No one can be established through wickedness,
but the righteous cannot be uprooted.
Summary: This passage is a powerful encouragement in times of trouble. It points us to our need for God and his faithfulness to those who rely on him.
Today’s passage builds on the principles we see throughout all of Proverbs and the rest of the Bible: Wickedness is a word that means standing in opposition or indifference to God. Righteousness is a word that means we recognize God as our Creator and Lord and we strive to please him.
When Solomon writes that “No one can be established through wickedness,” he is not writing about the person who lives next door and owns the annoying dog that is always barking. As irritating as the noisy neighbor is, that is not God’s standard of wickedness.
What annoys God is being ignored. Even more annoying are those people who do the things God hates. It is not good to annoy the God of the Universe!
In this passage, Solomon uses the word “established” in contrast to the word “uprooted.” Both words are talking about the same concept. One who is established or “rooted” is someone who is not easily displaced. They have many sources of strength that are not obvious on the surface. They easily weather storms of all kinds, both meteorological, social, and financial.
The one who is not established is easily “uprooted.” This person has no “hidden strength.” All they have is on display. They exist on the surface only with no deep connections to others. When trouble comes, they are more like a tumbleweed than a building with a foundation or a plant with deep roots.
We ignore God at our own peril. Building a business or building a house without God, we are pretty much wasting our time.
As I write this, our nation is engaged in an epic battle between the wicked and the righteous. Many of us have not yet awakened to the nature of this battle, but it rages on all the same. As we look out over the condition of our country, we see entire business empires that have abandoned all respect for God’s Word and have actively engaged in promoting social values that oppose God. Time and again, these businesses come up against God and fail. Their stock drops dramatically, and in some cases, they disband altogether.
The same is true for individual people. Rage as they might, they rage against God, not against you or I. These are the people who come to mind when Jesus says of Satan’s kingdom, “But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (Matthew 8: 12) Those who are “gnashing of teeth” are the same people we see raging against God today.
Despite all the rage and violence on display today, the question is not “will I survive?” but “will I be uprooted?” No one “survives” this life. All flesh is doomed to die. The ultimate question has more to do with our eternal survival. Will we find ourselves in heaven or hell? Those who are righteous, who rely on God and, by extension, who depend on Jesus, cannot be uprooted.
Application: Continue to invest in a deeper relationship with God. Read his Word daily and be in prayer with him as often as you can.
Food for Thought: How can we know if we are “rooted” in the Lord?
Another very good devotion. Thank you brother.
One way we know we are rooted in the Lord is if we are growing in His word and there is fruit to indicate that (Colossians 3: 16). Thankfulness and correct Christ like thinking is another (Colossians 2: 6 – 8). His Spirit strengthening is with the fruit of love is yet another (Ephesians 3; 16 – 19).
Thanks Rich!
Your Bible references are linked here.
Well done on the devotion and the scripture references. Psalm 1 is complementary.
Thank you, JEC!
Psalm 1 is a great reference!
Yes. Great passage JEC. It is indeed complimentary
One of the ways I know that I am rooted in The Lord is when during estimates I pick up on key words that tell me it’s time to start talking the Bible,..next thing I know,.. I am in a full blown sort of sermon with someone I just met because they called me for a fence estimate,..
Another way is on Monday’s when I read the Bible to my employees and we have some great discussion’s over the passage we just read together. Also we pray every morning before they head out for the day’s work order.
The other day this one lady prayed to God for someone like me to show up for the estimate. She told me she didn’t know me so she asked God to bring a person that is righteous. Here I showed up for the estimate,..she referred and even read to me Psalm 31. Then I was lifted with the Holy Spirit to preach words that she needed to hear. She kept saying this is exactly what I needed to hear, thank you. I was totally unscripted, but the scriptures were flowing through me and out my mouth like I had prepared a sermon for a Sunday morning, even though I am not a preacher behind a pulpit. But God has prepared me through the roots that have grown in my life enough to have an unscripted message that gives light and life to Him through the words He has given me to say.
So cool,..thanks again for the meditation
Thanks John!
You bring to mind Matthew 10:19 and Mark 13:11
“ Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit.“
How can we know if we are “rooted” in the Lord?
Like everyone else commented and for me to point again that God is part of our everyday conversations with others. I also try to put in the key words to encourage other believers I run into throughout my day. Then I’m feeling convicted that I’m not as bold as I’d like to be sometimes because I’m afraid of the repercussions that could happen to the person I’m with. But still I’m proclaiming Christ through my actions with others and that is forcing some out of their comfort zone to share the gospel with me. After each interaction we chat and pray a little on how we could do better and what we did great together to glorify God. The best part is Gods reward that He gave us that day. She got to go for a walk and admire all of Gods beauty, and I got to go for a walk and admire Gods beautiful daughter holding my arm.
Tim,
Thank you! Your insights help me in my walk with the Lord.
One thought about boldness: One kind of boldness is a willingness to follow the Spirit’s lead even when it feels embarrassing to do so. Another type of “boldness” is to bluntly pound people over the head with one’s thoughts about the Bible.
The first type is godly. The second type not so much.
Are you sure about which is Godly? There was lots of beatings and wars won by God. Some of us have been given gifts and talents that are made to further the Kingdom through advanced strategic special battlefield efforts and tactical intelligence of natural grunts. Aka a$$ beating. Or something like that but as a better alternative that glorifies God.
Great question!
I hear you asking, “Doesn’t God ever require us to be blunt?”
The answer is “maybe.” It depends on the situation. In my comment that you are responding to I included this phrase:
“…with one’s thoughts about the Bible.”
What I was pointing to there were the people who are pushing their own ideas about God rather than God’s Word or will.
07-02-2022, Proverbs 12:3, How can we know if we are “rooted” in the Lord?
I can only agree with the early birds, we grow and bear fruit.
The fruits produced in our lives are the evidence of our values. The best way to tell if we truly have our identity rooted in Christ is by looking for fruits of the Spirit taught in Galatians 5:22-23,
Galatians 1:10
Our Lord led me to a wonderful couple this week. They have several successful businesses, and one which has cost them hundreds of thousands of dollars because they partnered up with, placed their trust in an extremely evil man who I happen to know very well, my youngest brother. Interestingly, I had been recommended to this couple by another successful business man we both happened to know. ( our God is amazing )
We stood in the middle of their production area for the product they had been producing ( one I had considerable experience with ) and they spent about an hour telling me all the bad things that had happened. ( It is bad ) As I listened, I noticed they had some good equipment, were missing some important pieces, the layout was good, at the same time it screamed chaos and I learned it had been unused for over a year.
At the appropriate time, I stopped them and pointed out how they were allowing all these very real bad past events to occupy all their time, and keeping them from focusing on the fortune they were sitting on. We walked through their production area and I pointed out all the unfinished product in various stages of assembly sitting in boxes all over. From this point on we talked about how they needed to profit from what they had learned, and change their focus to getting their house in order so they could start converting all this good stuff into dollars and reduce their losses.
We all want to keep meeting as they focus on what they have and grow from what they have lost. It’s a start, I’m really busy with my own stuff, but these people need help and I believe God has brought us together for a purpose.
Ron,
Another great testimony! Thank you for sharing!
I can only imagine how much your experience and expertise could mean to these people if they are willing to listen.
I hope it works out well for them.
Another direction one could look when considering today’s verse is the passage about a house built on the rock vs the house built on the sand. Except, God’s not saying where they’re building or what soil is around them like He does in the new testament, but rather how they root or build.
Are you using weed killer or fertilizer? Because one of those won’t help you the way you’re hoping it will.
A –
Interesting comment…
“No one can be established through wickedness,
but the righteous cannot be uprooted.
Is this similar to the passage you refer to?
““Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.” (Matt 7: 24-27)
In a way they are kind of the inverse of each other, yet they both illustrate the same principle. One talks about being rooted into the source of its strength and nurture. The other talks about a thing that is built and what it is built on, because that matters. The house doesn’t need nurture like the plant, but it does need support. In both cases the need is met by being matched correctly with the proper metaphorical answer to the need, meaning God.