become corrupt.  Pretty soon, you have a swamp of corruption - especially in the leadership, and where do you begin to get clean out the swamp.

• It's going to take destruction or a complete makeover to fix the problem of a dirty huge swamp.
• That is where our country is at right now.  Our land is trangressed, just as this verse speaks of.

God will bless a man of godly understanding and knowledge, if he is allowed to be put in charge of our land.

• Our land will then be blessed because righteous has taken over.  While it may take time, we need godly leaders in our country to make it a godly nation again.

3  A poor man who oppresses the poor is like a driving rain which leaves no food.

You would think that a poor man would have sympathy on the other poor.  That, however, is normally not the case.  There are the poor who opress other poor.  They will steal from each other just to have another morsel of food, another drink, or a blanket to sleep with. 

• When people are hungry, cold, afraid, alone, and without hope, they will do anything to meet their basic needs of life. 
• So then we, who do have, and have it in abundance, we need to share with those who don't have.  Let the Lord direct you in this area.

4  Those who forsake the law praise the wicked, but such as keep the law contend with them.

When the fundamental rules of justice are forsaken, the wicked are happy because it benefits them.  These wicked get rich off of the people they are suppose to lead, and they gloat in the presence of any praise given to them by their deceptive measures.

• The righteous, however, can see the heart of these wicked - I will say it -  politicians - that misuse or change the laws.  The righteous are sad because the populous of people will have to suffer and pay for the benefits of the wicked in power as they - we watch the deteriation of our country unfold before us.
• For those brave ones who come against the wicked in our country, they need our prayers to overcome the evil in this country.

We must remember from Romans 13: 1-17 is that one reason God gives laws and government to men is to restrain and contend the wicked in power.  We must always obey God first.

• That means we must hear from God in order to obey what He says.
• We still have as our governing power the Constitution of the United States, which supports the Word of God.
  • All government official under our Constitution have taken an oath to honor and submit to our Constitution - not look for ways to work around it to support their wickedness.
  • So then, we must obey God first, and then the laws of the land - meaning the Constitution of the United States.
  • We must always obey God over anything that man can divise as his law.

5  Evil men do not understand justice, but those who seek the Lord understand all.

Evil people have been blinded and their conscience has become hardened to righteousness.  As such, they live by their own passions and desires and under the control of Satan.

• While there are the fundamentally evil or wicked people, having a seared conscience, we must always remember that anything that goes contrary to the will of God, God considers wicked or evil.
• That means even Christians can do evil things because they are either blind to God's truth in that area, or they are being rebellious to something they know violates God's will.
• So then, both unbelievers and unbelievers can do evil or wicked things in the eyes of God.

The righteous - those following the wisdom and will of God - have the instinctive knowledge because they are always in tune with the indwelling Holy Spirit.

• They know and understand what is going on, being fully aware of the evil.
• Not only do they fear the Lord with an awesome reverence, they have renewed their minds to the Word and will of God.  As such, they walk in God's wisdom.

6  Better is the poor who walks in his integrity than one perverse in his ways, though he be rich.

If given the choice, would you rather be righteous and poor, walking in the integrity and ways of the Lord, trusting Him to take care of you - and end up in heaven as your eternal resting place or...

• Would you prefer to be rich and evil minded, living on your own strength, and having to suffer the internal grief of being away from your Creator, and ultimately knowing you will have to face God in your eternal judgment, which only brings on hell and the eternal Lake of Fire?

I'm sure we will all choose to be poor with God than rich without Him.

7  Whoever keeps the law is a discerning son, but a companion of gluttons shames his father.

Our Bibles tell us that we shall know others by the fruit in their life.  The fruit of what we believe, what we say and do, and the character of who we are in our hearts are displayed by the fruit of our life.

• If our fruit goes contrary to what the Word of God teaches us, then we need to examine our hearts to see where we have missed the mark and purpose to change with the help of God to be that obedient person to the things of God.

So then, who is a companion of gluttons?

Glutton means given to one's appetites - done in excess.  It is far more than food.  It could be food, but it could also be alcohol, gambling, as well as excess passion for social media, and anything else that is done in excess, taking away from our relationship with God.

• One who has been given over to, or even a companion of anyone who abuses his appetites by various vices is an embarrassment to his family. 
• Chances are, the gluttonous person is making a fool of himself while he is practicing his vice.

8  One who increases his possessions by usury and extortion gathers it for him who will pity the poor.

There are some who become rich through extortion where they cheat and steal from the vulnerable or excessive lending, charging high and unfair interest rates, attempting to convince the people they are running a fair and honest business.

• God, however, will not allow these evil people to continue in their deception.  God will not only judge them, but their wealth will eventually end up in the hands the hands of the righteous.
• Proverbs 13: 22 tells us that the wealth of the sinner is stored up for the righteous.
• Money comes and money goes.  Yes, there are the wealthy, filthy wealthy out there, as well as the poor among us. But, again, the rich cannot take their wealth with them.  Somehow, God will use that money to support His Kingdom.

9  One who turns away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination.

God's Word is Truth - God's truth for us.  As we grow in the Lord, our hunger for Him should grow as well.  If it doesn't, then we need to examine our heart.  God wants us to always have an open and attentive ear toward listening or meditating on His Word.

• To not then have that hunger, means we are in a spiritual back sliding state with the Lord, and we need to change.  Our hearts will begin to harden and the Lord will begin to take a back place in our lives.  That certainly is not the will of God for us.

God is revealing to us here that when we fall back on our relationship with Him, even our prayers become null and void.  Will God listen and hear our prayers that we submit to Him?  He says here that even our prayers will be an abomination to Him.

• Ouch, that one hurt.
• In a back slidden state, can we pray the will of God before we would repent?
• Or is our prayers full of ourselves - selfish and not according to God's will?  

How to avoid all that?  Just keep on with the Lord - don't stray away.  It's dangerous out there - outside of the path on which God placed you on. 

10  Whoever causes the upright to go astray in an evil way, he himself will fall into his own pit; but the blameless will inherit good.

Sadly, there are enough evil people in the world who enjoy watching the godly fall.  It makes them feel better when someone good has fallen because it makes them look better. 

• But beware, just like Hamen in the Book of Esther, he built a gallows for Mordecai to hang on, but in the end,  Hamen was found out, and he was the one who hung on the same gallows that he build for Mordecai. 

God has a way of protecting His people.  Again, the sowing and reaping process is in effect in the earth.  God knows how to put the wicked in their place and then lift up His own so that God will receive the glory.  God will always have the final word.

11  The rich man is wise in his own eyes, but the poor who has understanding searches him out.

Not every wealthy person has gained his wealth through the wisdom of God.   There are a lot of rich people who walk in pride and arrogance, thinking themselves above others, and that they are the ones who are wise and those beneath them are the foolish.  They, however, are the fool because wealth comes and goes, pride comes before the fall, and when we lack in humility, we will be humbled.  

• True or godly wisdom comes from God to those who search it out.
• Again, the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord.
• Then comes knowledge by renewing our minds to the Word of God.
• Then we purpose to understand God's knowledge by meditating on it day and night.
• When we have understood God's knowledge and apply it to our lives, then we can walk in the wisdom of God.
• No shortcuts - just good ole honest Bible study and prayer day in and day out of our lives.

Those then who walk in the wisdom of God, whether poor or otherwise, can see right through this pompous rich man.

• He sees his deceptiveness, his pride and foolishness.  He sees him for who he really is!
• The poor godly man knows he is in a much better place than the rich man.
• Riches do not make the man.  Godly wisdom and good character, however, does!

12  When the righteous rejoice, there is great glory; but when the wicked arise, men hide themselves.

It is only natural that when there is peace and prosperity in the land, the people rejoice and are happy. 

• When the righteous rejoice, living in peace and prosperity, God receives the glory.  The conditions among the people are at its best, and the people are happy.

When the wicked arise, people become afraid and hide.  They don't want to be ruled by wickedness because their freedom is now at stake, their surroundings may become dangerous, and they will lose the benefits of living in peace. 

13  He who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy.

We live in a sinful world with mankind having a sinful nature.  Our conscience has made us ashamed of our sin, but we still do not want others to see our sins.  We have become really good at hiding our sins.  We can lie, shut our mouth, avoid the subject, or do a myriad of other things to avoid exposing our sin.  Then we wonder why things arn't going right in our life.

• Somehow we think that if we avoid it, pretend it never happened, even God doesn't know.  He is the One person whom we cannot hide our sin.   

Hiding our sin prevents us from being honest with ourselves, with God, which only hampers our relationship with him, and often hampers our relationships with others. 

We all sin - because we were born with a sin nature. 

1 John 1:8 tells us that if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

• To say we never sin is a down and outright lie.

Then let's look at two verses down 1 John 1: 10  If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him (meaning God) a liar, and His Word is not in us.

• So then to hide sin is futile.  We may deceive others around us, but we will never deceive God.
• Oh, we may think, it is just a little bitty sin, and God won't mind.  But, oh yes, He does.  Remember, anything that is done or said contrary to the will of God, God considers evil and wicked. 
• Sin is sin - in the eyes of God, and in order to be clean before God, we have to confess it for what it really is - sin!

Now let's look at the remedy - in the verse in between.

1 John 1:9  If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

By confessing your sin, you are agreeing with God that it is a sin, and that you have violated His will.

• You must have a repentant heart, meaning your confession is geniune from your heart, and you purpose not to do that sin again, with the help of God.
• It must be sincere, because God certainly knows the intentions of your heart.

Now think about this, when you confess sin for what it is to God, being repentant, see that sin being removed from God's Book of Remembrance.  Because of Jesus' blood shed for you, your honest confession is now wiping that sin completely off of the books, never to be remembered again.

• You have been forgiven, so now forgive yourself, and go and serve the Lord joyfully, knowing that that sin is no longer a part of your life.

• He is so gracious to forgive, and put us back into his favor.