Transcript: Verse by Verse Study – Proverbs Chapter 16:5 to Chapter 17:4 – Zac Poonen

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But there is more than one verse that tells us that God is the enemy of the proud.

That is why you find that Jesus could forgive the adulteress and the thief on the cross, but He told the Pharisees that they were bound for hell because of their arrogant pride. Spiritual pride is no different from any other type of pride. Anyone who has spiritual pride in him because of what God has done in him can go to this verse and find out that he is an abomination to the Lord. He is an abomination; God is his enemy. Satan is already his enemy, but God also becomes his enemy when he becomes puffed up.

That is why we have to fear pride more than we fear almost anything else. Assuredly, he will not be unpunished. The reason why many believers do not get the grace of God in their life fundamentally is due to the fact that they are proud of something or the other in their life. They are proud, and that is why the grace of God is withheld from them in their time of need.

Atonement and the Fear of the Lord

Verse 6: “By loving kindness and truth, iniquity is atoned for; and by the fear of the Lord, one keeps away from evil.” We can say that that verse has two parts. First is God’s part, because God alone can atone for our iniquity. We can never atone for our own iniquity, but by God’s loving kindness and truth, Jesus came with grace and truth; mercy and truth have kissed each other, as we read in the Psalms. Iniquity is atoned for—that’s already done on the cross, where God’s loving kindness and truth completely atoned for all our sins when He offered Jesus as a sacrifice through His loving kindness and His truth.

Loving kindness because that was love that sent Him to the cross; truth in the sense that God could not shut His eyes to our sins. He had to face up to the truth that we were sinners, and so He had to find a sacrifice. So we find loving kindness and truth were both there on Calvary.

But now comes our part: “By the fear of the Lord, one keeps away from evil.” That is man’s part. God has done His part; now our part is this: to keep away from that evil which Jesus died for on the cross. When a person comes to Calvary’s cross, if he does not really repent and turn from his sin, we can say he hasn’t understood that Jesus has died for his sins. Because he hasn’t seen that it was all his sins which nailed Jesus to the cross. You cannot come to Calvary’s cross without true repentance. Any believing in Jesus without repentance is just a hoax; it’s a deception of the devil.

Such a person has not seen that his sin crucified Jesus on the cross. Because once we see that, we cannot love that sin anymore. We turn away from it.

God’s Sovereign Control Over Our Enemies

Verse 7: “When a man’s ways please the Lord, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.” There are many people who will try to harm us in so many ways. But it says here, when our ways are in control, God, who is in sovereign control of everything, as we saw in verse 4, is able even to control our enemies and their reactions and actions. He can make even His enemies to be at peace with Him. That teaches us that God has sovereign control even over our enemies, over those who are seeking to harm us.

He’s got power over them. We must have faith to believe. If I seek the Lord, I can leave all my enemies in God’s hands. He’ll take care of them without exception.

Honesty Over Wealth

Verse 8: “A little that is gained honestly is better than great wealth gotten by dishonest means.” There are very few people in the world who really believe this—that a little bit of money with honesty is far better than accumulating a great treasure by dishonest methods. But anyone who has the fear of the Lord understands that clearly.

Making Plans and Trusting God’s Direction

Verse 9: “The mind of a man plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.” We should make plans, but count on God to direct us. In other words, God wants us not to just sit down in an easy chair and say, “Lord, show me what I should do.” That’s good to pray that, but God does not always speak from heaven like He did in the Old Testament times through a prophet or through a voice. He now treats us not like babies, but like sons.

You know the difference between small children, four or five years old, and grown-up sons. When a four or five-year-old crosses the road, you have to tell him, “Look to the left, look to the right, and be careful every step. Brush your teeth; it’s time to go to bed.” But when a son is 20 years old, you don’t tell him all that. You treat him like a mature adult.

That’s why we find that God gives sometimes specific direction to babies, but as we grow up, He seems to speak to us a little less in these specific matters and leaves it to us to decide, because He wants to treat us like mature adults. So don’t envy the person who is always hearing some leading saying, “Go here, go there.” That’s not the highest way of guidance. The highest way of guidance is where God trusts us to take right decisions.

We must make plans, of course, seeking the kingdom of God first and weighing spiritual factors. We make plans to do this, to do that, to go here, to go there, seeking His kingdom in all things. But in all those plans, like James says, we have to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall go to the city tomorrow and do this.” Everything is “if the Lord wills.”

And that’s what it says here—counting on God to direct us. He may direct us by making us miss the train, perhaps, or in some way, entering something or some door which we tried to go in and closed, and we couldn’t get there. Or we got turned down in that interview for a job. We make plans; we try to go in for that job, and God closes that door. Some marriage proposal doesn’t go through.

We make plans, but we are to trust God to direct us by circumstances. That is the way the Christian is guided. He seeks the kingdom of God first in His righteousness, and he makes plans. But in all of his plans, he says, “Lord, I want Your will. Block me where I’m not going in the right direction, and open the doors for me where I am going in the right direction.”

Authority and Wisdom in Decision-Making

Verse 10: “A divine decision is in the lips of the king; his mouth should not make a mistake in judgment.” That’s a very important verse. When a person has become a king, that means he’s got a tremendous amount of responsibility. He has to take decisions, like Solomon had to take that decision concerning that baby as to which of the two women was the real mother of that baby. His mouth should not make a mistake in judgment.

That teaches us that the more authority we have, the more careful we have to be with our words. It’s all right for young people who’ve got no responsibility, no authority, to speak carelessly and to say all types of things because they don’t have wisdom. But the more authority we have—the king is the highest, but below the king, there are so many other levels of authority—the more authority we have, the more we need wisdom in our decisions.

For example, think of a father in a house. A father can’t talk in the stupid way that his children talk. No, a father has authority there. He can’t even descend to the level of his wife. No, he’s got more authority. The more authority he has, the more he needs wisdom in a decision.

Think if God gives a responsibility for leadership in a little local church. One has to be extremely careful. That’s why I believe that God trains young people to see whether they’re growing in wisdom, whether they’re being careful with their lips before He can commit any responsibility to them.

This is the reason why God cannot commit responsibility to a lot of people, whether they’re young or even old, because they don’t seem to be growing in wisdom. They take all types of foolish decisions without waiting on God and seeking in humility for His guidance. We have to be very careful; His mouth should not make a mistake in judgment. The more responsibility we have, the more careful we have to be in the decisions that we take.

Fairness in Business Dealings

Verse 11: “A just balance and scales are the Lord’s; all the weights in the bag are His.” The Lord demands fairness in every business deal. There is a fantastic amount of sin in buying and selling, and we have to be very careful, particularly when we are selling something. If somebody else cheats us, we don’t have to worry; that’s not so serious. If we cheat another person, that’s serious.

If I have cheated one person of one rupee, do you know that that is much more serious than another person having cheated me of 1000 rupees? But out in the world, they don’t look at it like that. They get more concerned when somebody else cheated them of 1000 rupees, and they are not at all disturbed when they have cheated somebody else of one rupee.

But for a true God-fearing Christian, it’s exactly the opposite. He’s more disturbed when he has cheated a person of 50 paisa than if somebody else cheated him of 1000 rupees. A loss of 1000 rupees does not disturb him as much as the fact that he took 50 paisa more from somebody than he should have. Fairness—the Lord demands fairness.

Let the people out in the world live as they like, but God’s people have to go by this principle. It says He has established this principle. All the balances and the scales are the Lord’s, and the weights in the bag are His. He wants to see that they are accurate. He’s talking about Christians who are doing business. Don’t copy the other businessmen and do what they do.

Accountability for Our Work

I remember a story of a cobbler who was a Christian and who always used the best leather to repair his shoes, unlike all the other cobblers who were using cheap leather. One day his assistant asked him, “Why do you do that? You’re losing such a lot of money.” He said, “I believe that in the day of judgment, when I stand before Christ, there’ll be a big pile of shoes there—all the shoes that I repaired. Jesus will pick them up one by one and examine them and say, ‘John, that wasn’t a good job you did on this shoe.’ What will I answer to Him? Can I say all the other cobblers did that? No.”

He said, “I’m not living just to make a few rupees more like the other cobblers. I’m wondering what Jesus will say when He picks up that shoe in the day of judgment and examines it and asks me about my work.” That was his work. He wasn’t a preacher; he was a cobbler. As much as each preacher has to give an account for every sermon he preaches, each cobbler has to give an account for every shoe he makes. Whatever your job is, you have to give an account to God of how you have done your job.

The Lord demands fairness in every business deal. He has established this as a principle, and that means that in every area where we are involved with money—buying or selling—we have to see that we are fair. Fair to the other person from whom we are buying. After all, he also has to make some profit in order to live. Think of that. He’s not going around selling things as a social service; he’s selling things because he has to earn a living and support his family.

I must think of that and be fair to him. I must also be fair when I sell anything to the other person. As we have often said, if something’s not working properly, tell him frankly, “This is not working here,” so you can fix a price for that. Absolute honesty. It’s far better to get a little honestly than to get a little more dishonestly. These are the marks of a God-fearing man.

Proverbs 16:12-22

Verse 12: “It is a horrible thing for a king to do evil.” You see, this is connected with verse 11. The Lord demands fairness. You call yourself a king because Jesus has made us kings and priests unto God the Father. Well, if you’re a king, it’s a horrible thing for a king to be unfair in a business deal. Think of that. That’s terrible. It’s an abomination for kings to go around cheating someone.

His right to rule in the millennium when Jesus comes depends upon His fairness now. A king’s throne is established on righteousness. In other words, God doesn’t give me the right to rule in the millennium if He finds that during my time on earth, I was not absolutely honest. That’s how a lot of people are going to lose their throne.

There are many instances in the Old Testament of kings of Judah and Israel who lost their throne. God removed it from them, beginning with Saul. All this is written for our instruction—that if we are unfaithful, God will take away the throne from us. We can’t automatically assume that we’re going to sit on the throne when Jesus comes. That throne is established on righteousness, it says.

That’s why He’s testing us on the earth today. In an unrighteous world, let me see who all will be righteous. Those are the people who are fit to rule in that new kingdom where righteousness is at home, as we read in 2 Peter 3.

Righteous Lips Delight the King

Verse 13: “Righteous lips are the delight of kings, and he who speaks right is loved.” We can look at God as a king here, and that God delights—God, as the king of the universe, delights in righteous lips. He who speaks what is right is loved by the king of the universe.

That is something we can long for—that the king of the universe should love us. He loves those who speak what is right. Notice in the book of Proverbs how a fantastic emphasis is placed on the tongue. There is no Old Testament book which speaks so much about the tongue as the book of Proverbs.

That’s why I say this is like a New Covenant book in the middle of the Old Testament. There’s a spirit of the New Covenant in it. That’s why it tells us to seek wisdom. It’s the book of wisdom, and wisdom has such a tremendous amount to do with our speech. That’s why we’ve exhorted again and again the church: be careful with the words you say.

I want to say that especially to sisters because the New Testament says that women have a particular weakness in this area of becoming gossips and scandal mongers, going around carrying tales and stories. It’s a particular weakness of women. I’m not saying that; the Holy Spirit has said it. The Creator who created man and woman has said that the woman has a tendency that way.

When you see that, the woman has got to be more careful. Just like men are tempted more in the area of sex than women are, in the same way, women are tempted much more in the area of their tongue. That is their weak spot. Then you’ve got to be careful. Just like the man has got to be careful with his eyes, the woman has got to be careful with her tongue.

It’s just another part of the body she’s got to be more careful with. But there are specific weaknesses like this in men and women. So that’s a word particularly that sisters should take care of. God loves those who have so disciplined their tongues as to speak what is right and good at all times.

Wisdom in Dealing with Wrath

Verse 14: “The wrath of a king is as messengers of death, but a wise man will appease it.” We can look at it like this: the king, you can say, is your boss in your office, let’s say. A wise man will know how to handle a situation when the boss is angry.

Here’s the wrath: you find your unconverted boss in the office full of wrath one morning, wrath as strong as messengers of death. But if you’re a wise man, that’s where your wisdom is tested. You go there and you see him like this, and God gives you wisdom to cool him down. Think of that.

Think of that ministry that we can have in the heathen offices in the city. That’s a tremendous thing. You need to take that seriously. A wise man will know how to quieten that wrath. That’s wisdom.

Verse 15: “In the light of a king’s face is life, and his favor is like a cloud with a spring rain.” We can think again of God as the king of the universe. In the light of His face, that means His favor and His presence, and the fact that He looks upon us with favor—there is life there.

God’s favor is like a cloud with a spring rain that waters the parched ground. Many believers are like the parched, dry fields; they haven’t got the rain. It’s not green and fresh. But it says here, when God’s favor is upon us as we stand in His presence, that’s like the cloud with the spring rain, the latter rain, the freshness that comes through the rain of the Holy Spirit that makes us green, like green fields, fresh in the rain.

True Wealth Is Wisdom

Verse 16: “How much better it is to get wisdom than gold, and to get understanding is to be chosen above silver.” That teaches us what we have considered many times in the book of Proverbs—that true wealth is wisdom.

In other words, you want to know how rich you are? We’re not to be so foolish as to calculate our bank account or our earthly assets to find out how rich we are. We are as rich as we have divine wisdom in our life. That is, purity, peaceableness, gentleness, mercy, willingness to yield, impartiality, freedom from hypocrisy, and the things listed in James 3:17—marks of divine wisdom.

As much as I have of those qualities in my life, I’m rich. That’s why the Lord has to say to many believers, “You do not know that you are poor, and blind, and naked.” Because you have so much Bible knowledge, and so much of ministry, and so many gifts—able to do this, that, and the other—so many talents, musical talents, and other talents, you think that you are rich, and you do not know that in terms of heaven’s riches, you’re a poor man.

That’s a sad thing when we live in ignorance of that. Wisdom is the true wealth, it tells us here. Very few people understand this—that it is better to get wisdom than gold, better to choose wisdom than silver.

Think of marriages in India, where people think in terms of money. How much money is the man earning? How much money will the woman bring in marriage? Even among believers, what does it show? They haven’t understood this verse. They don’t think, “How much divine wisdom does this man have? How much divine wisdom does this girl have?” That’s secondary.

That is the blindness in Christendom today. That is where the church stands like an island in the middle of this ocean of folly, seeing that these are not the main things.

The Highway of the Upright

Verse 17: “The highway of the upright is to depart from evil, and he who watches his way preserves his life.” The way of the upright is called a highway, and it becomes a highway by departing from evil. That’s all there is to it. Here it says that we have to watch that we walk on this way.

In other words, we have to be on the alert. Jesus often used that word, “Watch and pray.” What does it mean to watch? It just means be on the alert. Don’t go to sleep spiritually. Be on the alert. Be sensitive where your conscience is pricking you about that thing.

Be alert. You may fall off the way altogether if you ignore that little prick of conscience in that decision you’re taking. Be on the alert about the way, and thus you can preserve your life. Be alert about your walk.

Pride Goes Before Destruction

Verse 18: “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before stumbling.” Before a man falls into sin, you can be sure there’s some pride in him. Because if he didn’t have pride and he was humble, God would have given him grace in that temptation. God gives His grace to the humble.

Why didn’t that man get grace? Grace would have made him overcome sin. Sin cannot have dominion over those who are under grace. Why didn’t the man get grace in the moment of temptation? Because God saw, even if the man didn’t realize it himself, some pride in him.

So we can say pride is the cause of falling into sin. That’s all it says here. Pride goes before that final destruction in hell, and a haughty spirit before stumbling. Like someone has said, you know that gulf which Abraham told the rich man in hell? The rich man in hell, you read about in Luke 16, saw Lazarus sitting in Abraham’s bosom. Abraham told the rich man, “There’s a big gulf between you and us. You can’t cross here, and we can’t cross there.”

What is that gulf? That gulf is pride. It’s the thing that sends people to hell. Can’t cross it. It’s not that they killed, murdered, and committed adultery. We’ll be surprised to see the number of murderers and thieves and adulteresses in heaven. You’ll be surprised; I won’t be when we see bishops in hell. I hope you won’t be either. They’re going to be there—lots of them, archbishops and popes, by the hundreds—there because of their pride in their religion.

Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit. You see that haughty spirit even in so-called Christian leaders. It goes before stumbling. That’s why they lose their temper and can’t get victory over lust and are defeated by sin. It’s all because of their pride, their high thoughts about themselves. If there’s a thing that God detests in the universe, it’s pride. It’s worse when it is religious pride.

Mingle with the Humble

Verse 19: “It’s better to be of a humble spirit with the lowly than to divide the spoiled with the proud.” In other words, brothers and sisters, mingle with the humble brothers and sisters. Don’t spend your time with all the proud, haughty people of the world. Mingle with the humble brothers and sisters.

Now there’s a false understanding of humble in the world. Some people think humble equals poor. No, a lot of poor people are very proud. There’s no connection between humility and being materially poor. Mingle with the humble people, with the lowly people. It is better to be of a humble spirit with the lowly—those who have small thoughts about themselves.

We can get that spirit when we mingle with people. When we mingle with proud people, there’s a wise man who has said that when you mingle with proud people, it’s just like trying to touch tar. You know, the stuff you put on the road? If you touch tar, it’s so difficult to get it off your hand. Just try it sometime. Get tar on your hand and try to take it off. It’s a fantastic job to get rid of it.

He says it’s like that: if you mingle with proud people, it’ll rub off on you. After some time, you get that spirit. So steer clear of these haughty, proud people in the world and this high society that people want to mingle in. Avoid that; it affects your spirit. Mingle with the lowly people, with the humble people of the world. God is with them.

That’s a good exhortation. Then to divide the spoil with the proud means to go and sit there for the fantastic meals that the rich, proud people can offer. We don’t want to spend our time with all this high society people and catch that spirit. It’s an infection. You got to avoid it.

Trust and Obey

Verse 20: “He who gives attention to the word shall find good.” That means the one who is telling us the two main things of the New Testament: trust and obey. It says in the Living Bible, “God blesses those who obey Him.” Obedience to His word and happy is the man who puts his trust in the Lord.

God has given us His word basically for two purposes—that we might obey it and that we might trust Him because of the promises He’s given us in His word. If we have learned through His word to trust Him and to obey Him, we can say we are coming to know the Scriptures.

We can’t say we’re coming to know the Scriptures when we can quote a reference or when we have understood a doctrine. We can understand all the doctrines of the Bible and quote all the references of the Bible and be the devil himself in our character because the devil can quote all the references, and he knows all the doctrines.

But God has not given us His word for that, but that we might obey and trust Him. So the more we obey Him and the more we trust Him through His word, we can say the more I’m coming to know the word of God. That’s the day.

Pleasant Words Are Persuasive

Verse 21: “A wise, mature person is known for his understanding; the more pleasant his words, the more persuasive he is.” In other words, it’s easier to convince people through pleasant words than through harsh words. Wisdom is manifested, and maturity is manifested in the fact that we know how to speak pleasantly to people instead of getting upset and getting in a bad mood.

That is a mark of an immature, stupid, foolish person. If we know how to be pleasant with our words, we can persuade people much more with pleasant words than with getting upset. That’s a mark of wisdom and maturity.

Verse 22: “Understanding is a fountain of life to him who has it, but the discipline of fools is folly.” Or as the Good News Bible says, “Trying to educate a foolish person is a waste of time.” Or like Jesus said, “Don’t cast your pearls before swine. Don’t give that which is holy to the dogs.”

The Heart and the Mouth

Whenever we speak to people, we need to first discern, does this person have some heart for the things of the Lord? If he does not have a heart for the things of the Lord, it’s no use sharing spiritual things with him. It’s an absolute waste of time trying to talk to him about all types of spiritual things. It’s like throwing pearls before swine or giving that which is holy to a dog.

Verse 23: “The heart of the wise teaches his mouth and adds persuasiveness to his lips.” Notice the connection here, like we read in Romans 10:9, that what man believes in the heart, he confesses with his mouth. What Jesus said, “Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.”

Like we read in Acts 2:4, that on the day of Pentecost, when they were filled with the Holy Spirit, in the heart, the overflow came through the mouth and speaking in other tongues. There’s a very close connection between the heart and the mouth. You can’t believe in the heart without confessing with your mouth. You can’t be filled in the heart without overflowing through the mouth.

The heart of the wise teaches his mouth and adds persuasiveness to his lips. What this basically means is that I have to see that my heart is right if I want my tongue to be right. It’s not just a question of controlling the tongue like a good Buddhist; it’s a question of having a good heart.

The heart teaches the mouth what to say. I think about what I say. I don’t just pour out words without thinking. That’s how it must be.

Pleasant Words Like Honey

Verse 24 tells us about the type of words that should come out from a good heart. “Pleasant words are like honey, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.” That is kind words. They don’t come naturally to us. We have to be kind in the heart before we can speak kind words to people.

Basically, all of us have got a flesh in which kindness does not dwell. Have we discovered that? Have we discovered that there’s not one atom of kindness that dwells in our flesh? I’ll tell you why: because kindness is a good thing, and the Bible says, “In my flesh dwells no good thing.”

That means there’s not one atom of kindness that dwells in our flesh. What dwells in our flesh then? Harshness, evil, unkindness—that’s what dwells in our flesh. All these things are all the time trying to get inside my heart. Once they’ve got inside my heart, it’ll begin to overflow through the mouth.

The mouth is the overflow valve of the heart. I know what got into my heart by seeing what’s coming out from my tongue. When I find the unkindness or the evil and the harshness coming out of the tongue, then I know that something got into my heart. Even if I’m talking about victory and all that, it’s gotten to my heart all right, and it’s coming out through my tongue now.

I really have to take up the battle there and see that God wants me to speak kindness, to speak words of encouragement to people. “Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.”

The Way That Seems Right

Verse 25: “There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.” That is repeated earlier in chapter 14, which we considered. That is the broad way—the way whereby you don’t have to go through the narrow gate. You don’t have to take up the cross every day.

Jesus said, “If you want to follow Me, you got to take up the cross every day.” Out there in the world, there are even many Christians who think that they can follow Jesus without taking up the cross every day. That is one of the greatest deceptions that Satan has perpetrated on the Christian world today—to tell people that you can follow Jesus without taking up the cross every day.

You can’t find that in the New Testament. They think it’s all right: “I’m doing good; I’m witnessing, evangelizing, I’m doing this, I’m sacrificing, I’m giving money to the Lord, I’ve become a full-time worker.” Well, it looks all right.

But Jesus said that it’s impossible to follow Him unless we take up the cross every day. That’s clear. Luke 9:23 is so clear. Yet there is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end, you will discover it is death because it is not the way of the cross—the way of the cross, the way that leads to life.

The Value of Work

Verse 26: “Hunger is good if it makes you work to satisfy it.” That means you shouldn’t be lazy. If a man does not work, neither should he eat. We have to be careful that we don’t encourage people who do not want to work to eat because God forbids it.

A man who is not willing to work should not eat. I feel there’s an application here for a country like ours, where we have this fantastic problem of beggars. I see that there are two types of beggars. There are those beggars who are maimed or lame or unable to work because of age or have leprosy. Well, such beggars deserve our kindness and our help.

But then there are others—small boys who are hale and hearty, who are just being sent out by their parents to beg. It’s not at all a good thing to give them money for just begging. Far better to encourage a boy who wants to do some work, even if it’s polishing your shoes or looking after the scooter or doing something. If they’re willing to do some work, there we can give them something.

That’s the principle, which is not the complete solution to this problem, but it’s a simple principle that is good for us to keep in mind. Hunger is good if it makes you work to satisfy it.

Words That Burn

In contrast, it says in verse 27: “Idle hands are the devil’s workshop, and idle lips are his mouthpiece.” Idle hands—they are the devil’s workshop, and idle lips—they are his mouthpiece. But there’s something more in that verse which I want to share.

The Good News Bible puts it like this: “Evil people are always looking for ways to harm others.” Listen to this: “Even their words burn with evil.” Whose words? The words of evil people. Now, what I need to ask myself is not first of all, “Am I an evil man? Am I an evil woman?” Because every one of us will say, “No, I’m not an evil man. I’m not an evil woman.” That’s not where we must start.

Start at the other end of the verse and say, “Do I ever speak words that burn other people?” Then, whether I know it or not, I am an evil person. You start at the other end of the verse and work backwards, and you discover you are an evil person because you’re speaking words that are meant to burn something in that other person.

We’ve discovered that we don’t know our spiritual condition. It’s a mark of an evil person. Or as the NASB says, “A worthless person digs up evil.” Think of that. The word in the King James or Margin or somewhere says, “A man of Belial.” That means a demonic man.

Digging Up Evil

A demonic man is a man of evil. He’s one who digs up evil. That means the evil was buried. Somebody did something against you three months ago or six months ago. Some revival meeting in the church two weeks ago—you decided to bury it. You’re finished with it. You knelt down and said, “Lord, I forgive that man. I finish with it. I forgive him.”

But now the revival is all gone; you’re back to normal now, and you are now digging up that thing which you said you buried two weeks ago. Back again. That’s a demonic man. God has forgiven. You said before God that day you had forgiven. But still, you look at that person and you dig up that time you said this and this other time you did that.

Think of that. Even husbands and wives sometimes dig up things which they said they forgave one another. They haven’t forgiven one another; they’re still digging it up. They have a big fight, and then they dig up everything. A man of Belial and a woman of Belial calling themselves believers—demonic men and women.

The world’s full of them. A worthless man digs up evil, and when he digs up evil, it says his words become like a scorching fire. Like James says, his tongue is set on fire with the fire of hell. It’s amazing how one moment the tongue can be set on fire of hell.

It says with the same mouth we bless God—that is the speaking in tongues—and the tongue of fire which was on the apostles on the day of Pentecost. Heavenly fire, and then we come out and with the fire of hell curse our fellow men. Thousands. One time this fire, and the other time that fire. This is some confusion.

It shouldn’t be like that. It must always be that heavenly fire that purifies my speech. It’s very simple. If we can just be a little patient before we speak those words, humble ourselves, “Lord, let me put it in the Lord’s furnace. See whether it’s pure enough to speak to my brother or sister or my husband or wife or anyone.”

Then we’ll find that we shall be saved from a fantastic amount of stupidity and folly, broken relationships, and a thousand and one things. Our life will be so glorious. We’ll only follow the simple rules.

Separating Friends

Verse 28: “A perverse man spreads strife, and a slanderer separates intimate friends.” Here is another mark of an evil man or an evil woman. They go to somebody’s house, and they say something about brother X or sister Y. At the end of that half an hour of conversation about brother X or sister Y, you have to ask yourself, “This brother or this sister who visited this house—has he succeeded in bringing this family closer to brother X and closer to sister Y, or a little further away from them?”

Has he succeeded? Has she succeeded in making them love one another more, or has he or she succeeded in making them despise that person a little more? There we can see so much of the conversation that goes on is just to paint a bad picture of another person. Such a person is a perverse man, a perverse woman—another man of Belial, another woman of Belial who separates intimate friends, saying something which is not good.

Terrible, terrible when it is found in the congregation of the righteous. The word of God is very clear on these matters, and we got to be very careful that we don’t fall into that category.

Beware of Bad Company

Verse 29: “A man of violence entices his neighbor and leads him in a way that is not good.” That means violent people, it says in the Good News Bible, deceive their friends and lead them to disaster. I believe that’s something which particularly young people need to bear in mind.

Living Bible says, “Wickedness loves company and leads others into sin.” Be careful about the type of company you keep, that they don’t lead you into sin. It may begin with just dirty jokes and then gradually move on to a little drink, moves on to other things. Bad company can lead to so many problems.

Steer clear of them, and blessed are those young people who from their school days itself have known to stay away from those who are not seeking a godly life. I’m not saying don’t talk to them, but keep a little distance. Don’t get too friendly with those who are worldly-minded because they can lead you astray from God.

Beware of your company, and if you fellowship with an angry man, you can get into trouble yourself one day when you are in his company. Beware of fellowship with violent, angry people.

Verse 30: “He who winks his eyes does so to devise perverse things; he who compresses his lips brings evil to pass.” Or as the Good News Bible puts it, “Watch out for people who grin and wink at you. They have thought of something evil.”

These are people who are your friends; you know they’re grinning at you and winking at you. They’ve got something evil in mind. Be careful about these people who try to act so friendly and are really seeking to get some company for their sin.

A Gray Head Is a Crown of Glory

Verse 31: “A gray head is a crown of glory if it is found in the way of righteousness.” That means it’s wonderful to grow old and for your head to become gray for a brother or a sister. It says it’s a crown of glory. Think of that—who in the world doesn’t want to have a crown of glory?

But it says here, “A gray head is a crown of glory.” All these men and women who dye their hair, they don’t believe that. You know that. They don’t believe the crown of glory at all; they believe it’s a disgrace. They all trouble the whole lot of people in the world. They all like to look young.

But here it says, “A gray head is a crown of glory.” Not automatically. No. A lot of gray-headed 70-year-old men are still lusting after women, I’m sorry to say. There are a lot of gray-headed 70-year-old women—grumpy, miserable, making life miserable for everybody around them. There’s no glory there; there’s just the gray hair. No glory at all.

But if it is found in the way of righteousness, think of that. Think of a man who has wholeheartedly been gripped with the new and living way when he was young and faithfully, faithfully, faithfully walked it so that when he grows old, he’s so considerate, so desirous not to make himself a botheration to others because he spent his whole life trying to deny himself and live for the glory of God.

Think of a saint like that. What a glory there is there! What a glory that even young people want to be with such a man to know more of God. That’s a wonderful thing.

The Glory of Growing Old Graciously

I just want to say, dear brothers and sisters, when you see a grumpy, miserable old woman somewhere, sisters, think of yourself. One day you’ll be like that if you don’t deny yourself now when you’re young. When you see a self-centered, miserable, critical old man, brothers, be careful. You can end up like that if you don’t start denying yourself when you’re young.

If you think you can start when you’re 60, it’s too late. Start now so that you can grow old gracefully, graciously—that there’s a glory in that. To see old people, and when they’re old, they have so many aches and pains and weaknesses and physical infirmities, insecurities, so many things.

With all that, if you can see an older person cheerful, good-natured, kind, good—not complaining—you can see that God has done a work in such a person. That’s wonderful to grow old like that. The gray head is a crown of glory if it is found in the way of righteousness.

So that’s a wonderful thing. If you want to be wise later on, it’s good to start when we are young.

Greater Than a World Conqueror

Verse 32: “He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who captures a city.” Of the two conquerors, this great conqueror who could conquer so many cities and the other man who could conquer the lust in his flesh, He says the man who conquered the lust in his flesh is a greater conqueror in God’s eyes.

It’s easy to conquer a city; it’s more difficult to conquer your anger. Be a conqueror. You can be a greater conqueror than Alexander the Great if you can conquer the lust in your flesh and overcome that vile temper. To be patient, to be slow to anger means to be patient. A patient man is greater than a world conqueror, and he who rules his spirit—that means in all circumstances he has control over his spirit.

He is free; it’s calm. It’s better than any conqueror of anything.

God’s Guidance Through the Holy Spirit

Verse 33: “The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord.” They did not have the Holy Spirit in those days to guide them. The only way they had to find guidance was like people toss a coin today—heads or tails. They cast the lot into the lap and found out.

Even before the day of Pentecost, when they wanted to find out who was to be the 12th apostle, they cast the lot and picked up. But that is not God’s way after the coming of the Holy Spirit. The last time that was done was Acts chapter 1. Now God has given us the Holy Spirit, and He leads us into all the truth through the word of God.

Proverbs Chapter 17

# Peace Over Plenty

Chapter 17, verse 1: “Better is a dry morsel with quietness than a house full of feasting with strife.” This comes back to what we considered earlier about the type of food we eat in the house. It’s better to eat a dry crust of bread.

Last time they were talking about herbs; now we’ve got a dry crust of bread. You know the crust itself is pretty hard, and on top of that, when it’s dry, it’s better to sit and eat a dry crust of bread in a house where there is quietness. Not many houses where there’s quietness.

Where there’s no yelling and screaming, it’s all right for children to do that. I mean, they don’t have wisdom, but I mean the adults in the house yelling and screaming—that’s a terrible thing. Where there’s quietness and where the adults know how to stop the little children also from yelling and screaming—that’s good.

Where quietness than a house full of feasting with fantastic food and all that and strife and bitterness and quarrel between husband and wife. What’s the use of all this grand meal if there’s quarrel between husband and wife? It’s better to have a dry crust of bread with peace.

That teaches us the great importance of peace. Great importance of peace. In one of the other translations, it’s called a house full of sacrifices, it says in the margin here—sacrifices of strife. That means a religious sacrifice. This is a religious house.

Religious house, but there’s strife there—arguments in the middle of all their religion and their prayers and their Bible reading. Now that’s a sad thing. Far better to eat a dry crust with peace. It’s great importance the Bible places on having quietness and peace at all.

Wisdom Over Position

Verse 2: “A servant who acts wisely will rule over a son who acts shamefully.” In the Old Testament, they were called servants; in Galatians 4:1-7, in the New Covenant, we are called sons. You know there’s a difference in your home between a servant and a son, and that’s the difference between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant.

You may care for your servant; there’s a lot of difference between your care for your son and your care for a servant. But let’s not sit and think that we are greater than Abraham and Jacob and David and all these people because it says, “A servant who acts wisely will rule over a son who claims to be in the New Covenant and then who acts more shamefully than that servant under the Old Covenant.”

There are lots of so-called sons today who act disgracefully in a way in which Elijah and Elisha would cover their faces in shame when they see some New Covenant believers—the way they behave. God was righteous to give that rulership to that other person.

The first will be last, and the last will be first. That teaches us also in the church right now, as we have often considered, somebody can have been in the church for a number of years—a senior brother because he’s been there so many years—and some younger brother can overtake him spiritually because that man is not denying himself in his private life.

He’s not humbling himself; he’s not judging himself; he’s not walking in the light. It’s a sad thing, and that happens all over the world where those who have come in later on progress ahead of spiritually those who have been there from the beginning.

The servant overtakes that son, and that son is the first that becomes last, and the last have become first. The elders have now become younger, even though their age has grown, but they haven’t become wise or mature or more humble or more patient. That’s sad. God is righteous; there’s no partiality with Him.

He gives to all equally; He doesn’t look at a man for seniority in service. No seniority in service in the kingdom of God—especially maturity and the fear of God and wisdom.

God Tests and Refines the Righteous

Verse 3: “The refining pot is for silver, the furnace for gold, but the Lord tests the hearts.” God is called the God who tests the righteous (Jeremiah 20:12). He doesn’t tempt us, but He tests us like He tested Abraham, He tested Peter, He tested David. He tests us before He commits a responsibility to us.

That’s why He puts us in the fire, so that He can improve us. It says the refining pot—the refining pot is not for destroying the silver, but for purifying it. That teaches us when the Lord tests us and puts us in the fire, it’s not for destroying us; it’s for purifying us so that He can commit a ministry to us.

Just like silver and gold are refined, the Lord refines the righteous; He tests their hearts.

Birds of a Feather Flock Together

Verse 4: “An evildoer listens to wicked lips, and the liar pays attention to a destructive tongue.” That teaches us that gossipers listen to other gossipers. Evildoers, birds of a feather flock together. The reason why gossipers come to your home and gossip is because, whether you realize it or not, you’re a gossiper yourself.

There is a law in the market, as I’ve said, that supply always matches the demand. That means there’s a demand for something; there’ll be supplied. The reason why gossip is supplied in your house is because people sense that you like it.

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