Proverbs 28

Proverbs 28:1

28:1 A guilty conscience makes a man jump at the slightest noise. People with a clear conscience don’t have to drive with one eye on the rearview mirror; the righteous are as bold as a lion. 28:2 When a land is guilty of widespread transgression, it suffers frequent changes of government. When the ruler is a man of integrity and understanding, the country enjoys a settled, stable condition. The Northern kingdom (Israel) had 19 kings in the space of about 200 years, or an average of only ten years per reign. 28:3 A poor man who rises to a position of wealth and power is often more oppressive on the poor than people from a higher income level would be. He is like a driving rain that levels fields of grain, that destroys the crops instead of helping them to grow. 28:4 People who throw off the restraint of God’s law and of civil law often praise the wicked. This, of course, is an attempt to justify themselves. Those who keep the law oppose the transgressors and speak out for the cause of righteousness. 28:5 Evil men do not understand justice; by refusing to practice it, they lose the power to understand it. Those who seek the Lord’s will are given proper powers of discernment. There is a close link between morality and understanding (see Psa_119:100). 28:6 A poor man who lives a clean, honest life is better than a rich man who is perverse in his ways, who pretends to be living a good life while all the time practicing deceit and treachery. 28:7 A law-abiding son is discerning. One who associates with gluttons and drunkards brings disgrace on his father. 28:8 Under the law of Moses, a Hebrew was forbidden to charge usury (interest) to another Hebrew. He could charge it to a Gentile but not to a fellow-Jew (Deu_23:19-20). Today usury means exorbitant rates of interest. Those who enrich themselves by usury or other forms of illicit revenue will lose their wealth; it will be taken from them and given to someone who knows how to use it better and how to treat the poor considerately. 28:9 If one will not hear and obey God’s law, God will not hear his prayer. Actually his prayer is hateful to God. I may as well kneel down And worship gods of stone As offer to the Living God A prayer of words alone. John Burton28:10 Whoever tempts the upright to fall into sin will fall into a pit of punishment. Jesus warned, “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea” (Mat_18:6). But the blameless will inherit good. Here the blameless may mean those who lead others in paths of holiness rather than sin. Or it may mean those who refuse to be victimized by solicitations to sin. 28:11 A rich man who glories in his riches thinks he is very clever. Priding himself on his rare financial acumen, he is wise in his own conceit. He confuses riches and wisdom. A poor person who has understanding can see through such pretension. Charles Lamb once approached one of those swaggering men with the remark, “Excuse me, sire, but are you anybody in particular?” 28:12 When the righteous rise to power, there is great rejoicing. When the wicked triumph, men hide themselves for fear. 28:13 There are two kinds of forgiveness, judicial and parental. When we trust Christ as Lord and Savior, we receive forgiveness from the penalty of sins; that is judicial forgiveness. When we, as believers, confess our sins, we receive parental forgiveness (1Jo_1:9); this maintains fellowship with God our Father. There is no blessing for the person who covers his sins, that is, who refuses to drag them out into the light and to confess them to God and to anyone else who has been wronged. But anyone who confesses and forsakes his sins has the assurance that God not only forgives but forgets (Heb_10:17). 28:14 One element of true happiness is to have a tender heart before the Lord. It is the one who becomes hard and unrepentant who falls into trouble. God can resist the proud and brazen but He cannot resist a broken and contrite heart. 28:15 Beast-like and inhumane describes the tyrant who rides herd over poor, weak, and defenseless people. He is like a roaring lion and a charging bear. 28:16 Apparently the prince described here is one who lacks understanding in the sense that he seeks to enrich himself at all costs. This man is also a great oppressor because he tramples on others to get richer. The ruler who hates covetousness and lives unselfishly for the good of his people will prolong his days. 28:17 A man who is burdened with bloodshed will flee into a pit; let no one help him. The willful murderer is a fugitive, racing toward his doom. No one should seek to obstruct or interfere with justice. God has said, “Whoever sheds man’s blood, by man his blood shall be shed” (Gen_9:6). 28:18 The first line refers to salvation from damage in this life, not from damnation in the next. Eternal salvation from the penalty of sin is not obtained by walking uprightly but by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. The upright walk is a fruit of that salvation, although whoever walks blamelessly will be saved from many a snare in this life. The man who vacillates from one form of crookedness to another will go down in one fell swoop. 28:19 The contrast here is between plenty of food and plenty of poverty. The diligent farmer has the former. The one who engages in empty, non-productive activities has the latter. 28:20 A faithful man here is one who is honest and who does not covet great wealth. He will be richly blessed. The man who seeks to enrich himself quickly by unscrupulous means will be punished. 28:21 It is rank injustice for a judge to show partiality, and yet a man will often do this for a piece of bread, that is, for the most trifling consideration. 28:22 A miserly, grudging, ungenerous man races after riches, little realizing that poverty will soon overtake him. 28:23 When a friend lovingly rebukes you, it is hard to take at the time. It hurts your pride. But afterward you realize that this friend must really have cared for you to point out your faults, and so you are grateful to him. Flattery may seem pleasant at the time, but eventually you realize that it wasn’t true anyway, and that the person was simply trying to gain your favor. He probably flatters everyone he meets. 28:24 A son who robs his parents might excuse it on the grounds that it will be his eventually, or that he has dedicated it to the Lord in the meantime (Mar_7:11). But God is not deceived; He puts that person in the same class as a robber or murderer. 28:25 The proud, grasping person stirs up strife, perhaps by pushing everyone else aside in a futile race for riches or power or preeminence (see Jam_4:1). It is the God-fearing man who succeeds in finding peace and satisfaction. 28:26 He who trusts in his own wisdom to guide him through life is a fool. He is casting his anchor inside the boat, and thus will drift incessantly. The one who looks to the Lord for guidance acts wisely (see Jer_9:23-24). 28:27 God will reward those who show mercy to the poor. The man who turns away his eyes from genuine cases of need will have many a sorrow. 28:28 When the wicked rise to power, the populace hides itself for fear. But when wicked rulers are overthrown, the righteous increase.