Do Judgment Prov. 21:15 CLICK TITLE FOR AUDIO

There are three simple words in the first part of Prov 21:15 that all start with the letter “j.”  Those three words are: “joy”, “just” and “judgment.”  We want to examine these words individually and in relation to each other and show you the expectation that God has for you and that we should have for ourselves.

Notice that God’s objective is that we do judgment.  So, we will look at this one first and then we will handle the words in reverse order of their appearance in this verse. God wants us to:

Do Judgment

To do judgment is far different than to know judgment.  For example, you know that the speed limit regulates the maximum speed on the road.  And you know that when you exceed the limit you are speeding.  But with your eyes, warnings from other drivers and radar you often escape getting caught when you speed.  And so you continue to drive over the speed limit.  While you know that if you get caught you will pay a fine, you still speed.  God wants you to obey the speed limit regardless of whether you face the prospect of getting stopped.

The judgment of God against sinners who die without Christ is an eternity in hell.  Therefore, you should receive Jesus Christ as your Savior so that you can escape hell.  And then after you get saved yield to Christ’s righteousness and the Holy Spirit in you and obey God.

Be Just

Now you cannot do judgment without being just.  A person who is not just might abide by the rules and the laws for a period of time.  However, in time he is going to quit abiding by the rules when it is to his advantage to do injustice.  And the reason is that he is not just.  A just man seeks to do judgment all the time regardless whether it might cost him to do the right thing.  He simply does it because it is the right thing to do regardless of the consequences.

Have Joy

The real benefit of doing judgment is that it brings joy.  The Lord desires that we have joy.  The fruit of the Spirit includes joy.  And when the just do judgment they have joy according to this proverb.  At first, it might not be a joy to do the right thing.  However, if you keep doing the right thing you will find that there is great joy in it both now and in eternity after the judgment seat of Christ.  A good example is found in hard working athletes.  At first, when they are bearing all the pain of conditioning, they aren’t really rejoicing.  However, in time, they get used to the training and they notice that their bodies and minds enjoy the work.  Then when they compete and win, they experience the ultimate joy that then keeps them working hard.

Conclusion: Start by doing judgment.  It will lead you to want to be just, which you will be when you trust Jesus Christ.  Then keep doing judgment until it brings you the joy that God shows you in this verse.  Even in persecution the early Christians found joy!!