Seeking the King's Favor
In the light of a king’s face there is life, and his favor is like the clouds that bring the spring rain. -Proverbs 16:15
“You’re short!”
I heard that quite a few times growing up (or well, trying to grow up). I have even heard it a few times as an adult. Which is comical to me—but I guess it’s a shock when someone has only known me “online”. You can’t really tell my height from a profile pic, so when they meet me I’m shorter than they assumed. I am 5’8, I think. Which means I could dunk on Ken Jeong (if the rim was low enough).
That comment used to bother me as a child. But as an adult it makes me laugh. What in the world am I supposed to do about this? Get on some stretching apparatus like Barney Fife? It’s just one of those things that is. If someone says it to me now I just give them a blank stare and say, “And…..?”
The Proverbs are sometimes like that. They are observations. But they don’t exactly tell us how we are supposed to apply them. Proverbs 16:15 is one of those verses. If coupled with 16:14, it gives us an observation. Bad things happen when the king is mad (v14). Good things happen when the king is happy (v15).
“In light of a king’s face there is life” is another way of saying the king is pleased and anxious to bless. This phrasing comes from the high priestly prayer in Numbers 6:24-26. “The Lord make his face to shine upon you…” It’s great to have someone in power like you. It’s horrible when they are bent on your destruction.
We can fill out this proverb a little more if we connect it to the Proverbs 16:12-13. There we see that doing evil is what brings the king displeasure. And having “righteous lips” is what brings delight to the king. But is that always true?
It’s true when the king is righteous. With a good king doing righteous brings favor. And doing evil brings the king’s displeasure. But the opposite is true if the king is wicked. If a king is wicked, then, doing good exposes them. And they’ll labor to shut you up. If you want the favor of a wicked king then you need to do evil.
My point is that Proverbs 16:15 is true in principle whether the king is good or evil. Duane Garrett’s comment here is helpful.
Verse 13 implicitly counsels the young court official to be honest in all dealings with the king, and vv. 14–15 speak of the need for reverential respect for monarchs but also imply that they can be arbitrary if not irrational. Closing this section with these two verses reinforces the importance of learning how to deal with political power.[1]
What do we do with this proverb, then? We long for the true and righteous king. Jesus is always a good king. And He delights when we speak righteousness. His kingship is higher than any other king. That means that we strive for His favor and not the favor of any other kings.
It also means that we understand the pull of this verse. Who wouldn’t want the king to be happy? If it’s a wicked king there will be a real temptation to still pursue their favor. We can do evil in the hopes that somehow righteousness will be the fruit. We can cater to wickedness in the hopes that the king will give us favor. Then we assume that we’ll be able to use that favor to do good. The problem, though, is that wicked kings will never shine their face upon the good (unless it’s self-serving).
Far better to give our lives seeking the favor and pleasure of King Jesus.
[1] Duane A. Garrett, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, vol. 14, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1993), 156.