Proverbs 15

Proverbs 15

1 A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. 2 The tongue of the wise commends knowledge, but the mouths of fools pour out folly. 3 The eyes of the Lord are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good. 4 A gentle tongue is a tree of life, but perverseness in it breaks the spirit. 5 A fool despises his father's instruction, but whoever heeds reproof is prudent. 6 In the house of the righteous there is much treasure, but trouble befalls the income of the wicked. 7 The lips of the wise spread knowledge; not so the hearts of fools. 8 The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, but the prayer of the upright is acceptable to him. 9 The way of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, but he loves him who pursues righteousness. 10 There is severe discipline for him who forsakes the way; whoever hates reproof will die. 11 Sheol and Abaddon lie open before the Lord; how much more the hearts of the children of man! 12 A scoffer does not like to be reproved; he will not go to the wise. 13 A glad heart makes a cheerful face, but by sorrow of heart the spirit is crushed. 14 The heart of him who has understanding seeks knowledge, but the mouths of fools feed on folly. 15 All the days of the afflicted are evil, but the cheerful of heart has a continual feast. 16 Better is a little with the fear of the Lord than great treasure and trouble with it. 17 Better is a dinner of herbs where love is than a fattened ox and hatred with it. 18 A hot-tempered man stirs up strife, but he who is slow to anger quiets contention. 19 The way of a sluggard is like a hedge of thorns, but the path of the upright is a level highway. 20 A wise son makes a glad father, but a foolish man despises his mother. 21 Folly is a joy to him who lacks sense, but a man of understanding walks straight ahead. 22 Without counsel plans fail, but with many advisers they succeed. 23 To make an apt answer is a joy to a man, and a word in season, how good it is! 24 The path of life leads upward for the prudent, that he may turn away from Sheol beneath. 25 The Lord tears down the house of the proud but maintains the widow's boundaries. 26 The thoughts of the wicked are an abomination to the Lord, but gracious words are pure. 27 Whoever is greedy for unjust gain troubles his own household, but he who hates bribes will live. 28 The heart of the righteous ponders how to answer, but the mouth of the wicked pours out evil things. 29 The Lord is far from the wicked, but he hears the prayer of the righteous. 30 The light of the eyes rejoices the heart, and good news refreshes the bones. 31 The ear that listens to life-giving reproof will dwell among the wise. 32 Whoever ignores instruction despises himself, but he who listens to reproof gains intelligence. 33 The fear of the Lord is instruction in wisdom, and humility comes before honor.

Devotional

Introduction

You have probably had this thought before, or even said this before: "No, my neighbour, isn't a Christian, but they're a really good person". I think you probably know that that will not save them. From what we see, someone can look really good on the outside, but be terrible on the inside. Or they can have a rotten outside and rotten inside. If this makes a difference in how we can come before God - as we cannot approach a holy God as sinners - do we really think anything we do makes a difference. What we do can glorify God, but it will not save us.

So, does God favour anything that the wicked do? Well, according to this proverb, no. Frankly, everything we do or think is tainted with wickedness. It results in it becoming and "abomination to the Lord" (vs.8,9,26). The three verses in which this phrase occurs will be the focus of this study.

Study

1) The way of the wicked (vs.9)

"The way of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord,  but he loves him who pursues righteousness." (vs.9)

This was the verse I did my bible lettering on, and there was a reason for that. The way in which we go, the route, you might say, determines exactly where our heart is. It will determine what we do and think. It will show in our actions.

You can notice the difference between someone who is pursuing righteousness and one who is not. 2 Timothy says this:

"But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness." (2 Timothy 6:11)

There are two main differences, as illustrated, between the way of the wicked and the way of the righteous:

1. The righteous will "flee" sin, perhaps even avoiding temptation

2. The righteous man is a "man of God", meaning he will fear the Lord.

Once again, we come across this idea that in order to be wise, we must first fear the Lord, and wish to avoid sin. The wicked will not do that. They will pursue the sin with a heart that hates God. So the way they chose then dictates how they do life - their actions.

2) The sacrifice of the wicked (vs.8)

"The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord,  but the prayer of the upright is acceptable to him." (vs.8)

I found this verse very interesting, because unlike other verses which show what they do to be evil, this illustrates how even their seemingly good actions are tainted with evil. You might consider the story of Cain, who offered a bad, half-hearted sacrifice to God, compared to Abel who put his whole heart into offering God a sacrifice. You might consider the Pharisees, who delight in being seen as good people, Jews who sacrificed in the temple to God. But they do it for their own glory.

This passage in Isaiah shows God's disgust in half-hearted sacrifice:

“What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? says the Lord; I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of well-fed beasts; I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of goats. When you come to appear before me, who has required of you this trampling of my courts? Bring no more vain offerings; incense is an abomination to me. New moon and Sabbath and the calling of convocations— I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly. Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hates; they have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them. When you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood." (Isaiah 1:11-15)

God is tired of "vain offerings". To him, "they have become a burden". As a result, he "hide[s his] eyes from [them]". It's like if we were to believe that we must work towards our salvation, instead of trusting in Jesus. It's like if we relied on ourselves, forgetting that God is sovereign, and has set a path for us. It's like sacrificing your life, for nothing. It's like having no desire to serve God, yet doing everything you can to appease him, though it never will.

The upright are those who have put their trust in God. In their prayers, they do not seek attention or personal gain. They only seek the Lord. And that is an acceptable sacrifice to God. In Matthew 6 Jesus says this:

“And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you." (Matthew 6:5-6)

You must ask yourself, am I doing this for the Lord or for pride/selfishness/personal gain? Is my "sacrifice" void, because I do not fear the Lord? Am I living my life 'Soli Deo Gloria'? Assess your actions, and when you find fault, because you will, pray that the Holy Spirit will change your heart to not be wicked, but to be God-honouring.

3) The thoughts of the wicked (vs.26)

"The thoughts of the wicked are an abomination to the Lord,  but gracious words are pure." (vs.26)

Our thoughts are not always pure. What goes through our head may not come out, but it too is evil. I think we try to control our actions so much, that sometimes we forget to control our minds, where the actions will usually come from. Worst of all, we don't ask the spirit to cleanse our heart and minds in order that we might be wise and loving in what we do.

Here, we see that at the very core, in their very minds, the wicked are an "abomination to the Lord". This is contrasted against those with "gracious words", who we know must have clean hearts because the very words that come out from inside are "pure".

Psalm 24 says:

"He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully. He will receive blessing from the Lord and righteousness from the God of his salvation." (Psalm 24:4-5)

It is the one who not only acts rightly ("clean hands") but the one who has a "pure heart" who will "receive blessing from the Lord". Not only that, but they will receive "righteousness".

Now, do not be mistaken once again. Just because you do the right thing or have the right heart or clean thoughts, does not mean that you will be made righteous. We are cleansed through the blood of Christ. We are granted righteousness in him. So it is only through him that we can receive righteousness. But remember that the fear of the Lord will lead to us acting the right way and accepting Christ's death as the only way we can be saved. They tie in together. The Holy Spirit continues to change us. So we act more and think more in the way that God would have us do.

Conclusion

The wicked are wicked in everything. If you are not fearing the Lord, you are considered wicked. If you do fear the Lord and trust in Jesus as your saviour, you have been rescued from this state of wickedness, where everything you did was an "abomination" to the Lord, and now you live in righteousness.

I pray you are not getting sick of this gospel. The more I read Proverbs, the more enticing the gospel is. There are more facets, more angles which are making this gospel look less like raw coal, and more like a magnificently shaped diamond. Proverbs challenges me to see these two paths as more and more different, to see the way of fools as less and less appealing, and to see God's grace as outstanding.

I pray this is the same for you too.