Proverbs 19.3
“When a man’s folly brings his way to ruin, his heart rages against the Lord.”
This verse follows from the previous verse, because when a person’s undisciplined desires get them in trouble, they often blame God for the difficulty they experience. The reality is that their own foolish, impulsive behavior caused their problems.
Note the severity of the attitude of the rebellious person: “His heart rages against the Lord.” This is BCD directed against God, and it is a very dark and dangerous place to be. The steps on this dark path look something like this:
- Resistance
- Rejection
- Rebellion
- Ruin
- Rage
First the person resists God, questioning biblical principles and pushing back against the promptings of the Spirit. If they continue on the dark path, their resistance intensifies and they reject God and start living in ways and doing things that are contrary to God’s standards. Unless there is repentance, their rejection escalates into outright rebellion, and they often declare themselves agnostic or atheist. People at this stage openly mock God and the Christian faith. But eventually their bad behavior catches up with them, and disaster strikes. Their life falls into ruin. But due to their arrogance and hardness of heart, they do not accept responsibility for their situation. Instead, they blame God and rage against him.
People on the dark path are the ultimate fools. As Paul says in Romans, “claiming to be wise, they became fools.”
The wise person follows a much different path:
- Recognize the truth about man’s condition before God.
- Repent of sin.
- Receive forgiveness through Christ.
- Respond in obedience.
This path has a much different outcome than the dark path. “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” (Romans 5.1-2)
Proverbs 19.5, 9
“A false witness will not go unpunished, and he who breathes out lies will not escape … A false witness will not go unpunished, and he who breathes out lies will perish.”
These two proverbs, though separated by only 4 verses, say virtually the same thing. Hearing the truth and telling the truth are priorities in the kingdom of God. Wise people seek the truth, whereas foolish people avoid it.
In many places in scripture we are told that God hates lying.
Lies — distortions and deceitfulness — are what led to man’s separation from God. Lying was a key tactic that Satan used to tempt Adam and Eve to rebel against God. In condemning the deceitful and manipulative Jewish leaders, Jesus referred to Satan as the father of lies: “You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” (John 8.44)
Speak truth, hear truth should be a cornerstone quality of every Christian.
