Proverbs 10:14-17, Character Contrasts!

April 26, Proverbs 10:14-17

2 Peter 3:10-18

“Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees” (Isa. 35:3).

Character Contrasts!

1. The Wise – the Fool: Wise men lay up knowledge, but the mouth of the foolish is near destruction (v.14). It is not that the fool cannot learn, but he fools away his chance and blames everybody but himself. The wise seek to turn everything to good account. Losses, mistakes, disappointments can teach valuable lessons. Such wisdom, however, has a price. We must lay-up, literally hide, this wisdom as treasure ready for use. Jesus said, A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things. It has made him wise unto salvation. The fool, on the other hand, lays out his folly every time he opens his mouth (Matt. 12:35)! He is near destruction; his ruin is imminent! Unless he is changed by God’s grace he will be a vessel of wrath fitted to destruction (Rom. 9:22). “One contrite heart will hold more than the world’s balances are able to weigh” (Arnot).

2. Rich Man – Poor Man: The rich man’s wealth is his security; the poor man’s poverty is his ruin (destruction v.15). His lack of wealth makes him feel insecure. It is like dwelling in a city without walls (Pr. 6:11). This is not the divine order of things, but is simply stated as a fact, what is, not what should be. Riches control human actions for good or ill, but nothing bad can happen to God’s dear children, for He has the final word. Both rich and poor make the same mistake in opposite ways. The one thinks he lives in a strong city, while the other has a house that is ready to fall at any moment. The rich often feel no need for God, while the poor may blame God for their lot. Whether rich or poor, our security is to keep a good conscience and walk humbly with God (Ps. 37:16; Jas. 2:5).

3. Good Man – Bad Man: Next, the labour of the righteous and the fruit of the wicked (v.16) are contrasted. Is not honest labour rather than useless idleness the mark of a true servant of God? The labour (wages) of the righteous tendeth to life (Jn. 6:27). It is concerned with more than a paycheck. It is labour done in dependence on God, and for God (Phil. 2:12-13). The fruit (product) of the wicked is sin, and is the opposite of life. It tendeth unto death, for self not God is its only object and end. Good man – Bad man, each gravitates to his own end (Gal. 6:7-8).

4. Correction – Rejection: Keeping instruction means accepting correction or discipline however humbling or hard (v.17), but those who do are in the way of life. They also show others the way of life and the way to life. To receive instruction is the best and most practical lesson for this life as well as for the life to come. To refuse (forsaking) reproof, by stubborn rejection (Pr. 1:23; 27:5) is to err (Heb. cause to err, stray). Because they are unwilling to be shown their faults, they not only err, but err heedless of the hurt to others (Jer. 50:6). “The traveller that has missed his way, and cannot bear to be told of it, or shown the right way, must err still, err endlessly; he certainly missed the way of life” (Henry). O Child of God, why should you be so ready to err from the way of life?

Thought: “Great men’s vices are more imitated than poor men’s graces” (Secker).

Prayer: O Lord, help me to be an example for good.