The final point of application in our study of Proverbs has to do with God and our relationship to Him. The entire book of Proverbs has been a discussion of the wisdom that comes from above. Of course, the source of this wisdom is God Himself. But without understanding God and our place before Him, it would be difficult for us to find sufficient reason to trust that His way is best and live our lives according to it. Therefore, we must understand God to fully understand the importance of the wisdom contained in this book.
About God
“The Lord possessed me at the beginning of His way, before His works of old” (8:22).
Wisdom is speaking in this verse. The verses that follow mention God as being eternal (8:23) and our Creator (8:24-31). The wisdom that has been discussed in the book of Proverbs belongs to Him. He did not have to acquire wisdom as we do. He possessed wisdom before the world was even formed.
“There is no wisdom and no understanding and no counsel against the Lord” (21:30).
Because wisdom belongs to God (8:22), He is the standard. Therefore, we cannot successfully challenge Him. Job made this same point about God: “If one wished to dispute with Him, he could not answer Him once in a thousand times” (Job 9:3).
“Many plans are in a man’s heart, but the counsel of the Lord will stand” (19:21).
God’s truth is unchanging. Though man has “many plans,” none of his ideas will ever rival the wisdom of God that comes down from above.
“The eyes of the Lord preserve knowledge, but He overthrows the words of the treacherous man” (22:12).
“The eyes of the Lord” is a phrase which refers to God’s omniscience (15:3; cf. 2 Chronicles 16:9; Jeremiah 16:17; Hebrews 4:13). The Lord is aware of all that goes on among men. Those who love, practice, and teach the truth, He sees them and blesses them in their efforts. On the other hand, God is also aware of “the words of the transgressor” (KJV) and destroys him for his labors in opposition to the truth.
“Every word of God is tested; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him. Do not add to His words or He will reprove you, and you will be proved a liar” (30:5-6).
The word of God has stood the test of time and man cannot improve upon it. Therefore, one who would attempt to improve upon God’s word by adding to it will be “proved a liar.” Not only is the word of God right, but it is complete, making additions to it unnecessary. Being complete as it is, His word as a “shield” is able to provide the perfect defense and protection for “those who take refuge in Him.”
“The hearing ear and the seeing eye, the Lord has made both of them” (20:12).
As has already been established, God is the Creator (cf. 8:22-31). But some today, in a foolish attempt to harmonize the fact that God is Creator with the godless theory of evolution, have suggested that God created the universe and set processes in motion that would lead to the evolution of life as we know it (theistic evolution). Yet God did not create the matter and conditions whereby man would eventually evolve from lower forms of life, which evolved themselves from still lower forms of life. Instead, the wise man affirms that God made “the hearing ear and the seeing eye” of man
“The Lord is far from the wicked, but He hears the prayer of the righteous” (15:29).
This is similar to what was Solomon’s father David wrote in the Psalms: “The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous and His ears are open to their cry. The face of the Lord is against evildoers, to cut off the memory of them from the earth” (Psalm 34:15-16; cf. 1 Peter 3:12). While Solomon mentions God being “far from the wicked,” David went further and said that God is “against evildoers.” God, in His justice, will not allow the wicked to go unpunished. Though He may leave them on their own for a time, He will eventually punish them. On the other hand, the righteous enjoy a continued state of God’s kindness and watchfulness.
Fear God
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction” (1:7).
Fear is inseparably connected with obedience (cf. Ecclesiastes 12:13; Acts 10:35). Yet in order to obey, one must have knowledge about what to obey. The two sides of fear – respect for God and terror of God – motivate one to find out what God desires of him so that he can obey the Lord’s will.
“My son, fear the Lord and the king; do not associate with those who are given to change” (24:21).
We have already cited this verse in connection with friendships and government. It is necessary to include it here as well. We are not to have a heart of rebellion, but one of submission to God, rooted in a healthy fear of Him.
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“The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord. All the ways of a man are clean in his own sight, but the Lord weighs the motives. Commit your works to the Lord and your plans will be established. The Lord has made everything for its own purpose, even the wicked for the day of evil. Everyone who is proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord; assuredly, he will not be unpunished. By lovingkindness and truth iniquity is atoned for, and by the fear of the Lord one keeps away from evil. When a man’s ways are pleasing to the Lord, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him” (16:1-7).
“The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord” (16:1). The thoughts and motives of man are wholly his. But truth – the proper “answer of the tongue” – is from God. We must always look to God as the source of truth, not to our own hearts. The Lord, through the prophet, reminded us of the danger in following one’s heart rather than following Him: “The heart is more deceitful than all else” (Jeremiah 17:9).
“All the ways of a man are clean in his own sight, but the Lord weighs the motives” (16:2). Man is free to choose his actions and the direction of his life. Each one will do what seems right to him. Yet we must remember: God will hold us accountable for all that we do in this life.
“Commit your works to the Lord and your plans will be established” (16:3). We must submit to God. If we do, we will enjoy the blessings that come from obedience to Him.
“The Lord has made everything for its own purpose, even the wicked for the day of evil. Everyone who is proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord; assuredly, he will not be unpunished” (16:4-5). This is not teaching that God is meticulously micro-managing every mundane moment of our lives so that everything happens for a reason. Instead, it simply means that the future of all things is in the hands of God. Those who are wicked will one day face punishment. One who arrogantly believes he is exempt from this fate “is an abomination to the Lord.” As long as he refuses to repent, he will have no hope of escaping the punishment for iniquity that has been determined by God.
“By lovingkindness and truth iniquity is atoned for, and by the fear of the Lord one keeps away from evil” (16:6). The way to avoid the punishment that comes for sin is to follow after “lovingkindness and truth.” In the fear of the Lord, one will recognize that there is a future judgment in which God will “render to man according to his work” (24:12). Knowing this, the one who fears God will avoid sin and do what is right so that he might be prepared to face the Lord in judgment. The one who does not fear God and, therefore, practices all sorts iniquity, will not have his sins atoned for and will progress further and further into sin.
“When a man’s ways are pleasing to the Lord, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him” (16:7). There is a peace that comes from following after the Lord. This does not mean that a godly man’s enemies will have a change of heart necessarily. Rather, it means that by following the ways of God, we might either have a positive influence on others so that they desire to live in peace with us, or as we walk in wisdom the wicked man will find little reason to attack us or rally others against us. So following after divine wisdom helps leads to peace with others.
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“He who walks in his uprightness fears the Lord, but he who is devious in his ways despises Him” (14:2).
The proof of one fearing the Lord is walking uprightly. Without practicing righteousness, one cannot claim that he truly fears God. Jesus expressed the same principle of obedience proving one’s devotion to God: “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments” (John 14:15). If we do not keep the Lord’s commandments, our claim that we love Him is baseless. In the same way, if we do not practice righteousness, our claim that we fear God is baseless. If we are “perverse in [our] ways” (KJV), we are showing our contempt for God and proving that “there is no fear of God before [our] eyes” (Psalm 36:1; cf. Romans 3:18).
“The fear of the Lord is to hate evil; pride and arrogance and the evil way and the perverted mouth, I hate.” (8:13).
Many people want to claim to be religious and have faith in God, yet they tolerate, accept, and, in some cases, even practice those things which are evil. If we truly fear God, we will “hate evil” as He also does (cf. 6:16-19).
“In the fear of the Lord there is strong confidence, and his children will have refuge. The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, that one may avoid the snares of death” (14:26-27).
The wise man is not saying that one who fears God has a right to become arrogant. This is not about arrogance, but confidence. If we fear God, we will understand the need to obey Him and then will actually do it. When we know that we are serving the Lord, we can be confident knowing that we are obeying the truth (His word), that we are avoiding the consequences of sin (“the snares of death”), and that we have a hope of a reward from Him (“a fountain of life”).
“The fear of the Lord leads to life, so that one may sleep satisfied, untouched by evil” (19:23).
In order to “sleep satisfied,” one must have a clear conscience and dwell in security. As we fear and obey God, we can have a clear conscience knowing that we are practicing His will. We can also enjoy security through following His word (cf. 16:7).
“Better is a little with the fear of the Lord than great treasure and turmoil with it” (15:16).
Serving God is more important than anything of this life. As we have considered before, although the book of Proverbs focusing a lot on the blessings of wisdom that can be found in this life, fearing God and following His will are about much more than that. It may be that a godly person will possess “little” or experience “turmoil” in life. But as long as he fears the Lord, he is better off than one who possesses great wealth but has rejected the Lord.
“Do not let your heart envy sinners, but live in the fear of the Lord always.” (23:17).
There will be times when it seems as though sinners are better off than we are. During these times, we may be tempted to envy them. But we must not do this. As noted in the previous verse, one who fears the Lord is better off than one who does not, regardless of the earthly peace and prosperity enjoyed by the godless person (15:16). The future of the one who fears God is better than the future of the wicked man. Therefore, we must continually live in the fear of God so that we can please Him in all things.
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Understanding who God is and what He has done should be reason enough to fear (respect) Him. Yet if we are to have a balanced fear of the Lord (respect and terror), we must remember our accountability before Him and that we will stand before Him in judgment so that we will be motivated to obey.
“For the ways of a man are before the eyes of the Lord, and He watches all his paths” (5:21).
“The eyes of the Lord are in every place, watching the evil and the good” (15:3).
God is omniscient – He sees and knows all (cf. Hebrews 4:13). There is nowhere to go to hide from the Lord as His “eyes…are in every place.” There is nothing we can do that would be beyond His awareness, as our “ways…are before [His] eyes…and He watches all [our] paths.” Rather than try to hide from the Lord, we should strive to be numbered among those who are good, rather than those who are evil.
“Sheol and Abaddon lie open before the Lord, how much more the hearts of men!” (15:11).
“The spirit of man is the lamp of the Lord, searching all the innermost parts of his being” (20:27).
Before telling us, “All things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do,” the Hebrew writer said, “The word of God is…able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12-13). God knows our thoughts and what is in our hearts. It is certainly true that no one among our fellow men can know our thoughts and intentions. Paul wrote, “For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him?” (1 Corinthians 2:11). But God is different than man. He “forms the spirit of man within him” (Zechariah 12:1). Therefore, though we may be able to hide “the thoughts and intentions of the heart” from others, it is impossible to hide them from God.
“The rich and the poor have a common bond, the Lord is the maker of them all” (22:2).
Though men may not treat the rich and poor as equals, they are equal before God. Since God is their maker, both have a common origin, as they have been made “in the image of God” (Genesis 1:27; cf. Acts 17:26). They also both have a common future. When they die, “the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it” (Ecclesiastes 12:7). No matter what our temporary circumstances are in this life, we will one day meet our maker and will have to give an account for what we have done in our lives (cf. Hebrews 9:27; 2 Corinthians 5:10).
“The refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold, but the Lord tests hearts” (17:3).
The purpose of the refining pot and the furnace was to remove from the silver and gold any impurities that might have been present. God tests our hearts in the same way through the standard found in His revealed word. The goal for us – just as it is with silver and gold – is purity. As He tests our hearts, He is determining whether we are worthy of a reward or not.
“Every man’s way is right in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the hearts” (21:2).
Everyone does what he believes to be right. Of course, what one believes to be right is not necessarily going to be right (cf. 14:12; 16:25; Jeremiah 10:23). If everyone were a standard to himself, then all would be justified. But we answer to a higher power – God. He “weighs the hearts” (cf. 17:3) to determine whether or not we can stand justified before Him.
“If you say, ‘See, we did not know this,’ does He not consider it who weighs the hearts? And does He not know it who keeps your soul? And will He not render to man according to his work?” (24:12).
God is concerned with what we do. When we stand before Him in judgment, we will be either rewarded or punished based upon our work (cf. 2 Corinthians 5:10). There will be no exemptions or excuses in that day. If we fear and obey Him, we will be rewarded. But if we, through our disobedience, demonstrate a lack of fear, we will be punished.
