Proverbs 14:2, Monday Religion!

July 28, Proverbs 14:2

Matt. 12:33-37; Luke 16:14-15 “Grace in the heart is the spring of the upright walk” (Bridges).

Monday Religion!

What we believe about God must profoundly affect the way we live. Our life is a demonstration either of faith in the living God, or of faith in our own self-will and self-judgment. He that walks in his uprightness fears the Lord, but he that is perverse in his way despises him (v.2). We are either walking in uprightness or in perverseness. Matthew Henry observes that this verse shows grace and sin in their true colours, for those who despise God’s precepts and promises, despise God and all His power and mercy. Mark how men deal with each other and you will soon know their feelings toward God.

1. Two Different Steps: The one man walks in uprightness, integrity or with evenness (v.2). The other is perverse or crooked in his steps. He habitually turns aside from the right path. He is devious, cunning. In Pr. 3:32 he is described as froward, and as perverse in Isa. 30:12. The one is moral in all his dealings. There is nothing crooked about him. He ever seeks to avoid known sin. He looks his neighbour in the eye without shame. He is always open and yet fearless for the truth. He lives here as one who knows he has to live hereafter, for, as John Calvin said, “No true Christian is his own man.” It was Murray M’Cheyne’s prayer that his people would “so live as to be missed,” and he lived that prayer himself. The other is crooked in his purposes, his principles, and his performances. He may attempt to hide his true bent of mind, but it will out. He follows his own appetites and passions regardless of others, for, you see, sin and unbelief are always conceited.

2. Two Different Sources: Trace the difference to its source, namely, their attitude towards their Maker. The one seeks to honour God in all he does. He is a saint in prayer, and not worldly in conduct. Thomas Watson said, “The saints are the walking pictures of God.” Thus he seeks to walk the talk before his fellow men. His is a Monday religion not just a Sunday profession! “A saint is not merely a professing follower of Christ, but a professing follower presumed to be what he professes” (H. Moule). Here we see his evenness, his integrity in everything. The other despises the upright, if not openly, because of appearances, yet secretly, especially when he is with his own kind. In one Grace reigns, and in the other, sin is in control. The walk of the upright springs from his fear of God, and that “is the soul of godliness” (John Murray). The other despises God’s precepts and promises. Oh, the sinfulness of sin, in all its nakedness, is to despise the God whom Angels worship. External decency may cover indulgence and secret lust that brings men under the awful guilt of despising God, but leaves them the victims of every other fear of man (1 Sam. 2:29-34; 2 Sam. 12:9-12). The Springs from whence the two different steps flow find their Source in their respective attitude toward God; the one reverences, the other despises, God. Dear reader, which steps and which source describes you? Remember, “God’s crumbs are better than the world’s loaves.”

Thought: Live to God’s glory and you shall live in God’s glory.

Prayer: Lord, help me to be the blessed man of Psalm 1.