Tag: Proverbs – Go For the Life that Wins!

1. The Actions: Two types of activity are described. In v.23 the contrast is between real labour and mere talk, while in v.24 it is the different results of wisdom versus folly. All are not born equal, neither is all labour equal, nor is all talk useless. Purposeful work always profits, while the tongue, without a godly heart, makes for poverty. “The stirring hand gets the penny” (Henry).

Evil does as evil thinks! To do evil is bad enough, but how much worse to devise evil. Those who carry out the evil plots of their superiors are held accountable even when they are obeying orders from above. Are not those at the top even more guilty? We sometimes hear of corporate executives fined or sent to jail for crimes of their companies, and of so-called warlords being convicted for the atrocities carried out by the soldiers under their command.

The Book of Proverbs looks at the subject of unkindness from many angles. In 11:12 it is to be void of heart (marg.). The “observation” of a sad fact in 14.20 has become, in 14:21, a “lesson” of a sin act. To despise one’s (poor) neighbours surely to sin. It rejects the will and loses the blessing of God. To have mercy on the poor brings happiness or blessedness, a foretaste of Heaven. Here let us observe.

This proverb sets forth an all too common fact of life. Though written thousands of years ago, its message is as contemporary as today, nor has the way of the world changed in the interim. The poor is hated… but the rich has many friends. Still more sadly, what this proverb depicts is often the way of those who profess to follow Him who was the Friend of sinners. Perhaps more poor folk have been turned away from our churches because of this un-Christlike treatment than almost any other sin, unless it be race!

Again, in spite of appearances, is it not true that the wicked cannot live without the good? Jesus said of His own: Ye are the salt of the earth. It is frightful to think of a world with only evil. It is the presence of God’s elect that stays His hand from destroying this world as He did the ancient cities of Sodom and Gomarrah. Old Rowland Hill must have been thinking of this when he said: “We can do more good by being good than in any other way.” God has promised to keep His people, and will He not keep His promises?

Dear Believer, this is not “Pie in the sky, by and by when you die.” How often those going through times of acute pain or a great loss, have turned to the inspired words of the Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians, and found hope, and, in the beautiful imagery, penned by George Matheson, they have been enabled to:

RSV and TEV, using the Greek Bible (LXX) rather than the Hebrew, completely distort this verse. They take devices in a good sense (see below), and then change is hated to is patient (RSV), is calm (TEV)! “RSV’s too-brief footnote implies, unwarrantably, that the Hebrew text is nonsense” (Kidner).

These four verses have some common elements. The simple and the fool is one and the same, as is the prudent and the wise. These words, thus contrasted, have much to say about the state of our world. Surely simplicity, meaning openness, and trust, are commendable qualities. Why, then, do they tend to be either unappreciated or even despised by many? How often Scripture speaks of God’s care for the simple, the meek or the afflicted? Christ said: Blessed are the meek. Simplicity and trust are better than doubt and suspicion. He commended the simple faith and trust of a little child.

The old saying is true, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure!” If we would prevent backsliding, we must exercise daily, even hourly, vigilance. Peter had boldly asserted his undying devotion to the Lord, yet, a few hours later, he is sleeping instead of guarding. When the Lord comes He speaks directly to Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray that ye enter not into temptation (Matt. 26:40-41). After the arrest of Jesus, we read, Peter followed him afar off, and, a little later, Peter is sitting among the enemy and warming himself at their fire. Was not all this the prelude to his sad denial? Then the Lord turned, and looked upon Peter. And Peter went out and wept bitterly (Lk. 22:54-62). Thank God for those tears, for they were tears of true repentance and restoration for Peter. The point of spiritual departure for Peter, and for many Christians too, is found in the words afar off, and, as a result, he was taken off-guard, and then taken-in by a slip of a girl. He failed to watch and pray.

Solomon said: “A good man shall be satisfied from himself.” The words in italics in the KJV are supplied by implication from 14:14a. At first sight, they sound more like a humanist’s boast than a humble Christian’s claim. It seems to fit the backslider better. What, then, does this text mean? Who is a good man, and how is he satisfied from himself? It is God alone who defines the good, and it is the goodness of God alone that imparts any good there is in man. There is, first,