Tiny Devotional for Wednesday, 08-18-2021

 A great good evening to all my friends and neighbors in Internet Land! And to family members who have dropped by, there are many different kinds of food.

To show partiality to the wicked is not good,
Nor to thrust aside the righteous in judgment.
Proverbs 18:5, NASB

An unrighteous judge

Is it showing partiality to the wicked if you appease a bully so he won’t beat you up? Does this concept only apply to the schoolyard playground, or is it applicable in Adultland?

People with zero power may not have any choice in the matter. I don’t think either of you who read this blog post fall into that category. The fact that you are accessing this via an electronic device shows you have SOME power. However, there are those who really are helpless against the wicked; and for those of us with some sort of power, I think showing partiality means giving the wicked any kind of support.

“Thrusting aside the righteous in judgment” brings to mind the fictional TV/movie judge setting free  criminals on a “technicality.” If that particular trope existed before Miranda warnings were implemented, I’m not aware of it;  again, I don’t think any of my audience is in a position to fall into that error. Instead, my friends are more likely to: 

  • Ignore warnings by competent experts (“Nobody can require me to wear a mask”); 
  • Cling to our own rights (“The Second Amendment triumphs over all”); 
  • Ignore clear examples of injustice, because we are averse to reports of exploitation (“The BLM founders are Marxists”). 

YMMV, but I believe each one of these examples are true, and each can thrust aside the righteous. I leave further application of the concept as an exercise for the reader.

Peace be on your household.

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