Proverbs 12:9, Beware of False Appraisals!

June 7, Proverbs 12:9

1 John 2:15-20 “Let your moderation be known to all men. The Lord is at hand” (Phil. 4:5).

Beware of False Appraisals!

In The Pilgrim’s Progress, four damsels guide Christian “till they came to go down the hill. Then, said Christian, as it was difficult coming up, so, so far as I can see, it is dangerous going down. Yes, said Prudence, for it is a hard matter for a man to go down into the Valley of Humiliation, and to catch no slip by the way.” Verse 9 teaches how hard this Valley is for most of us. It contrasts one who is not honoured, who should be, with one who is honoured, but who should not be.

1. The Humble, Happy, Helpful Man: This is a person of limited means or abilities. He is not a liability on others, and even has a servant. He works hard to provide for his household. He makes no pretense to be other than he is. Appearances do not concern him. Yet, he may be despised (lightly esteemed) by his more elegant neighbours because of his humbler bearing. He is content with his little lot. He knows well that it is better to be humble and lowly than to be proud and hungry. “In many an unpretending cottage there is more real domestic enjoyment than in the most imposing mansions” (Thomas).

2. The Haughty, Hollow, Hungry Man: This is the man that despises others as his inferiors, but brazenly honours himself, and yet, lacks bread! Despised, in verse 8, is contempt applied deservedly to sinners by God. Here there is a different Hebrew word meaning to lightly esteem. It is used of the man who haughtily and wrongfully shows his contempt or disrespect for others just because they are not rich by his standards. The man who thinks too highly of himself generally thinks too lowly of others he considers beneath him. They are persons of no consequence, as far as he is concerned. Yet, this man is all show and parade. He would rather go without necessary bread so long as he can dress up in his finery. He feeds his vanity even if he cannot feed his family. He courts the world’s opinion, and principle is sacrificed to pride. Though no longer rich, he goes on keeping up his hollow pretenses. He’s a pauper who still plays the role of a prince.

3. The Humble is Better than the Haughty. He is better morally. Vanity is soul destroying. “Self conceit is a poor diet” (Maclaren). He has more contentment, for vanity has an insatiable appetite. He is better emotionally. In the end who cares about your grand pretense? When David was told that Saul wanted to make him his son-in-law, he replied, Seems it to you a light thing to be a king’s son in law, seeing that I am a poor man, and lightly esteemed (1 Sam.18:23)? The humble man may be despised in the eyes of others, but here David applies the same word twice to himself, as one despised in his own eyes. This is the opposite of the one that honours himself, and that without any justification. So powerful was Cornish miner, Billy Bray’s conversion, that the people said he was a madman but they meant, said Billy, “I was God’s gladman.” He declared that as he lifted one foot it seemed to say “Glory” and the other replied “Amen.”

Thought: “If we learned humility it might spare us humiliation” (Havner).

Prayer: Not to think of myself more highly than I ought to think.