Proverbs 19
McGeeCHAPTER 19
Proverbs 19:1
The Lord has forbidden us to call anyone a fool, but the Spirit of God has really been using that word. Apparently there are quite a few fools in the human family.
Proverbs 19:2
There is an antithetic parallelism all through these proverbs. Here is a contrast between those who are the children of God and those who are not. The one is in the path of truth; the other, who is in the path of self-will and ignorance, God calls a fool. We have a modern proverb: “Where ignorance is bliss, ’tis folly to be wise.” This is a false proverb. Sometimes peopleeven officers of the churchpride themselves on being ignorant of the Bible. In board meetings I have heard church officers speak out saying, “Well, that is theological; that is biblical, and I don’t know much about that.” I had to bite my lip from saying, Why in the world don’t you know it? You are a mature man, an officer in the church, and you should not be that devoid of spiritual understanding!Someone sent me this proverb: “No man is uneducated who knows the Bible, and no one is truly educated who is ignorant of its teachings.” Although the world does not accept this, I believe it is true. I do not think a man can be truly educated if he is ignorant of the Bible. Certainly one cannot be a mature Christian and be ignorant of the Bible. A knowledge of the Word of God should be a characteristic of the child of God.
Proverbs 19:4
Wealthy people seem to have a lot of friends. Their houses are full of guests so long as the refrigerator is filled and the bar is well stocked and there is music and entertainment. It is interesting to note that the Word of God admonishes the child of God to seek out the poor man. You will remember that James, in a practical way, speaks of a man who comes into your assembly “…with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment; and ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool” (Jas_2:2-3). Unfortunately, it is true that the poor man has his problems in many of our churches. A couple was telling me about their personal experience. They are poor and not able to buy the latest in style, and what they wear looks pretty worn. They went to a church that has a reputation of being a very conservative, evangelical church. My, they were snubbed. What happened to them is terrible! Human nature has not changed down through the centuries. The old nature is still being revealed. My mother used to ask me before she went out, “Is my petticoat showing?” Now my wife asks me the same thing. There are a lot of folk who are stepping out, going to church, and moving in the society of their particular group whose old nature is showing. And it shows in matters like separating the poor from their society. God lays it on the line, doesn’t He? “The poor is separated from his neighbour.” When they find out you are a poor boy, they don’t want you around.
Proverbs 19:5
Drop down to verse Pro_19:9 and see that it is almost the same statement. “A false witness shall not be unpunished, and he that speaketh lies shall perish.” A false witness is not going to “escape.” He will be found out. He will be called to account for what he has said. Not only that, he is going to “perish.” God tells us that in Rev_21:8. We think of Ahab and Jezebel in connection with the episode of Naboth’s vineyard. The record is in 1 Kings 21 and 22. Because Naboth would not give up his vineyard to the king, arrangements were made to have false witnesses bring an untrue charge against him and then stone him to death. Ahab thought he got by with this crime, but Elijah met him and told him that where Naboth’s innocent blood had been shed, the dogs would lick his blood. What happened was this: Ahab went into battle against Syria, with Jehoshaphat in alliance with him. He put Jehoshaphat out in front wearing his royal robes, but Ahab disguised himself as a common soldier to escape notice.
But a trigger happy soldier on the enemy side “drew a bow at a venture"he didn’t even know who he was aiming at, but that old arrow had Ahab’s name on it. When it went out from the bow with a zing it said, “Ahab, where are you? I’m looking for you.” And it found him. He bled like a stuck pig, and he died. The blood ran out of the wound in the chariot, “And one washed the chariot in the pool of Samaria; and the dogs licked up his blood; and they washed his armour; according unto the word of the LORD which he spake” (1Ki_22:38). You say that is crude and frightful.
I agree. But, my friend, lying, false witnessing, and gossip in God’s sight are really frightful, and God hates them. “A false witness shall not be unpunished, and he that speaketh lies shall not escape.”
Proverbs 19:6
“Many will entreat the favour of the prince"we don’t have a prince, but we write letters to our congressmen and our governor, and sometimes even to our president when we want legislation passed. “Every man is a friend to him that giveth gifts.” That is certainly true. A man will have plenty of friends as long as he is giving out gifts.
Proverbs 19:7
The brethren of the poor may not hate him as we think of hateful behavior. Often they just don’t have anything to do with him. They ignore him. A prosperous man may see his ne’er-do-well brother drive up in an old jalopy, so he says to his wife, “Let’s get into the bedroom and lock the door and make him think that we’re not home.” That is what it means to hate your brother. The poor don’t do very well in this world, by the way. We hear so much from the people who campaign for office about how they are going to help us poor folk. The only thing they ever help me with is more taxes. Every time we have an election my taxes go up. Every politician promises to give us some relief. No one has yet, and I don’t think anyone will. My feeling is that the problems have mounted so that no man can solve them. No man, I don’t care who he is, is able to solve the problems of the world today. Do you know what we need? We need politicians to call us back to God. We need someone to say, “Look, I don’t have the answer to the world’s problems. Let’s turn to God for the answer. Let’s serve Him, let’s pray to Him.” Since we have tried everything else to solve our problems, wouldn’t it be well for us to try God for a change? It would be far better for us to listen to God than to listen to so much television. We have heard everybody else and all their opinions on the talk shows. They have strutted across the stage of human events, and it hasn’t been very impressive. We need to turn to God and listen to Him.
Proverbs 19:13
Our last proverb about this matter said that when a man finds a wife, he has found a good thing. That is, he finds the other half of him, and she is to be a helpmeet for him. She is not to be a servant. Where do people get the idea that the wife is to obey the husband? The wife is to submit herself to her husband provided he is the right kind of man. If he is not, I don’t think God has asked her to submit herself. The only instructions I find about submission apply to the Christian home. A wife is to submit to a Christian husband who loves her just like Christ loves the church. When a woman has that kind of husband, she can submit herself to him. This proverb almost makes one laugh even though it tells of a tragic situation. Think of the poor husband who has a foolish son and also has a wife who is contentious. You can imagine what kind of a home he lives in. That is why it is so wonderful to find the right kind of a wife.
Proverbs 19:14
If you have a good wife, you got her from the Lord. You ought to thank the Lord for her, by the way. Have you ever done that? Thank the Lord for your good wife, because He is the One who gave her to you. Young men, this should tell you something. Do you want a good wife? The one who gives away good wives is not the father of the daughter. Many a father is glad to get rid of his daughter. But our Heavenly Father has a lot of good wives to give away. Keep in touch with Him, and He will lead you to the right one. He wants to give you the right kind of wife. This is a very practical proverb. Don’t you agree?
Proverbs 19:18
Start with your discipline when the children are young. Don’t wait until it is too late. A man who was saved later in life told me, “My wife and I were saved recently, and we are thanking God for it, but we have lost our children. We used to live like the devil, and we can see that in our children today.” They had waited until too late to give their children the proper training. Start when the children are young. Don’t mind if little Willie cries when you paddle him. On the other hand, every father needs to be very careful in the way he deals with his child. No one has the right to be brutal in his dealings with his children. Dr. Ironside has translated the proverb this way: “Chasten thy son while there is hope, but set not thy soul upon slaying him.” Don’t be afraid to discipline, but a brutal punishment is not to be permitted. Brutality can only tear down the child and destroy his spirit. As a matter of fact, even the law of the land can, and should, step in whenever there is brutality to children. God has given very definite commands for Christians. He tells children to obey their parents (Eph_6:1). But then he says to the fathers, “And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath …” (Eph_6:4). Don’t wade into them when you are angry. They know you are angry and that you are just venting your anger and frustration. At that time you will probably punish too hardin fact, you can be brutal. The command is to bring them up in the “…nurture and admonition of the Lord” (Eph_6:4), that is, the discipline and the instruction of the Lord.
Proverbs 19:21
Man can come up with many explanations, many solutions, but God is the only One who can give you the right kind of advice. Many can make a computer, but only God can put sense into it.
Proverbs 19:22
This is a strange proverb, isn’t it? “The desire [or charm] of a man is his kindness.” How many folk do you know like that? They are kind, generous, lovely people. Then we are brought back to the poor man, the poor relative, who comes for dinner and stays for a couple of years to live with you. Well, it is better to have him than to have a liar.
Proverbs 19:23
The fear of the Lord does not mean that you are cringing, constantly in dread, living a life of terror. This proverb makes it clear that the real fear of God means that you can rest satisfied. It means that you recognize Him, you have looked to Him, you have accepted Him, and you want to follow Him. Now you can rest satisfied.
Proverbs 19:24
An alternate translation is: “A slothful man burieth his hand in the dish.” Here is another proverb that is humorous. This man is so lazy that he can put his hand down into the dish to eat, but he is too lazy to bring it back up to his mouth. When you get to that place, you’re lazy! Unfortunately, we often see this in the spiritual realm. The Word of God is our food. I know Christians who will hold the Bible in their hands but are too lazy to read it.
Proverbs 19:29
Judgment is comingthat is quite obvious. God is not soft on the guilty. The pleasures of sin are for a season, but the wages of sin last for all eternity.