These passages bring a necessary focus on the different outcomes of righteous and wicked living. If you read these verses with attention given to the positive outcomes, you will be encouraged. If you read these verses with attention given to the negative outcomes, you will be warned.
Kindness and cruelty are both boomerangs in that they both come back to us. The question is about which boomerang you and I want to throw. It depends, I guess, on which outcome we are willing to live with.
It is interesting to note how often Proverbs warns us that money cannot bring us a deep and meaningful life. Those who live wicked lives think that their money will help them find meaning and significance. "Deceptive wages" means that money makes promises it can't keep. It is only the righteous who experience the real "payday" by not trusting in the lies money tells. The righteous don't throw that boomerang.
Those who throw the boomerang of the wicked end up experiencing hurt, useless money, and eventually death. They end up living a "crooked" life that is not pleasing to the Lord and is ultimately futile. There are several things pointed out in Scripture that are detestable to the Lord. He hates the fact that good things get distorted and thus end up hurting those He loves. He hates distorted truth (lying), distorted living (hypocrisy), distorted self image (pride), and distorted justice (injustice). He does, however, delight in those who live their lives really well. He delights in the righteous who live by faith.
The final contrast in our passage has to do with either being punished or being delivered. There is not one single distortion that will not be confronted by God. As a matter of fact, all sin has been punished by the death of His Son by His crucifixion and resurrection. The righteous are only righteous because their faith is in Him. They are the ones who will be delivered in the end.
So which boomerang will you throw today?
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