Proverbs 13:9 What does happy light do?

The light of the righteous rejoices [shines brightly], But the lamp of the wicked will be put out. Proverbs 13:9 NKJV

There’s a delightful picture found in the verb of the first sentence, which literally means rejoice, or be glad. From this, translators conclude that if it as a happy light — happy doing what it does — does it not “shine brightly?” Strong says it means: cheer up, be make glad, make joyful, make merry. In what way does light have emotion and express joy? But there is a connection which the writer John makes between light and being alive. He writes, “In him was life, and that life was the light of man.” (John 1:4) God is both light and life. “Life” like the word “death” is an concept, not something physical like a rock or chair. In other words, you only see the effect of something that is alive. But light is tangible. You see it, feel it, and it produces something. So naturally, the light in me reflects my maker. It is effulgent. Glowing. Alive. Being “righteous” is an old word, over used by the religious and legalistic and more difficult to embrace I’m my modern world. But effulgence, playfulness, the exuding of life, wit, and wisdom, are traits that indicate life. Being alive is something uniquely aligned with God.

Light truly rejoices in the good man and woman.

Light is also a metaphor for truth, reality, understanding, exposure. In the brightness, one may see and not stumble about. God built the desire to know and understand in each person. In which of the animals do you see a curiosity about how things work or the history of this earth? There is a thirst or lust to understand, explore, and encounter. But integral to the process is the act of becoming. When I see and understand, I may make a value decision based on what I see about what is good and what produces results. I may see the order of the universe, the nature in which everything was created, and then love it or dismiss it. In the seeing, is the becoming. I become that very order that I observe. I imitate the cycles, the cadence, and the light that I see. I become… righteous.

Knowing something, by itself doesn’t make me righteous. But the act of knowing God and choosing to become like Him, does. The children of God become the very light in which they walk.

You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.

Matthew 5:14 NIV

In the same way, let your light shine before others…

Matthew 5:16 NIV

Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.

Isaiah 60:1 NIV

Even the wicked have a lamp. In his or her very existence, the fact that they are alive is the light. Yet that to which one holds, values, pursues, doesn’t synchronize with reality or with God. It has no light because it doesn’t reflect Him. It’s not that God doesn’t love the wicked, of course he does. But the affections of the wicked, the things he chooses to view, pursue, value, and become, are not the light. The little light within him, flickers, and is extinguished. Everyone makes a value decision about those things in which we will be immersed.

But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

Matthew 6:23 NIV

The sun is a burgeoning mass. It is relentless. Powerful. Consuming. That’s what raw light is like. As I approach my God, that’s what I become. And it’s truly amazing. It doesn’t just burn brightly, but it “rejoices!”