Blessed Hope Bible-Presbyterian Church
500 Upper Bukit Timah Rd, Singapore 678106
At the funeral of David Livingstone, a man who appeared to be a derelict of humanity was seen to be weeping bitterly. When someone asked if he was a near relative of the great missionary. “No,” he replied, “but we were in the same class at school and worked at the same loom in the mill in Blantyre. Only I took the wrong road, and have become a useless drunkard.”
Life is a journey, a pilgrimage, if you will. We are all travelling along some path or other. What path are you travelling on? At the end will it mean downfall or deliverance? These two Proverbs contrast the life and thinking of the righteous and the wicked. There are just two paths, the Way of the Righteous, and the Way of the Wicked. Everyone is travelling one or other of these. One sometimes hears the cry: “Is there really a true path in this life? If so, how can I be sure I’m on it?” If that’s your cry, please read on.
Heaviness in the heart of man maketh it stoop, but a good word maketh it glad. This is the positive side of our proverb.
Heaviness is a rare word in Hebrew, occurring six times as a verb, and three times as a noun. It is more than an anxious heart as one translation has it. There is a deeper note here. It is one of fear, even terror. And if we have not rather done it for fear of this thing (Jos. 22:24). It may come from an unjust censure, or evil tidings. “The rendering in this verse in the AV is to be retained” (Perowne).
This proverb furnishes a contrast between Decisiveness and Deceitfulness, between Mastery and Misery. The hand of the diligent shall bear rule; but the slothful shall be under tribute. Slothful also means knavery or deceit (Ps. 101:7, 120:2, Micah 6:12) as well as laziness. It always deceives the slothful in the end (Ps. 78:57). Under tribute is used only here in Proverbs. It is a collective noun for a group of forced labourers or a labour-gang, and leads to slavery. “A lazy spirit is always a loosing spirit” (Brooks). Its message is crystal clear: the lazy are the losers. “Sloth shortens life and lengthens sin”!
The hand of the diligent shall bear rule (v.24a). Diligent means sharp, strong and active. In the Greek Bible (LXX) it is eklekton, choice or chosen out. Joel 4:14 renders it decision. The Day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision. It is the valley of strict decision, the day of destiny. In Amos the feminine plural form is rendered, They have threshed Gilead with threshing instruments of iron (1:3). Both passages are dealing with God’s judgment on His people. In Job 14:5, where it is masculine plural, as here, it refers to the days of Job as determined or fixed in number. The diligent person is sharp, strong, active, decisive, and, therefore, comes to be chosen, by both man and God.
There is only one way to be happy, and that is to so live as to make happiness possible. “Happiness is neither within us only, nor without us; it is the union of ourselves with God” (Pascal). That, we suggest, is a summary of these proverbs.
The proverbs in 12:16-23 refer to different kinds of speech. Ponder them carefully. They underline vital truths we tend to overlook. There is an obvious reason why Solomon spent so much time on the tongue. Have you not regretted your speech more than your silence? Many have two tongues in one mouth!
The fool in Psalm 14, Prov. 17:7 is nabal, which means empty, senseless, insulting, arrogant, irreligious and presumptuous! He’s not the kind of person we like to be around! The fool (evil) in this verse is not much better. This word is the opposite of understanding (tebunah, Pr. 2:2, 3, 6, 11). He is, however, more like a simpleton. He scorns wisdom and discipline (15:5), mocks at guilt (14:9). He is quarrelsome (20:3), and licentious (7:22). It is quite useless to instruct him (16:22, 27:22). He is never wrong! He has such exalted airs about himself! “I am sir oracle, and when I ope my lips, let no dog bark!” “The person who always knows best may be the only one unconscious of his real name” (Kidner). Such a fool is more to be pitied than disliked, but no less dangerous.
These two proverbs are on the use or abuse of speech. Words have power, and can either bring curse or cure, shame or fame, grief or glory. Here we are confronted again with the blessing or bane of the tongue. Just as what you do with your hands can be honourable or shameful, so it is with your mouth. “Words and deeds come back to roost” (Kidner). There are times when silence is best, but there are times when it is a betrayal.