Passage
They that act wickedly are abominable to the king: for the throne is established by justice.
Proverbs 16:12 (DRB)
Nearby Context
Proverbs 16:10 Divination is in the lips of the king, his mouth shall not err in judgment.
Proverbs 16:11 Weight and balance are judgments of the Lord: and his work all the weights of the bag.
Proverbs 16:12 They that act wickedly are abominable to the king: for the throne is established by justice.
Proverbs 16:13 Just lips are the delight of kings: he that speaketh right things shall be loved.
Proverbs 16:14 The wrath of a king is as messengers of death: and the wise man will pacify it.
Study Lenses
The verse centers on "wickedly", "abominable", "king", "throne", "established", and "justice". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "wickedly" and "abominable", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.
The nearby context moves from verse 11's "Weight and balance are judgments of the..." into verse 13's "Just lips are the delight of kings...", so "wickedly" and "abominable" belong inside that flow. In Proverbs context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.
A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "wickedly" and "abominable" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.