Proverbs 15
McGeeCHAPTER 15This chapter contrasts goodness and evil and emphasizes first the role of the tongue, then of the heart.
Proverbs 15:1
THE TONGUEI’m sure that the people who come to your mind at this proverb are Abigail and Nabal. We have seen several proverbs that are applicable to them. Abigail was the beautiful, lovely wife and woman. Nabal, her husband, was the fool but a very rich man. Someone has written a book called “Beauty and the Beast,” and it is the story of Nabal and AbigailAbigail is the beauty and Nabal is the beast. You will recall that when Abigail heard that her husband had sent an insulting answer to David, who had in kindness and consideration taken care of his flocks, she hurriedly ordered the servants to gather a great deal of food for David.
Then she went to meet David and fell down on her face before him. She recognized him as the future king, and she spoke to him of the fact that his life was bound up in the bundle of life with Goda beautiful expression. She gave a soft answer, and it did turn away wrath. On the other hand, grievous words stir up angerwhich certainly was true of the words of Nabal. You will notice many illustrations of this as you go through the Word of God. We find that the Lord Jesus Himself used the strongest language in the entire Scriptures in His denunciation of the Pharisees in Matthew 23. There can be a proper time to “put it on the line,” and Jesus certainly could do that. But notice how gracious He was to those who needed the grace of God. He told the poor woman in sin, “… Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more” (Joh_8:11). What a gracious thing to say to her. So we find illustrations of this again and again in the Word of God. There is a time for the very gracious, soft answer. There is also a time when the answer needs to be strong.
Proverbs 15:2
We are back again to the tongue. I’ll repeat what I have said beforethere is more said in the Bible about the abuse of the tongue than about the abuse of alcohol. That does not mean we commend alcohol; I think the greatest curse of this country right now is not dope or drugs but alcohol. Somehow people tend to point an accusing finger at the drug addict, but they excuse the alcoholic as being sick and needing help. He certainly does. The Word of God condemns drunkenness but even more severely condemns the abuse of the tongue. That little tongue will tell people who you really are. It will give you away. I have a little booklet entitled Hell on Fire. It is a scriptural title, dealing with the tongue, that dangerous little instrument.
Proverbs 15:3
You may look to the right hand and to the left hand and think that nobody is watching you. Even Big Brother may not be watching you, but God is watching. God sees you. Remember that when Moses saw an Egyptian beating one of his brethren in slavery, he looked this way and he looked that way, and then he slew the Egyptian. He forgot to look up! He didn’t think anyone knew. God knew. Your life and my life are an open book before God. What is secret sin down here is open scandal in heaven.“The eyes of the LORD are in every place, beholding the evil and the good.”
Proverbs 15:4
Here is the tongue again. It can get us into a lot of trouble. It can get us out of trouble, too. It can be a blessing or a curse.
Proverbs 15:5
There is so much said in the Book of Proverbs about listening to advice and instruction. It has been said that you can’t tell a fool anything. That is true. You can tell him, but you can’t get through to him for the very simple reason that he is not listening to instruction.
Proverbs 15:6
This contrast is not dealing with material riches. The treasure that is in the house of the righteous consists of things like joy, peace, love, sympathy, comfortwonderful treasures. They are the great treasures of life. The contrast is with the revenues of the wicked which are trouble.
Proverbs 15:7
This changes the word from tongue to lips, but the meaning is still the same. The wise disperse knowledge.
Proverbs 15:8
This is a fundamental principle. The wicked cannot do good or think right. It is impossible for them to do so. Let’s skip down for a moment and see another verse that states the same truth. “The thoughts of the wicked are an abomination to the LORD: but the words of the pure are pleasant words” (v. Pro_15:26). The thoughts of the wicked are an abomination to the Lord and so are the sacrifices that he brings. The reason they are an abomination is that he is wrong, wrong on the inside and wrong on the outside. He is all wrong, and whatever he does is wrong. The problem is that he has not learned to come in humility, recognizing his lost condition, coming to the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation. Someone has said, “A person who trusts so much as a single hair’s breadth of his works for salvation is a lost soul.” That is true. “The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD.” A person may be religious. He may go to church and go through certain formalities, but that has no value as far as God is concerned. I do not understand why people think that if they do certain religious things, that will make them right with God.
The heart must be changed. God does interior decorating before He can do any exterior decorating. He is not interested in your exterior decorating until He has done a job of interior decorating in your life.
Proverbs 15:9
We have seen what God thinks of the sacrifice of the wicked and of the thoughts of the wicked; now we see that the way of the wicked is also an abomination to the Lord. But He loves the person who follows after righteousness. Remember that it is Christ who has been made unto us righteousness (see 1Co_1:30).
Proverbs 15:10
A man hates to be told that he is wrong. There are some people who will not accept any kind of advice or admonition.
Proverbs 15:11
THE HEARTThe Epistle to the Hebrews tells us, “Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do” (Heb_4:13). God is the discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. “Hell” or Sheol, the unseen world which none of us has seen, and which the man of the world does not believe exists, is open before God. Only God can make that unseen world real to a child of God, which will give him a true perspective of this life. The man who lives with the idea that this life is all there is has a different set of values and a different list of priorities from that which the child of God has. When we talk to people who are not the children of God, it is important to get their perspective of life, to see how they are thinking. But only God can reveal what is on the other side in the unseen world. You and I can’t do that. Only the Spirit of God can take the things of Christ and make them real to us and to them. Jesus Christ walked on this earth in the flesh over 1,900 years ago. He stepped through the doorway of death, but He was made alive on the third day. For forty days He revealed Himself to His disciples. Then He went back to glory, and He sent His Holy Spirit to us. Only the Holy Spirit of God can make Him real to us. The Lord Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit would “…take of mine, and shall shew it unto you” (Joh_16:15). It is very important for us to be aware of this.
Proverbs 15:13
It is known that laughter and good cheer and joy actually add to a man’s health and to the length of his life. They bring to life a wonderful dimension that cannot be there if we live in sorrow and pessimism.
Proverbs 15:14
Here he is emphasizing the heart rather than the head of man. He is not talking so much about the accumulating of certain facts but about spiritual discernment or, as someone has put it, “sanctified common sense.” There is a dearth, a famine, of that in the land.
Proverbs 15:16
A good illustration of this is found in the life of Daniel. He was taken as a slave into Babylon when he was just a young man. He showed remarkable ability, so he was put with the wise men to be trained for government service. He was to be given a certain diet which he refused to eat because it was forbidden to the Jews by the laws of God. He asked instead for a diet of cereal. He did this because of his fear of the Lord. He wanted to serve God. My, how God honored that man! He made him prime minister to Nebuchadnezzar, the first great world ruler. When the Persians took over, God again made Daniel the prime minister to the second great world ruler, Cyrus the Great. God honored His servant.
Proverbs 15:18
This takes us back to verse Pro_15:1. A man who is crude and rough in his dealings will stir up strife. However, it is also true that preaching the Word of God will stir up strife. Remember that the Lord Jesus was the most controversial person who has ever been on this earth. Wherever the truth is preached, strife will be the result, because there are folk who don’t want to hear it. Remember that we said the Word of God works like a Geiger counter. If you run it over a congregation, you can learn who is a genuine Christian and who is not. A young preacher having trouble in his congregation came to me about it. I told him about my experience when I was a boy. When I would go to the barn at night to feed the horse or the cow, I would light a lantern and carry it with me. When I would open the barn door and step in, two things would happen: The rats would scurry and run for cover, and the birds which were roosting on the rafters would begin to sing. Light had those two very different effects. And when the Word of God is preached you will see the rats run for cover and the birds begin to sing. We do need to keep in mind that we are not to exaggerate the offense of the Crossjust preach it.
Proverbs 15:20
The father brags about his boy when he is making good. If the boy is failing, you won’t hear a word out of his dad.
Proverbs 15:23
It is not only what you say but when you say it. Sometimes the right word at just the right time will do the job. Many of us could testify that the right word said to us at the right time in our lives changed the whole course of our lives. That has certainly happened to me.
Proverbs 15:26
We have already seen that the sacrifices of the wicked, the ways of the wicked, and the thoughts of the wicked are an abomination to the Lord. The wicked must be turned from his wicked ways. He must be turned to God.
Proverbs 15:29
Peter writes the same thing. He says that God hears the prayerthat’s interestingof the righteous; but His ears are closed to the prayer of the wicked (1Pe_3:12).
Proverbs 15:30
I tell you, one good way to lose weight is to hear a bad report, to get some bad news.
Proverbs 15:33
The important lesson for man to learn is to come with humility to learn of God. We all need that lesson.