Proverbial Wisdom: The Lord Weighs the Heart

 Read Proverbs 21

Verse 1:  Kings and other earthly authorities can be prone to pride as a result of their power.  But they are not the sovereign of the world, and they must recognize that they only have the position because God has allowed it to happen (Romans 13:1).  Nebuchadnezzar exalted himself on account of his kingdom, and God had to humble him severely (Daniel 4).  God allows certain people to come to power, and He brings others low.  He changes hearts of kings, and He hardens hearts of kings.  The bottom line is that God is the ultimate King, and no power on earth can thwart that reality. We as Christians should remember that as election day is only weeks away.  No matter what happens, God is in control.

 

Verse 2:  People are prone to rationalize sin, to self-justify, and to fail to see the reality of their sin before God.  There is a way that seems right to a man, but, because it is sinful, it leads to death.  The deceptive heart that man is born with needs to be reborn in Christ.  God sees the true state of all hearts, and only those which are cleansed with Christ’s blood will be clean and pure and able to enter heaven. 

Verse 3:  Anybody can perform empty religious rituals and ceremonies, but God is interested in the state of the heart.  He wants those who obey Him by faith and who lead lives devoted to righteousness and justice.  Empty religion never saved anybody, but those who obey the commands of God demonstrate that they have hearts that have been reborn in Christ.  King Saul disobeyed God by taking lambs as part of the spoil from the battle, and he tried to satisfy God by sacrificing them.  But God wanted obedience rather than sacrifice and to listen to Him more than burnt offerings.  Obedience to God’s commands is how we prove our love for Him, not by vain rituals devoid of submission to God in the heart.

Verse 8:  A guilty man has to continue to lie and cover up his wrong, and he must constantly live in fear and worry that he will one day be caught.  Thus, his way veers all over the place, his answers change, and he is unreliable and untrustworthy.  The pure in heart have nothing to hide, nothing to fear, and nothing to run from, and thus all that they do can be straightforward, honest, and above reproach.

Verse 9:  Solomon wants people to be careful who they marry because it could be more miserable than being holed up in an attic.  Being unequally yoked by marrying somebody who doesn’t know how to submit to Christ and how to love others cannot end well.  It might not always be this bad, but if the woman is never agreeable, always nit-picking, and always nagging and complaining, then it will be. 

 

Verse 13:  God hates when people are cruel to the poor and when they neglect those in need when it is in their power to do something to help.  Those who know the love of Christ should have compassion on the needy, and they should use their opportunity to give physical provisions as a chance to share the spiritual message of hope in the gospel of Christ.  Those who neglect the cry of the poor demonstrate a hardness of heart and a selfish arrogance that is indicative not of those who walk humbly before God and have the privilege of answered prayer but of those who regard iniquity in their heart such that the Lord cannot hear.  This would be expected of unbelievers, but even believers can be guilty of being greedy and lacking compassion, and God will not hear their prayers if they are harboring evil in their hearts. 

Verse 17:  Practically, the idea is that those who are addicted to spending lots of money on luxuries such as wine and oil and throwing money away on wasteful pleasurable pursuits will often find that they have no money left to keep wasting and spending (compare with the treasures of the wise who have saved diligently in v. 20).  The prodigal son blew his entire inheritance on prostitutes and immoral living.  Money can evaporate very quickly when spending it at a feverish pace or gambling it away in order to keep a sinful high going.  What people need to understand is that sinful pleasures are like a giant black hole, sucking life and joy and likely even a person’s financial well-being until all is gone.  Worse yet, a heart that lives for sin will find its eternal destiny in hell on account of its spiritual bankruptcy.  If man would repent and put his faith in Christ, then He could have access to all the spiritual pleasures and riches that are in Christ (Ephesians 1:3, Psalm 16:11).  After all, it is not pleasure or enjoyment which is of itself wrong as if God forbids happiness and exuberance.  Doing things God’s way is actually the only hope of true ecstasy in this life and in the next.  There are no hangovers or bad trips with a holy and God-honoring lifestyle, only new mercies each morning. 

There is nothing wrong with enjoying life (Ecclesiastes 5:18, 9:9), but what is wrong is living life in the pursuit of selfish sinful pleasures.  The lust for pleasure, wealth, and the high life (Ecclesiastes 10:19) is a lifestyle of idolatry, and it does not value God and His eternal priorities.   People would be wise to enjoy life by honoring and thanking God for His good and perfect gifts such as food, drink, family, and the chance to work and serve Him.  Whether rich or poor, joy can be full when choosing to seek first the kingdom of God. 

Verse 19:  Solomon will say later that a contentious wife is like a dripping faucet, constantly making the husband feel worthless and unloved.  Now he adds that a man would be better off wandering in a desert wilderness than being stuck under the same roof with a woman who loves to mock, insult, provoke, and vex.  These character qualities are in line with the descriptors throughout the book of Proverbs regarding the fool.  The fool likes fighting, anger, and the lack of peace.  This is not the type of person to marry unless one enjoys being miserable.

Verse 23:  Those who can control their tongue and speak wisely, graciously, and peaceably will keep from getting into a lot of the trouble that those who speak without thinking will get themselves into.  Being able to control the tongue is a sign that God has control of the heart because no man can of his own will control the tongue.  Self-control is a fruit of the Spirit, something we are dependent upon God to learn and practice.  Thus, those who are able to guard their lips demonstrate fruit that they are indeed of God and that their souls have been redeemed.

 

 Verse 25,26:  The lazy person is not motivated by the fear of God, to work hard, and to provide financially for himself and for his own.  He chooses not to labor and to earn an honest living because he desires to do nothing.  He should expect to be in need and to end up even in poverty, and he will have nothing to give to others in need.  The righteous through honest labor earn money that they can use to feed themselves and care for their families and even have some left over to give to others who are in need.  This doesn’t mean enabling laziness, but it means taking care of those who are unable to provide for themselves or their own.  There is a great difference between choosing not to work when one is able and when work is available as compared to the person who is not able to work or who does not have any immediate option available to him. 

Verse 29:  A wicked man might act confidently and feign boldness, but the righteous man seeks wisdom, trusts in the Lord for guidance and protection, and takes the necessary steps of planning and taking precautions as God enables and leads.  The wicked person tries to act tough, but the righteous person has real strength and hope in the Lord.  The wicked can only have confidence in themselves and their own abilities and provisions, but the righteous have the God of the universe on their side fighting for them.  Thus, the confidence of the wicked is but their own personal opinion and a figment of their imagination, but the confidence of the righteous is boasting in He Who is strong even though they are weak.   

Verse 31:  Planning and preparation are man’s responsibility, but ultimately nothing can be accomplished without the help of the Lord.  He is sovereign over all the affairs of men.  Psalm 127:1 says, “Unless the Lord builds the house, They labor in vain who build it;  Unless the Lord guards the city, The watchman keeps awake in vain.”