Proverbs 12
McGeeCHAPTER 12In the school of wisdom, the boy is still in his freshman year, but the instruction is very important.
Proverbs 12:1
The man who loves instruction is a man who has a true estimate of what is top priority and what is really of superior value. That means that he will listen to instruction. However, I must say that after getting folk to listen to the Word of God, one of the great problems is getting them to obey what it says. Obedience is absolutely essential.
Proverbs 12:2
Psa_1:5 tells us that “… the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.” Regardless of fame or riches or standing high in the estimation of men, the ungodly man will come to a sorry, sad ending. God is certainly going to judge such men. “A man of wicked devices will he condemn.”
Proverbs 12:3
Our Lord gave a parable that deals with this. In the Sermon on the Mount, He told about a man who built his house on a rock, and another who built his house on the sand (Mat_7:24-27). The rock, of course, symbolizes Christ, the solid foundation of the Word of God. Now here in his freshman course, the young man is given advice about choosing a wife.
Proverbs 12:4
Think of the wonderful wives who are mentioned in the Old Testament. Eve must have been a wonderful person in spite of the fact that she listened to the serpent. Sarah was a model wife according to 1Pe_3:6. The mother of Moses, Jochabed, was undoubtedly a remarkable woman. Then there are others who were not so good and could be described as “rottenness in his bones.” Job’s wife was not much of a help to him. It is interesting that Satan took away from Job everything that he leaned upon except his wife, which must mean that Satan knew she wasn’t very much help to Job. Then there was bloody Athalia whose mother was the wicked Jezebel. So there are many illustrations in the Scriptures of this proverb. Ogden Nash gave advice on how to make marriage a success in a little poem that he wrote: To keep your marriage brimming With love in the loving cup, Whenever you’re wrong, admit it; Whenever you’re right, shut up. That is good advice, by the way.
Proverbs 12:5
Again let me change the word wicked to lawless, which is probably more accurate. You can see that God believes in law and order. He has a great deal to say about lawlessness.
Proverbs 12:8
“Shall be despised” is literally “shall be exposed to contempt.” I think of Gideon and his son. Gideon is to be commended according to his wisdom. Abimelech, his son, was exposed to contempt.
Proverbs 12:9
This proverb is rather confusing, but it seems that a contrast is being made. Another translation reads: “Better is the poor that provideth for himself.” The thought appears to be that the one who is looked down upon as being lowly, but whose needs are met, is far happier and more to be envied than he who delights in appearing prosperous while feeling the pinch of poverty.
Proverbs 12:10
As I have mentioned, my father was killed in an accident in a cotton gin when I was fourteen years old. I was at the age when a boy thinks his dad is a hero, and, frankly, I have never gotten over it. I remember one time we were driving on a dirt road by horse and buggy from Ardmore to Springer, Oklahoma. Ahead of us was a man in his buggy who was drunk and was beating his horse. We couldn’t get around him, and my dad got out of our buggy and talked to the man about beating his animal. Of course the man, being drunk, was offended and took a swing at my dad, but he missed him.
So my dad hit him and knocked him down. He took the whip away from him and told him to get back in his buggy and let his horse alone. Then we followed him as he went on ahead of us. This incident impressed me, and I am delighted to find in Scripture a proverb like this: “A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast.” A man who owns several dogs told me that he always judges a man by the reaction of his dogs to that man. Dogs seem to know character. They know whether they would be mistreated by an individual. It is interesting that the animal world seems to be able to judge human character better than some of us do.
Proverbs 12:11
This proverb is saying to stay on the job, keep busy, and don’t do so much running around. All the way through this chapter we have contrasts like this:
Proverbs 12:12
There is repetition in this section for emphasis. After all, repetition is the best kind of teaching, if you can get by with it. If you keep saying a thing, your pupil will never forget it.
Proverbs 12:15
You know to whom this refers, I am sure. It is Rehoboam, the son of Solomon. He refused the wise counsel of the older men in his kingdom, which resulted in his own downfall and civil war in his nation.
Proverbs 12:17
My friend, if your pastor is preaching the truth, there are times when he is going to put the sword right in your heart. And if you are not willing to accept itwell, the hypocrite always covers up with hatred and bitterness. This is the reason I am always a little afraid of a man who is highly critical of his pastorthat is, if he is nice to his face but is sticking a knife in his back.
Proverbs 12:19
All of these verses have to do with the tongue, the lying tongue and the lips of truth. They are put in contrast. The Word of God has more to say about the tongue, more judgment on the abuse of the tongue, than it has to say about the use and abuse of alcohol. Yet it is interesting that a lying tongue and a gossip can get by in Christian circles today, whereas a drunkard would be rejected.
Proverbs 12:22
One of the things that should characterize a child of God is his truthfulness.
Proverbs 12:23
A prudent man will not say things that are going to hurt someone. But you have probably been in a crowd where there is some foolish person, a big-mouthed person, who says something that casts a reflection on another personof course, someone who is not present in the crowd. The prudent man would not say it, but the heart of the fool will say things like that.
Proverbs 12:24
I believe that in our contemporary society this has been somewhat turned around. It is not always the diligent who are elected to office, and I’m not sure it is the slothful who are paying the taxes. At least I don’t want to come in under the category of being lazy, and I certainly pay taxes. I have asked God for light as I have studied these proverbs, and I have come to realize that some of them should be considered in the light of eternity. I believe that the measuring stick for this proverb is eternity rather than a local situation. Aren’t we told that someday we are going to rule with Christ?
But Scripture does not teach that all believers will rule equally; there will be gradations. I personally would be very embarrassed if I found myself on the same plane as the apostles, sitting next to the apostle Paul. I don’t belong there. However, I do think that the diligent are to rule with Christ.
Proverbs 12:25
Job said to his friends, “How forcible are right words! …” (Job_6:25). Right words can bring comfort and cheer and encouragement to those who are grieving or who have a problem or have bitterness of spirit. We certainly are not to beat down a person who is having problems. We are to give him a good word.
Proverbs 12:26
It would be clearer to translate it this way: “The righteous searcheth out his neighbor.” The righteous man wants to help his neighbor, while the lawless man will try to hurt his neighbor. The righteous man will come to talk to a neighbor and face him if he finds he is wrong. That is the most helpful thing he can do. Nathan was the best friend David had; yet it was Nathan who had the courage to point his finger at David and say, “… Thou art the man …” (2Sa_12:7). When there are things in our lives that need to be straightened, it is wonderful to have a good friend who will reprove us in love. One of the best friends I ever had was a man who helped me through school. When I first started in the ministry, the Lord was gracious to me and let me be pastor of a church that had been my home church, where the people loved me and were very sympathetic with me. I was pretty much of an amateur to be pastor of such a large and prominent church in that day. They were good to me. I went to a conference at Winona Lake and heard a man speak who I thought was great. I came back and tried to imitate him. I even tried to imitate his accent! My church membership discovered that. They just sat there and smiled, very few said anything about it, and I received no harsh criticism. However, this man who had helped me through school invited me to lunch.
He said just one thing that I shall never forget, and it was a good proverb. “Vernon, we would rather have a genuine Vernon McGee than an imitation anybody else.” That was all he said. Friend, that is all he needed to say. From then on, I went back to being Vernon McGeethat may not have been good, but it was better than trying to imitate somebody else. How forcible are right words! The righteous will search out his neighbor and help himthat is exactly what this man did for me. But the wicked (the lawless) seduceth them.
He goes over and pats him on the back and then crucifies him when his back is turned. These proverbs gear right down into your neighborhood, right down into your church, right down into your place of work, don’t they?
Proverbs 12:27
I find this proverb quite humorous. This fellow went out and shot a deer, but he was too lazy to skin the deer and cut up the meat and cook and eat it. You must be pretty lazy to be that kind of hunter. It’s like the fisherman who will fish but won’t clean the fish to eat them. “But the substance of a diligent man is precious.” In other words, he takes care of what he has. Remember when Ruth went out to glean in the field and Boaz was so generous with her that she had a surprising amount; then she beat out the grain that she had gleaned. She could have come home and thrown the gleanings down in front of Naomi and said, “Look what I have done. I worked hard all day for this. Now you can beat it out.” She didn’t do that. This reveals the kind of spirit that was in her. Men, it won’t hurt you to help with some of the work at home. You can even do the dishes now and then. I have learned that, since I am retired and at home more, I have become a member of the “Honey-do Club.” It is, “Honey, do this,” and “Honey, do that.” When I was a boy I used to tell my mother, “When I grow up I’m never going to wash dishes again.” Well, I must be in my second childhood, because I’m washing dishes again.
Proverbs 12:28
A wonderful vista opens to the child of God! Physical death is ahead of us if the Lord tarries, but eternal life is out yonder.