Proverbs 11:20-21
The Lord abhors those who are perverse in heart,
but those who are blameless in their ways are his delight.
Be assured that the evil person will certainly be punished,
but the descendants of the righteous will not suffer unjust judgment.
We can either be the twisted sister or the delightful son. To be honest, all I know about the band “Twisted Sister” is what I’ve seen from Dee Snider on Celebrity Apprentice. I’m sorry if that makes you feel old. But, the name fit with the proverb, so there ya go…
I say the name fit because perverse can also be interpreted as twisted. So, the Lord abhors, hates, detests those who are perverse or twisted in heart. I think twisted helps us all to understand the proverb a little better. We use twisted in our language today. When we say someone is sick and twisted, we’re talking about someone who’s so messed up that they think wrong is right. They no longer know what right is, they only know how to do wrong. They’ve gotten so familiar with wickedness and walking in that way that to do right feels wrong.
For those of us who are striving to live the Proverbious life, we be assured that the evil, twisted person will certainly be punished. What’s great beyond that is the reward we get for being righteous.
“The descendants of the righteous will not suffer unjust judgment.” What I don’t think this means is if you live your life rightly, your children won’t suffer because of your righteousness – regardless of how they are as people. I’ve heard some try to interpret this passage and other similar passages in the same way. Instead I think it’s talking more about propensity. When you truly invest and commit to living a Proverbious life, it so deeply becomes a part of you that it also affects you family and those around you. Your kids learn your righteous ways. You teach your kids the Proverbious life.
The descendants of the righteous will not suffer unjust judgement because they too will know how to live and walk the right way. The evil person will be punished, the Lord hates the twisted sister. But the delightful son brings the Lord joy, for this generation and the generations that will follow your example.
