Proverbs 13:15a, Great Grace!

July 12, Proverbs 13:15a

Rom. 14:12-19; 2 Tim. 1:6-8 “With great power gave the apostles witness; and great grace was upon them all” (Acts 4:33).

Great Grace!

Good understanding gives favour. Understanding here means good sense, good success, insight, or discretion. It applies to those who act prudently, and always behave in a manner pleasing to God. Greatness is the fairest object to the eye of the world; goodness, to the eye of heaven. It also follows that graciousness is better than greatness, and more than goodness, for have we not all more knowledge of goodness than we ever use!

1. A Benefactor to himself: A person of good understanding has a well-informed mind, is impartial, and always seeks to keep a balanced view of life. Bridges calls this: “The glow of heavenly light and love in the discipline of Christian habits.” It is the “image of God stamped upon His servants.” This leads to a practical application of this good understanding to every decision of life. It reflects a healthy fear of the Lord (Ps. 111:10). The soul without this knowledge is deprived and dark indeed. “Unaided wisdom, with its strongest wings, can only flutter in the vale of vanity. No earth-born eye can catch a glimpse of God” (Law). It is even worse for those with false knowledge or only half-truths. Solomon is saying that the mind cannot be sound that has no interest in Heaven, and no time for the things of the Spirit. This is a needed reminder to this pleasure-crazed, godless age. It is also a rebuke to those whose primary desire is to direct Christians toward purely family goals, career ambitions, social reconstruction, or political transformation. The words of Jesus subordinate all man’s desires to spiritual interests (Matt. 6:21, 25, 33), but these modern religious voices speak of this with disdain, as so much pious gush, or maudlin emotionalism. They cry up social action as our main business today, and then ridicule what they call the soul-winning mentality.

2. A Benefactor to others: Good understanding is not only a precious gift, blessing the possessor, but it giveth favour, that is, grace, to others as well. It is true to its name – gracious. Grace not only makes a man more a man, but also makes him more than a man, for “grace will last when gold is past!” Such persons are always assets – in the family, in society, in the pulpit, in government – everywhere! Ignorance, however, has no favours, no graces to bestow. There are many examples of such benefactors among Old Testament saints like Joseph, Samuel, and David. It was good understanding, the effect of early discipline, that enabled Daniel to bestow favour on Babylon, as well as to benefit his people. This way “with all its crosses, is cheered with sunshine” (Bridges). John Oxenham, in BEES IN AMBER, described God’s Handwriting thus:

He writes in characters too grand for our short sight to understand;
We catch but broken strokes, and try to fathom all the mystery
Of withered hopes, of death, of life, the endless war, the useless strife –
But there, with larger, clearer sight, we shall see this – His way was right.

Thought: “Gifts are what a man has but graces are what a man is.”

Prayer: Give me such a testimony for my Lord.