Pro 20:27 | KingComments | STEP | A wise king purifies his kingdom from wicked people ( ). He can identify the wicked and judge them justly. He scatters them so that they will not unite and cannot take any joint action against him. Also, as punishment, he drives the threshing wheel over them ( ), as it were to thresh them like chaff. Just as a king searches his country to rid it of wickedness, the LORD searches the heart of a man to search all its motives ( ). God has provided each person with a spirit so that he can evaluate his actions and motives. He is the “God of the spirits of all flesh” ( ). He breathed spirit into man at his creation ( ). As a result, man possesses moral, intellectual and spiritual abilities and is able to know and please God. The spirit in man serves as a conscience, represented in the “lamp of the LORD”. Man knows what is right and wrong through his conscience ( ). This is further elaborated in the second line of verse. The searching of the spirit, the lamp, enables man to know himself ( ; cf. ; ). When a person’s spiritual life is functioning properly – that is, it is surrendered to God – and controlled by His Word, there will be increasingly less self-deception or indifference toward righteousness. “Loyalty and truth” are prominent characteristics of a king ( ). A king who exhibits these characteristics in his government will be protected by them. The people will have no reason to rebel against him, but will gladly submit to his authority. His actions in kindness “upholds his throne”. This is quite different from the thrones of the world that are established on tyranny and oppression. In their fullness, these characteristics are present in Christ. When He appears as King, they will become perfectly visible in His government.

‏ Proverbs 20:27

A Wise King Sees Through Man

A wise king purifies his kingdom from wicked people (Pro 20:26). He can identify the wicked and judge them justly. He scatters them so that they will not unite and cannot take any joint action against him. Also, as punishment, he drives the threshing wheel over them (Isa 28:27-28), as it were to thresh them like chaff.

Just as a king searches his country to rid it of wickedness, the LORD searches the heart of a man to search all its motives (Pro 20:27). God has provided each person with a spirit so that he can evaluate his actions and motives. He is the “God of the spirits of all flesh” (Num 16:22). He breathed spirit into man at his creation (Gen 2:7). As a result, man possesses moral, intellectual and spiritual abilities and is able to know and please God.

The spirit in man serves as a conscience, represented in the “lamp of the LORD”. Man knows what is right and wrong through his conscience (Rom 2:14-15). This is further elaborated in the second line of verse. The searching of the spirit, the lamp, enables man to know himself (1Cor 2:11a; cf. Job 32:8; Zec 12:1). When a person’s spiritual life is functioning properly – that is, it is surrendered to God – and controlled by His Word, there will be increasingly less self-deception or indifference toward righteousness.

“Loyalty and truth” are prominent characteristics of a king (Pro 20:28). A king who exhibits these characteristics in his government will be protected by them. The people will have no reason to rebel against him, but will gladly submit to his authority. His actions in kindness “upholds his throne”. This is quite different from the thrones of the world that are established on tyranny and oppression.

In their fullness, these characteristics are present in Christ. When He appears as King, they will become perfectly visible in His government.