Proverbs 12

Proverbs 12:1

12:1 Anyone who is open to discipline and instruction shows that he really wants to learn. The man who resents being told anything and refuses correction is stupid. 12:2 A moral, ethical person can be sure of the Lord’s favor. A man of wicked intentions can be equally sure of His condemnation. “Think” wrote Foreman, “the supreme Power in the universe against what a wicked man is doing, determined that he shall fail! The supreme Power leaving man to himself in silent scorn.” 12:3 Lives that are dominated by wickedness have no stability. They are like the seed which fell on the rocky places (Mat_13:5-6); the earth was shallow and because they had no root, the seeds quickly withered away. A righteous man has his root deep in God. He is able to stand when the storms of life blow. This man is described in Psa_1:3. 12:4 An excellent wife brings joy and gladness to her husband. The one who disgraces her husband gives him a terrible letdownas if his bones rotted away. 12:5 The goals of the righteous are honorable, and, just as surely, the plans of the wicked are deceitful. In other words, a man’s aims are a mirror of his character. 12:6 By their speech sinners seek to lay fatal traps for the innocent and unwary. Upright men deliver themselves and others by speaking the truth. 12:7 When justice catches up with the wicked, that’s the end of them. Godly people have a good foundation; they are not swept away by calamity. 12:8 People speak well of one who has insight and acts wisely, but they have nothing but contempt for one who has no principles. 12:9 Better is the one who is slighted but has a servant, than he who honors himself but lacks bread. The combination of low rank and food on the table is better than pretended status with starvation. 12:10 A righteous man’s kindness extends even to dumb animals, but a wicked man is cruel, even when he thinks he is being most gentle. Although God is transcendent, He is not too high to care for animals, but legislates concerning them (Exo_20:10; Exo_23:4-5). He even legislates concerning a bird’s nest (Deu_22:6). 12:11 A man who engages in positive, constructive work, like farming, will have his needs supplied. But the man who spends his time in worthless pursuits not only has an empty cupboard but also an empty head. 12:12 The catch of evil men means, by metonymy, what is caught in the net of evil, or what is taken from others unjustly. In other words, the wicked covet what belongs to others. In contrast, the righteous are satisfied to provide quietly for their own needs. 12:13 Ungodly people are often trapped by their own words. By failing to tell a consistent story, they trip themselves up. A liar has to have a good memory; otherwise his accounts won’t mesh. And to support a lie, he has to build a structure of other lies. The righteous will come through trouble. God does not promise His people freedom from all trouble, but rather that they will come through it. 12:14 Good speech and good behavior carry their own reward with them. Wise, gentle, pure speech is rewarded with love, favor and respect. Good deeds come back to a man in blessing. 12:15 You can’t tell a fool anything. He knows everything, and will not listen. But a wise man will welcome advice. He recognizes that it is impossible for one person to see all sides of a question. 12:16 A fool doesn’t restrain his wrath. He blows up at the slightest provocation. A prudent man knows how to ignore insult and to exercise self-control. 12:17 A witness who tells the truth in court gives righteous evidence. A false witness tells lies. 12:18 Some people use their tongues like a sword; slashing away at others, cutting and causing pain. The wise person speaks words of health and healing, that is, healing the wounds inflicted by the prattler. 12:19 Truth is eternal. Why? Because truth is what God says about a thing; therefore, it never changes. A lying tongue lasts as long as a wink. 12:20 Treachery fills the heart of those who plan wickedness. Joy fills the heart of those who pursue peace. 12:21 It is true in a general sense that no grave trouble happens to the righteous. However, this is not a rule without exception. What is true without exception is that the just are preserved from the evil consequences that follow the behavior of the wicked. The wicked get plenty of this type of trouble. 12:22 God hates liars. How careful we should be about shading of the truth, white lies, exaggerations, and half-truths! A sure way of bringing delight to His heart is by being absolutely honest and trustworthy. 12:23 A prudent man doesn’t go around showing off how much he knows. He modestly conceals his learning. But you aren’t long in the presence of fools before they reveal their foolishness. 12:24 In the ordinary course of life, dedicated, diligent people rise to positions of leadership just as cream rises to the surface. Laziness leads to poverty, and poverty reduces man to the level of forced labor. Oswald Chambers said that slovenliness is an insult to the Holy Spirit; he could have said the same thing about laziness. 12:25 Anxiety . . . causes depression. A good, encouraging, or sympathetic word works wonders in perking someone up again. 12:26 Contrary to appearances, the righteous man is actually better off than his unrighteous neighbor. It doesn’t seem that way. The sinner seems to have everything going his own way, and this seduces people into believing that forbidden fruit really is sweeter. Therefore the Christian should choose his friends carefully. 12:27 This lazy loafer either doesn’t hunt or he does not roast what he has taken in hunting. In the first place he lacks the inertia to get started; in the second, he lacks the drive to finish what he began. The Hebrew of the latter part of the proverb is also obscure, like the first part, but the sense almost surely is that a diligent person values what he has worked for and uses it to the best advantage. Ruth was like that; she beat out what she had gleaned (Rth_2:17). In our Bible study, we should improve on what we have learned and we can do it through meditation, prayer, and practical obedience: Thus on Thy Holy Word we’d feed and live and grow, Go on to know the Lord, and practice what we know. 12:28 In the narrow path of righteousness, there is life along the way and life at the close of the journey. There is no death in it, as there is on the broad road that leads to destruction. “Life” here looks to a future beyond death, to eternal life. The NIV translates the verse, “In the way of righteousness there is life; along that path is immortality.”