Alternating with various sayings, the author skillfully incorporates a description of a time that brought great pain and ruin to the people. He references the king, his court, and his ministers, all of whom were committed to injustice and poor leadership. But amid it all, there is a glimmer of hope that we must fight for and cling to against all odds. “When a king judges the needy fairly, his throne is established forever” (14), an allusion to the hope for a just king like King David, which will inspire messianic expectations: only a messenger of God, his anointed one or messiah, can judge fairly. Another sign of hope during such oppressive times is that “When the wicked rule, crimes increase, but the upright will see them fall” (16); sayings like these kept the small flame of faith and hope alive for the people.