Proverbs 13:19, The Bitter and the Sweet!
July 17, Proverbs 13:19
2 Peter 2:9-16 “Bread of deceit is sweet to a man” (Pr. 20:17).
The Bitter and the Sweet!
We might also title this: Wanting but Unwilling. This verse (19) may refer to the man who regards reproof or good advice (v.18), and who, as a result, finds his desire accomplished with sweetness to his soul. The fool, on the other hand, refuses instruction (v.18) because it is abomination to fools to depart from evil. “Hatred of holiness is meetness for hell” (Bridges), and “hell is truth seen too late!”
1. The Saint’s Sweetness: The desire accomplished is sweet to the soul, but… (13:19a). The but, in this proverb, would indicate that the desire is meant in a good sense (as 13:12), but only when the desires are holy desires. Certain it is, that the desires of the soul play a vital part in our eternal destiny. If those desires are immoral and contrary to the will of God, however sweet they may be to the taste, they will turn to wormwood and gall in the soul. The desire for truth, for progress in holiness, for spreading the gospel, for honouring God, these desires will produce true sweetness in the soul. Our chief desire should be to honour God above all. Sadly, we often desire most what we ought to have least. If our desires were all granted, they would likely destroy all our pleasures. What foolish creatures we are! How we need the grace of God to re-direct our desires. John Owen said: “The habitual inclination of the heart in believers is unto good, unto God, unto holiness, unto obedience.” As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness. I shall be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness (Ps. 17:15). Is this true for you?
2. The Sinner’s Snare: But it is abomination to fools to depart from evil (19b). Are there not, even in fallen man, desires for that which brings sweetness and satisfaction to the soul? Few set out deliberately to bring sorrow or grief upon themselves. Yet, they are so solidly in the snare of Satan that they cannot break from sin’s grip. In spite, therefore, of good desires, fools will not change their evil ways to attain them. Balaam provides us with a classic example. Did he not say Let me die the death of the righteous (Nu. 23:10)? Such would have been sweet to his soul. Yet it was abomination to him to depart from the wages of unrighteousness, and he died an apostate (2 Pet. 2:15).
3. The Soul’s Slavery: But it is abomination to fools to depart from evil (19b). Yet evil can only produce soul pain. Is there any person who does not want to go to heaven, when asked? No one elects to go to hell. Ask them: “In what does your hope of heaven consist?” Unless they are truly born-again, their answers soon make it evident that their hope is in themselves and their view of God and sin. Tell them there is only one Way and it begins at Calvary’s Cross, and Calvary’s blood, and you will likely receive oaths and curses for your trouble! Everyone wants to go to heaven, but no one, left to himself, will depart from evil to obtain this soul freedom, and the accompanying soul sweetness.
Thought: “Carnal desire is a gulf that is never filled up” (Manton).
Prayer: Lord, break the power of cancelled sin, and set the prisoner free!