There is one who pretends to be rich, but has nothing; Another pretends to be poor, but has great wealth. Proverbs 13:7
Here is one of the stranger verses in all of Proverbs. Here we see two different people - one pretending to be rich, yet having nothing, and another pretending poverty, yet rich. Are we dealing with hypocrisy in these two individuals, or are we dealing rather with something else? The word "pretend" here is very important to understand. The actual statement made here is that one is "making himself rich" and it refers to someone who spends all their time pursuing and running after being wealthy. The opposite saying here makes it clear that another pursues poverty - or pursues being poor. The idea is not of hypocrisy, but rather what they are pursuing in life. One pursues riches and the other poverty. Therefore what we have here is a commentary on the true state of these two individuals. First we have the man who is pursuing riches. What seems to be said here is that he not only pursues wealth, but he is achieiving it as well. He is making himself rich. The problem here is that God's commentary on this man is that this man has nothing. His bank account would militate against this statement, but a man's earthly bank account does not measure true wealth in the sight of God. There are other far more important measurements that truly let us know of a man's worth and value. The New Testament warns against wealth, telling us that when we fix our hearts upon wealth, that it sprouts wings and flies away. We read that those who pursue wealth and love it - will have problems, being pierced through with many a desire. Jesus speaks of the rich farmer as a fool because he focuses only on his wealth and not on the fact that his soul is going to be required of him the very night he thinks he has "made it" in this world. Biblically, a rich man who is centered on his riches has nothing. So, what we learn from this proverb is that it is the fool who is so focused on his riches. The rest of the proverb is equally as instructive to us. We learn that another man pursues poverty, yet he has great riches. How does a man "pursue poverty"? The answer to that statement is found in the beattitudes of Jesus. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. We pursue poverty by pursuing the truth of our own spiritual condition before God. The truth about our condition is that we are bankrupt spiritually. We have nothing of any real value - because we are in our sins and under the wrath of God. When we make ourselves poor - and embrace our spiritual poverty - coming to Jesus Christ for the only true riches - then we do have great riches. We receive that wonderful acrostic of GRACE - God's Riches At Christ's Expense. A truly wise man does not pursue the riches of this world. He knows that they are only temporary. They are like the grass of the field that is here today and thrown into the furnace tomorrow. He knows that the grass fades and the flower of this world falls off - but that the Word of our Lord abides forever. The wise man knows that a man's soul is costly, and that the price for it cannot be paid in the currency of this present world. The only currency acceptable in the sight of God is the blood of Christ shed for our sins. Thus the truly wise man seeks after Christ - receives His grace - and lives to be poor in this world's estimation, while pursuing the true riches that last for eternity.
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Righteousness guards the one whose way is blameless, But wickedness subverts the sinner. Proverbs 13:6
If you had a choice, which would you choose in life . . . to be guarded or subverted. What we learn from today's proverb is that we can actually choose which one we experience from day to day. Choose righteousness and you will be guarded - but choose wickedness and you will find your way subverted. Let's take a look at these two choices and their outcomes. It would behoove us to know what righteousness is from time to time in our journey through Proverbs. Righteousness is the Hebrew word "sedaqah" which means to do what is right; to have blameless conduct; and to walk in integrity. The one who embraces righteousness embraces justice, right actions and attitudes, and a lifestyle that will mirror the heart and character of God. We are told here that righteousness will guard us. The word guard means to watch over closely, to hide from evil, and to preserve. When we choose righteousness - the blameless and godly way - the way that mirrors the heart of God, there is a protection and a watch that will be set over us just for doing this. The rest of the Proverb says that righteousness will watch over "the one whose way is blameless." The picture here is of a way or a path. The literal phrase is "blamelessness of way" and it refers to a path that is blameless before God. Choosing biblical and moral integrity will watch for us to keep us on the blameless way. When we walk with God in this way - desiring and choosing righteousness - our very way will be guarded - and it will be a way that God approves and one in which He delights. This is a pretty awful example - but it would be like having a cruise control that warns us when we are about to go out of a way that pleases and honors God. In the New Testament God tells us that He works marvelously in our hearts through the person of the Holy Spirit. He instructs and leads us in the way we should go. He teaches us - but He also rebukes and corrects us when we are about to go astray. Here is the personification of this proverb. God the Holy Spirit will guard us and make sure that we stay on a blameless path before God as we walk through our day. How does He do this? He does it as we focus on righteousness and holiness - when we focus on a lifestyle that will please and honor God. This is the way to walk and have your footsteps guarded each step of the way. You will receive warnings when you are about to misstep. But do not think that this is a life merely of correction and constantly hearing a buzzer when you are about to mess up. This is a life where God the Holy Spirit is changing and conforming us to God's image in Christ. As He does this our heart is changed from stone to flesh. Our desires are also changed and we long to please and to honor Him. We learn to walk - not out of some slavish fear of God's punishment. We learn to please God in all we do - because His transformation of our hearts results in us WANTING to do what He desires. It is a life of joy as we follow Him with all our hearts. The sinner has another path - one that is far less secure. The sinner here is the "chattah" the one missing the mark. The sinner is at fault with God and is failing Him in his choices and desires. It is "wickedness" that is doing this to him. This word describes wrong doing - but it refers to it in the context of rebellion against Yahweh. The sinner misses the mark - because he doesn't even have the right target up when he is shooting. The mark is God's way and God's Law - yet the sinner is in rebellion against God - and thus doesn't even want to obey His commands. This rebellion is what subverts the sinner. Subverts is the Hebrew word "salap" which means to overthrow something, to twist it and to pervert it. It speaks of distorting and misleading someone from what is normal to what is foolish. It refers to bribes that twist government officials to disregard the law. As the foolish man rebels against God Himself - he is guaranteeing that everything will be twisted the wrong way in his life. He misses the mark - and is sure to do nothing but miss it until his heart is changed by the work of God's salvation. Here we have two paths - the way of the one in rebellion against God - the way of the lost man. His way is twisted even before he starts his day - because his days always begin with a heart in rebellion against God. We also have the man who daily chooses righteousness - who chooses God's way. As he does this daily - that very choice - that very mindset and path will protect him and keep him from dozens of wrong choices before his feet ever hit the floor in the morning. God will guard him and keep him and protect him from great sin. There is a way paved before him because he chooses the integrity of holiness and true godliness. We will never know this side of heaven how often our way has been blessed and how many difficulties and sins have been avoided simply because of our salvation. We will be protected simply because we have been saved - our hearts changed - and our paths set toward the blameless way. Praise God for His glorious gift - and his wonderful protection that results from it! A righteous man hates falsehood, But a wicked man acts disgustingly and shamefully. Proverbs 13:5
Here is a great commentary on how a righteous man will live his life. It is also a good reminder for us who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus as to what we should hate and what we should avoid in life. The righteous man hates falsehood. There it is as simply as we can possibly understand it. Want to live a righteous life? Then learn to hate what is false! But the natural question arises, "But what is false?" This is where things get interesting for us in our post-modern society. Our world tells us that truth is in the eye of the beholder. A little more simply put - truth is whatever is true to you. You can follow this particular definition of truth right into the swamps of moral decay and confusion. This ultimately leads you to believe that truth is whatever YOU want it to be - until you are arrested or shot! For this proverb to have any meaning at all, there has to be truth - ultimate truth. Once again, fortunately for those who turn to the revelation of God - there is absolute truth. The Word of God is truth. We can turn to it to get out of our moral morrass of our culture and onto solid ground once again. This may not be easy because moral truth requires moral choices - and the ability to designate things as moral or immoral. (I can hear the cries of judgmentlism and unfairness even as I write this.) God determines truth in His Word and calls us to a moral standard equal to that which He reveals. If we have problems with this - take it up with Him - or rebel against Him (which is usually the action of choice in our world today) Try a moral overthrow, but it will only lead to your life being crushed upon the rocks of God's moral laws. This means that the righteous man lives according to God's standards of right and wrong. Contrary to popular opinion (popular among fallen men - God hasn't changed His mind on these issues - and never will) - God's moral views are not hard to grasp. He gave us 10 commandments and a large amount of other material that will help us form a moral worldview that is fairly easy to grasp. The righteous man therefore considers this to be truth - and lives by it. The problem for the righteous man is that in this fallen world people will militate against God's moral law. We have a world that embraces sexual immorality - both heterosexual and homosexual - that embraces abortion and moral ineptitude. We have a world that considers ethics to be completely situational in orientation. We have a world that says we must morph to our times and to the moral climate in which we live. God says differently. The righteous man hates the lies that distort God's clear moral teachings and ethical standards. He will hate them and stand with the truth of God no matter the cost. The wicked man, though, stinks - and stinks in a shameful manner. That is what the Hebrew says very descriptively here. The shameful man acts disgustingly. The phrase here literally means that he creates a bad, stinky odor! We use the phrase, "That really stinks!" to refer to something we don't like. But for the wicked man - his lifestyle stinks to God - and frankly - to anyone who desires to please God. His lifestyle reeks of selfishness and godlessness. It reeks of self-interest and self-centeredness. The words used here spoke of roten food and the horrific odor that they gave off to others. An ungodly lifestyle stinks with this odor - but it is spiritual in nature. The wicked man embraces death in his actions. Man is dead spiritually until he comes to Christ. The wicked revel in that death - and smell like it as well. The wicked man also acts shamefully. The word use here is "chapher" which means to be ashamed and disgraced. It speaks of one who is humiliated and embarassed. The key to graspoing this word is that it refers to how a person reacts in the presence of God. In the end - we won't be judged by a jury of our peers - for they might approve of how we've lived our lives. We will face judgment at the thron of God. He is the One who will determine our future. If you can imagine the sense of infinite shame that the wicked will know at the throne of God - then you are beginning to get the picture of what we speak of here. The wicked man gives no thought whatsoever to the fact that all of his actions will be judged by a holy God. He just plows on in his wicked course until he is interrupted by his death. Suddenly, all at once, he finds himself before a holy God whose law he has broken. Things that he considered just fine become the source of unb ounded shame and disgrace to him. He is overwhelmed by his guilt, humiliation and horror over what he thought was just fine. Suddenly what was acceptable to him is so no longer. He hangs his head in shame - but it is too late for that shame to do him any good whatever. The righteous man hates lies - because it is lies that deceive men into living their lives without any thought to the judgment of God. But the righteous man knows of this judgment. If he is wise the righteous man knows that his only righteousness comes through the gift of God's grace in Jesus Christ. He receives the righteousness of Christ by faith - and now lives to honor and glorify God. That is why he also turns away from what God describes to him as sintky and shameful conduct. He does not measure all things by himself and his desires - but rather by what God reveals to him to be morally true and right. The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, But the soul of the diligent is made fat. Proverbs 13:4
The sluggard is always wanting and never getting. His life is a series of desires and cravings for everything under the sun. He craves and speaks of all the things he wants - but does nothing to actually obtain them. If someone gives them to him he is happy for a moment or two. That happiness is soon replaced with another craving, though, and he returns to his world of constantly wanting something else. In all his wanting though, he never lifts himself up to the level of work and labor. These things would open his life up to actually seeing things happen. He is lazy and undisciplined and therefore he never attains to things. The proverb tells us that he gets nothing. His hands are always empty - first they are empty of work and labor - and in the end they are empty of any real productivity and products. He is a sad soul - doubly empty. The soul of the diligent man is fat. He works hard and labors diligently at the things he wants. He allows desire to prod him to work and labor. Thus his desires and wants become more than just a craving that taunts him. He uses those desires to spur him to action - first action of the mind - and then action of life. He works hard - and at the end of the day has something to show for it. If not his actual goals - he has the satisfaction that he is one day closer to seeing them realized. Along the way his soul gets fatter. His mind is filled with thought of how to do things better, quicker, with greater quality and skill. Along the way his will is set to do what is before him. Along the way his emotions are kept in check - not dominating his life with unmet cravings and the whirlwhind of emotions they bring - but with excitment about what is coming as his work yields true rewards. Even before he gets what he is working for - his soul remains fat with the good things that come from hard work and industry. One craves and is wracked by the unmet cries of his cravings. He is starving to death physically, emotionally, and mentally as he has nothing to show for doing nothing. The other is working toward something good - and all along the way good comes to him. It is far better to be working toward something than to be only craving what you will never get. The one who guards his mouth preserves his life; The one who opens wide his lips comes to ruin. Proverbs 13:3
Loose lips sink ships. This was a saying used during WWII to speak of the need to be careful of what someone said - because if the enemy were to gain knowledge - it might result in the sinking of one of our vessels as it was in the European theater of the war. This saying could be changed to "loose lips, sink lives," according to the proverb today. Let's take a closer look and see why this is so. The one who is "guarding" his lips is the one who watches over what comes out of them. He keeps himself from speaking outside of what God wants to be said. He sets a guard over his lips so that he does what Joshua was told in the first chapter of the book using his name. Do not let the book of the law depart from your mouth. The wise man in guarding his mouth - also is guarding and preseving his very life. There are so many ways that our mouths can get us in trouble. Think about the number of times we've seen public figures not watch their mouths and pay for it dearly when things were said that ruined them. Remember Jesus said that it is out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks. So what comes out of our mouths reflects what truly is in our hearts. That is why it is so vital that we guard what actually comes out of them. The proverb also deals with the person who says that they can say whatever they want. This is true, but there is a cost for this kind of attitude. That cost is ruin. The word means to be destroyed, to be ruined. It also has the idea of terror and fear. We may think we can say anything we want - but the fact is that when truly stupid statements are made - the devastation they render can be terrifying. You can watch someone fall from tremendous heights of power and public opinion in a matter of hours when their mouths are not guarded in what they say. The guarded mouth is the wise mouth. We all have things we want to say - but we know that such things often are better left unsaid - and honestly - repented of in our hearts. To leave our mouths without any kind of guard or watch is like leaving a post in battle unguarded. It will lead to ruin. From the fruit of a man's mouth he enjoys good, But the desire of the treacherous is violence. Proverbs 13:2
How we speak will often determine the level of blessing we enjoy in our lives. Now I do not speak of the way some mention words as if by our speaking we can create blessing and curse. This is the name it claim it crowd - who think merely mentioning we might be sick will insure we are because of our unbelief and our disobedience. This doctrine is just theological wind. What the proverb is teaching us is that when it comes to how we speak - what we give is often what we get. On the good side of things, the man who speaks what is good and uses his mouth to build up and love others - will in turn enjoy that same good as it comes back to him. It is interesting that the proverb states the from the fruit of a man's mouth he enjoys good things. What is the fruit of the man's mouth - that is mentioned here? It is not just the words he speaks - but what they lead to that is the focus of this passage. We speak something or say it. Where does that lead? If we speak godless, critical, unholy words, we will most definitely receive a harvest from these words. That is what the writer of Proverbs is trying to tell us. Be careful what you speak - because there is a harvest of your words that is coming. You can enjoy good from what you speak - and you can experience bad as well. There is a contrary aspect to how we speak. We read here of the desire of the treacherous man next. There are those whose mouths are filled with treachery and violence. They speak things that should not be said. Their mouths are used to injure rather than build up and encourage. Their mouths are unkind and unloving - and the end of their words is violence. How we need to see this and realize that our words and our mouths will pave a way for us. When we use them rightly our words pave the way for good things coming back to us. But when we become treacherous, deceitful, and ungodly in our speaking - it too will come back upon us - but only in the way of violence and problems. Watch how you speak. It will determine what is coming to you in the end. Speak and act as those who know that they will be judged by God for every idle word we speak. That way you know that there is a harvest of your words that is coming - and you will receive your just dues based on the words that you chose to use - whether good or evil. A wise son accepts his father's discipline, But a scoffer does not listen to rebuke. Proverbs 13:1
Ours is a soceity where fathers are abandoning their biblical position. The result is a soceity where things are unfortunately falling apart at an alarming rate. What is even more alarming is how badly the biblical portrait of fatherhood is under attack by the entertainment, educational, and political elite of our day. There are many who think a man's usefulness is at its maximum shortly after the conception of a child. The Bible knows no such view. This proverb is actually addressed to sons who desire to be wise. The wise son is the one who listens to his father's disciplinary words and ideas. The word for discipline here is "musar" and it means to discipline throuh instruction. It is when a father speaks with his son in correction of his attitudes and actions. This is something that is desperately needed for a child. Foolishness is bound up within his heart - and something and someone must address the wrong thinking that the child has - and will destroy the child if left alone. The father is to offer these words of rebuke and correction. That means that the view that we are naturally good is false. We are not naturally good. The Bible teaches that we are fallen and are given over to a worldly wisdom that is very destructive. Thus we need a godly father to speak the truth to us and to encourage us toward the ways of God. The son who does not listen to this helpful rebuke, is called a "scoffer." This is an interesting Word. It means to scorn, deride, and mock another. Here it speaks of how the son does not honor the father or his instruction. He won't listen to rebuke or correction. He mocks it instead - thinking that the things his father says to him will not happen - nor will his own actions bring any kind of difficulty. Yet, the truth is that when a godly father's instruction is ingored and mocked - the son is in for a bumpy road filled with grief and problems. A father's instruction is invaluable to a son or daughter. Do not ignore it - or mock it. It is god's way of offering to the next generation the wisdom it needs to prosper and be blessed. Keep it and the blessing with be yours - ignore it only at your own peril. The one who despises the word will be in debt to it, But the one who fears the commandment will be rewarded. Proverbs 13:13
How you view and deal with God's Word will determine in great measure what kind of life you live and in the end, what kind of reward you receive. There have been those throughout history who have despised God's Word. They hold it in contempt. They scorn and disrespect what God has said. They scoff at its commands and laugh at the worldview it presents. For at least two thousand years they have tried to tear it down and make their own words powerful. After two thousand years of this one would think the Word of God would have been beaten to dust. Yet the Word of God still stands - still speaks - still works in the hearts of those who receive it as the Word of God. Not only this, but it still is THE STANDARD by which we shall be judged before God. The man who despises God's Word will still be in debt to it. The grass withers, the flower falls off - but the Word of the Lord shall stand. Every man will have to stand before God on the day of judgment and give account for the deeds which he has done in the flesh. Every man is in debt to the commandments of God - especially those which he has broken. The call out to the living God for judgment and are tied about the neck of those who have broken them like an eternal albatross. Though they rebel against them and mock them, they will be tied to them as surely as Samson was chained to the grinding wheel for his sin. Man may shout and insult the Word of God, but man will also stand accountable to it. The debt mounts day by day - and that debt must be paid. The one who fears and respects the Word of God - who sees the commandment and trembles - that man will be rewarded. It is only as we approach the commandments of God and fear that we will receive wisdom and understanding. What is interesting is what the commandment will teach us who fear and respect it. God's commands require obedience. Our problem is that we cannot offer it - not in the manner God requires. We fall short of God's glory in the commandments and become guilty of sin. By the commandments of God no man will become righteous - for by these very commandments we become aware of our sin and accountability to Him. But the reward that comes from knowing this is that we come instead to a knowledge of our need - of a salvation that is apart from works. This salvation comes through Jesus Christ - Who alone is the reward for those who learn from the Law. As Galatians says - the law is given to us as a school teacher that we might be justified by faith. We tire of our own efforts at reform and restoration and instead turn to the only means of salvation - Jesus Christ. Despising the Word of God is a sport fit for fools. Yet those who learn from the Word - who listen to the Teacher - run to Christ and find in Him a reward greater than any we could have ever fathomed! |
Proverb a DayEach day, we'll take a look at a verse from the chapter of Proverbs for the day. Our hope is to gain wisdom each day - and from that wisdom - to have understanding to make godly decisions in the throes of everyday life. Thank you for visiting our website! Everything on this site is offered for free. If, however, you would like to make a donation to help pay for its continued presence on the internet, you can do that by clicking here. The only thing we ask is that you give first to the local church you attend. Thank you!
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