12:5 – The thoughts of the righteous are right; but the counsels of the wicked are deceitful.
12:6 – The words of the wicked are, “Lie in wait for blood,” but the mouth of the upright will deliver them.
Have you ever not “gone with your gut” and regretted it? I have. I’ll bet you have, too.
We knew what we should do, but, since it was hard, went looking for someone to tell us that an easier path is OK. Essentially, we wanted someone to tell us it’s OK to disregard our “gut feeling.”
And, it comes back to bite us. EVERY TIME!
Usually, we know what the right course of action is. Sadly, we are still liable to be tricked into accepting “the counsels of the wicked” even when it goes against our “gut feeling.” Unless, we can recognize “wicked counsel.”
Have you ever noticed that wicked counsel usually suggests success at someone else’s expense. (I deserve this promotion, so it’s OK to let my competition crash and burn in front of our boss.)
Our responsibility, when we hear “the counsel of the wicked” is to speak up and – here comes an interesting promise – we can save that person from their wrong-headedness.
Unfortunately, in today’s society, we are conditioned to NOT speak up. After all, who are we to “impose” our view of right and wrong on others. This course of action saves no one and sets the stage for the triumph of evil.
One of the first steps in allowing wickedness to prevail (even if only for a time) is to silence those who would speak against it.
Or, as Edmund Burke is famously misquoted as saying, “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.” Even speaking out against what is wrong is doing something.
