refining silverIn today’s devotional, Solomon draws upon the silversmith’s shop to drive home the need of a leader to ascertain that his advisors and counselors are men and women who have a heart and passion for righteousness and justice.

Let’s visit the silversmith’s shop and note him laboring over a flame with a crude lump of unrefined metal. We read:

Proverbs 25:4Take away [remove; drive out] the dross from the silver [dregs; impurities; worthless material], and there shall come forth a vessel for the finer [refiner; silversmith].”

Today’s silversmith would tackle the task of refining with a modern, gas-fired furnace whose flame would be focused.  In Solomon’s day the flames in the silversmith’s shop Miao-Silversmith-5would have been larger and less focused. It was a labor-intensive process requiring intense heat to melt crude, unrefined lead and separate the dross leaving refined silver.

Proverbs 25:5 draws a contrast between a silversmith firing metal to remove its impurities and the need for a king to remove the dross [influence] of the wicked from his court.

Proverbs 25:5 – “Take away [remove; drive out] the wicked [ungodly; immoral; criminal] from before the king, and his throne shall be established in righteousness [just; made straight; follow the canon of law].”

A leader’s rule and judgment will only be as sound and right as his counsel. The tragedy of our day is the influence the wicked and immoral have garnered under the guise of political correctness and inclusivism.  Our nation, state, cities and churches continue to chart a path of self-destruction because we have been unwilling to face the reality that the influence of the wicked is like a cancer.  Paul observed the same in his letter to the church in Corinth when he wrote:

1 Corinthians 15:33 – “Be not deceived [misled; believe a lie]: evil communications [companions] corrupt [ruins; defiles] good manners [morals].”president

If you wonder why our society has begun such a precipitous moral decline, you need look no further than those who are in places of influence and authority. A continued dereliction of discerning the character of those we put in leadership can only invite God’s judgment.

Proverbs 14:34 – Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people.”

By the way, what is the moral character of those who are your advisors and counselors?